{
 "source": "https://peabody.kids/flashcards/world-african-kingdoms",
 "id": "world-african-kingdoms",
 "title": "African Kingdoms and Empires",
 "category": "history",
 "subject": "World History",
 "levels": [
  "3-5",
  "6-8",
  "9-12"
 ],
 "description": "Kush, Aksum, Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, Benin and other African civilizations.",
 "tags": [
  "africa",
  "mali",
  "songhai",
  "ghana",
  "timbuktu"
 ],
 "frontLabel": "Term",
 "backLabel": "Meaning",
 "cards": [
  [
   "Kush",
   "Kingdom south of Egypt in Nubia; its rulers once ruled Egypt as the 25th dynasty"
  ],
  [
   "Meroe",
   "Kushite capital famous for iron working and pyramids"
  ],
  [
   "Aksum (Axum)",
   "Powerful trading kingdom in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea"
  ],
  [
   "Ezana",
   "Aksumite king who adopted Christianity in the 300s"
  ],
  [
   "Stelae of Aksum",
   "Tall carved stone monuments in Aksum"
  ],
  [
   "Ge'ez",
   "Ancient language and script of Aksum, still used in church"
  ],
  [
   "Sahara",
   "World's largest hot desert, crossed by trade caravans"
  ],
  [
   "Sahel",
   "Dry grassland belt south of the Sahara"
  ],
  [
   "Savanna",
   "Grassland with scattered trees"
  ],
  [
   "Trans-Saharan trade",
   "Caravans carried gold and salt across the desert"
  ],
  [
   "Camel",
   "Desert animal that made trade across the Sahara possible"
  ],
  [
   "Caravan",
   "Group of traders traveling together"
  ],
  [
   "Salt",
   "Valuable in West Africa; traded for gold"
  ],
  [
   "Gold",
   "Mined in West Africa and traded to North Africa and beyond"
  ],
  [
   "Ghana Empire",
   "West African trading empire, about 300-1100 CE (not today's Ghana)"
  ],
  [
   "Wagadu",
   "Local name for the Ghana Empire"
  ],
  [
   "Kumbi Saleh",
   "Ghana's capital and trading city"
  ],
  [
   "Mali Empire",
   "Large West African empire that peaked in the 1300s"
  ],
  [
   "Sundiata Keita",
   "Founder of the Mali Empire, about 1235"
  ],
  [
   "Epic of Sundiata",
   "Story of the founder of Mali, told by griots"
  ],
  [
   "Griot",
   "West African storyteller and keeper of history"
  ],
  [
   "Mansa",
   "Title meaning 'king' in Mali"
  ],
  [
   "Mansa Musa",
   "Mali's king famous for his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324"
  ],
  [
   "Hajj",
   "Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca"
  ],
  [
   "Timbuktu",
   "Mali trading city and center of Islamic learning"
  ],
  [
   "Sankore",
   "Mosque and university in Timbuktu"
  ],
  [
   "Djinguereber Mosque",
   "Mud-brick mosque in Timbuktu, built in the 1300s"
  ],
  [
   "Manuscripts of Timbuktu",
   "Hundreds of thousands of handwritten books on many subjects"
  ],
  [
   "Ibn Battuta",
   "Moroccan traveler who visited Mali in the 1350s"
  ],
  [
   "Songhai Empire",
   "Largest West African empire, 1400s-1591"
  ],
  [
   "Sunni Ali",
   "Songhai ruler who built the empire and took Timbuktu"
  ],
  [
   "Askia the Great",
   "Songhai ruler who strengthened the empire and promoted learning"
  ],
  [
   "Gao",
   "Songhai capital on the Niger River"
  ],
  [
   "Battle of Tondibi (1591)",
   "Moroccan forces with guns defeated Songhai"
  ],
  [
   "Niger River",
   "Major river of West Africa"
  ],
  [
   "Great Zimbabwe",
   "Stone city built in southern Africa, about 1100-1450"
  ],
  [
   "Zimbabwe (word)",
   "From a word meaning 'stone houses' or 'venerated houses'"
  ],
  [
   "Shona",
   "People linked to Great Zimbabwe"
  ],
  [
   "Swahili Coast",
   "East African coast where African and Arab trade cultures blended"
  ],
  [
   "Kilwa",
   "Wealthy Swahili trading city on an island"
  ],
  [
   "Swahili",
   "Bantu language with many Arabic words, spoken in East Africa"
  ],
  [
   "Mombasa",
   "Trading port on the Kenyan coast"
  ],
  [
   "Indian Ocean trade",
   "Monsoon winds carried ships between Africa, Arabia and Asia"
  ],
  [
   "Dhow",
   "Triangular-sail ship used on the Indian Ocean"
  ],
  [
   "Benin Kingdom",
   "Forest kingdom in today's Nigeria with a strong ruler, the Oba"
  ],
  [
   "Oba",
   "King of Benin"
  ],
  [
   "Benin Bronzes",
   "Famous plaques and sculptures made by Benin artists"
  ],
  [
   "Ife",
   "Yoruba city known for its fine brass and terra-cotta heads"
  ],
  [
   "Yoruba",
   "People of southwestern Nigeria with a rich art tradition"
  ],
  [
   "Hausa city-states",
   "Trading states in northern Nigeria, like Kano"
  ],
  [
   "Kanem-Bornu",
   "Empire near Lake Chad, long-lasting"
  ],
  [
   "Ethiopia",
   "African land with ancient Christian kingdoms and never colonized for long"
  ],
  [
   "Lalibela",
   "Town in Ethiopia with churches carved from rock in the 1200s"
  ],
  [
   "Queen Nzinga",
   "Ruler of Ndongo and Matamba who resisted Portuguese rule in the 1600s"
  ],
  [
   "Kongo Kingdom",
   "Central African kingdom that traded with Portugal"
  ],
  [
   "Bantu migrations",
   "Spread of Bantu-speaking peoples across much of Africa over centuries"
  ],
  [
   "Iron working",
   "Skill that spread through sub-Saharan Africa and made tools stronger"
  ],
  [
   "Nok culture",
   "Ancient culture of Nigeria known for terra-cotta sculpture"
  ],
  [
   "Transatlantic slave trade",
   "Forced removal of millions of Africans to the Americas from the 1500s to the 1800s"
  ],
  [
   "Colonialism",
   "Control of a land by a foreign power"
  ],
  [
   "Berlin Conference (1884-85)",
   "European powers set rules for dividing Africa among themselves"
  ],
  [
   "Scramble for Africa",
   "European takeover of most of Africa between 1880 and 1914"
  ],
  [
   "Shaka Zulu",
   "Leader who built the powerful Zulu kingdom in the early 1800s"
  ],
  [
   "Menelik II",
   "Ethiopian emperor who defeated Italy at Adwa in 1896"
  ],
  [
   "Battle of Adwa (1896)",
   "Ethiopian victory that secured its independence"
  ],
  [
   "Kwame Nkrumah",
   "Led Ghana to independence in 1957"
  ],
  [
   "Independence era",
   "Most African countries gained independence between 1950 and 1975"
  ],
  [
   "Nelson Mandela",
   "Anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first Black president"
  ],
  [
   "Apartheid",
   "South African system of racial separation, ended in the early 1990s"
  ],
  [
   "Wangari Maathai",
   "Kenyan environmentalist who founded the Green Belt Movement"
  ],
  [
   "Africa",
   "Second-largest continent, with 54 countries"
  ]
 ]
}