AP® African American Studies review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/african-american-studies/units/1/1-8)
Unit 1 · Topic 1.8
1.8 Culture and Trade in Southern and East Africa
In southern and eastern Africa, trade built two kinds of power: the Shona kingdom centered on the stone city of Great Zimbabwe, and the Swahili Coast city-states on the Indian Ocean. Both linked Africa's interior to traders from Arabia, Persia, India and China, until the Portuguese arrived in the 1500s.
Key terms
- Great Zimbabwe
- Shona
- Great Enclosure
- Swahili Coast
- Indian Ocean trade
- city-state
Great Zimbabwe
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe flourished in southern Africa from about the 1100s to the 1400s. Its capital, Great Zimbabwe, was built by the Shona people, who grew rich from gold, ivory and cattle. The kingdom sent gold and ivory to the coast and received goods from far away; archaeologists have found Chinese porcelain and Persian pottery at the site.
Great Zimbabwe is famous for its massive stone walls, built from granite blocks fitted together without mortar. The walls helped defend the city and made it a hub for long-distance trade. Its largest structure, the Great Enclosure, was used for religious and royal activities. Inside stands a cone-shaped tower of solid stone. The course describes it as most likely a granary, a place to store grain; because it's solid, many archaeologists read it as a symbol of one.
A symbol of African achievement
The ruins remain a symbol of the power, independence and farming wealth of the Shona kings and of early African societies generally. In the colonial era, some white officials falsely claimed that Africans couldn't have built it. Archaeologists proved that the Shona did. When the country won independence in 1980, it took the name Zimbabwe, from a Shona phrase for houses of stone.
The Swahili Coast
The Swahili Coast stretches along East Africa from present-day Somalia to Mozambique. Its name comes from sawahil, an Arabic word for 'coasts'. City-states such as Kilwa, Mombasa, Malindi and Zanzibar grew into busy ports between about the 1000s and 1400s.
Seasonal monsoon winds carried ships across the Indian Ocean, so these cities linked Africa's interior to Arab, Persian, Indian and Chinese traders. Gold, ivory and other goods went out; cloth, beads and porcelain came in.
The city-states were independent of each other, but they shared a language and a religion. Swahili is a Bantu language (1.3) that took in many Arabic words and became a lingua franca, a common language for trade. Islam also spread among the coastal merchants and rulers.
Portuguese invasion
The wealth of the Swahili Coast drew the Portuguese. After Vasco da Gama reached East Africa in 1498, Portuguese forces attacked major city-states, including Kilwa and Mombasa, and built forts and settlements in the 1500s. Their goal was to control Indian Ocean trade. The violence and new taxes badly damaged the coast's trading economy.
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Comparison
Describe one similarity and one difference between Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili Coast city-states.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Similarity: what made both rich?
- Step 2: Difference: think about location, what each is famous for, or religion.
- Step 3: Use specific evidence.
Answer: Model answer: Both grew wealthy from long-distance trade in goods like gold and ivory that reached the Indian Ocean. However, Great Zimbabwe was an inland kingdom known for its huge stone walls, while the Swahili Coast was a string of independent port cities united by the Swahili language and Islam.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Swahili is an Arabic language. It's a Bantu language with many Arabic loanwords.
- Describing the Swahili Coast as one kingdom. It was a set of independent city-states.
- Calling the conical tower a palace. It's linked to grain storage, most likely as a granary or a symbol of one.
On the exam
- Photos of Great Zimbabwe's walls or a map of Indian Ocean routes may appear. Explain what they show about wealth, trade or political power.
- Remember the turning point: Portuguese attacks in the 1500s, part of the same European expansion that reshaped West Africa (1.11).
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 1.8 Culture and Trade in Southern and East Africa. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
Photographs of Great Zimbabwe show curving walls of fitted granite blocks, laid without mortar, some more than 30 feet high. Inside the largest structure, the Great Enclosure, stands a solid cone-shaped stone tower. Archaeologists working at the site have found glass beads from South Asia and pieces of Chinese porcelain.
On the coast, hundreds of miles to the east, city-states such as Kilwa and Mombasa traded gold, ivory and other goods from the interior to merchants who sailed the Indian Ocean.
Description written for this practice set, based on archaeological reports on Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili Coast
The beads and porcelain found at Great Zimbabwe are best explained by
Which of the following best describes the purposes of Great Zimbabwe's stone walls and enclosures?
The Swahili Coast city-states were united by
In the sixteenth century, the Portuguese attacked major Swahili city-states mainly to
0 of 4 answered