Early contacts with the middle East and Far East.
The contact with the outside world namely Middle East and Far East placed the African continent into the international commercial system.
This contact had three important effects on the Coast.
It integrated Africa into the world economy.
It fostered the development of the Swahili civilization.
It stimulated the development of the Coastal city states.
Historically, contacts between East Africa and the Middle and Far East go as far back as 200 B.C.
Earlier commercial contacts are evidenced by archaeological excavations, they reveal remains of pottery, porcelain, coins, beads and tombs.
The book, The Periplus of the Erythrean sea, written by Greek traders around the first century A.D is another evidence of such early contacts.
The word “periplus” means a guide book.
“Erythrean Sea” is the Greek term for the Indian Ocean. The book was therefore a guide to the sailors in the Indian ocean. The “periplus” contained interesting details about activities of the early traders of the East African Coast.
Monsoon Winds
Through out the year, strong steady winds blow across the Indian Ocean. For centuries these winds carried ships from east Africa to Asia and back.
The winds which blow to the East Coast from the North – East are called North – east monsoon winds. They blow from November to April. These winds brought the traders from Asia to East Africa.
The South East Monsoon winds blow in the opposite direction. They blow away from the Coast of East Africa towards the Coast of Asia between May and October.
Goods from East Coast
Ivory, rhinoceros horns, animal skins, bees wax, tortoise shells, gold, copper, cowrie shells, slaves.
Goods from Asia
Hard ware, beads and cotton came from India.
Silk and porcelain came from China.
Weapons, glass, iron ware, swords, daggers and spears came from Arabia and India.
Food, such as wine and rice came from areas throughout Asia.
The Indian Ocean and the Monsoon Winds
Effects of Trading Contacts of East Africa.
Trading contacts between the East African Coast, the middle and far East had long lasting effects on East Africa.
The following were some of these effects:-
Establishment (growth) of Coastal city states. Some of the most important city states were Kilwa, Zanzibar, Pemba, Lamu, Pate, Sofala, Malindi, Mombasa and Mogadishu.
Introduction of Islam.
Spread of Kiswahili.
Introduction of New Arts and crafts, such as well built stone houses, writing, navigation, money changing and money lending.
Expansion of trade.
Exploitation of African resources.
Decline of local industries.
Contacts with Europe.
(i) The Portuguese.
The main social economic motive of the Portuguese intrusion along the East African Coast was to conduct trade. The Portuguese came into contact with the people of East Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Aims of the Portuguese into East Africa.
To monopolize the Indian Ocean trade.
To create a Portuguese empire in East Africa.
To exploit the resources found in the East, including spices and silk.
To prevent other European rivals from gaining access to this trade.
To preach the Christian religion.
Why the Coastal city states were defeated?
The Portuguese were able to defeat the coastal city states because of the following reasons:-
The Portuguese had superior weapons and experience in fighting at sea.
The Coastal City states were disunited. Therefore the Portuguese used this weakness to defeat the Coastal city states one after another; e.g used Malindi to defeat Mombasa.
The Coast was at the same time attacked in 1580’s by Galla, the Zimba who were inferior tribes and the Turkish pirates led by Amir Al Bey.
The Social and economic impact of the Portuguese to Africa (Results/Effects of the Portuguese Invasion on East Africa).
The decline of the Coastal city states.
It led to the decay (decline) of the Indian ocean trade.
They destroyed the Arab culture. Their religion (Islam) was threatened due to the coming of Portuguese Christianity.
New agricultural crops such as maize, cassava, pineapple, groundnuts and rice were introduced.
Introduction of some Swahili words such as meza.
Mozambique continued to experience the brutality of Portuguese for over two hundred years (that is introduction of colonialism in Mozambique).
They built Fort Jesus, which is a great tourist attraction in Kenya.
Fig: Portuguese Power in the Indian Ocean from 15th -17th century
Resistance to Portuguese Intrusion.
There were three major sources of resistance against Portuguese intrusion:-
It was from the feudal lords.
Also the reaction was done by the traders who wanted to protect their economic interests.
From common people who were dispossessed their property.
The reasons for the fall of the Portuguese rule in East Africa (i.e the Reasons why the Portuguese failed in East Africa).
They did not have enough man power to administer large city states and territory.
The Coastal city states received the assistance from Oman.
Due to the interruption of religion and culture the Coastal people disliked the Portuguese.
They suffered from tropical diseases such as Malaria.
The Portuguese in charge of administration were corrupt, inefficient and untrustworthy.
Bitterness, harsh treatments and punishment by the Portuguese weakened their leadership.
There was a loss of trade due to Portuguese taxes and restrictions.
All in all it can be concluded that the fall of the Portuguese rule in East Africa was mainly due to the help by the Oman Arabs to the East Africa Coastal people.
In 1652 the Sultan of Oman sent a few ships to the East African Coast. They made a few raids and went back.
In 1696 Seif bin Sultan of Oman sent seven ships and three thousand men to Mombasa. This was the beginning of the siege of Fort Jesus that was to last for two years. Portuguese rule on the East African Coast from Pate to Cape Delgado ended with the capture of Fort Jesus in 1698. The Oman Arabs became the new masters along the Coast of East Africa.
(ii) Dutch Settlement at the Cape
Introduction.
In their endeavour to reach the centers of trade in India and the far East, European merchants successfully rounded the southern tip of Africa towards the end of the 15th century.
The first merchant explorer to round the South African Cape was Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese who reached the Cape in 1498 A.D.
Apart from Vasco other Europeans who came and established permanent settlement were the Dutch from Holland. They settled at the cape in 1952. This was the period of merchant capital in Europe where it was necessary to trade both in and out of the Europe. They formed the Dutch East India Company at Table Bay.
The Dutch settlers who established themselves as stock farmers became known as the Boers. They farmed and at the same time kept cattle. They were also called Afrikaners.
The language that evolved among them was called “Afrikaans” a corruption of the original Dutch language.
The motives (reasons) for the Dutch settlement at the Cape.
The Cape was half way journey from Europe to India, that is, they could stop, rest and refresh.
They established farms where they grew vegetables, also they sold meat and vegetables to sailors.
It was easy to repair and make services to ships after and before cape’s storms.
They built hospitals at the cape where sick sailors could get services.
The Boers established relations with Khoikhoi in order to be accessible to meat from Khoikhoi.
The impact (effects) of Dutch settlement at the Cape.
The Boers obtained cattle through raiding of the Khoi and the Xhosa cattle.
Through raiding the cattle they shot people at random and hence caused death.
The settlers also grabbed Khoi and Xhosa agricultural land.
They turned the indigenous people especially the Khoi into slaves and squatters.
Afro-Boer confrontation (1780 – 1820).
The Africans reacted against these settlers mainly because of being grabbed of their land and because of being turned into slaves by staging the war.
The Afro-Boer clashes continued until the year when the British established their over rule on the cape in 1795.
N.B The Boers are the ones who started Apartheid policy which means separateness.
Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean seaboard and Trans- Atlantic Slave Trade.
* Reasons for the Expansion of slave trade in the Indian Ocean seaboard from the 18th
century were:-
Development of maritime technology which facilitated sailing.
The rise of feudalism led by strong political organization.
The great demand of labour by the French and Dutch to use slaves in the Indian ocean islands of Mauritius and Reunion.
The expansion of the Industrial revolution from England to other European states.
Oman Interests in East Africa.
After the Oman conquest of the Portuguese, Oman administration was established. When the Arabs helped the people of the Coast to defeat the Portuguese their aim was to get control of this trade.
Thus we can say that the rulers of Oman wanted to dominate the East African Coast from the 18th century because of the following reasons;
They wanted to control (rule) the East African people.
They wanted to dominate the trade along the Coast.
It would also enable the Oman Sultan (ruler) to collect taxes and customs duty from the traders.
Why Sultan Seyyid Said shifted his capital from Muscat in Oman to Zanzibar?
In 1840 Sultan Said shifted his capital from Muscat in Oman to Zanzibar. He stopped ruling East Africa from Oman. Instead from then onwards, both Oman and East Africa were to be ruled from Zanzibar.
Reasons:-
He liked the Coast of Zanzibar because it had good climate, it was not as hot as it was in Oman.
To rule and control the mainland which was the main source of wealth.
Zanzibar had fertile soil for clove and coconut plantation.
It had a good harbour with deep water.
Note:-
The Oman Arab rulers expanded clove and coconut plantations in Zanzibar because they wanted to establish clove and coconut economy for conducting trade with the outside capitalist world such as Britain, Germany, France and United States of America.
Sultan Said encouraged Arab settlement in Zanzibar for more expansion and production of cloves and coconuts, thereby local people became landless and agricultural workers (slaves).
The techniques used to get slaves.
Slaves were obtained through various ways:-
Through raiding villages and capturing people.
Through selling prisoners of war obtained from local wars.
Through selling criminals (people with mistakes).
Through selling of domestic slaves.
Through way laying and ambush.
Through the use of trickery and false pretence.
The Social and Economic Effects of Slave Trade on the African Societies.
The slave trade lasted for about 400 years. The effects to Africa were many and terrible. They were all bad. Nothing good could be brought about by slave trade.
The following were the results;
Depopulation.
Loss of labour of the young and healthy.
Technical retardation.
Collapse of economic activities.
Dehumanization and humiliation.
Fear and insecurity among the people.
Hunger (starvation) due to lack of enough food.
Some Kingdoms like Congo and Lunda declined because of trade.
N.B: Slavery caused psychological effects on its victims particularly fear and insecurity. For all the time people could not settle in their homes as any time they expected to be taken as a slaves. Also the slaves all the time did not have the peace of mind.
* The Trans- Atlantic Slave trade in Africa (Triangular Slave Trade).
It was the type of slave trade which involved three regions, that is America (North and South), Europe and Africa (West Africa) between 16th and 19th century.
The origins of Trans – Atlantic Slave Trade (Factors for its rise)
The role played by the crusade wars in the Middle East between the Muslims and Christians in Turkey. It was because of these wars that the normal land route to Asia was blocked and hence European traders were forced to take an alternative route to India, so it was this alternative route which made the European traders to reach West Africa.
Europeans in America while in search of alternative route to India. (The discovery of American continent). CHRISTOPHER COLOMBUS a Spanish reached America. It was found that the climate was found ideal for sugar plantation and silver mines.
Due to availability of gold and silver and tropical crops such as cotton and sisal, there was a needed of exploitation of these resources.
At first the Europeans to solve the problem of labour they employed the Red Indians and European convicts. But the Indians died of new European diseases and were physically unfit.
The Portuguese and the Spanish then turned on Africans. The Africans taken to the Americas survived disease, physical strains and related hardships better than the other groups hence forth slaves were taken from Africa.
(ii) Regions involved.
Western European countries i.e Portugal, France, Britain, Spain and Holland.
The Atlantic Coast of Africa.
West Africa, the Congo, Angola and Southern Africa.
The Americas – South and North America and the Caribbean Islands.
(iii) The major commodities (items) involved.
EUROPE: Clothes, firearms, utensils, glassware, alcoholic drinks, tobacco pipe.
THE AMERICAN/CARRIBEAN/WEST INDIES.
Cotton, sugar, rice, gold, silver, timber, furwool and indigo.
AFRICA: Slaves, gold, hides, gum, timber, kolanuts, palm oil, pepper, bees wax and other tropical products.
Fig. The Triangular Trade
(iv) Effects on Africa
Economic effects.
Decline of local industries.
Retardation (setback) of economic activities in Africa such as agriculture, pastoralism and fishing.
The decline and collapse of the Trans-Saharan trade and the development of legitimate trade ( a trade in other goods than human beings).
It led to the underdevelopment and over exploitation of African resources.
The removal of strong labour force from Africa.
The Africans more especially chiefs who were involved in the trade became rich.
The Social – cultural Effects.
Depopulation.
Creation of fear and insecurity.
Destruction of property such as houses were set on fire and crops.
Loss of dignity by the Africans.
There was intermarriage between races involved in the trade.
The methods of obtaining slaves retarded the growth of African culture that is there were no longer traditional ceremonies and tribal and social gathering.
Christianity and European culture spread into Africa.
