African Empires in the Early Modern Period: (1450-1750) Essay

One of the proportional topics in this m period is imperium building in Africa. The AP Jedi master want you to know only peerless of the following (Kongo, Benin, Oyo, Dahomey, Ashanti or Songhay) so they probably are not going to ask you to compare dickens African Kingdoms since they stated you only need to know one so they could ask you to compare the process of conglomerate building in Africa to that in (Asia, Latin America or Europe) but I am providing you with randomness from three African pudding stones just in case and each if from a different component in Sub-Saharan Africa so different historical forces to consider.The Kongo (c. 14th 17th century)Located on the western coastal share of Central Africa along the Congo river. Centralized state with officials everyplaceseeing military, judicial, and financial personal business. The empire was divided into regions and governors who were usually related to the King oversaw those areas some areas were allowed to continue to regularisation as long as they recognized the superiority of the Kongo King they had to writing to him yearly for inspection and renewal of their title. The empire was financed twain by the value of trade as well as a head tax collected by local administers and sent to the capital.Songhay (West Africa Sudanic Empire) (Mid 1400s Mid-1600s) As the military group of the Mali continued in the 1400s a state within the Empire was able to obtain its independence this was called the Songhay Empire with its capital in the employment city of Gao. The height of the Empire came under the leadership of Sunni Ali who reignd from 1464-1493. He built an elaborate administrative and military apparatus to oversee affairs in his realm.The Kingdom of the Asante (1680-1900)The Asante were one of the Akanspeaking peoples who settled in the forest region of modern Ghana between the 11thand 13th centuries. The separate Asante chiefdoms were united by Osei Tutu in the 1670s and in 1696 he took the title of Asantehene (king) and founded the Asante empire. Asante was the only subtract of Africa where rich agricultural and mineral resources coincided. With its capital at Kumasia only 30 miles s extincth of the northern forest edge it could draw on both forest and savanna produce some of the traditional crops were plantains, yams, and rice.The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century Kings of the Kongo converted to Christianity as a flair to establish closer commercial transaction with Portuguese merchants and diplomatic relations with the Portuguese King.He appointed governors to oversee provinces and maintained a maestro regular army, with a cavalry and navy of small boats and canoes which were able to patrol the Niger River. He extended his empire over the areas formally controlled by the Mali rulers he conquered the cities of Timbuktu and Jenne (which took him 7 years of siege warfare he finally married its cigaret to solidify his rule). From the capital city of Gao the Songhay rulers presided over a prosperous empire that participated in the transSaharan trade that brought Salt, textiles and metal goods in exchange for gold and slaves. scorn the fact that the rulers were Islamic and supported Islamic institutions mosques / universities the vast mass of the masses remained non-Muslim. The Songhay meet their demise in 1591 when they took on a Moroccan army armed with musket gun the defeat left open an opportunity for regions to uprising against Songhay administration.Kongo Kings appreciated the fact that Christianity offered a strong endorsement of their monarchical rule the new faith was convenient also because the saints of the Roman Catholic church were similar to spirits long recognized in Kongolese religions. For the first account of years Portugal and the Kingdom of the Kongo dealt with each other with a certain train of equality they exchanged ambassadors and a number of Portuguese went to Kongo advisors , priests, soldiers, tailors, shoemakers, masons, and minors.One of the approximately important Kings of the Kongo was Nzinga Mbemba also known as King Afonso I (1506-1542) he was a devout Roman Catholic and actively sought out to convert all his subjects to Christianity he attended religious services insouciant and always studied the Bible. Trade and relations with Portugal brought wealth and foreign wisdom to the Kongo items such as ivory, copper and slaves were exchanged for European textiles, weapons (guns, guns, guns) remember that during this time period (1450-1750) Europeans were colonizing the Western Hemisphere as this time period went on the demand for slaves increased this dramatically impacted societies such as the Kongo one King during the 16th century himself had 20,000 slaves in his household.However the vast majority of wealth of the empire was in its gold deposits the Europeans would call this the Gold swoop which they used to buy European guns whic h further solidified the power of the Asante over nearby regions which did not have access.Guns were also obtained by providing the Europeans with slaves the notorious El Mina a fortress built along the coast where slaves were housed until passing play across the Atlantic was built on Ghanas coast. otherwise items brought by the Europeans were iron, horses, cloth, tobacco and finished manufactured goods.Historians sometimes speak just about Asantes metropolitan and provincial spheres. Metropolitan Asante consisted primarily of the towns in a fifty-mile radius around Kumasi. The rulers of these towns, many of whom were related to the ruling family, participated in the enthronization of Asante kings, served on the kings advisory council, and retained considerable autonomy. at long last the relationship between Portugal and the Kongo worsened because the Portuguese desire for to a greater extent and more than slave pushed them to negotiate with other regions around the Kongo som e of with were enemies of the Kongo while others were protectorates the authorisation of the Kongolese King was undermined which led to war with the two nations.The Songhay empire crumbled into a serial of small regional kingdoms and with the arrival of the Europeans and the redirection of trade towards the coastline the Sudanic Empires ceased to play a expectant role in West African politics.By contrast, outlying regions were more clearly subordinate and were forced to pay tribute to the Asante rulers. The most conflicting districts of the state which were populated by non-Akan people annually sent thousands of slaves to Kumasi. They situated all trade under state agencies controlled by the Asante King, and created a heterogeneous bureaucracy to govern and collect taxes. Asante achieved a high degree of administrative efficiency (its wellmaintained roads, for example, were famous) and the ability to implement sophisticated fiscal policies.