Vocab Unit 3

• kinship - a connection among people by blood, marriage, or adoption.  My example: (People connected together) example : Many in Africa are connected by kinship. 
• savannah- is the name for grassland in a tropical region. The middle section of West Africa. It's flat,grassy, and has scattered trees. Example: Savannahs make up the southern region of West Africa.
• Timbuktu - Sundiata developed this city as a center of trade and culture. Timbuktu was on the Niger River where the desert and Savannah vegetation zone. Later it became a famous center of Islamic scholarship. 
• Kilwa -  an ancient city-state on the eastern coast of Africa, settled by people from Iran and Arabia, that started to prosper in the late A.D. 1200s. Example : Kilwa was one of the most important city-state. 
• Mutapa - an ancient kingdom in what now is Zimbabwe, established by a Shona king around A.D. 1440: Also a ruler of this kingdom. Example: the ruler of Mutapa was Mutota, by Mutota's death, the empire controlled most of the Zimbabwe. 
• Labor specialization - the doing of specific types of work by trained or knowledgeable workers. My example : specific type of work that a person is focused on. Example : labor specialization led to a diverse West African economy. 
• Ghana - a region between the Sahara and the forests of the southern West Africa, which was home to many ancient cultures. Example: the people used to call their King Ghana. Later the region became known as Ghana. 
• Mansa Musa - he was the most famous king of Mali. He came to power in 1312. His name means King Moses. He expanded his empire borders and died in 1332. He was an emperor who made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca.  Example: Mansa Musa was a great emperor. 
• swahili -  an African language that blends Bantu and Arabic elements. Example: Arabs and the Africans created a new language called Swahili. 
• Kongo - an ancient kingdom along the western coast of Africa, settled by the Bantu - speaking Kongo people sometime before the 14th century. Example: Bantu Speaking people established a mighty kingdom called the Kongo. 
• griots- the storytellers or griots used music in their stories. My example : griots are people that included music while telling a story. Example: kids sat around griots so they could tell their story. 
• Almoravids - a North African Islamic dynasty that tried to forcibly convert neighboring peoples, including those of Morocco, Spain, And Ghana. Example: Almoravids came to power in North Africa during the 11th century. 
• Songhai - a West African people whose leaders created a great empire in the 15th and 16th centuries A.D. Example: Songhai's empire was captured by Mali's in 1325. 
• Shona - a Bantu - speaking culture that was thriving in what is now the countries of Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by A.D. 1000. Example: Shonas were people that spoke Bant
• vegetation zone
• Mali - a west African empire established by Malinke people. Example : in about 1240, the empire Mali formed in the southern area of what had been Ghana's empire. 
• Askia Muhammed - the ruler of the Songhai empire from A.D. 1493 - 1528, who expanded the empire and organized its government. Example: in 1493, he became the ruler of the Songhai empire. 
• Great Zimbabwe - the central settlement of the Shona empire in Africa, enclosed by a large stone wall, covering more than 100 acres, and having a population of 10,000 - 20,000. Example: Great Zimbabwe was the centre of the Shona Empire. It was surround by huge plains, Shona used them to grow food. 
• Sahara Desert- the northern section of West Africa is a part of a large desert caller Sahara. It's a very known desert in West Africa. Example: Sahara is a big and famous desert. 
• Sundiata - an ancient ruler of Malinke people, who captured the capital of Ghana, and greatly expanded the empire. Example: the Mali empire was led by a great leader Sundiata. 
• Bantu migration - a movement, beginning sometime around 1000 B.C. of Bantu-speaking people from the West Africa to the south and east, spreading their languages and cultures. Example: It was the most important migration in the history. 
• Great Enclosure - the largest of the 3 main sections of the Shona settlement of the Great Zimbabwe - likely a royal residence. Example: Great Enclosure is the largest and most significant of 3 sections.