Global 12.3 Kingdoms and Trading States of East Africa

Global I Table of Contents

=Trade Routes of East Africa=
 * While Islam was spreading across the continent of Africa, one region held out, keeping and outpost of Christianity in Africa. Axum, modern day Ethiopia, converted to Christianity after the king, Ezana, converted around 300 A.D.
 * Axum flourished thanks to its strategic location for trade. In the 1600's, Islamic people surrounded Axum and cut it off from its harbors, leading to the decline of the kingdom.
 * The Christian heritage of Axum survived in modern day Ethiopia. Until the 1970's, Ethiopian rulers claimed to be descendants of Solomon.

=East African Trading States=
 * City-states on the east coast of Africa thrived thanks to trade with India and the Middle East.
 * The blend of cultures that occurred in East Africa lead to the rise of a new language, Swahili, which put Arabic words mixed onto a Banut base.
 * Great Zimbabwe (Photos)