Africa and Asia

1. Africa and Asia 1750-1870, the early stages of Imperialism

2. New African States • Southern Africa: Zulu kingdom • Shaka created the kingdom (and eventually, culture) as a result of conflict over grazing and farming lands • Shaka expanded the kingdom with fierce military power, raiding neighbors, seizing cattle, capturing women and children and inspiring fierce loyalty from his people • This movement created refugees in surrounding areas, some of whom created their own states (Swazi, Lesotho)

3. New African States • Western Africa: Sokoto Caliphate • Islamic reform movements created powerful states • Rural people had been slow to accept Islam, so Muslim rulers scholars began to preach the need for real Muslim practices • Jihad was declared, acquiring new lands, enforcing Islamic law in these places • The Sokoto Caliphate was the largest of these new West African states • These new states became centers of learning for Muslim boys • Sokoto slave trade carried 10,000 slaves a year, mostly women and children

4. Modernization in Egypt • Muhammad Ali ruled Egypt after Napoleon from 1805-1848 • His main goal was to give Egypt the military strength to resist further domination by Europe • He used European experts to help him modernize • Reforms included: • Increased agricultural production, modern government system, modern army, European-style school system • To pay for these things, Egyptians were forced to grow cotton for profit; the demand on the peasants was high • He did not get rid of Islamic traditions; i.e., he revived many Islamic classics by translating manuals into Arabic, renewing interest in the language • By the end of Muhammad’s reign, the population of Egypt had doubled, trade with Europe expanded 600%, new educated Egyptian class rose

5. European Curiosity in Africa • Europeans were first interested in finding the source of Africa’s great rivers, finding places for Christian missionaries to visit, and discovering raw materials to exploit (a sign of things to come) • France in Algeria: • The French invaded and lost, but the war raged on for 18 years anyways • Exploration in West Africa along the Niger River • The slave trade had contributed greatly to the increase in the value of trade on the Atlantic • In the 1790s a successful slave revolt in Saint Domingue helped end the slave trade. • Humanitarians and reformers called for the end of the slave trade • In 1808 Great Britain and the U.S. ended the formal slave trade • African’s expanded “legitimate” trade—palm oil was successful • The social structure of the west coast economies was greatly altered • End of slave trade increase Western influence in Africa—British anti-slave ports, Liberia, more missionaries

6. India Under British Rule • A brief scuffle for India at the end of a declining Mughal Empire (Iran, France) saw Britain win the big prize • At first the British East India Company controlled the subcontinent, little by little—major ports of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay • The population of India was huge (more than all of Europe and colonies) and the British raj created a familiar model of government • Main policies of British government: • Powerful and efficient government • Disarm civilians, make them into farmers of cotton/raw materials for England’s textile industry • Free reign for Christian missionaries • Use of “traditions” to link past and present, mostly to display honor to British rulers

7. Effects of British Rule on India