A History of Sub-Saharan Africa, Second Edition

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03780-9 - A History of Sub-Saharan Africa: Second Edition Robert O. Collins and James M. Burns Frontmatter More information

The second edition of A History of Sub-Saharan Africa continues to provide an accessible introduction to the continent’s history for students and general readers. The authors employ a thematic approach to their subject, focusing on how the environment has shaped the societies and cultures of the African peoples. The text demonstrates how the geography, climate, and geology of Africa inﬂuenced the rise of states and empires, the emergence of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the European conquest, and the creation of independent African nations. Yet the book maintains a focus on the peoples whose creative ener- gies built unique communities and traditions within the challenging context of the Africa landmass. In the process of reconstructing this continent’s rich history, the authors analyze the contentious scholarly debates that have emerged out of this ﬁeld. The book is illustrated with photographs, maps, and sidebars that feature the salient points on either side of the debates.

robert o. collins (1933–2008) began his career in Africa in 1956 when he traveled to the newly independent nation of Sudan. He taught African history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for forty years. He is the author of more than twenty books on African history.

james m. burns is a Professor at Clemson University, where he has taught since 1999. In the past decade, he has published more than a dozen articles on popular culture in Africa and the African diaspora. His monograph Flickering Shadows: Cinema and Identity in Colonial Zimbabwe was chosen as one of Choice magazine’s outstanding titles for 2002. Another monograph, Cinema and Society in the British Empire, 1895–1940, is forthcoming.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-03780-9 - A History of Sub-Saharan Africa: Second Edition Robert O. Collins and James M. Burns Frontmatter More information

A History of Sub-Saharan Africa

Second Edition

ROBERT O. COLLINS Late of the University of California, Santa Barbara JAMES M. BURNS Clemson University

32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA

Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107628519

C Robert O. Collins and James M. Burns 2007, 2014 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2007 Second edition published 2014 Reprinted 2015 Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books, Inc. A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Collins, Robert O., 1933–2008. A history of Sub-Saharan Africa / Robert O. Collins, late of the University of California, Santa Barbara ; James M. Burns, Clemson University. – Second edition. pages cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-107-03780-9 (hardback) – ISBN 978-1-107-62851-9 (pbk.) 1. Africa, Sub-Saharan – History. I. Burns, James McDonald. II. Title. DT351.C68 2013 967–dc23 2013016519 ISBN 978-1-107-03780-9 Hardback ISBN 978-1-107-62851-9 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

To our students

Contents

Acknowledgments page ix

Introduction 1

Part I Foundations 1 The historical geography of Africa 7

2 Kingdoms on the Nile 23

3 The peoples of sub-Saharan Africa: society, culture, and language 40

4 Crops, cows, and iron 52

5 Northeast Africa in the age of Aksum 64

6 Empires of the plains 78

7 East Africa and the Indian Ocean world 96

8 The Lake Plateau of East Africa 114

9 Societies and states of the West African forest 129

10 Kingdoms and trade in Central Africa 143

11 The peoples and states of southern Africa 159

Part II Africa in World History 12 The arrival of Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa 175

13 Diseases and crops: old and new 190

14 Slavery in Africa 201

vii

viii Contents

15 The Atlantic slave trade 212

16 The Asian slave trade 227

Part III Imperial Africa 17 Upsetting the equilibrium 249

18 The European conquest of Africa 263

19 Southern Africa, 1486–1910 279

20 European colonial rule in Africa 295

21 The colonial legacy 308

Part IV Independent Africa 22 Nationalism and the independence of colonial Africa 331

23 The Union of South Africa and the apartheid state 344

24 A decade of hope 357

25 Cold War Africa 366

26 Africa at the beginning of the twenty-ﬁrst century 377

Index 391

Acknowledgments

Bob Collins, the visionary behind this volume, passed away shortly after the publication of its first edition. It is with a heavy heart, and an enormous sense of responsibility, that I have prepared the revision of the second edition for publication without him. Bob loved scholarship. He was fascinated by the debates that provide the lifeblood of our discipline. I never saw him so happy as when he was mulling over a historical problem and evaluating the evidence provided for contrary points of view. So although it is with some trepidation that I find myself revising his words, I know that he would want to deliver the most up-to-date scholarship to his readers. Although most people in our field knew Bob for the quality and quantity of his scholarship, he was first and foremost a teacher. He loved to share a good story with his students, and he never encountered a story he enjoyed more than the history of Africa. He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the continent and could have regaled listeners for hours from memory. But he never did – his class presentations were scripted with an attention to detail that is reflected in every page of this text. Bob’s teaching, like his scholarship, was always precise, never casual or half-hearted. This was because he was a perfectionist. But also because he believed that the story he was telling was profoundly interesting and vitally important. Those who had the enormous good fortune to have Bob as a mentor knew him to be – to use a cliched,´ but entirely apt phrase – a true gentleman and scholar. For the reader who never knew Bob, I hope this book will give you a glimpse of the enormous intelligence, passion, and integrity of the man.