Islamic Empire and African Kingdoms

Which of the following developments regarding western African trade led to the other four?

• Carthaginian and Roman colonization of northern Africa

• Expansion of Islam throughout the Sudan

• Population increase in the Ghana Kingdoms

• The annual camel caravans of the Berbers through the Sahara

Through what measures did Umayyad and Abbasid rulers encourage expansion?

• They constructed capital cities in all of the Muslim territories.

• They created a warrior class similar to the Japanese samurai.

• They offered social and economic advantages to Muslim converts.

• They formed military alliances with nomadic groups like the Huns and the Mongols.

As trade expanded in western Africa, how did the political framework of the region change?

• The trading towns formed a confederacy to protect each other from the Mediterranean empires.

• The trading towns enlarged to form small self-governing city-states.

• Ancient kingdoms like Ghana and Mali rose to power.

• Ethiopia emerged as the most powerful empire of Africa.

Shi'ite Muslims believe which of the following?

• Mohammad's son-in-law, Ali, was a heretic.

• There should be a separation between religion and state.

• The Abbasid Dynasty was illegitimate.

• Mohammad's son-in-law, Ali, was entitled to be caliph of the Islamic Empire.

All of the following were characteristics of the Abbasid caliphate EXCEPT

• the arts and sciences flourished.

• more privileges were given to non-Arab Muslims.

• significant cultural diffusion occurred.

• a policy of civil service examinations as in China was implemented.

What was the importance of Timbuktu to western Africa by the 1300s and 1400s?

• It was the Islamic spiritual center of western Africa

• It was the Mali Empire's chief commercial outpost along the caravan routes.

• It was a major political, economic, and cultural center of the Mali Empire.

• It remained the only city to maintain its allegiance to the Roman Empire.

What was one benefit of Mali becoming a Muslim city-state by the mid-thirteenth century?

• It gave peasants and small farmers new economic opportunities.

• It established its capital at the Muslim city of Timbuktu.

• It formed trade contacts with Arab states north of the Sahara.

• It generated enough capital to fund its shipbuilding industry.

Islamic culture was most widely adopted by which of the following groups in the Swahili city-states?

• Members of the African elite

• Peasants and small farmers

• Artisans and craft specialists

• Leaders of the nomadic tribes

Which of the following answers best describes the geographical advantage of the Kingdom of Ghana?

• Ghana had plenty of fresh water.

• Ghana was near the coast, so it could trade with Europeans.

• Ghana was protected from attack on all sides by mountains.

• Ghana sat near the beginning of the Trans-Saharan trade routes.

Which of the following natural resources did Ghana use in long distance trade?

• Iron and copper.

• Ivory and silver.

• Gold and iron.

• Stone and marble.