Between 1200 and 1450, Africa was home to empires of immense wealth, cultural innovation, and global connections. In this AP World History Modern Unit 1.5 lesson, Mr. Hutchings explores how African states developed political systems, expanded trade networks, and blended religions to shape the medieval world.

🌍 What you’ll learn in this video:

• Kin-Based Societies → Hausa city-states and clan governance
• The Mali Empire → Sundiata, Mansa Musa, Timbuktu, and gold trade
• Other West African States → Kanem-Bornu and Hausa contributions
• East Africa → Great Zimbabwe’s stone walls and Swahili Coast trade cities
• Christian Ethiopia → Rock-hewn churches and biblical legitimacy
• Society & Culture → Kinship, slavery systems, griots, and oral traditions
• Trade Networks → Trans-Saharan caravans and Indian Ocean exchange

📘 This lecture provides the evidence you need for the AP exam: governance, economy, religion, and cultural developments. It also challenges the myth of a “peripheral” Africa by showing its central role in medieval global history.

👉 Watch until the end to see how these African states connect to the broader world of Afro-Eurasia.

✨ Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and comment — stay curious, because history matters!

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Chapters

(0:00 ) Opening

(01:22 ) Contextualization

(03:00 ) Kin-Based Societies and Political Structures

(04: 21) The Mali Empire

(05:10 ) Mansa Musa (r. 1312–1337)

(06:06 ) Economy and Society

(06:35 ) Decline

(06:53 ) Other West African States

(06:56 ) Kanem-Bornu

(07:09 ) The Hausa city-states

(07:39 ) East Africa: Zimbabwe and the Swahili Coast

(07:47 ) Great Zimbabwe (12th–15th centuries)

(08:32 ) The Swahili Coast

(09:22 ) Christian Ethiopia

(09:54 ) King Lalibela (r. early 1200s)

(10:37 ) Society and Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa

(10:42 ) Social structures

(10:58 ) Slavery

(11:18 ) The Indian Ocean slave trade

(11:32 ) The Zanj Rebellion (869–883)

(11:48 ) Oral traditions

(12:13 ) Connections and Trade

(12:47 ) Why It Matters

(13:31 ) Closing