THE ROLE OF GEOGRAPHY IN WEST AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT 8TH TO 15TH CENTURY

West Africa’s geography: its role on  historical              development [8^th-15^th century]

THE process in which the various peoples of west Africa developed as been ascribed mainly to their geography .in the sense that the vegetation ,climate, soil e.t.c surrounding the various people played a vital role in the history of the sub-region.the vast area of west-Africa can be divided into two distinct geographical regions in our period they were, the savannah belt to the north also known as the sudan;which is the Atlantic coast up to lake Chad covering areas like the Niger, Senegal,  Gambia and Volta with peoples like the wolof tukulor ,Hausa e.t.c. the forest belt on the other hand stretches from sierra Leone to the Cameroons comprising of peoples like the mende , temne, baule, asante, fon, Yoruba e.t.c 

        The geographical variations found in the two zons affected movements and communications infact the open  plains of the savannah belt played a significant role in the developmental process of the area.the zone was characterized with tall savannah grasses covering enormous plains thus,allowed for easy movements and communications among its people and external contacts such as north Africa.for example,most people found in this area had a mixture of negriod and non-negriod blood because of the migrations of peoples like the berbers and

Tuareg who intermarried with indigenous inhabitants of the belt. also, unlike the savannah belt the forest belt was characterized by tall trees  and thick forest which limited communications and movements hence, we can say that most of the settlements found in this area grew in isolation and possibly had few external contacts due to environmental hindrance.

   Furthermore, the different environment found in the two zones influenced the occupation of the people which also suggest a variance in the lifestyle of people in each region. for example, in the savannah belt the absence of thick forest and presence of an open grass land led to the success of raising cattle .it provided pasture for cattle and other animals like sheep and goats e.t.c and in the quest to look for more pasture for grazing movement was imminent thus, creating a form of nomadic living. in the case of the forest people the were predominantly farmers who were more successful in the terrain of cultivation of crops such as banana, cocoa e.t.c hence the practiced sedentary living.

    Beside these variations in life style ,occupation .the geography of west Africa had an overwhelming influence on the political organization and methods of administration used by the people to maintain law and order .the savannah zones were there was a vast area for settlements and easy communication

allowed for the development of kingdoms  which were structured or constituted of different villages which suggest a centralized form of administration or government .for example the popular Songhai and kanem borno empires e.t.c while the savannah regions were successfully transformed into empires because of the environment the forest region though had a few exception such as Benin and Oyo empires developed fairly isolated with a typical political unit being the village  with head of families, group, elders being the major leaders  who controlled administration and government hence, small states and chiefdoms was a major character of their political organization .examples of such were found in settlements in the Niger delta and ,ivory cost e.t.c

       With geography their was a huge influence on commercial activities. particularly with the advent of the camel into north Africa  their was increased trade between the Sudan and north Africa .in fact the trade has been popularly referred to as the trans Saharan trade which was noted to have sponsored the rise in imperial status of empires in west Africa such as Benin, Oyo, Songhai e.t.c

   Lastly, though geography brought its blessings it posed difficulties and challenges on both zones  for instance the presence of the tsetse fly in the forest region discouraged the breeding of some animals such as horses and cattle likewise the

savannah region was bad for the cultivation of some crops like palm, cocoa e.t.c

Undoubtedly, the geography of west Africa within our period acted as both a limiting and developing factor the various states and empires of the two zones it allowed for some form of inter dependence  between the wo regions  for resources they could not nurture. in all ,we can say the geography of the sub region has played a vital role in its historical development.

Sources

Stride,g.t and c.ifeka-peoples and empires of west Africa 1000-1800 surrey: Thomas nelson 1971

Basil Davidson –the growth of African civilization: A history of west –Africa 1000-1800

Fage,j.d-a history of west –africa Cambridge 1969