AFRICAN PRE COLONIAL EDUCATION

PRE-COLONIAL EDUCATION

Education is crucial in any type of society for the preservation of the lives of its members and the maintenance of the social structure. As seen above, it is education that gives the chance to the transfer of knowledge, skills, culture and experience from one generation to another. Some white scholars believe Africa was uncivilized continent, had nothing formal and no education existed before their arrival. Thus they believed that they were bringing education to entirely uneducated peoples. This supposition would have been valid if educated were equated with literacy and formal schooling. Education is not the same as schooling, but it is a lifelong process conducted by many agencies. Education may be action exercised by adult generation to instruct the minor (youth), or in any other form.

What is Education?

Varied definitions of education have been presented by various scholars. With these different opinions, you will note however, that many of them do agree that education is a lifelong process through which the knowledge, skills, values and experience are being transmitted from one person, group of people or generation to another. In this regard, education may be equated to socialization.

Thus it can be eloquently said that education existed in every society around the world. Pre-colonial societies in Africa, like other pre-capitalist societies, had educational systems that were deemed appropriate for their needs. If education never existed, then people would never have managed to survive. According to historians, both formal and informal education existed. Islamic education was existent in many societies which Arabs arrived earlier. The centres of Muslim learning were established in many places between 9th and 10th centuries. In 970 at Cairo, Al-Azhar University was founded. Furthermore, African societies did possess a kind of traditional education, which produced well-rounded personality who served the society in well in all aspects of life. However, the purpose of this discussion is to highlight the pre-colonial traditional education, that was existent in all communities, and was the basis of social, political, economic and technological changes in communities.

African traditional education

This is the education existed in traditional African societies, in which the individual acquired attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experiences and instructions from the elders. This education was never introduced by any one, existed in Africa since African societies became socially organized. Like elsewhere, education in Africa was considered as part and parcel of social economic and political development. Therefore, it can be said that, the use of iron tools, creating and effectively governing structured societies, cultivating land spaces and rearing of herds of animals, transmitting the socio-cultural values and norms of the society from one generation to the other, etc. all these could only be possible through some forms of education. The primary purposes of this education were;

· Preserve the cultural heritage of society. Education is the basis of any social group or structured society. In order for the culture and values of any given social group or society to be transmitted, education must come into play. The “Omuteko regiment” of the Bahaya in North-West Tanzania; the “Jando” and Unyago of the coastal people, in Tanzania; as well as the Circumcision ceremonies practiced by some ethnic groups in Africa are some examples of the African cultural values associated with traditional education. Each generation therefore ensured the effective transmission of the values and norms to the younger generation after them.

· To prepare youth to master their environments in all aspects of life, economically, socially and politically. Pre-colonial education aimed at preparing people for a better life in the society. The education started from childhood until such a time when an individual attained adulthood. Man acquired the learning enabled him to utilize resources found in environment for his own survival.

· To promote good morals in society. Every society is concerned about fostering moral character in children and forming responsible citizens. Thus the traditional education also targeted to develop moral characters to the children. The learners were instructed on how to behave in good manner in societies.

Characteristics of pre-colonial education

· Education was relevant with African environment. Important to note, is that the training was closely related to the environment. As the education was through observation, youth learnt what was relevant to their environment. Thus, the education did not alienate man from his environment.

· Education in pre-colonial Africa was informally given. No special schools, special teachers, or syllabus which guieded learning. Every an adult in society was a teacher and had the duty to impart skillsa and good morlas to the youth generation. People were everywhere learning, in the homes, on the streets and everywhere they were.

· Education was progressive as it involved development of a child mentally, physically, emotionally. The learner develops physically, mentally, emotionally, morally, and socially, powerful education must consider their development in all these aspects.

· Education was functional and practical. The most crucial aspect of pre-colonial African education was its affiliation with practices in sharp contrast with that which was later introduced by whites. The education was acquired through living and doing. The bulk of the learning was achieved through active engagement in doing what people were learning about, thus the learned knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired, were used to perform the roles and duties expected of a member in the community. There was no alienation from the manual labour and mental capacity.

However, it was more powerful than the colonial education. It is clear in Africa and Tanzania in particular today that there is no any other form of education taught for the survival of the children as it were in the indigenous (pre-colonial) African education. Individuals acquired most of their knowledge, skills, attitudes and values through informal education.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT AND THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION

The pre-colonial African societies had also achieved technological advancements. Our ancestors, with the intellectual advantage, invented many different tools that could help them simplify their life. To survive, humans need three basic things; Water, Food and Shelter. Tools allowed man to perform different activities to achieve these, to hunt animals, to dig roots, to build and to perform many other important tasks that made life easier for them. The first tools were made out of stone. Thus, historians refer to the period of time as the Stone Age. Thus the Stone Age was a time in history when early humans used tools and weapons made out of stone. Man used stone tools for many things such as hunting, cutting, and digging. It lasted from when the first stone tools were made, by our ancestors, million years ago until the introduction of metal tools a few thousand years ago. The Stone Age is usually divided into three separate periods; the old stone age (Paleolithic), middle stone age (Mesolithic) and new stone age (Neolithic).

Neolithic revolution

One of very significant event in human history was what is historically known as Neolithic revolution. Although it is not as well-known as the French Revolution, or the Industrial Revolution, it was the beginning of every level of development achieved by man in different aspects. Even so, it stands alone as the greatest revolution in the history of mankind. Were it not for the Neolithic Revolution, society as we know it today would be vastly different, and none of these other revolutions mentioned would have ever taken place.

Man was for many centuries on Earth a hunter and gatherer (during the early and middle stone ages). His life was parasitically dependent on nature and engaged no in any production. Every day, groups of people would trap and kill wild animals, while others collected and prepared wild plants, nuts, and fruits. With this nature of life, man was substantially mobile. Nothing could keep him permanently in one area. He was always in frequent movements from one place to another searching for food. Gradually man changed from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary farming lifestyle. This took place in the late Stone Age. This is what is known as Neolithic Revolution. Thus Neolithic Revolution was a gradual change from nomadic hunting and gathering communities to permanent settlements and agriculture practicing societies. This period is described as a "revolution" because it changed the way of life of communities which made the change. It occurred in different prehistoric human societies at different times.

The change from dependence on hunting and gathering edible fruits and roots as well as fishing to domestication of animals and cultivation of crops marked significant steps in human history. Man’s ways of life was changed tremendously, some people became pastoralists looking after cattle, sheep, goats, and camels but the majority engaged in mixed farming.

The following were the major changes in man’s way of life in Neolithic period.

ü Creation of Permanent settlements. The shift from hunting-gathering to agricultural societies led to permanent settlements. As the man spent most of time for hunting and gathering, he could not reside in one area. Because of agriculture people could now farm instead of hunting and gathering. This allowed people to settle down and live in one place. This led to settlements and the development of group living.

ü Specialisation of labour. Another effect of farming was job specialization. When a successful village began to produce a surplus of food, some workers could be excused from farming altogether, instead engaged themselves in some other activities. New skilled professions were born such as tool-making, milling, pottery, weaving, and carpentry, to name a few. In turn the Neolithic Revolution gave rise to rapid technological progress that continues unabated to the present day.

ü Development of political organisations. Africans had not only lived in large groups, they had structured states and organised political systems. With agriculture, population pressure and permanent settlements very complex societies emerged. Here there was a need to have clear political authority to govern people. A new political class emerged, specialising in the skills of governance.

ü The beginning of agriculture. It was the period when man started to master his environment by engaging in crop cultivation. Initially man depended on what environments provided, but in late stone age started corp cultivation.

ü Development of trade relations among the people. Also with the discovery of agriculture people began to have food surpluses, this led to the development of trade. It led to trade becasue people would now trade the extra food that they grew.

ü Population Growth. The changes brought about by farming resulted to food surplus. So with more food, the population expanded. Rearing of animals and crop cultivation freed people from depending on the environment as adequate food was produced with a surplus for storage.

BARTER TRADE IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

Throughout human history trade and exchange have been integral to the internal development and external interaction of economies. As no society is self-sufficient, trade relations must always exist between the societies. Most pre-colonial African societies had for long engaged in trading activities for the exchange of surplus goods for commodities that they did not produce locally. When the economy of Africa was still at its embryonic stage, in the absence of money, exchange was essentially done by barter. However, some commodities which were highly demanded played money-function and acted as the medium of exchange. These included for example brass rods, copper, cowries, iron and salt. The good example of existence of barter trade in pre-colonial Africa was trans-Saharan trade.

TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE.

The Trans-Saharan trade route was conducted throughout a vast region between the Mediterranean countries and sub-Saharan Africa. It was an important trading route commencing from the early eighth century to late sixteenth century.

Trans-Saharan trade was the long-distance trade between the people of north and west Africa across Saharan desert. Perhaps it was the most significant among other trade routes in pre-colonial Africa. Not only because the caravans travelled long distance, but given that the trading routes cross some of the most hostile territory on earth, the Saharan desert. People from north crossed the Saharan Desert which had for centuries seen as a big barrier between the people of north and west, to exchange their commodities. While existing from prehistoric times, the regular commercial and cultural exchange between Western Africa and the north Arab did not start properly until the 8th century AD. The development of the trade can be traced from the 7thcentury AD when North Africa was conquered by the Muslim Arabs, who were very famous in trading. The arabs brought from saud Arabia very luxurios commodities like clothes, guns, and porcelains demanding from the natives slaves, and gold. This forced people from north africa to act as the middlemen in this trade, crossing the desert to western Sudan. Several trade routes became established; perhaps the most important terminating in Sijilmasa and Ifriqua in what is now Morocco to the north. The people involved in this trade from North Africa were the Barbers and Arabs who initiated and financed the trade. Traders moved in caravans across the Sahara to and from West Africa. For nearly a thousand years, camel caravans traveled the sands of the Sahara Desert. Traveling from oasis to oasis, merchants transported the products of West Africa to the rest of the known world at the time of Europe, Asia and Middle East.

Factors for the rise of trade

ü Presence of camels which acted as the means of transportation. Crossing the Sahara Desert was never easy, but camels made it possible. Trade across the Sahara had existed for centuries, though this trade remained infrequent and irregular because of the harsh desert conditions. The camel could plod steadily over much longer distances. Apart from their capacity to go without water for a long time, they could also carry a great deal of weight. 

ü Political stability. Development of strong centralized kingdoms in western Sudan created a stable political environment that allowed for safe passage of camel caravans. Along trade routes there developed greatest empires, those of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, whose kings were very stable, and ensured safety of the incoming traders from north. This provided ground for the development of the trade.

ü Presence of goods in West Africa. Trans Saharan trade is a result of the rich natural resources found in Africa. The western Sudan was blessed having commodities, which were highly demanded by foreign traders. Commodities like gold, salt, slaves, kola nuts ostrich feathers and many others from West Africa made it necessary for the Berbers to cross the desert.

ü Conquest of North Africa by Arabs. In the 7th century AD the Muslim Arabs conquered North Africa. The Arabs were great traders who were quick to see the potential of the trans-Saharan trade. The commodities they imported from Saudi Arabia also motivated development of the trade.

DECLINE OF THE TRADE

The trade journeys between west and north which lasted for nearly a thousand years, started to slow down from the late 15th century and eventually collapsed in 16th c. The golden age of the trans-Saharan trade ended with the collapse of Songhai empire after the Moroccan attack in 1500s. The development of overseas trade from the fifteenth century onward involved Africa in the creation of a new trading relationship with the Europe and New World. Since the late fifteenth century, the focus of international trade moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic.

· Portuguese intrusion. Portuguese journeys around the coasts of West Africa opened up new avenues for trade between Europe and West Africa. Traders began to travel and trade by ship. The Portuguese competition on the coasts made the caravan trade across Sahara less profitable. The Portuguese diverted trans-Saharan trade to trans-Atlantic. Slaves, gold and many other commodities which were previously traded with the people of north Africa were now traded with Europeans.

· Political instabilities. As a result of wealth and prosperity in west Africa, North Africans wanted the wealth thus conquered the western sudan Kingdoms. For example, the ruler of Morocco sent his armies across the Sahara and south to seize (capture) the West African gold mines, such as Timbuktu, Gao, and other important trading centers destroying buildings and property and exiling prominent citizens. Forexample in 1591, the Moroccan War devastated and demolished Timbuktu and Gao, significant trading centers. The outcome of the war reduced trade significantly.

· Harsh desert condition. The trading routes cross some of the most hostile territory on earth, the Saharan desert. People from north crossed the Saharan Desert which had for centuries seen as a big barrier between the people of north and west, to exchange their commodities. The unfriend condition of Sahara was one of the factors for the decline of the trade.

EFFECTS OF TRANS SAHARAN TRADE

· Development of strong kingdoms in western Sudan. The flourishment of gold trade had brought one of the most important historical events in the history of West Africa, the development of empire. Three powerful kingdoms rose at different time periods in the West Africa. The first was called Ghana, followed by Mali, and then Songhai. Again the eastern trans-Saharan route led to the development of the long lived Kanem-Bornu Empire centered on the Lake Chad area. The two streams of trade, one from the north and the other from the west met in the marketplaces of these western kingdoms, where the kings collected tolls on all goods entering or leaving their lands. This allowed the western kingdoms to become very wealthy, in which rulers took advantage of this wealth and built powerful armies that protected their kingdoms. 

· Trading activities stimulated the emergence of urban centres. The Gold and Salt trade across the Sahara also attracted people from many regions to the trading cities in the Western Kingdoms. Towns like Timbuktu, and many others developed in places which acted as the trading centres in the course of exchange. New cities were also born at the desert edge, like Awdaghust, Kumbi Saleh and Tadamakka, and their destiny was tied closely with the continuity of the long distance trade: when the caravan routes later changed and the volume of trade declined, these towns, too, were soon abandoned.

· Spread of Islam in western Africa. The trade developed at the time when Islam had already flourished in north. With the increased volume of the trade, Islamic religion and new cultural influences began to spread in Western Africa. The Muslim merchants brought the religion of Islam to the Western kingdoms.

· Over exploitation of African resources. Traders from north exchanged their less expensive commodities such as clothes, with the valuable commodities; copper, gold, animal skin from western Sudan.

· Intermarriages. Long distance trade led to intermarriage due to interactions between societies engaging in trade leading to establishment of new social relationships and avoiding and avoiding social conflicts since people were united by the marriages.

The trade led to depopulation in West Africa due to slave trade. The slave trade was predominantly detrimental to West African societies. It is estimated that during the thousand years of the trade, millions of black slaves were imported to the north, including those who died during the painful crossing of the desert. Perhaps the total quantity of trans-Saharan slave trade was equal to the Atlantic trade.

The Trans-Saharan Trade played an important role in the rise of states in the Western Sudan. Ways in which the Trans-Saharan trade led to the development of kingdoms in western Sudan.

· Kings were able to acquire wealth through collection of tributes from the traders. They used this wealth collected from taxation to expand their states.

· Kings acquired fire arms especially from the external traders which they used to establish strong armies to defend & expand the kingdoms.

· Through spreading Islam religion. Gradually, the Western African kings adopted some of the Muslims military technology and ideas about government. In Mali, the rulers based their justice system on the Koran.