Hannibal's Wake
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Chapter 8: Conquests and Empire
Conquests and Empire
160 – 165 CE
160 – 165 CE
The kingdom of Ansongo staged a series of campaigns against the four Mandinka kingdoms, conquering one after the other. The four Mandinka kingdoms had been weakened due to environmental degradation due to over browsing and overgrazing of their cattle and eland herds as well as their demand for iron. With environmental degradation came instability and in a few cases, open revolts against the current state. Ansongo was located further to the southeast in the true savannahs of West Africa and so was able to maintain large eland herds and iron production without quite the environmental damage of the Sahel states. As Ansongo gained in strength, the other Mandinka kingdoms atrophied until Mansa Baturu I conquered the kingdoms and brought them under his sway. In just five years Baturu forged an empire out of five separate kingdoms.
Crucial to his success was the flat terrain of the Sahel and savanna and the heavy reliance on giant eland cavalry that gave Ansongo’s forces the ability to use mounted forces that could operate both in the dry Sahel and in wetter environments that hosted diseases that caused horses to quickly sicken and die. The royal families were often allowed to keep a measure of political authority in Ansongo’s new provinces in exchange for oaths of loyalty to Baturu. Their children were often married off to prominent members of Ansongo’s noble families as a way to both diffuse their authority and integrate them into the native power structure.
He implemented the planting and maintenance of groves and made them distinct from trees one might use to build a house or furniture by placing them under imperial control in the same manner of the gold supply. The groves worked to reverse desertification while also providing steady sustenance for eland herds and fuel for the blacksmiths’ furnaces. The province-masters were rewarded with extra funds for their provinces in concordance with how well they maintained the groves. This also served to give the average villager a reason to avoid stripping the land bare of trees and they were also encouraged to plant and maintain their own trees. As time went on, many of the groves would be populated with fruit trees, baobabs among them to provide additional income and food for the people and their giant elands.
Ansongo was one of the first civilizations to incorporate tamed giant eland into their agricultural practices. They were first used instead of cattle only in areas where cows could not survive but quickly replaced cows as the main beast of burden. Soon, the eland were used to draw wheeled carts of goods and from there, elands were used to plow fields. Fields that would take a day to ready for seeding using a hoe could now be prepared in less than half the time. And the manure the elands produced allowed the same field to be farmed repeatedly, reducing the amount of times a community needed to migrate to fallow land, promoting the stability and growth of human settlements. Tall walls made of wood, rammed earth, and mudbrick topped with thorns were raised to secure eland herds at night and to protect them in the event of raids from neighboring communities.
With such an essential role in society, the giant eland took on a prominent role in West Africa, particularly Ansongo’s religions and customs. The mounts of Mandinka gods were elands, bride prices were commonly paid in elands, and the giant eland, especially its horns, became associated with masculinity. At special occasions such as harvest festivals, giant elands were sacrificed and their blood directed into the ground from where crops had been harvested or deliberately splattered on baobabs and oil palms.
Greater population densities and competition for obtaining giant elands led to conflict of a frequency that had not been seen in many parts of Africa. Compared to either Europe or Asia, Africa was lightly populated and due to the abundance of land, conflict often lead to dispersal instead of consolidation. There are very few events preserved in the archeological record of Sub-Saharan Africa before this time period that indicate significant conflict. Indeed, land that not in use was not considered particularly valuable and would be a waste of crucial resources and calories to defend. But with even adjacent empty land becoming valuable as grazing and browsing land and the increased permanence of human settlements, a shift in cultural attitudes took place. Before this time period, the archaeological record shows very little human-human conflict and of weapons used to kill. For instance, most spears would have been used for hunting animals, not killing humans. But now war spears, distinguished by their longer, broader blades, axes, and daggers became a far more common feature of Sub-Saharan West African society. Due to the environment of the open savanna and the prevalence of the giant eland, cavalry became the most valuable military unit with infantry being confined to a supporting role and only becoming the primary military units in the thick forests of southern West Africa.
This is so interesting, will you touch more upon the development of Berber/Amazigh culture? Especially considering the introduction of the camel centuries earlier must have dramatic effects on the development of their lifestyle. Has Carthage made any attempts to expand into their territories or integrate them?
I will have a chapter later on that deals with the development of the Berber people. Carthage doesn't care about the desert people so long as the caravans pass through unmolested and the Berbers don't try to migrate into the Atlas Mountains. At its core, Carthage isn't an empire in the same vein as Rome as so doesn't really focus on integrating people into its political structure.
I haven't given them much thought but I'll come up with something.
Not for a long time. The Saharan Desert is a very difficult barrier to cross. And there's the fact that people north of the Sahara already have horses and cattle and they don't have to deal with the tsetse fly and other tropical diseases. They have no incentive for adopting giant eland compared to Sub-Saharan Africans.
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Cool timeline you've got here. unique scope for a "Carthage wins" timeline too, enough enough focus on Africa 'round here. Subscribed, hope this goes on for a while.
It's still open right? I'm going to go do that now.Too bad no one's given this a second at the awards.
Chapter 9: Tenets of the Two God Path
Tenets of the Two God Path
A page of a Late Demotic early transcript of the Tome.
“Listen well! The Father showed us how to grow the trees and plants of the earth, but it is the Mother who taught us to read.”
110 CE
As the decades passed, the Two God Path became woven deeper into the fabric of Egyptian society. While the religion continued to largely be practiced by peasants, a few noble families converted as well. In these instances of nobility conversion, they occurred in areas where the peasants in the area walked the Path. In those areas, the nobility had to walk a delicate balance between both honoring the new religion and appearing to following the old. As an informal theological compromise, the families started to put much more on emphasis on worshiping the married gods Osiris and Isis. By 110 CE, Avaris, the city where Meir had settled had become the center of the Two God Path and the Grand Temple established by Meir’s successor Jahan was reputed to hold the original writings of Meir. It was there that the high priest of the faith dwelt. From Avaris, a network of temples radiated outward into the rest of the delta bringing the knowledge of the Two Gods with them in the form of the Tome. The Tome contained the writings of Meir, as well as the writings of Jahan that focused on his own understanding of the Path and included what Jahan claimed to be revelations from the Gods themselves that supplemented what Meir had preached. To that end, the basic tenets of the faith became known as the following:
There are Two Gods that have created the entire world, the Father and the Mother. Just as it takes both a male and female to create a child, it takes the Father and the Mother combining their knowledge to create humanity. The Two Gods are equal to each other, though the Father is considered to be stronger. While priests disagree over all the specific domains of the Two Gods, there are several concepts that are widely agreed upon.
The Father is the masculine God of Creation. His domain is over urban centers, agriculture, war and peace, metalworking, water, plant life, the stars including the sun, lightning, and fatherhood.
The Mother is the feminine God of Creation. Her domain is over rural areas, the heavenly bodies including the earth and moon, medicine, wildlife, fire, wind, and motherhood. She is revered for teaching humans how to read and write.
Both of the Gods collectively preside over love, fertility, justice, life, death, and the afterlife.
The Two Gods are opposed by an immensely powerful spirit named Aye. Originally a helper spirit created by the Gods to observe Creation, he eventually began to covet all that the Gods had made and strove to replace the Gods and rule over all of the world “like a plunderer” as a "king of kings". He lead a rebellion against the Father and the Mother for control over Creation and he, along with his legions of followers battled the Father for half a year before being defeated and cast down into Sheol. As punishment, the Gods stripped the rebellious spirits of their authority, leaving them only with the ability to corrupt, to pervert the desires of man and cause illness and death. The Father cast them down into Sheol and the Mother sealed them there. When the Father finally cast them into Sheol, the heavens opened up and rain poured down as a symbol of His power and triumph.
Humanity is described in the Tome as “the loveliest jewel in the Father and Mother’s creation”.
All one needs to do in order to be saved is acknowledge the existence and supremacy of the Father and the Mother. Should they do this, when they die, they will be taken to Heaven where both the Creation Gods reside and they will live in perfect health and harmony forever. Heaven is vast and endless, with many dimensions. They will be able to intercede on behalf of their descendants as well without being tied to the number of children they have or if they are remembered by their family.
Those who refuse to worship the Father and the Mother will be shut out from Heaven and their souls will cease to exist when they die. But the Father and the Mother are merciful, they can even will a soul back into existence if they wish.
Among other things, the religion emphasizes the harmony of the family and the need for husbands and wives to respect and truly care for each other. It strictly forbids the killing of children, for every child is a gift from the Gods. It also strictly forbids human sacrifice, calling it “a foul stench”.
Iconography for the religion is as follows:
Two statues of a strong and healthy bearded man and woman of similar age. They are represented from the ages of early 30s to their early 60s.
The most popular representation is that of younger people in their early 30s. It is taboo to represent the Father and the Mother as children or very elderly people.
Interlocking symbols such as an interlocking rectangle.
Two statues, one male and one female holding hands.
Central holidays include:
The day that The Father and Mother finished creating the Earth.
The day that The Father and Mother created humanity.
The day that the Father triumphed over Aye and banished him to Sheol.
The start of the rainy season(s) as a reminder of the benevolence of the Father and the Mother. In Egypt, this is substituted as the time of the year when the Nile floods.
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Avaris is the holy city, so the first home is most likely going to be in the new-new kingdom of Egypt- although it could be like Christianity and take a nearby polity like Qart-Hadašt first.
What a lovely religion... Oh so corruptible
I saw this in my sub box and physically jumped up, I do so look forward to these chapters. Thank you!
Do you have names for the holidays or do those change depending on the culture?
Thanks! I don't have names for the holidays yet, but what I see happening is that all the names for the holidays will be based off of whatever the Egyptians call them, but corrupted by other languages. There's a smaller chance that they may be translated so that the meaning of the name of the holiday is the same, even if the word looks completely different.
The region around Avaris is majority Two God Path and the religion has spread throughout the delta by 110 CE. It's also seeping into Egypt's Levant territory and the Upper Nile region, but the followers in those areas are a clear minority. In general, the further you get from Avaris, the fewer people will be "walking the Path".
I'm back!
It's been more than a month and a half but I'm back! I had to really focus on my classes for last two months to make sure I didn't fuck up my future, but I haven't forgotten this timeline and I still intend to continue it, this time with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering!
You can expect an update by this Friday.
It's been more than a month and a half but I'm back! I had to really focus on my classes for last two months to make sure I didn't fuck up my future, but I haven't forgotten this timeline and I still intend to continue it, this time with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering!
You can expect an update by this Friday.
It's been more than a month and a half but I'm back! I had to really focus on my classes for last two months to make sure I didn't fuck up my future, but I haven't forgotten this timeline and I still intend to continue it, this time with a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering!
You can expect an update by this Friday.
Congratulations! Good wishes for that future, and looking forward to the update.
Chapter 10: The Flowering Era
The Flowering Era
160 CE – 284 CE
From 155 – 185 CE, rule under Baturu I brought increased prosperity to the unified Niger River region. A common authority to maintain the roads, patrol the rivers, protect travelers, and set prices for gold and salt encouraged heavy trade from all cardinal directions. Inns dotted the trade routes to provide shelter and nourishment to traders and pilgrims. The living standard of the average citizen of Ansongo substantially rose during this time, especially when compared to that of the long ago days of Kebba. And even the common folk dressed better than the Mandinka nobles of centuries past. Houses were on average larger and more elaborate than in past centuries, with vibrant patterns and murals adorning both the inside and outside of the walls, and the houses of the nobility and merchants had multiple levels. Because of the eland’s proliferation, people spent fewer hours on agriculture and were less exposed to the dangers of malnutrition, though it was still certain that a famine would afflict the land in the lifetime of the average man. To mitigate the effects of inevitable famines, for there would always be a time when the rains failed or fell unevenly, Baturu I established imperial storehouses located around the empire to hold harvested millet, sorghum, and rice.
The role of the jalis had also evolved with time. Their early adoption of literacy led them to being not only praise singers and court officials, but essential to the functioning of the bureaucracy. The province-masters were the ones that governed the various districts of Ansongo and ensured that the citizens paid their taxes, but it was the jalis that collected the taxes and noted what village paid how much as well as conducted the census. For the more troublesome and vital provinces, a farba would be appointed to collect taxes and ensure through careful monitoring that the province-masters didn’t overstep their authority. The farbas were picked directly by the mansa and the post could be inherited through the family at will of the mansa. The jalis also corresponded closely with the farbas to ensure that the empire’s governance ran smoothly.
During this time, an explosion of native literature occurred with epics based on Mandinka gods and semi-mythical heroes of the empire written in the Punic script introduced 200 years ago. By this time, the Punic scripts north and south of the Great Desert had widely diverged. While the northern Punic script had added new consonants in response to the influence of the Germanic migrations, the southern Punic script now included tone markers to better reflect the characteristics of the Mandinka language. An exceedingly popular story was how the first man and eland made a pact of brotherhood to live in harmony and to face the demons of the land together. Native instruments as well as those imported from abroad were used to play increasingly complex tunes as less time needed for agriculture and increased urbanization allows for nobles to hire jalis and musicians to compose new types of music. Direct contact with Aksum, and long distance trade with the Nile valley civilizations is also thought to have begun around 280 CE.
Several cities had populations of over 20,000 people and the largest city, Goundam, located near a navigable portion of the Niger River had a population of over 100,000 according to the 300 CE census. The cities contained decorated venues specifically made for dancing, religious ceremonies, and the popular crowd sport of wrestling. The cities were centers of political, economic, academic, and religious activities. The quarters of the cities were home to various clans that specialized in a profession such as blacksmithing, tanning, and artisanal pursuits. Of these clans, the most prominent were the blacksmith families, for they produced the tools used for agriculture, war, religion, and daily life. Because of the increased need for written records, royal schools were established that were used to educate the jalis and nobility, and occasionally, the wealthiest of merchants. Those students were taught the official Punic script as well as the praise songs required of a jali. Merchants were often taught by their parents a pidgin script used exclusively for record keeping and few merchants were fully literate.
After the death of Baturu I in 182 CE, his family took his name as their title in honor of his accomplishments in expanding Ansongo and working to ensure its long term stability and supremacy. Ansongo’s expansion stopped at the forest’s edge as its famed cavalry’s mobility was severely limited by the thick southern forests. This was demonstrated when Baturu’s heir, Ebou, headed an expedition to conquer an Akan speaking forest chiefdom that while technically a victory, resulted in the Ansongoan force losing over double the men the enemy did. Under Baturu’s heir, Ansongo went through another round of expansion from 175 – 185 CE, extending its northern reach past the arch of the Niger and east to better control the flow of goods and people. Mandinka merchants started to settle in southern forests and intermarry with the local merchants to better control the flow of goods. Keita, the third mansa, strove to continue his grandfather’s work by establishing diplomatic relations with the burgeoning forest kingdoms to the south of the savannahs Ansongo now claimed as its own, the most notable of those being the Akan-speaking Obuasi.
Ansongo’s official policy was that of harmonious co-existence as it ruled a diverse array of ethnicities, most of them of the Mande group. However, the government and military were dominated by the Mandinka people, and there was an unofficial policy of assimilation. Non-Mandinka were encouraged to adopt Mandinka names and cultural practices and blend their culture with that of the dominate Mandinka. While other Mande and non-Mande groups resisted full assimilation, the Mandinka tongue had already become a trade tongue for the Niger region in the Sahel and the savannah and most everyone knew how to speak it. And the dominance of Ansongo led to the spread of its culture.
By 230 CE, the demands of trade and improved agriculture techniques learned from Carthage, along with the giant eland stimulated an explosion in Ansongo’s population. As was natural, those that had lived on marginal land started to migrate in search of relatively fallow land to far and they started to migrate to the east and the south. In the area surrounding the Jos Plateau, these migrants encountered the Nok civilization. Renowned for their intricate sculptures and sophisticated judicial and administration system, the Nok were the progenitors of one of the older urban cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa but were now in the midst of a decades long terminal decline. Over farming and extensive blacksmithing had led to the land being stripped of trees, leading to soil erosion in the presence of rains and dirt baked into a slab in times of drought. Exacerbating the problem was an especially severe famine and sleeping sickness epidemic that gripped the plateau and its surrounding area. As was common in times of societal collapse, many Nok simply left, traveling to the south and east in search of fallow land while others fought for what arable land remained. Those Nok that migrated eventually assimilated into the native populations they encountered and faded from history.
It was in this situation that the Ansongoan migrants arrived. The settlement of the Mande and Songhai in Nok lands was a largely nonviolent affair. The plague and famines had severely reduced the population, meaning land that would have otherwise been occupied was sparsely populated and open for settlement. The migrants brought with them their knowledge of giant eland herding and plow agriculture that combined with the native knowledge of rice farming led to a revitalization of the Nok. They were not unchanged by their interaction with the Mande and Songhai, however. With their novel practices and use of eland, the Mande and Songhai were able to establish a dominance among the local Nok and intermarried with the local upper class to produce a merchant caste and aristocracy that had a great deal of Mande and Songhai ancestry and more often than not followed the customs of the Songhai, rather than that of the Nok.
While the arrival of the Songhai and Mande had stopped the complete dissolution of the Nok civilization, approximately 270 CE the Nok people split into five kingdoms which were densely populated but small in size. The northern two had extensively mixed with the Songhai and Mandinka whereas the southern three hade minimal foreign ancestry but had merely adopted the use of giant elands and the Mande innovations in rice agriculture. The southern three kingdoms expanded south past the Benue River and appear to have made direct contact with the inhabitants of the Niger Delta around 350-400 CE.
From around 100 CE, Aksum had risen on the fertile plains of the Ethiopian highlands located in the northeastern region of the Horn of Africa to control trade between Egypt, Meroe, India, and its local hinterland. Aksum first got into direct contact with Ansongo in 280 CE when the mansa of Ansongo sent a large caravan of giant elands and camels laden with gold, ivory, palm wine and oil, salt, iron, and cloth to explore and trade with the east. The negu of Aksum was impressed by the quality of the goods and intrigued by the use of the gigantic antelopes as mounts. Aksum soon established trading ties with Ansongo and other Sahel states along the Western Road, helping to stimulate the rise of Mao, a small Kanembu polity centered on Lake Chad. Mao served as a middleman of the Western Road, facilitating safe travel across the continent and serving as a crucial waystation between the other states. In time, Mao came to have a highly cosmopolitan culture influenced by Aksumites, Egyptians, Nubians, Mandinka, and native Kanembu. This contact with Ansongo spurred a shift in Aksum’s worldview. Before, Aksum had in truth been only concerned with the north containing Egypt and Meroe and the east with Arabia, the Parthians, and India. But now, the possibility of rich and powerful civilizations throughout the rest of Africa seemed a certainty and would drive Aksum west and south to seek out other trading opportunities.
The last of the caravan returned to Ansongo in the year 284 CE with tales of a wealthy mountain kingdom and of an even greater civilization to the north that lay along a river larger than the Niger. This kingdom was richer than any other and produced well-made linen, iron tools, and the most intricate gold and silver artwork. This northern river kingdom was governed by a man who claimed divinity and contained a gleaming city that contained a library that was rumored to hold all of the world’s knowledge. During this time, the first Aksum missionaries made the long journey to the Niger River valley to spread the message of the Two God Path.
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A great update for an excellent timeline! Your description of the effect the giant eland has on Asongo society was both very informative and tantalizing. I especially enjoyed the insight on the urban landscape of the Niger and the growing new trade routes. An early domestication of the eland is a fascinating concept and I eagerly await the transformations it will bring to the rest of Africa.