The Evolution of African Indigenous Science and Technology
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The Evolution of African Indigenous Science and Technology
Utsua T Peter, PhD
Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ Zion-Gate Akwanga,Nasarawa State Nigeria
Abstract
The evolution of Science and Technology everywhere in the world including Africa is an age long phenomenon.
Science is the systematic study of anything that can be examined, tested, and verified, it is one of the greatest and
most influential fields of human endeavor. Technology on the other hand, is scientific knowledge that is put to
practical ends. This knowledge is used in designing machinery, materials, and industrial processes, generally
known as engineering. The concern of this paper is that in recent years, a greater volume of African countries
have embraced the western science and technology as a driver of development assimilating Africans science and
technology as though there was nothing like that before. This work is interested in helpful materials to explore
the previous African concept of science and technology. Based on its finding, it is discovered that Africans
abandoned their rich indigenous science and technology which has unfolded over the centuries since the dawn of
human history like the western science and technology today. The work advanced the need for Africans to
revitalize their lost heritage to complement the scientific culture of the west.
Keywords: science, technology, Africans, Africans science and technology, scientific culture
1. Introduction
African indigenous science and technology like the western science and technology has unfolded since the dawn
of human history. According to Shishima, the first evidence of tools used by African ancestors is interred in
valleys across Sub-Saharan Africa. In recent years, a greater volume of African countries have embraced
technology as a driver of development, example of Kenya's Vision 2030 and Rwanda's rapid Information and
Computer Technology (ICT) growth (1).
Shillington explains that, modern man first developed in the Great Rift Valley of Africa, the first
development of tools is found there as well: The Homo habilis, residing in East Africa, developed the first tool
making industry, the Olduwan, around 2.3 million BC. Homo ergaster developed the Acheulean stone tool
industry, specifically hand-axes, in Africa, 1.5 million BC. This tool industry spread to the Middle East and
Europe around 800,000 to 600,000 BC. Homo erectus began to use fire. Homo sapiens sapiens or modern
humans created bone tools and the back blade around 90,000 to 60,000 BC, in Southern and Eastern Africa (4).
The use of bone tools and back blades became characteristic of later stone tool industries (Shillington 4). The
appearance of abstract art is during this period. The oldest abstract art in the world is a shell necklace dated
82,000 years in the Cave of Pigeons in Taforalt, eastern Morocco. The second oldest abstract art and the oldest
rock art is found in the Blombos Cave at the cape in South Africa, dated 77,000 years. (Ehret 22).
1.1 Science Defined
The word science is derived from the Latin word scire, meaning “to know.” Science is the systematic study of
anything that can be examined, tested, and verified. From its early beginnings, science has developed into one of
the greatest and most influential fields of human endeavor. Today different branches of science investigate
almost everything that can be observed or detected, and science as a whole shapes the way we understand the
universe, our planet, ourselves, and other living things.
Science develops through objective analysis, instead of through personal belief. Knowledge gained in
science accumulates as time goes by, building on work performed earlier. Some of this knowledge such as our
understanding of numbers stretches back to the time of ancient civilizations, when scientific thought first began.
Other scientific knowledge such as our understanding of genes that cause cancer or of quarks (the smallest
known building block of matter) dates back less than 50 years. However, in all fields of science, old or new,
researchers use the same systematic approach, known as the scientific method, to add to what is known (Encarta
2009).
1.2 Scientific Investigation
During investigations, scientists put together and compare new discoveries and existing knowledge. In most
cases, new discoveries extend what is currently accepted, providing further evidence that existing ideas are
correct. For example, in 1676 the English physicist Robert Hooke discovered that elastic objects, such as metal
springs, stretch in proportion to the force that acts on them. Despite all the advances that have been made in
physics since 1676, this simple law still holds true. Scientists utilize existing knowledge in new scientific
investigations to predict how things will behave. For example, a scientist who knows the exact dimensions of a
lens can predict how the lens will focus a beam of light. In the same way, by knowing the exact makeup and
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properties of two chemicals, a researcher can predict what will happen when they combine. Sometimes scientific
predictions go much further by describing objects or events that are not yet known. An outstanding instance
occurred in 1869, when the Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleyev drew up a periodic table of the elements
arranged to illustrate patterns of recurring chemical and physical properties. Mendeleyev used this table to
predict the existence and describe the properties of several elements unknown in his day, and when the elements
were discovered several years later, his predictions proved to be correct (Wikipedia). In science, important
advances can also be made when current ideas are shown to be wrong. A classic case of this occurred early in the
20th century, when the German geologist Alfred Wegener suggested that the continents were at one time
connected, a theory known as continental drift. At the time, most geologists discounted Wegener's ideas, because
the Earth's crust seemed to be fixed. But following the discovery of plate tectonics in the 1960s, in which
scientists found that the Earth’s crust is actually made of moving plates, continental drift became an important
part of geology. Through advances like these, scientific knowledge is constantly added to and refined. As a result,
science gives us an ever more detailed insight into the way the world around us works.
2. Branch of Science
Classifying sciences involves arbitrary decisions because the universe is not easily split into separate
compartments. Science is divided into five major branches namely: i. Mathematics, ii. Physical sciences, iii.
Earth sciences, iv. life sciences, and v. Social sciences. A sixth branch is called technology.
2.1 Technology Defined
Technology is scientific knowledge that is put to practical ends. This knowledge comes chiefly from
mathematics and the physical sciences, and it is used in designing machinery, materials, and industrial processes.
In general, this work is known as engineering, a word dating back to the early days of the Industrial Revolution,
when an 'engine' was any kind of machine (Encarta 2009). Engineering has many branches, calling for a wide
variety of different skills. For example, while aeronautical engineers need expertise knowledge in the science of
fluid flow because, airplanes fly through air which is a fluid. Using wind tunnels and computer models,
aeronautical engineers strive to minimize the air resistance generated by an airplane, while at the same time
maintaining a sufficient amount of lift. Marine engineers also need detailed knowledge of how fluids behave,
particularly when designing submarines that have to withstand extra stresses when they dive deep below the
water’s surface. In civil engineering, stress calculations ensure that structures such as dams and office towers
will not collapse, particularly if they are in earthquake zones. Computing, engineering takes two forms: hardware
design and software design. Hardware design refers to the physical design of computer equipment (hardware).
Software design is carried out by programmers who analyze complex operations, reducing them to a series of
small steps written in a language recognized by computers. Technology draws on discoveries from all areas of
science and puts them to practical use (Kresge 201). Each of these branches itself consists of numerous
subdivisions. Many of these subdivisions, such as astrophysics or biotechnology, combine overlapping
disciplines, creating yet more areas of research.
Maritime: In 1987 the third oldest canoe in the world and the oldest in Africa, was discovered in
Nigeria by fulani herdsmen, near the Yobe river, in the village of Dufuna. It was dated 8000 years, cut out of
African mahogany. Based on "stylistic sophistication", the tradition of canoe building must have gone further
back in time, noted one archaeologist (qtd in Shishima 114).
Architecture and engineering: Various past African societies created sophisticated built environments.
There are the engineering feats of the Egyptians: the bafflingly raised obelisks and the more than 80 pyramids.
The largest of the pyramids covers 13 acres and is made of 2.25 million blocks of stone (468). Later, in the 12th
century and much farther south, there were hundreds of great cities in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. These,
massive stone complexes were the hubs of cities. One included a 250-meter-long, 15,000-ton curved granite wall.
The cities featured huge castle like compounds with numerous rooms for specific tasks, such as iron-smithing. In
the 13th century, the empire of Mali boasted impressive cities, including Timbuktu, with grand palaces, mosques
and universities. Egypt's earliest known boat goes back to 5000 years. Early Egyptians knew how to assemble
planks of wood into a ship hull as early as 3000 BC. Enemy vessels were to be "gripped" and boarded for handto-
hand fighting. This negated initially superior Carthaginian seamanship and ships. The Walls of Benin City,
are collectively the world's largest man-made structure and were semi-destroyed by the British in 1897. Pearce
described the wall this way:
They extend for some 16,000 kilometres in all, in a mosaic of more than 500 interconnected settlement
boundaries. They cover 6500 square kilometres and were all dug by the Edo people. In all, they are four
times longer than the Great Wall of China, and consumed a hundred times more material than the Great
Pyramid of Cheops. They took an estimated 150 million hours of digging to construct, and are perhaps
the largest single archaeological phenomenon on the planet (qtd in Shishima 114).
In Southern Africa, one finds ancient and widespread traditions of building in stone. Two broad
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categories of these traditions have been noted: 1. Zimbabwean style 2. Transvaal Free State style but in the North
of the Zambezi, one finds very little stone ruins.
3. Some Ancient Africa’s successes in Science and Technology
Despite suffering through the era of horrific system of slavery, countless contributions to the fields of science
and technology was made by early Africans (Kresge 201). This ancestry culture of achievements took place at
least 40,000 years ago, not many people are aware of these accomplishments as part of the rich history of Africa
beyond ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, the vast majority of discussions on the origins of science include only the
Greeks, Romans and other western scientific cultures. While the remarkable black civilization in Egypt remains
appealing, there were sophisticated and impressive inventions throughout ancient sub-Saharan Africa as well,
which had a handful of scholars. The most prolific of them was the late Ivan Van Sertima, an associate professor
at Rutgers University. He once poignantly wrote that “the nerve of the world has been deadened for centuries to
the vibrations of African genius” (Van 429). This indicates that Africa, like so many other ancients of the world,
definitely had their brains. We shall consider these great achievements of ancient Africans in turn:
Mathematics: It is worthy of note that only a few of people know, that many modern high-schoollevel
concepts in mathematics were first developed in Africa, as it was the first method of counting. More than
35,000 years ago, Egyptians scripted textbooks about mathematics that included division and multiplication of
fractions and geometric formulas to calculate the area and volume of shapes (Woods 198). Distances and angles
were calculated also, algebraic equations were solved and mathematically based predictions were made of the
size of floods of the river Nile. The ancient Egyptians considered a circle to have 360 degrees. Eight thousand
years ago, the people in present-day Zaire developed their own numerical system, as did Yoruba people in the
country now called Nigeria. The Yoruba system was based on units of 20 instead of 10 and required an
impressive amount of subtraction to identify different numbers. Scholars have lauded this system, as it required
much abstract reasoning (199).
Astronomy: In the field of Astronomy, several ancient African cultures made meaningful discoveries.
Many of these are foundations on which we still rely, and some were so advanced that their mode of discovery
still cannot be understood. Egyptians charted the movement of the sun and constellations and cycles of the moon.
They divided the year into 12 parts and developed a yearlong calendar system containing 365 ¼ days. Clocks
were made with moving water and sundial-like clocks were used. A structure known as the African Stonehenge
in present-day Kenya (constructed around 300 B.C.) was a remarkably accurate calendar. The Dogon people of
Mali amassed a wealth of detailed astronomical observations (Adams 83). Many of their discoveries were so
advanced that some modern scholars credit their discoveries instead to space aliens or unknown European
travelers, even though the Dogon culture is steeped in ceremonial tradition centered on several space events. The
Dogon knew of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons, the spiral structure of the milky-way galaxy, and the orbit of the
Sirius star system. They knew that this system contained a primary star and a secondary star now called Sirius B
which is of immense density and not visible to the naked eye.
Navigation: The general believe by most people is that Europeans were the first to sail boats to the
Americas. However, several lines of historical evidence suggest that ancient Africans sailed to South America
and Asia hundreds of years before Europeans. Thousands of miles of waterways across Africa were trade routes
and many ancient societies in Africa built a variety of boats, including small reed-based vessels, sailboats and
grand structures with many cabins and cooking facilities. The Malians and Songhai built boats 100 feet long and
13 feet wide that could carry up to 80 tons. It is also discovered that currents in the Atlantic Ocean flow from this
part of West Africa to South America (84). Genetic evidence from plants have shown that descriptions and art
from societies inhabiting South America at the time suggest small numbers of West Africans who sailed to the
eastern coast of South America remained there. Contemporary scientists have reconstructed these ancient vessels
and their fishing gear completing the transatlantic voyage successfully. Around the same time as they were
sailing to South America in the 13th century, these ancient peoples also sailed to China and back, carrying
elephants as cargo. It is believed that the people of African descent came from ancient, rich and elaborate
cultures that created a wealth of technologies in many areas. Hopefully, over time, there will be more studies in
this area and people will know more about these great achievements.
Learning systems: Learning systems too began in Africa long before the coming of the European
explores. In about 295 BC, the Library of Alexandria was founded in Egypt. It was considered the largest library
in the classical world. Al-Azhar University, founded in 970-972 was the chief centre of Arabic literature and
Sunni Islamic learning in the world. The oldest degree awarding university in Egypt after the Cairo University
was established in about 961 when non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum (22). Three philosophical
schools in Mali existed during her golden age around 12th–16th centuries. They are: University of Sankore, Sidi
Yahya University, and Djinguereber University. At the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankoré University
became a fullflaged and a fully staffed University with the largest collections of books on African science. The
Sankoré University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with
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roughly 1000,000 manuscripts. Timbuktu was a major center of book copying, religious groups, sciences, and
arts. Scholars and students came throughout the world to study in this university. It attracted more foreign
students than New York University (23).
In 859 AD, Belmonte stated that, the Madrasa of al-Karaouine in Fes, Morocco, was founded by the
princess Fatima al-Fihri. One of the major achievements found in Africa was the advance knowledge of fractal
geometry and mathematics. The knowledge of fractal geometry can be found in a wide aspect of African life
from art, social design structures, architecture, to games, trade, and divination systems (Adams 32). With the
discovery of fractal mathematics in widespread use in Africa, Eglash had this to say:
We used to think of mathematics as a kind of ladder that you climb, and we would think of counting
systems – one plus one equals two as the first step and simple shapes as the second step. Recent
mathematical developments like fractal geometry represented the top of the ladder in most Western
thinking. But it's much more useful to think about the development of mathematics as a kind of
branching structure and that what blossomed very late on European branches might have bloomed much
earlier on the limbs of others. When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture
very disorganized and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using
a form of mathematics that they hadn't even discovered (19).
The theory of binary numeral system was also widely known throughout Africa before much of the
world. It has been said that this theory could have influenced western geomancy which led to the development of
the digital computer (19).
Metallurgy and tools: Many advances in metallurgy and tool making were made across the entirety of
ancient Africa. These include steam engines, metal chisels and saws, copper and iron tools and weapons, nails,
glue, carbon steel and bronze weapons and art. Advances in Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda between 1,500 and
2,000 years ago surpassed those of Europeans then and were astonishing to Europeans when they learnt of them.
Ancient Tanzanian furnaces could reach 1,800°C -200 to 400°C warmer than those of the Romans. Most of Sub-
Saharan Africa moved from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. The Iron Age and Bronze Age occurred
simultaneously. North Africa and the Nile Valley imported its iron technology from the Near East and followed
Near Eastern course of Bronze and Iron ages. The Ife bronze casting of a king's head currently in the British
Museum (Stanley 71). In the Air Mountains region of Niger, copper smelting was independently developed
between 3000 and 2500 BC. The undeveloped nature of the process indicates that it was not of foreign origin.
Smelting in the region became mature around 1500 BC (137). Around this period, Africa was a major supplier of
gold in world trade. While the Sahelian empires became powerful by controlling the Trans-Saharan trade routes,
they provided two third (2/3) of the gold in Europe and North Africa. The Almoravid dinar and the Fatimid dinar
were printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. The ducat of Genoa and Venice and the florine of Florence
were also printed on gold from the Sahelian empires. When gold sources were depleted in the Sahel, the empires
turned to trade with the Ashante Kingdom. Similarly, The Swahili traders in East Africa were major suppliers of
gold to Asia through the Red Sea and Indian Ocean trade routes. The trading port cities and city-states of the
Swahili East African coast were among the first African cities to come into contact with European explorers and
sailors during the European age of Discovery. Many were documented and praised in the records of North
African explorer Abu Muhammad ibn Battuta (Davidson 146). Besides being masters in iron, Africans were
masters in brass and bronze. Ife produced lifelike statues in brass, an artistic tradition beginning in the 13th
century. Benin also was a manufacturer of glass and glass beads, two types of iron furnaces were used in Sub-
Saharan Africa: the trench dug below ground and circular clay structures built above the ground. Iron ores were
crushed and placed in furnaces layered with the right proportion of hardwood. A flux such as lime sometimes
from seashells was added to aid in smelting. Bellows on the side would be used to add oxygen. Clay pipes on the
sides called tuyères would be used to control oxygen flow (147).
Medicine: Many treatments we use today were employed by several ancient peoples throughout Africa.
Before the European invasion of Africa, medicine in what is now Egypt, Nigeria South Africa and Ghana, were
more advanced than medicine in Europe. Some of these practices were the use of plants with salicylic acid for
pain (as in aspirin), kaolin for diarrhoea (as in Kaopectate), and extracts that were confirmed in the 20th century
to kill Gram positive bacteria. Other plants used had anticancer properties, caused abortion and treated malaria
and these have been shown to be as effective as many modern-day Western treatments. Furthermore, Africans
discovered ouabain, capsicum, physostigmine and reserpine. Medical procedures performed in ancient Africa
before they were performed in Europe include vaccination, autopsy, limb traction and broken bone setting, bullet
removal, brain surgery, skin grafting, filling of dental cavities, installation of false teeth, what is now known as
Caesarean section, anesthesia and tissue cauterization (Filer 37). In addition, African cultures preformed
surgeries under antiseptic conditions universally when this concept was only emerging in Europe. Ancient
Egyptian physicians were renowned in the ancient Near East for their healing skills, and some, like Imhotep,
remained famous long after their deaths (38). Herodotus remarked that there was a high degree of specialization
among Egyptian physicians, with some treating only the head or the stomach, while others were eye-doctors and
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dentists. Training of physicians took place at the Per Ankh or "House of Life" institution, most notably those
headquartered in Per-Bastet during the New Kingdom and at Abydos and Sais in the late period. Medical papyri
show empirical knowledge of anatomy, injuries, and practical treatments. Wounds were treated by bandaging
with raw meat, white linen, sutures, nets, pads and swabs soaked with honey to prevent infection, while opium
was used to relieve pain. Garlic and onions were used regularly to promote good health and were thought to
relieve asthma symptoms. Ancient Egyptian surgeons stitched wounds, set broken bones, and amputated
diseased limbs, but they recognized that some injuries were so serious that they could only make the patient
comfortable until he died. Around 800, the first psychiatric hospital and insane asylum in Egypt was built by
Muslim physicians in Cairo. In 1285, the largest hospital of the Middle Age and pre-modern era was built in
Cairo, Egypt, by Sultan Qalaun al-Mansur. Treatment was given for free to patients of all backgrounds,
regardless of gender, ethnicity or income. Tetracycline was being used by Nubians, based on bone remains
between 350 AD and 550 AD (38). The antibiotic was in wide commercial use only in the mid 20th century. The
theory is earthen jars containing grain used for making beer contained the bacterium streptomycedes, which
produced tetracycline. Although Nubians were not aware of tetracycline, they could have noticed people fared
better by drinking beer. They must have consumed it because it was rather tastier than the grain from which it
was derived. They would have noticed people fared better by consuming this product than they were just
consuming the grain itself. In 1937, a South African, Max Theiler, developed a vaccine against Yellow Fever
(39). The first instances of domestication of plants for agricultural purposes in Africa occurred in the Sahel
region c. 5000 BC, when sorghum and African rice (Oryza glaberrima) began to be cultivated. Around this
time, and in the same region, the small Guinea fowl was domesticated. Other African domesticated plants were
oil palm, raffia palm, black-eyed peas, groundnuts, and kola nuts. African method of cultivating rice was used in
North Carolina introduced by enslaved Africans. African rice cultivation was a factor in the prosperity of the
North Carolina colony. Yam was domesticated 8000 years BC in West Africa. Between 7000 and 5000 BC,
pearl millet, gourds, watermelons, and beans, and farming and herding practices were spread westward across
the southern Sahara. West Africans were probably the first people to start using the method of fish lines and
hook in fishing. The hooks were made of bone, hard wood, or shell between 16,000 and 9000 BC. Between 6500
and 3500 BC, Knowledge of domesticated sorghum, castor beans, and two species of gourd spread from Africa
to Asia, later pearl millet, black-eyed peas, water melon and okra to the rest of the world. Pottery was first made
in the Sahel around 9000 to 8000 BC, making it one of the earliest region of independent pottery development
(41).
Textile: According to Breunig, Egyptians wore linen from the flax plant, which were beaten and
combed. The priest and pharaohs wore leopard skin. The ancient Egyptians used looms as early as 4000 BC.
Nubians mainly wore cotton, beaded leather, and linen. Nubia was also a center of cotton manufacturing. Cotton
was domesticated 5000 BC in eastern Sudan near the Middle Nile Basin region, and cotton cloth was being
produced. The textile of choice in the sahel is cotton. It is widely used in making the boubou (male) and kaftan
(female), a style of West African clothing. By the 12th century, the so-called Moroccan leather, which actually
came from the Hausa area of northern Nigeria, was supplied to Mediterranean markets and found their way to
the fairs and markets of such places as Normandy and Britain (461).
Communication systems: Writing systems of Africa, the use of town criers, iron cymbals, hollow
wood and gunshots etc was wide spread among the Tiv and most African cultures.
Warfare: African military systems dates back to 1800–1900, the ancient Egyptian weaponry include
bows and arrows, maces, clubs, swords, scimitars, battle axe, spears, shields, and scabbard. Body armor was
made of bands of leathers and sometimes laid with scales and sleeves. Horse drawn chariots were used to deliver
archers into the battle field. Weapons would be made initially with stone, wood, and copper, later bronze and
iron were used (199).
Nile Valley: Ancient Egypt imported ivory, gold, incense, hardwood, and ostrich feathers, while Nubia
exported gold, cotton/cotton cloth, ostrich feathers, leopard skins, ivory, ebony, and iron/iron weapons. Aksum
exported ivory, glass crystal, brass, copper, myrrh, and frankincense, but imported silver, gold, olive oil, and
wine. The Aksumites produced coins around c. 270 BC, under the rule of king Endubis, Aksumites’ coins were
issued in gold, silver, and bronze (101).
Trade and Commerce: The Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, and Songhay Empire were major exporters
of gold, iron, tin, slaves, spears, javelin, arrows, bows and whips of hippo hide. They imported salt, horses,
wheat, raisins, cowries, copper, henna (colorants), olives, tanned hides, silk, cloth, brocade, Venetian pearls,
mirrors, and tobacco. Some of the currencies used in the Sahel are as follows: 1. Paper debt or IOU's were used
for long distance trade. 2. Gold coins were also in use. 3. The mitkal (gold dust) currency was also in use. The
equivalent of gold dust that weighed 4.6 grams equals 500 or 3,000 cowries. 4. Square cloth, four spans on each
side, called chigguiya was used around the Senegal River. In Kanem Borno, a cloth currency called dandi was in
widespread use as the major currency (Willie 323).
Carthage imported gold, copper, ivory, and slaves from tropical Africa. Carthage exported salt, cloth,
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metal goods. Before camels were used in the trans-saharan trade pack; animals, oxen, donkeys, mules, and
horses were utilized. Extensive use of camels began in the 1st century AD. Carthage minted gold, silver, bronze,
and electrum (mix gold and silver) coins mainly for fighting wars with Greeks and Romans. Most of their
fighting forces were mercenaries, who had to be paid. Islamic North Africa made use of the Almoravid dinar
and Fatimid dinar, gold coins. The Almoravid dinar and the Fatimid dinar were printed on gold from the
Sahelian empires. The ducat of Genoa and Venice and the florine of Florence were also printed on gold from the
Sahelian empires. The Swahilis served as middlemen, they connected African goods to Asian markets and Asian
goods to African markets. Their most in demand export was ivory, ambergris, gold, leopard skins, slave, and
tortoise shell and imported from Asia oriental pottery and glassware. They also manufactured items such as
cotton, glass and shell beads. Imports and locally manufactured goods were used as trade to acquire African
goods (324). Trade links included the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India, and China. The Swahili also minted
silver and copper coins. Numerous metal objects and other items were used as currency in Africa. They are as
follows: cowrie shells, salt, gold (dust or solid), copper, ingots, iron chains, tips of iron spears, iron knives, cloth
in various shapes (square, rolled) etc. Copper was as valuable as gold in Africa, but Copper was not as
widespread and more difficult to acquire, except in Central Africa, than gold. Other valuable metals included
lead and tin. Salt was also as valuable as gold, and because of its scarcity, it was used as currency.
Cowry Money: Cowries have been used as currency in West Africa since the 11th century when their
use was first recorded near old Ghana. Its use may have been much older. Present day Morocco seems to be a
major source of cowries in the trans-Saharan trade. In western Africa, shell money was usual tender up until the
middle of the 19th century. Before the abolition of the slave trade there were large shipments of cowry shells to
some of the English ports for reshipment to the coast. It was also common in West Central Africa as the currency
of the Kingdom of Kongo called locally nzimbu. As the value of the cowry was much greater in West Africa
than in the regions from which the supply was obtained, the trade was extremely lucrative (Van 423). In some
cases the gains are said to have been 500%. The use of the cowry currency gradually spread inland in Africa. By
about 1850 Heinrich Barth found it fairly widespread in Kano, Kuka, Gando, and even Timbuktu. Barth relates
that in Muniyoma, one of the ancient divisions of Bornu, the king's revenue was estimated at 30,000,000 shells,
with every adult male being required to pay annually 1000 shells for himself, 1000 for every pack-ox, and 2000
for every slave in his possession. In the countries on the coast, the shells were fastened together in strings of 40
or 100 each, so that fifty or twenty strings represented a dollar; but in the interior they were laboriously counted
one by one, or, if the trader were expert, five by five. The districts mentioned above received their supply of
kurdi, as they were called, from the west coast; but the regions to the north of Unyamwezi, where they were in
use under the name of simbi, were dependent on Muslem traders from Zanzibar. The shells were used in the
remote parts of Africa until the early 20th century, but gave way to modern currencies. The shell of the land snail,
Achatina monetaria, cut into circles with an open center was also used as coin in Benguella, Portuguese West
Africa (424).
Miscellaneous: On the Nile Valley, around 650 Calid, an Umayyad prince, translated the literature of
Egyptian alchemy into the Arabic language. The earliest historical record of a reservoir pen dates back to 953,
when Ma'ad al-Mu'izz, the caliph of Egypt, demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was
provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir and delivered it to the nib, as recorded by Qadi al-Nu'man al-
Tamimi in 974 AD in his Kitab al-Majalis wa'l-musayardt (quoted in Van 425).
The Prospect of African Religion: According to Magesa, in spite of the declining numbers of the
followers of African religion mentioned, there seem to be reasons to conclude that it will continue to be a living
religion in many years to come (qtd in Shishima 122). Some of these reasons are the following: African religion
continues to be the source of meaning, direction and security of the lives of many Africans, including followers
of other well established religious traditions. In these last few years, there has been a revival in the practice of
African religion in different parts of Africa. Today, as the spirit of religious intolerance and exclusivism is being
replaced slowly by the spirit of interreligious tolerance, dialogue and mutual respect, African religion is also
slowly finding its place in the orchestra of the world religions. Its true spiritual and moral values e.g., profound
sense of the sacred, of the existence of God the Creator and of the spiritual world; importance of family life, its
healing potentials love and respect of life, sense of solidarity and community life etc, have been recognized as
part of the religious and moral patrimony for humankind. This tolerant and respectful atmosphere has given
confidence and self-esteem to the followers of African religion. Many are no longer ashamed of their religious
heritage, as they had been in the past. They are proud of being its heirs and consider it their duty and right to pass
it on to the next generations.
4. Conclusion
Religion is an important feature which holds the society strongly by its tail. The African man feels that without
religion, there can never be peace in the society and it is also responsible for man’s self consciousness. Religion
has played significant roles in the life of an African man both socially, politically, psychologically, emotionally
Historical Research Letter www.iiste.org
ISSN 2224-3178 (Paper) ISSN 2225-0964 (Online)
Vol.16, 2015
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and otherwise. Wherever the African goes, his religion goes with him. He eats and drinks it symbolically as if it
were real food. African religion is an original picture of monotheism. Although there are pantheons of deities in
different localities, they all depend and serve the only God the father almighty. The religion was handed down to
us by the Africans dearly beloved fore-fathers who were not literate enough to record all their traditional
practices. It is fully integrated with dimensions of personal and collective lives as with all institutions of private
and public life. This religion can enrich a person’s attitudes and practices. It is open and tolerant,
accommodating and has a positive sense of the world. In African Traditional society, religion and culture are the
hubs around which human personality, movements and institutions are organized and pursued. The traditions of
the people are rooted in religion and culture and the corporate life of the people is determined by religion. Social
and political relations, unity and solidarity are regulated by divinities or spirits on grounds of appeasement,
expiation, propitiation, adoration, prayers and sacrifice. Religion dominates the people’s worldview in cultural,
social, economic and political spheres.
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