Historia ya Tanzania na Maadili for Ordinary Level – Form 1, 2, 3, 4

HISTORIA YA TANZANIA NA MAADILI FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Click the links below to view the notes:

FORM ONE

FORM TWO

FORM THREE

FORM FOUR

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History is one of the most important academic pursuits of any child’s education. Here, we outline the importance of learning history and reveal study tips for pupils.

History is more than a dusty relic of the past; it is the story of how our nation was forged. Studying history is vital for everyone, especially students. But why is history important for students specifically? History is the blueprint for students to understand their world and unlock their potential as future leaders. Through historical exploration, students will encounter real-life examples of valor and selflessness that inspire them to live by a similar moral code and become the next generation of heroes our country desperately needs. 

We all live in the present and we plan for the future – but how do we understand where we’re going and what progress looks like? To know exactly where you’re going, you first need to understand where you have come from. For that you need an appreciation of history.

History is one of the most respected and most valuable academic subjects your child will learn, and one they will study throughout their learning career. History is a cornerstone subject that we teach across all of our curricula, including the British Curriculum, IB Curriculum, and IGCSE Curriculum.

Helping students care about history

As students navigate the challenges of middle and high school, one subject often feels less relevant than others: history. Many students may wonder why they need to study events that occurred long before their time or how it affects their daily lives. At The Juice, we aim to bring history class into the present with current events articles teachers can pair with history lessons to anchor the past in the present.

Understanding history is not just about memorizing dates and events — it’s about understanding the world we live in today. This blog explores why studying history is so important for students and how teachers can make history feel relevant, engaging, and essential for their personal growth. Learn more about anchoring history lessons to current events and help your students become more engaged in history class than ever before!

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DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AND THEIR IMPACT

Economic activities in pre-colonial Africa societies were greatly determined by the environment. Environment refers to the physical condition in place for example in Africa continent Some communities live near large water masses and rivers    others live near tropical forests while others lived in drier areas such as Sahel, all these environmental conditions influenced the economic activities of the people. For economic activities to take place people needed to apply certain technology.

Technology is the scientific method that is used       practically, or is the use of ideas, methods, tools, and materials to get things done. For example, technology can be used to design new tools and machines, the use of technology makes the economic production more efficient, technological                 development refers to the gradual/rapid improvement of        scientific knowledge which also leads to the improvement of skills, machines and tools.

Several economic activities developed among the different people of Africa during the Late Stone and Iron Age ranging from:

1. Agriculture, which involved the growing of crops and rearing of animals.
2. Hand craft industry which developed on skills or hand to make and produce goods
3. Mining which concerned with the process of extracting underground minerals for man’s use.
4. Trade, involved the selling and buying of goods and services, or goods by goods.
5.  Hunting, and gathering,
6. Fishing,
7.  Lumbering

All these economic activities differed from area to area basing on the environment and the skills that the people living in the given area were gifted with.

AGRICULTURE

            Different types of agriculture were well developed in East Africa by 1700.  Agriculture is the domestication of      animals and plants, the development of agriculture in Africa was much influenced by the environment. Crops and animals were first domesticated in those regions were they existed in natural environment. In Africa agriculture began in the Nile   valley in Egypt around 7000BC

FACTORS COTRIBUTED TO THE BEGINNING OF AGRICULTURE

1. There were plants and animals in the environment that could be domesticated easily
2. Population increased, the natural environment could not provide adequate and regular food, and people had to look for an alternative means for getting reliable food supplies,
3. Climatic changes such as increased drought and the    resultant aridity threatened animal’s and plant’s life this meant that man could not rely on nature alone for     survival,
4. At the time of floods, bushfire and other natural         calamities destroyed vegetation and killed or drove away animals that man relied on for food.
5. Competition for food between human beings and        animals increased, making wild food sources in           adequate,
6. Sometimes people had to cover very long distance as they search for food, the distance increased as food supplies diminished making gathering and hunting    tiresome.

TYPES OF AGRICULTURE PRACTICED IN ANCIENT AFRICA

There were three (3) main types of agriculture practiced in ancient Africa, these types of agriculture show a close          relationship between agriculture, the environment and the technology developed to improve agriculture, these types were,

1. Crops cultivation
2. Pastoralism
3. Mixed farming

CROPS CULTIVATION

Different types of crops were grown in various regions of      Africa depending on the natural resources, crops cultivation comprised of shifting cultivation and permanent cultivation,

SHIFTING CULTIVATION

This involved periodic working on land, under shifting cultivation seasonal crops were grown in wood land savannah and wooded steppe, in this area the soil were light and fertility was easily exhausted, it was therefore necessary for people to keep on moving to more fertile areas, these regions had low population densities so there was enough land for farmers to move frequently. Under shifting cultivation people grew drought crops like sorghum, cassava, pumpkins and maize, one type of shifting cultivation was the slash and burn methods

PERMANENT CROPS CULTIVATION

It was adopted in region with denser population, these communities in such areas developed intensive farming       techniques as there was no extra land to move on. Areas that received heavy and reliable rainfall, were free from pests and diseases, having fertile soil did serve best for permanent crops cultivation, with development of iron technology societies that practiced this moved from communalism to feudalism,

 Communalism – A system whereby people live together and practice common ownership of major means of      production. It is believed to have originated during the early stages of human evolution

Feudalism – The system of production whereby wealthy landowners rented land to landless people in exchange for a fee in the form of services, goods or in kind, in  feudal mode of production the feudal lords controlled the land which was the principal source of production. The serfs controlled nothing except their labor power; the vassals tilled the land, paid taxes and controlled their own labor. Examples of feudal societies were the Nupe, Ankole,   Buganda, Karagwe In east Africa it was majority        practiced this type of agriculture, in interacustrine region say Buganda, Kagera, Kenyan highland, Ankole around Mount Kilimanjaro, parts of kigoma, and Rungwe. In West Africa the Fante, Yoruba, Ashanti, Ife, and Akwan,

Sometimes in these areas soil lost its fertility and in such       circumstances societies came up with the methods of keeping the soil fertile. For example, through irrigation, terracing, and application of fertilizers. In places were grains were     cultivated storage facilities were established to carter for the dry seasons, many communities built granaries,                                    

PASTORALISM

This involve the keeping of livestock, the heading of domestic animals (cattle, sheep, or goats) which were a real and Potential source of food particularly milk, meat, animal skins, and the herds were also exchanged with the different neighboring      societies, areas with semi-arid and arid condition like scantly rainfall, poor soils which could only support pastoralism as the main economic activity within the area. In East Africa the dry areas include the rift valley area of Tanzania and Kenya      comprising of societies like the Maasai, Nyaturu, barbing and Karamajong    in Uganda,

The pastoral communities were nomadic or migratory, they kept moving on searching for pastures and water for livestock, there were also war like- always reading to defend their wealth or raiding neighboring for livestock. In pastoral societies livestock were the major means of production and members of the same family shared the meat, milk and skins from their herds,

MIXED FARMING

This is an agricultural system which involves growing of crops and rearing of animals on the same piece of land. it developed in areas which supported both Pastoralism and crops              cultivation, crops grown in this agricultural practice included cereals such as maize, millet, and cassava, animals kept         included cattle, sheep, donkeys, and many other, it was        practiced by people such as the Hutu, Buganda, Nkole, and Kimbu, the long horned ankole type of cattle were kept in the Interacustrine areas the short horned zebu type were kept in the drier woodland savannah and wooded stepe

IMPACTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF                      AGRICULTURE

1. It created simple agro-communities from hunting and gathering families
2. Sedentary settlement
3. It created bonds between the successful team of        producers who depended on the food produced during the previous period of production.
4. It led to the polygamous marriage,
5. Unlike in hunting and gathering societies women        enjoyed equal opportunity with men, in pastoral and    agricultural societies women were subjected to men.

HANDCRAFT INDUSTRIES AND MINING

By 1500 the East Africa had invented reliable craft and industries, these enabled them to make or acquire tools and equipment which simplified the daily activities of man, the main crafts included iron smelting and forging, salt extraction, cloth making, basketry, wood carving, and pottery.

IRON SMELTING

This is the process of extracting iron from the iron ore by heating; the people who were dealing in iron smelting were called the black smiths, this technology of smelting iron from iron ore developed from 500BC and 1700AD, iron technology developed in areas with iron ore, the ore was smelted in         furnaces, the iron obtained was made into iron tools, these were traded with commodities that the craftsman needed but could not produce them. In a way of trying to maintain the monopoly over the knowledge of iron working the knowledge was kept as a secret and in many societies it was even ritualized (made a religious thing). Different societies had different beliefs as many believed that the women were not allowed to Furnace as it was presumed that the iron would be spoilt, the societies which involved in iron smelting were like; Haya, Meru, and Kerewe,

METHODS OF OBTAINING AND PROCESSING IRON

1. The black smith identified the rocks that were bearing iron ore, corrected it plus smelting the iron found in the tranches clay furnaces,
2. They used charcoal as fuel and maintained the high   temperature in the furnaces by funning the live charcoal with bellows,
3. The smelted iron was then shaped into different forms and tools like spears, knives, axes, pangas, and wire.

CLOTH MAKING

A number of communities had people who waved cloth, the Fipa people of Rukwa valley for example were producing      cotton cloth on local handlooms. The other type of cloth was made by pounding the back of a certain trees; this type was common among the Haya, Baganda, and Nyakyusa.

SALT MAKING

 Salt not only acted as ingredient of food but also as a           preservative of perishable food stuffs as well as trade items, salt made people to produce more food knowing that it could be easily preserved.

METHODS OF OBTAINING AND PROCESSNG SALT

1. traditional method, under this method salt was        obtained from the reeds growing in marshy areas, gathered, dried and burnt to ashes, the ashes were then collected, filtered and the liquid was boiled to evaporate, the residual was used as salt, the mangaja people settling along Lake Nyasa commonly practced this method.
2. Mining of salt bearing rocks; In this method the rocks that contain salt are identified and are dug out, it is probably the most common used method of      obtaining and processing of salt, places where it is used include Kasese, Bilma, Taghaza, Katwe, and many more.
3. Boiling and evaporation, under this method as the sprig waters boiled underneath the earth’s surface, they do evaporate and spill over the land surface where they cool and form salt crystals which are used as salt, this method was commonly practiced in   Uvinza, Shinyanga, and among the Venda people.
4. Trapping sea water in manmade pans, the water was evaporated by the heat of the sun leaving salt crystals, this method is still very common along the East Africa coast today                            

POTTERY

This was a specialty in areas with suitable clay soil, potters    especially women made holding vessels such as ports, cups, and pipes, these were either used in homes or traded, the kissi     people along Lake Nyasa are famous in pottery.

CANOES MAKING

The art of making canoes developed in areas bordering Lakes, Rivers, and Oceans, different societies that carried out this had their major economic activity as fishing, which in many cases supplemented agriculture,

                   BASKETRY AND CARPENTRY

Some people specialized in making baskets and mats, palm fronds and special reeds were used to make these holding vessels, fish traps were also woven by specialist in fishing. Along the coast and near Lakes and rivers wood was carved to make canoes which was useful for fishing and transport, many craftsmen made mortars, these were important for pounding grain and vegetable. The Makonde, Kamba, and Kikuyu were good carvers of masks and other human or animal shapes,

GOLD INDUSTRY

Gold was one of the most precious mineral and it was not found in every area as other minerals a thing that made it precious and valuable, the communities that were mining gold evidenced drastic social, economic and political development,

METHODS OF OBTAINING AND PROCESSING GOLD

1. Panning method, this method was commonly carried out along the river beds were alluvial gold was            extracted. It was somehow tiresome as people could try as several times as they could. This method was     common among the Sabi people living along river Zambezi,
2. Shaft method, the shaft method was commonly used in the areas with gold veins, here gold was dug out by      using wooden, stone and iron hammers, then collected in wooden baskets and taken to the furnaces where it was turned into different ornaments such as bangles, ear rings, plus many other.

COPPER INDUSTRY

The copper industry is believed to be the oldest industry that existed in almost all pre-colonial African societies, different societies participated in this industry due to the fact that the copper existed in their communities.

METHODS USED IN PROCESSING AND OBTAINING COPPER,

Copper belts were identified and copper were dug out and then taken to the furnaces where it was smelted, the smelted copper was turned into different tools which were relatively important to the societies for example wire traps, knives, axes, among others, the areas that carried out this included places where the copper belts were found, for example the Katanga copper belt and kasese

TRADE IN PRE COLONIAL AFRICA

Trade:  Refers to the exchange of goods or services for money or other goods or it’s the buying and selling of goods.

                 Trade developed when people   produced goods over and above their day to day needs, only surplus products were traded, important commodities (tradable) included iron tools, food items and crafts.

METHODS OF TRADE

                  Batter trade, is the trade where by goods or service are exchanged for other goods or services, for example, the exchange of cattle for iron tools between the Maasai and Gweno was barter trade in Northern Tanzania the Kissii traded their ports for food from the pare.

                 The currency method of trade is where by money is used. Money is something that is accepted as a measure of value by the people taking part in trade

TYPES OF TRADE IN RE COLONIAL AFRICAN SOCIETIES

Local trade-was the trade which involved people within the same geographical location or within the same ethnic group

Long distance trade, is the trade between people from different location or different ethnic group for example Trans Saharan trade

THE LONG DISTANCE TRADE IN EAST AFRICA

The term long distance trade (LDT) Refers to the pre-colonial trade caravans which moved over long distance, in this case of East Africa the long distance trade was seasonal. It was mainly during dry seasons and during the rainy seasons, when most Bantu tribes who actively participate in trade settled down for agriculture.

THE PARTICIPANNTS IN THE TRADE.

The Kamba, Baganda, kikuyu, and Banyoro carried trade activities along the northern route. On the central route the Nyamwezi were out spoken providers of caravan porters, the leader of this caravan was Chief Mirambo.                                                                                                                   

On the southern route The Yao became the first prominent traders, chief Mponda and Motaka were the one who mobilized them.

ITEMS OF TRADE

Gums, gun powder, cloth, beads and hard ware from the coastal Arabs and Swahili trader

Ivory, Slaves, minerals (copper), animal skin and        tortoise shells from the tribes of the interior.

FACTORS FOR THE RISE OF THE TRADE

The commercial development occurred in East and Central    Africa between 1855-1914 and was marked by the exchange in trade items, thanks to the relationship with Asia, Arabia and Europe, trade grew up voluminously between 1855-1914 for the demands exceeded the supply, thanks to the death of local products at the coast. The Swahili and Arab traders stationed at Zanzibar migrated to the interior for they were attracted by the richness of East and Central Africa. The trade developed due to the following factors;

1. The growth of iron technology, in some tribes of the   interior of East Africa spurred the expansion of the long distance trade, like the Bunyoro and Nyamwezi were involved in blacksmithing, they made different iron equipment that included hoes, axes, pangas, and also produced salt. Tribes that were formally engaged in forming routes joined with tribes like the Bunyoro, the Nyamwezi, and the Kikuyu in the long distance trade because in doing so they obtained needed goods and because it was very profitable,
2. The expansion of the industrial revolution from       England to other European nations partly accelerated the development of long distance trade, local products like ivory, minerals turned out to be lucrative to the   European during the second half of the nineteenth    century, high demands of local products pressurized the traders to move deep in the interior of east Africa to   obtain cheaply ivory and minerals.
3. The shift of Sultan Seyyid Said said from Muscat Oman to Zanzibar in 1840, he and other Arabs traders created clove plantations in order to over satisfy the over      expanding needs in the European market, in order to boost production, he wanted cheap labor which could be offered by slaves who could be obtained from the       interior parts of Africa.
4. Introduction and availability of fire arms also was      instrumental in contributing to the development of long distance trade, the presence of fire arm made it easier for Chokwe, Bisa, and Nyamwezi people to transform their traditional skills into modern ones to attract the available market and also aided those who were involved in slave trade to easily acquire captives.
5. The division of labor and specialization among the Chakwe and seasonal pattern of the land use among the Nyamwezi of West Central Tanganyika, after preparing the land for planting men would leave the work of         harvesting to women, men would travel far of hunting ivory and transacting trade for several months without checking back on their homes.
6. High demands of imported European and Asian     products for example clothes, and fire arms. 

REASONS FOR THE DECLINE OF LONG DISTANCE TRADE

1. Inter-tribal wars, by 1880 competition for long distance trade items had come to its climax with many new East African societies interested in joining the long distance trade business for example in Kenya the Kamba fought with the Nandi in competition for rare products such as ivory which Arabs wanted most in Kenya.
2. Presence of insecurity created by bandits almost in all trade routes, they had a problem of way layers for       example the central route that was occupied by the Nyamwezi had a group of bandits known as Rugaruga and Mvui who molested traders from the central routes where as the hostile Zaramo, Ukimbu, Porkorno, molested traders from Kenya,
3. The depletion of elephant population due to over hunting indeed affected ivory products, also contributed to the decline of long distance trade by 1890s the elephants had been forced to migrate to distance areas also they were killed in large number especially after the             introduction of guns.
4. The death of outstanding long distance traders;          continuous assassination of African chiefs by Swahili and Arabs traders in search of trade items contributed to the decline of long distance trade, Mirambbo, Nyungu ya mawe, and Kabaka mutesa I of Buganda all died in the same year of 1884 whose active participation and organizational abilities had led to success of long       distance trade, unfortunately their successors lacked such abilities.
5. Introduction of legitimate trade by European traders   during the period of scramble for and partition of Africa in 19^th century led to the decline of long distance trade.

THE IMPACTS OF THE LONG DISTANCE TRADE

1. The integration of African economy into the world     capitalist economy, Africa was producing many raw materials that were absorbed by the outside world and in return was receiving goods produced by the outside world.
2. There was introduction and spread of new cash crops from the coast to the interior that helped people to get both food and cash crops, those included maize, rice, pineapple and sugar,
3. The caravan routes latter became useful for inland     penetration by European explorers, missionaries and traders. In their enterprises used the routes that had been utilized by traders and without them the European        colonial agents would have encountered many setbacks.
4. It created monetary system that took the place of barter system of trade, the new form of trade was introduced including cowrie shells, coinage, and paper money.
5. Development of towns in East Africa, for example Ujiji, Tabora, Bagamoyo, Tanga, and Kiwa,
6. Increased intermarriage and social interaction gave rise to Afro-Asiatic, Afro-Arabic, and Afro-European culture in Africa.
7. Long distance trade helped to improve relationship      between some African societies which had before, for example the Kamba and the Nandi tribes in Kenya had to ignore their traditional differences in order to trade freely as friends.
8. The trade involved itself in selling of human being who greatly depopulated most of East and Central African societies.
9. It led to the state formation in East Africa, this came out as the result of individuals who acquired wealth and other opportunities from long distance trade that helped them to build large political kingdoms for example Nyungu Ya Mawe, Mutesa I, Mirambo, were able to build their kingdoms as a results of opportunities from the long distance trade.
10. The long distance trade stimulated the production of    local food stuffs required to meet food demands of     caravan traders who did not carry food supplies along the way.

THE TRANS–SAHARA TRADE

           This was the exchange of goods between Western Sudan and North Africa passing through the Saharan desert. The term “Trans” means across. While existing from prehistoric times,  the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century.

The Northern people who took their goods across Saharan desert to Western Sudan were the Berbers and Touaregs, also from the Northern Sudan some goods came from Europe and Asia consisted of cotton and silk clothes, swords, guns, metal pans and horses.

            Commodities that originated from Western Sudan      included slaves, ostrich feathers, kola nuts, gold, salt, ivory and food stuffs, Camel were used as the primary means of transport, the Berbers passed through the Saharan desert and collected commodities from Western Sudan, the medium of interchange of goods and services was barter system later cowrie shells from Maldives were used as means of exchange, this replaced barter system.

            The trade involved different zones which were ranging from Forest i.e. involving the forest states like Benin, Oyo, Kanem, Bornu, and many more. The savannah belt which     involved the Western Sudanic states (Ghana, Mali, and       Songhai) the Sahara Desert and the North Africa, the             Mediterranean world and Europe.

MAJOR TRANS SAHARAN TRADE ROUTES

            There were three main trade routes.

1. The Western route,
2. The Central route
3. The Eastern route

The Western route; thistrade route started at Fez in morocco and passed through Sijimasa, Taghaza, Taoden,   Walata, Audaghost, and Timbuktu. The Western route was famous because of the salt work at Taghaza and gold mines of      Wangara.

The Central route; this trade route started at Tunis and proceeded to Tuata, taotek, tadmekket, Timbuktu, Gao, kano, and katsina.

            The Eastern route; this route originated in Tunisia in Tripoli, Alexandria and Cairo, and proceeded to murzuk, Ghat, Agades, and Bilma, this trade route was significant due to the salt mine in Bilma.

FACTORS FOR THE GROWTH OF THE TRANS SAHARAN TRADE

1. Political development that were evidenced during the 7^th century and 16^th century cases in point include the Western Sudanic states whose rulers promoted the    expansion of the trade, they ensured this by giving a leading hand, security and freedom of movement and   also encouraged their people to prepare the goods that were necessary in the trade, examples of these leaders include Askia Mohamed, Mansa Musa, and Tunka Manin,
2.   The conquest of North Africa by the Arabs between 641 and 708 when the Arabs conquered North Africa them being traders naturally they did introduce their trading system and on top of that they increased the use of camels in North Africa and in the Saharan desert.
3. Development of production in various regions of the Sudanic zone, as production increased it meant that the supply of commodities to be used in the trade was   available as no single community is self-sufficient; this meant that the different societies had to depend upon each other facilitated by the development of production like mining and hand crafts.