Key Idea: Topic 10.2 asks one question in three costumes: how do African states rise, how do they hold power, and how do they fall? Mali (10.2.1) shows a state being built through conquest and gold-salt trade. Ashanti (10.2.2) shows a state maintaining authority through sacred symbols, matrilineal succession and diplomacy. Kongo (10.2.3) shows a state declining through civil war, foreign pressure and the slave trade. Learn all three well — Paper 3 lets you pick whichever state fits the question best.
How this topic is tested
You answer two essays from this regional option, each worth 15 marks. Most questions use the command term 'To what extent do you agree...' — you are graded on reaching a clear, substantiated judgement, not on describing everything you know. Top marks need: a direct thesis, named evidence (dates, people, places), and a final verdict that actually answers 'to what extent'. You do NOT need historiography (naming historians) to reach the top band — specific, accurate evidence is what counts.
Because this is HL depth study, examiners expect you to argue with real names and real dates, not vague generalisations like 'the empire grew strong because of trade'. Always be ready to name at least one specific battle, ruler, and trade good for whichever state you choose.
Must-know facts from every micro
| Micro | State & focus | Key names / dates | Core debate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.2.1 | Mali Empire — how a state is built | Sundiata Keita defeats Sumanguru Kanté at the Battle of Kirina, c.1235; Mansa Musa (r. c.1312-1337) and his 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca; goldfields of Bure and Wangara; salt town of Taghaza; the gbara council of elders | Was military conquest or economic control of trade the primary cause of Mali's rise? (Best answer: conquest enabled it, trade sustained it) |
| 10.2.2 | Ashanti Empire — how power is held | Osei Tutu and priest Okomfo Anokye found the state c.1701 after defeating Denkyira; the Golden Stool (Sika Dwa Kofi); matrilineal succession via the Asantehemaa (Queen Mother); capital at Kumasi; Yaa Asantewaa leads the 1900 War of the Golden Stool | Was Ashanti authority genuinely centralized, or did distant provinces keep real autonomy? Was centralization, religion, or diplomacy most important to maintaining power? |
| 10.2.3 | Kingdom of Kongo — how a state declines | Manikongo Afonso I (r.1509-1543) tries to limit slaving; Battle of Mbwila (1665) kills King António I and triggers civil war; province of Soyo breaks away; Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita leads the Antonian movement (1704-1706) | Was Kongo's collapse mainly self-inflicted (succession rivalry, African-on-African raiding) or externally driven (Portuguese pressure, Atlantic demand)? |
- Mali (10.2.1) — rose through overlapping political, military, social and economic causes; trade in gold, salt and enslaved people ran along trans-Saharan routes anchored at Taghaza; Niger floodplains fed the population that made the empire possible.
- Ashanti (10.2.2) — held power through the sacred Golden Stool, a centralized court at Kumasi, matrilineal succession managed by the Queen Mother, and flexible diplomacy with British traders; its rise reshaped religion, culture (Kente cloth, Adinkra symbols), society and women's roles.
- Kongo (10.2.3) — declined through a feedback loop of civil war (Mbwila, 1665), foreign military pressure, economic dependency on the slave trade, and fragmentation into successor provinces like Soyo; decline also opened space for new movements like Dona Beatriz's Antonian religion.
Modelled exam question 1 — emergence of a state
To what extent do you agree that control of trade, rather than military conquest, was the primary reason for the emergence of a pre-colonial African state that you have studied?
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Modelled exam question 2 — decline of a state
To what extent do you agree that the trade in enslaved peoples was the most significant reason for the decline of a pre-colonial African state you have studied?
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: Describing a state's rise or fall as one single cause ('Mali grew because of gold', 'Kongo fell because of the slave trade'). Examiners want overlapping causes that reinforce each other, plus a final judgement on which mattered most — not a list, and not a flat 'both were equally important' cop-out.
Who did Sundiata Keita defeat, and when? Sumanguru Kanté, ruler of the Sosso kingdom, at the Battle of Kirina, c.1235 — this founded the Mali Empire.
What was the Golden Stool, and why did the Asantehene never sit on it? The Sika Dwa Kofi, Ashanti's sacred royal stool, said to have fallen from the sky into Osei Tutu's lap around 1701. It symbolised the soul of the whole nation, so it was only ever looked at or sat near, never sat on.
How was a new Asantehene chosen? The Asantehemaa (Queen Mother) nominated a candidate from the matrilineal royal line, a council of chiefs could reject an unsuitable nominee, and the approved candidate was ceremonially enstooled near the Golden Stool.
What triggered Kongo's civil war in 1665? The Battle of Mbwila, where Portuguese forces killed King António I. With no clear heir, rival princes and provinces fought for the throne for decades.
Who was Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita? A Kongolese prophet who led the Antonian movement (1704-1706), claiming Jesus was Kongolese and calling for the ruined capital to be rebuilt. She was burned as a heretic in 1706, but her movement shows how state collapse opened space for new leaders.
Name one Kongo province that broke away and why it mattered. Soyo, a coastal province that bypassed the weakened royal court entirely and traded directly with Portuguese and Dutch merchants, showing how trade networks relocated after central authority collapsed.
1) Pick ONE state per essay and go deep with named evidence rather than skimming several. 2) Always open with a thesis sentence that directly answers 'to what extent'. 3) Show causes reinforcing each other (conquest funds trade, trade funds army, civil war invites foreign pressure) rather than listing them as separate boxes. 4) End every essay with an explicit verdict sentence — examiners reward a clear final stance above all else.