In Chapter 13, you learned about the key role that trade played
in the development of Ghana. You also read how the empire of Mali arose after
the decline of Ghana. Both empires exercised political and economic power over
a large part of Africa. Control of high-demand trade products like gold and
salt allowed Ghana and Mali to become powerful and wealthy.
Gold and salt were the largest part of West African economies. Slavery was
another part of those economies. Many societies in Africa who were ruled by
kings kept slaves. Slaves were seen as a symbol of power and wealth. Mostly,
slaves were used for household purposes. In Mali, they were also used to clear
new farmlands. Kings would sometimes keep loyal foreign-born slaves as
bodyguards. Slaves were also traded to places outside of West Africa, but not
on the large scale that would happen later.
Ghana and Mali had great political and economic power. Both empires also
demonstrated cultural influence over a large part of Africa. In Chapter 14, you
will read about the great city of Timbuktu in Mali. People from all over the
Islamic world came to admire its striking mosques and to study in its famous
universities and libraries. Archeological excavations of Ghana’s capital of
Kumbi show it to be an impressive city as well. Historians believe that it
could have been largest city in the world at the time. A mix of traditional and
Muslim religions coexisted there. Since excavations began in 1913, a beautiful
mosque was discovered. It is one of 12 mosques believed to have existed in
Ghana’s capital.
One of the sources of information about Ghana and its cities comes from Abu
Ubayd Al-Bakri. He was a historian and geographer from Muslim Spain. In 1068,
he wrote the
Book of Roads and Kingdoms. He never traveled south of
the Sahara himself. He based information in his book on those areas he had
never been to on accounts given to him by merchants and other travelers.
Below is an excerpt from
Book of Roads and Kingdoms. In it, Al-Bakri
describes a city in Ghana. What do you learn from the excerpt about the
geography of this city and its people?
Excerpt from Book of Roads and Kingdoms
The city of Ghana consists of two towns situated on a plain. One of these
towns, which is inhabited by Muslims, is large and possesses twelve mosques, in
one of which they assemble for the Friday prayer.…
The king’s town is six miles distant from this one…. The king has a palace and
a number of domed dwellings all surrounded with an enclosure like a city wall.
Around the king’s town are domed buildings and groves and thickets [woods]
where the sorcerers of these people, men in charge of the religious cult, live.
In them too are their idols [statues] and the tombs of their kings.
The king adorns himself.… wearing necklaces round his neck and bracelets on his
forearms and he puts on a high cap decorated with gold and wrapped in a turban
of fine cotton. He holds an audience in a domed pavilion around which stand ten
horses covered with gold-embroidered materials… and on his right, are the sons
of the vassal kings of his country, wearing splendid garments and their hair
plaited with gold.
Source
BBC World Service, “The Story of Africa: West African Kingdoms:
Ghana,”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/4chapter1.shtml.
Investigating Primary Sources
Historians study a large number of sources whenever they try to piece together
an accurate picture of the past. They must learn to identify the most important
details to help them discover what is most important in a historical narrative
or story. The terms below are handy tools for studying historical documents.
Relevant: Information important to solving a problem or
reaching a conclusion.
Irrelevant: Information not important to solving a problem or
reaching a conclusion.
Essential: Information absolutely necessary to solving a
problem or reaching a conclusion.
Incidental: Information not absolutely necessary to solving a
problem or reaching a conclusion.
Verifiable: Information that can be proven by examining other
sources.
Unverifiable: Information that cannot be proven by examining
other sources.
Imagine you are a historian studying Ghana. You want to design a map of the
city in Ghana that is as accurate as possible. What important information can
be drawn from Al-Bakri’s account? For each of the six terms above, find and
list examples of that term in Al-Bakri’s account. You may use the same fact or
information more than once in your list.
History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, Investigating Primary Sources
