Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Course World History #16

Summary

In this Crash Course episode, John Green explores the rich and diverse history of Africa, focusing on regions south of the Sahara. He challenges the stereotype of Africa as uncivilized by discussing the Mali Empire under Mansa Musa, highlighting his pilgrimage to Mecca and the empire's wealth and Islamic influence. Green also covers the Swahili civilization, a network of city-states along East Africa's coast, emphasizing their trade, language, and religious connections. The episode underscores the importance of using multiple historical lenses to understand Africa's complex past.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Africa is much larger than it appears on most maps and is incredibly diverse, making it a mistake to focus solely on regions like Egypt.
• 📚 Much of African history was preserved orally rather than in written form, challenging the notion that only written records are reliable.
• 🏺 The story of Mansa Musa, the wealthy king of Mali, demonstrates the existence of prosperous African kingdoms and their connection to global trade and religion.
• 🕌 Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca and his extravagant spending influenced European perceptions of West Africa as a land rich in gold.
• 🗽 The Mali Empire, ruled by Mansa Musa, was a significant West African power with Timbuktu as one of its major cities.
• 📈 The spread of Islam in West Africa was facilitated through trade with North African Berbers and was adopted by elites for both religious and political reasons.
• 👳‍♀️ In West Africa, Muslim rulers often blended traditional African religions with Islam to maintain a connection with their non-Muslim subjects.
• 🌐 The Swahili civilization on the eastern coast of Africa was a collection of city-states with a common culture linked by language, trade, and religion.
• 📚 The Swahili language and culture were influenced by Bantu migrants from West Africa and later by Arab traders and Islam.
• 🚢 Archaeological evidence suggests that Swahili city-states were involved in a sophisticated trade network, exporting raw materials and slaves, and importing luxury goods.

Q & A

Why does John Green emphasize that Africa is often misrepresented on maps?

Africa is much larger than it appears on most maps, and focusing only on Egypt would be a mistake due to the continent's incredible diversity.

What is the significance of oral tradition in African history?

Much of African history was preserved through oral tradition rather than written records, which is a valid and reliable form of historical preservation.

How does John Green challenge the prejudice against oral traditions?

He points out that the Iliad and the Odyssey were memorized for centuries before being written down, and Plato argued that writing can destroy memory by reducing the need to remember.

What is the legendary tale of Mansa Musa, and why is it important?

Mansa Musa was a wealthy king of the Mali Empire who made a pilgrimage to Mecca with a large entourage and gold, which helped spread the myth of West Africa's wealth and challenged stereotypes about African kingdoms.

How did Mansa Musa's pilgrimage affect the perception of West Africa in the Mediterranean world?

His pilgrimage and the tales of his wealth led to the myth that West Africa was a land of gold, influencing European perceptions and potentially motivating later exploration and exploitation.

What was the role of Islam in the Mali Empire and how did it spread?

Islam spread through trade routes and was adopted by elites for religious and commercial connections, with kings blending it with traditional African religions to maintain power.

Why is the story of Ibn Battuta significant in the context of the Mali Empire?

Ibn Battuta's travels and writings provide a detailed account of the Mali Empire, including its culture and gender roles, offering a rich source of information about the empire.

What was the Swahili civilization and how did it differ from the Mali Empire?

The Swahili civilization was a collection of city-states along the eastern coast of Africa that formed a network of trade ports, unlike the centralized Mali Empire.

How did the arrival of Arab traders impact the Swahili civilization?

Arab traders brought Islam and participated in the Indian Ocean trade network, leading to rapid development and the adoption of Islam by the Swahili elites.

What are the three common factors that linked the Swahili city-states?

The Swahili city-states were linked by the Swahili language, trade, and religion, particularly Islam, which were central to their shared culture.

How does the study of Africa's history challenge the notion of a singular 'civilization'?

Studying Africa's history, with its diverse sources like oral tradition, archaeology, and writing, shows that Africa is not a monolithic entity but a complex part of global history.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Africa's Diversity and the Tale of Mansa Musa

This paragraph introduces the vast and diverse continent of Africa, emphasizing the importance of not focusing solely on Egypt. It discusses the limited written records from Sub-Saharan Africa due to the prevalence of oral traditions. The paragraph challenges the notion that writing is the only accurate form of historical record, citing the Iliad and the Odyssey as examples of great works preserved orally. It also mentions Plato's view on how writing can diminish memory. The main narrative focuses on the legendary tale of Mansa Musa, the wealthy king of Mali who made a lavish pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, significantly impacting the economy of the cities he visited and contributing to the European myth of Africa as a land of gold.

05:02

🏛️ The Mali Empire and the Spread of Islam

This section delves into the Mali Empire, ruled by Mansa Musa, and its significance in African history. It discusses the empire's geographical extent, including the important city of Timbuktu. The paragraph explores the spread of Islam in West Africa, highlighting the role of trade and the influence of Berber traders. It explains how Islam became the religion of the elite and the blending of traditional African religions with Islamic practices. The paragraph also touches on the historical records of Mali, including the visit by Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan scholar, who noted the beauty and status of Malian women. The potential maritime trade endeavors of Mansa Musa and the eventual fall of the Mali Empire to the Songhai are also mentioned.

10:03

🌊 The Swahili Civilization and Its Cultural Exchanges

The final paragraph shifts focus to the eastern coast of Africa, discussing the Swahili civilization, a collection of city-states rather than a unified empire. It outlines the three unifying factors of the Swahili city-states: language, trade, and religion. The paragraph explains the origins of the Swahili language and the transformation of East African societies from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists. It also discusses the arrival of Arab traders and the adoption of Islam by the Swahili elites. The paragraph describes the trade goods, including raw materials and slaves, and the import of luxury items like porcelain and books. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of studying Africa through multiple lenses to avoid perpetuating stereotypes and to recognize its integral role in global history.

Keywords

💡Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest continent, often misrepresented as a homogeneous entity due to its vast diversity. In the video, Africa's size and diversity are emphasized to challenge stereotypes and highlight the continent's rich history and cultures. The script mentions that Africa is 'super big' and can fit countries like India, China, and the United States within it, illustrating its vastness.

💡Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert is a significant geographical feature in Africa, often used as a dividing line between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The video uses the Sahara Desert as a starting point to explore the history and cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa, indicating a shift in focus from the more commonly discussed North African history.

💡Oral Tradition

Oral tradition refers to the preservation of history, stories, and knowledge through spoken communication rather than written records. The video challenges the Western bias towards written records by highlighting the richness of African oral traditions and their ability to produce complex narratives, such as the tales of Mansa Musa.

💡Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire, known for his pilgrimage to Mecca and the wealth he displayed, which included a large entourage and significant amounts of gold. His story is used in the video to illustrate the wealth and sophistication of African kingdoms, countering the stereotype of Africa as a poor continent.

💡Hajj

The Hajj is the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, which every Muslim is expected to make at least once in their lifetime if they are physically and financially able. Mansa Musa's Hajj is discussed in the video to show his religious devotion and to highlight the connections between West Africa and the broader Islamic world.

💡Islamization

Islamization refers to the process by which a region or people adopt the Islamic religion and its cultural practices. The video discusses the spread of Islam in West Africa through trade routes and its adoption by the elite, which then influenced the broader population, indicating the complex interplay between religion, trade, and power.

💡Timbuktu

Timbuktu is a city in Mali known for its historical significance as a center of learning and trade. The video mentions Timbuktu as part of the Mali Empire, emphasizing the empire's size and the importance of its cities in the region's history.

💡Swahili Civilization

Swahili Civilization refers to the collection of city-states along the eastern coast of Africa, known for their trade networks and cultural exchanges. The video contrasts the Swahili city-states with the empires of West Africa, showing an alternative model of 'civilizational' development based on trade and cultural exchange rather than centralized empires.

💡Trade Ports

Trade ports are coastal locations where goods are exchanged between different regions. The video discusses the Swahili city-states as trade ports, highlighting their role in the Indian Ocean trade network and their importance in the global exchange of goods and ideas.

💡Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts. The video mentions archaeological finds in Kilwa, such as built-in bookshelves, to illustrate the importance of material evidence in understanding the past and the sophistication of African civilizations.

💡Diverse Perspectives

Diverse perspectives refer to the importance of considering multiple sources and viewpoints when studying history. The video emphasizes the need for diverse perspectives, including oral tradition, archaeology, and written records, to gain a fuller understanding of Africa's complex history and its place in the world.

Highlights

Africa is much larger than it appears on most maps, and it's incredibly diverse.

Much of African history was preserved via oral tradition rather than written records.

Oral traditions are not less civilized than written ones; they can produce rich literary artifacts.

The story of Mansa Musa, the wealthy king of Mali, challenges stereotypes about Africa's past.

Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 showcased the wealth and influence of African kingdoms.

His journey caused economic impacts, like inflation in Alexandria due to his lavish spending.

Mansa Musa's actions helped create the myth of West Africa as a land of gold in European minds.

Mansa Musa's rule and pilgrimage indicate the presence of wealthy, educated African Muslim kings.

The Mali Empire, including the city of Timbuktu, was a significant part of West African history.

Islam spread to West Africa along trade routes, first among traders and then among the elite.

Mali's kings, like Mansa Musa, blended traditional African religions with Islam to maintain power.

Ibn Battuta's travels and writings provide valuable insights into the Mali Empire and its culture.

The Swahili civilization on the east coast of Africa was a collection of city-states with a shared culture.

The Swahili language and culture were influenced by Bantu migrations and Arab traders.

Islam was adopted by the Swahili elite for religious and commercial connections.

Archaeological finds, such as bookcases in houses, suggest a culture that valued learning.

Studying Africa requires multiple sources to avoid perpetuating stereotypes of backwardness.

Africa's history is complex and diverse, and it is an integral part of global history.

Transcripts

Hi, my name’s John Green, this is Crash Course: World History, and today we’re gonna talk about Africa.

Mr. Green Mr. Green! We’ve already talked about Africa. Egypt is in Africa, and you

haven’t shut up about it the entire course -

Yeah that’s true, Me from the Past. But Africa’s big - it’s like, super big - much

bigger than it appears on most maps, actually.

I mean, you can fit India and China, and the United States if you fold in Maine. All of

that fits in Africa! Like any huge place, Africa is incredibly diverse, and it's a mistake

to focus just on Egypt. So today let’s go here, south of the Sahara desert.

[theme music]

First, let’s turn to written records. Oh, right. We don’t have very many, at least not written

by Sub-Saharan Africans. Much of African history was preserved via oral rather than written tradition.

These days, we tend to think of writing as the most accurate and reliable form of description,

but then again, we do live in a print-based culture. And we’ve already said that writing

is one of the markers of civilization, implying that people who don’t use writing aren’t

civilized, a prejudice that has been applied over and over again to Africa. But:

1. If you need any evidence that it’s possible to produce amazing literary artifacts without

the benefits of writing, let me direct your attention to the Iliad and the Odyssey, which

were composed and memorized by poets for centuries before anyone ever wrote them down. And,

2. No less an authority than Plato said that writing destroys human memory by alleviating

the need to remember anything.

And 3. You think the oral tradition is uncivilized but here you are listening to me talk!

But we do have a lot of interesting records for some African histories, including the

legendary tale of Mansa Musa. By legendary I mean some of it probably isn’t true, but

it sure is important. Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

So there was this king Mansa Musa, who ruled the west African empire of Mali, and in 1324-ish,

he left his home and made the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

He brought with him an entourage of over 1000 people (some sources say 60,000) and, most

importantly, 100 camel loads of gold. I wish it had been donkeys so I could say he had

100 assloads of gold, but no. Camels.

Right, so along the way Mansa Musa spent freely and gave away lots of his riches. Most famously,

when he reached Alexandria, at the time one of the most cultured cities in the world, he

spent so much gold that he caused runaway inflation throughout the city that took years to recover from.

He built houses in Cairo and in Mecca to house his attendants, and as he traveled through

the world, a lot of people - notably the merchants of Venice - no, Thought Bubble, like actual

merchants of Venice - right - they saw him in Alexandria and returned to Italy with tales

of Mansa Musa’s ridiculous wealth, which helped create the myth in the minds of Europeans

that West Africa was a land of gold, an El Dorado. The kind of place you’d like to

visit. And maybe, you know, in five centuries or so, begin to pillage. Thanks, Thought Bubble.

So what’s so important about the story of Mansa Musa? Well, first, it tells us there

were African kingdoms, ruled by fabulously wealthy African kings. Which undermines one

of the many stereotypes about Africa, that its people were poor and lived in tribes ruled

by chiefs and witch doctors. Also, since Mansa Musa was making the hajj, we know that he was:

A. Muslim, and B. relatively devout.

And this tells us that Africa, at least western Africa, was much more connected to the parts

of the world we’ve been talking about than we generally are led to believe. Mansa Musa

knew all about the places he was going before he got there, and after his visits, the rest

of the Mediterranean world was sure interested in finding out more about his homeland.

Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage also brings up a lot of questions about west Africa, namely,

what did his kingdom look like and how did he come to convert to Islam? The first question

is a little easier, so we’ll start with that one.

The empire of Mali, which Mansa Musa ruled until the extremely elite year of 1337, was

a large swath of West Africa, running from the coast hundreds of miles into the interior,

and including many significant cities, the largest and best-known of which was Timbuktu.

The story of the Islamization of the Empire, however, is a bit more complicated. Okay,

so pastoral North Africans called Berbers had long traded with West Africans, with the

Berbers offering salt in exchange for West African gold. That may seem like a bad deal

until you consider that without salt, we die, whereas without gold, we only have to face

the universe’s depraved indifference to us without the benefit of metallic adornment.

That went to an ominous place quickly.

Right, so anyway the Berbers were early converts to Islam, and Islam spread along those pre-existing

trade routes between North and West Africa.

Right, so the first converts in Mali were traders, who benefited from having a religious

as well as commercial connection to their trading partners in the North and the rest

of the Mediterranean. And then the kings followed the traders, maybe because sharing the religion

of more established kingdoms in the north and east would give them prestige, not to

mention access to scholars and administrators who could help them cement their power.

So Islam became the religion of the elites in West Africa, which meant that the Muslim

kings were trying to extend their power over largely non-Muslim populations which worshipped

traditional African gods and spirits. In order not to seem too foreign, these African Muslim

kings would often blend traditional religion with Islam - for instance, giving women more

equality than was seen in Islam’s birthplace.

Anyway, the first kings we have a record of adopting Islam were from Ghana, which was

the first “empire” in western Africa. It really took off in the 11th century. As

with all empires, and also everything else, Ghana rose and then fell, and it was replaced

by Mali. The kings of Mali - especially Mansa Musa, but also Mansa Suleyman, his successor

- tried to increase the knowledge and practice of Islam in their territory. So for example,

when Mansa Musa returned from his hajj, he brought back scholars and architects to build mosques.

And the reason we know a lot about Mali is because it was visited by Ibn Battuta, the

Moroccan cleric and scholar who kind of had the best life ever. He was particularly fascinated

by gender roles in the Malian empire - and by Malian women - writing, “They are extremely

beautiful, and more important than the men.” Oh. It must be time for the open letter.

An Open Letter to Ibn Battuta: I wonder what’s in the Secret Compartment today. Oh. I appears

to be some kind of fake beard... Movie magic! Stan, why did you do this to me?

Dear Ibn Battuta,

Bro, I love twitter and my x-box and Hawaiian pizza, but if I had to go into the past and

live anyone’s life, it would be yours! Because you were this outlandishly learned scholar

who managed to parlay your knowledge of Islam into the greatest road trip in history.

You went from Mali to Constantinople to India to Russia to Indonesia; you were probably

the most well-traveled person before the invention of the steam engine. And everywhere you went,

you were treated like a king and then you went home and wrote a really famous book called

the Rihla, which people still read today and also, you could grow a real beard and I'M

JEALOUS!

Best wishes, John Green

One more thing about Mansa Musa: There are lots of stories that Mansa Musa attempted

to engage in maritime trade across the Atlantic Ocean, and some historians even believe that Malians

reached the Americas. DNA investigation may one day prove it, but until then, we’ll only have oral tradition.

The Malian Empire eventually fell to Songhai, which was itself eventually overthrown for

being insufficiently Islamic, all of which is to say that - like China or India or Europe

- West Africa had its own empires that relied upon religion and war and incredibly boring

dynastic politics. Man, I hate dynastic politics.

If I wanted to live in an ostensibly independent country that can’t let go of monarchy, I’d

be like Thought Bubble and move to Canada. Oh, come on, Thought Bubble, that’s not

fair. Shut up and take back Celine Dion!

All right, now let’s move to the other side of Africa where there was an alternative model

of “civilizational” development. The eastern coast of Africa saw the rise of what historians

called Swahili civilization, which was not an empire or a kingdom but a collection of

city states - like Zanzibar and Mombasa and Mogadishu - all of which formed a network

of trade ports. There was no central authority – each of these cities was autonomously

ruled, usually, but not always, by a king. But there were three things that linked these

city states such that we can consider them a common culture: language, trade and religion.

The Swahili language is part of a language group called Bantu, and its original speakers

were from West Africa. Their migration to East Africa changed not only the linguistic

traditions of Africa, but everything else, because they brought with them ironwork and

agriculture. Until then, most of the people living in the East had been hunter-gatherers

or herders, but once introduced, agriculture took hold, as it almost always does. Unless,

wait for it, you’re the Mongols.

Modern day Swahili, by the way, is still a Bantu-based language, although it’s been

heavily influenced by Arabic. On that topic, for a long time historians believed that the

East African cities were all started by Arab or Persian traders, which was basically just

racist - they didn’t believe that Africans were sophisticated enough to found these great

cities. Now scholars recognize that all the major Swahili cities were founded well before

Islam arrived in the region and that, in fact, trade had been going on since the first century CE.

But Swahili civilization didn’t begin its rapid development until the 8th century, when

Arab traders arrived, seeking goods that they could trade in the vast Indian Ocean network,

the Silk Road of the sea. And of course those merchants brought Islam with them, which,

just like in West Africa, was adopted by the elites who wanted religious as well as commercial

connections to the rest of the Mediterranean world.

In many of the Swahili states, these Muslim communities started out quite small, but at

their height, between the 13th and 16th century, most of the cities boasted large mosques.

The one in Kilwa even impressed Ibn Battuta, who of course visited the city, because he

was having the best life ever.

Most of the goods exported were raw materials, like ivory and animal hides and timber - it’s

worth noting, by the way, that when you’re moving trees around, you have a level of sophistication

to your trade that goes way beyond the Silk Road. I mean, if you’ll recall they weren’t

just trading, like, tortoise shells and stuff - not again!

Africans also exported slaves along the east coast, although not in HUGE numbers, and they

exported gold, and they imported finished luxury goods like porcelain and books. In

fact, archaeological digs in Kilwa have revealed that houses often featured a kind of built-in bookshelf.

Learning of books through architecture nicely captures the magic of studying history. Archaeology,

writing, and oral tradition all intermingle to give us glimpses of the past. And each

of those lenses may show us the past as if through some fun house mirror, but if we’re

conscious about it, we can at least recognize the distortions.

Studying Africa reminds us that we need to look at lots of sources, and lots of kinds

of sources if we want to get a fuller picture of the past. If we relied on only written

sources, it would be far too easy to fall into the old trap of seeing Africa as backwards

and uncivilized. Through approaching it with multiple lenses, we discover a complicated,

diverse place that was sometimes rich and sometimes not - and when you look at it that

way, it becomes not separate from, but part of, our history. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next week.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller, Our script supervisor is Danica Johnson,

the show is written by my high school history teacher, Raoul Meyer, and myself, and our

graphics team is Thought Bubble.

Last week's Phrase Of The Week was "Animal crackers." If you want to suggest future phrases

of the week or guess at this one, you can do so in comments; also, if you have questions

about today's video, ask them, and our team of historians will endeavor to answer them.

Thanks for watching and supporting Crash Course. And as we say in my hometown, Don't Forget

To Be Awesome.