9.1 Essay
9.1
Prior to the great chronologies, the Tarikh-al-sudan and the Tarikh-al-fattash completed in the 17th century, the only source of early Timbuktu history come from the weak accounts from Medieval Arabs living in North Africa and Egypt. These authors depicted the history of West Africa poorly, for the lacked any form of first-hand experience of both the region’s culture and geography. This is epitomized by the fact that early Arab historians incorrectly recorded the river Niger as the Nile, assuming both to have the same source. Following the conquest of Northern Africa, Islam gradually diffused across the southern parts of the Sahara, not by conquest but rather through Muslim traders. As trade slowly pushed deeper into the Sahara, so did …show more content…
The influence of Europe is also quite strong in article 9.2 for it spends a large portion detailing French attempts to piece together the nation’s history during colonial rule. The effect of the “Grand Narrative” is quite strong in this history, similar to that of Ethiopia, however, one primary difference is that the landmass of ancient Ethiopia is relatively the same as present day Ethiopia, whereas, modern Ghana today only occupies a small portion of ancient Ghana, which stretched as far as Mali.
9.3
Since the Islamic faith strictly forbid the use of Muslim slaves, the Arabs pushed southwards along the Sahara for this trade. The article illustrates how the deepening and invigorating of trade routes by Muslim traders along the eastern and western sides of the Sahara led to the gradual Islamization of the area. This process was furthered by the usage of Arab currency.
9.4
One of the first problems addressed by Insoll is that due to the emphasis placed on the Arabic texted, the importance of archaeology in the area has largely been demoted to the sidelines. Secondly, the history itself of the area has become rather Arab-centric due to the dearth of native records. Finally the texts themselves were not always completely accurate, for the authors often lacked first-hand knowledge of the
Prior to the great chronologies, the Tarikh-al-sudan and the Tarikh-al-fattash completed in the 17th century, the only source of early Timbuktu history come from the weak accounts from Medieval Arabs living in North Africa and Egypt. These authors depicted the history of West Africa poorly, for the lacked any form of first-hand experience of both the region’s culture and geography. This is epitomized by the fact that early Arab historians incorrectly recorded the river Niger as the Nile, assuming both to have the same source. Following the conquest of Northern Africa, Islam gradually diffused across the southern parts of the Sahara, not by conquest but rather through Muslim traders. As trade slowly pushed deeper into the Sahara, so did …show more content…
The influence of Europe is also quite strong in article 9.2 for it spends a large portion detailing French attempts to piece together the nation’s history during colonial rule. The effect of the “Grand Narrative” is quite strong in this history, similar to that of Ethiopia, however, one primary difference is that the landmass of ancient Ethiopia is relatively the same as present day Ethiopia, whereas, modern Ghana today only occupies a small portion of ancient Ghana, which stretched as far as Mali.
9.3
Since the Islamic faith strictly forbid the use of Muslim slaves, the Arabs pushed southwards along the Sahara for this trade. The article illustrates how the deepening and invigorating of trade routes by Muslim traders along the eastern and western sides of the Sahara led to the gradual Islamization of the area. This process was furthered by the usage of Arab currency.
9.4
One of the first problems addressed by Insoll is that due to the emphasis placed on the Arabic texted, the importance of archaeology in the area has largely been demoted to the sidelines. Secondly, the history itself of the area has become rather Arab-centric due to the dearth of native records. Finally the texts themselves were not always completely accurate, for the authors often lacked first-hand knowledge of the