long-withstanding tradition of oral history‚ storytelling in a sense. It is through the eyes of these trained griots that the legends‚ culture‚ and history come alive. One of the most famous and cherished epics of the ancient world is that of Sogolon Djata‚ or Sundiata Keita. This story has been passed down through generations of griots in Africa‚ and is retold in all its glory by Djeli Mamoudou Kouyaté‚ translated by author and African historian D.T. Niane. It encapsulates a tale of a young prince who defies
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MASENO UNIVERSITY FACULTY: ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPT: LINGUISTICS LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE COURSE CODE: ALI 819 TASK: Trace the historical development of the Epic to date indicating the major turning points in its evolution.
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Dear Antoinette‚ It is a joyous year in 1312! My dearest friend as you know Mansa Musa is emperor he is very knowledgable and I have learned to read and write Arabic. Something peculiar has happened‚ Mansa Musa has been so courteous as to give our enemies a chance to live! We call them slaves and they do whatever you tell them to! They are fairly less then I would expect and the Northerners seem to enjoy them very much‚ Our country has become very rich indeed! If you ever need money you only need
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the ruler Sumanguru. This happened because the Ghana began to mine new gold fields and new trade routes were opening further east. In 1235‚ people began to be ruled under a new ruler named Sundiata Keita. Soon after‚ they weakened more and more until they eventually were taken over by the Mali Empire of Sundiata. The Ghana had a lot of characteristics. Soninke would sell slaves‚ salt and copper for textiles‚ beads and finished goods. Salt was very valuable and was taxed by the king. It was also
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Africans strongly believed that Allah was responsible for all the good things that occurred in their lives. The story of Sundiata emphasized this when it states that‚ “[A]fter seven years’ absence Lahilatoul was able to return‚ by the grace of Allah the Almighty‚ to Mali where none expected to see him anymore.” The people of Mali idolized Allah and sought guidance from him
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Africa in World History written by Erik Gilbert and Jonathan Reynolds states that Sundiata helped build Mali that stretched across the Niger River and is one of the world’s great empires. The towns along the river were Timbuktu and Gao. Mali became one of the richest states because they taxed the flow of trade across the border; Mali was
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Ghana was not always powerful an wealthy overtime they gained their wealth and power through trade. During the 5th century gold became an item that many people wanted‚ thats when the gold trade started. Many people would travel in search of gold in Ghana causing a wide spread of supply and demand of gold coinage. Also the reason why gold was so available in Ghana was because of a king named Ashanti. The amount of gold the Ashanti king of Ghana had allowed them to trade for years. They had so much
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Ancient Ghana derived power and wealth from gold and the introduction of the camel during the Trans-Saharan trade increased the quantity of goods that were transported. Majority of the knowledge of Ghana comes from the Arab writers. Al-Hamdani‚ for example‚ describes Ghana as having the richest gold mines on earth. These mines were situated at Bambuk‚ on the upper Senegal River. The Soninke people also sold slaves‚ salt and copper in exchange for textiles‚ beads and finished goods. They built their
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Before the Europeans came to Africa in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries‚ Africans developed an advanced civilization. Many cities‚ kingdoms‚ and empires like the empire of Aksum in east Africa in the 300’s and other parts of Africa arose and declined. In West Africa‚ empires like the Ghana‚ Mali and Songhai controlled the gold and salt trade. They were the crossroads of trading. Cities on Africa’s east coast also gained wealth and power through trade in between 1000 and 1500. In Africa between
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the protector of trade routes‚ it also formed foundations that were remaining from its predecessors. Around the 11th century‚ the rulers decided to convert to Islam. One of the important rulers of The Kingdom of Mali was Sundiata‚ he ruled the kingdom from 1230 to 1255. Sundiata expanded the kingdom by conquering the neighbors of the kingdom and afterwards ended up creating a new capital in Niani and then later on ended up having power on the Saharan trade routes. Due
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