Sundiata Epic

“Ibn Battuta’s stories give us a picture of Africa through eyes of a devote Muslim traveling all over the continent of Africa and the world. In his accounts sub-Saharan Africa is described prior to colonialism and racism. Ibn Battuta’s stories as they are transcribed in “Ibn Battuta, In Black Africa” by Said Hamdun and Noel King are representative of the only written account of this period and give us the most realistic and accurate account of this time in history.

However, the Mali Empire’s power was weakened due to quarrels about orderly succession of the emperors. When the Songhai Empire realized that weakness at the center of Mali, they started rebelling. In 1375, Geo rebelled. Soon Songhai Empire began its expansion at the expense of Mali. They conquered Mema, Timbuktu from the Tuareg. The military commander responsible for these victories, Sunni Ali Ber, was considered the first great ruler of the Songhai Empire. He continued to expand and build the empire by taking control of important Trans-Saharan trade routes as well as other cities and provinces of Mali. Trade had a significant influence on the history of these empires. The riches made through these trades contributed to build larger kingdoms and empires. In order to protect their trade, they build even larger armies. The slave trade was the most important contributor to their economic development. “The Songhai kingdom under the rule of Askia Mohammed used slaves as soldiers. Slaves were trusted not to overthrow their rulers. Sometimes, slaves were given position such as royal advisers because “Songhai rulers believed that slaves could be trusted to provide unbiased advice unlike other citizens who held a personal stake in the outcome of decisions” (Tesfu 2015).

After the fall of Ghana, a Black state called Mali became the successor power in West Africa. The king of Mali formed alliances with other Islamic rulers, and this military and religious strength made him the most powerful ruler in Africa. Mali was founded by the Mande people of the upper Niger River, famous for their weaving, mining and architecture. By the close of the fourteenth century, the Mali empire had achieved greater wealth and power than Ghana. Civil warfare, attacks from Mossi and Songhay, and the arrival of the Portuguese in Africa mortally reduced Mali's power.

They educated him about Muslim culture and traveled back to Mali with him. Because of the educated people Mansa Musa brought back to his empire and the large supply of gold he had, Mali flourish and started to become a site of cultural exchange.

Many came to trade here, as Mali had grown in wealth. Mansa Musa flourished Mali, and travelers and traders came to his empire. But of course, his wasn't the only city to be known to trade. But he was one of the major in North Africa. Mali traded with empires that were also North of Africa.

The Epic of Gilgamesh has its place as one of the first examples of epic poetry in recorded history. The epic describes the adventures of the demigod-king Gilgamesh who, after the death of his close friend Enkidu, seeks immortality but is ultimately unsuccessful. This story arc is not dissimilar to those found in the epics of the ancient Greeks centuries later. This excerpt from The Epic of Gilgamesh clearly demonstrates Gilgamesh’s reckless lust for pride and fame at all costs.

The Mali empire was established in 1235. It was the largest and the richest empire in the African Middle Ages. During this time Malian emperors relied on a small central administration, which was primarily concerned with finances and justice. (Patterns of World History pg. 400) The empire financed itself through tributes and taxes, but their main source of income relied on trade. The Mali would often trade long distance through merchants and scholars. In Timbuktu, the Mali would produce or mine for salt, creating a Salt Trade Hub in Timbuktu. Timbuktu was also important because it was one of the most important scholarly cities in the world that held massive libraries.

Lastly between the brothers: Siga who is sent with Tiekoro as protection to Timbuktu who becomes forgotten by his own brother as they refuse him because he is not Muslim. And Naba, who loses his role model, and grieves on his behalf. As Islam continues to spread and conquer more and more lands, the more families become split as parents send their children to schools to learn how to write and speak Arabic. When Tiekoro left for Timbuktu the Troare family continued to divide and separate due to continuous forces by foreign expansion and hunger for riches. As a son of a slave woman who had drowned herself, Siga isn’t regarded with nearly as high as prestige as Tiekoro is, despite them only being a couple hours apart in age. After being banished away for not being Muslim, Siga adjusted to his environment with the help of a kind boy and, after being a donkey boy for a while, decides to go into trade. Trade goes completely against the respectable income of a Bambara nobleman, which can be made through cultivating agriculture because the Troare family “owned plenty of good land planted with millet, cotton, and fonio, worked by hundreds of slaves” (Conde 4). Especially because the Mali Empire had been on fertile land where many different kinds of crops such as ones of sorghum, millet, and fonio could be maintained and the domestication of animals like sheep, goats, and cattle had been strong (Africa 141). Although the way of a Bambara had been agriculture,

Salt and gold were the most important commodities, but there were also slaves and animals like horses traded across the sahara. Salt was important because it was the only preservative they had in that time. Gold has always been something worth a lot so it was in continues use for trading purposes.

A lot of the information known about the Mali Empire probably came from foreigners that visited a few of over 400 cities in the Mali Empire. Since Mansa Musa built large-scale projects, like palaces in Timbuktu and Gao, architectural scholars and enthusiasts most likely visited them, and left detailed records. Simerly, Musa also promoted education, as he built a university. Because of this, foreigners would have come to the Mali Empire to study. During their stay, the students would also have written about the empire. Finally, traders would have also have helped historians learn about the Mali Empire. By recording what items were traded, and how much of each item was traded, historians would know about the wealth of Mali.

The Mali Empire is one of the largest in west Africa influenced the culture of the region through spreading language, laws and customs along the lands near Nile river. They also developed there city because of gold and salt trading. They taxed everyone who passes their borders with gold, copper and salt.

An epic poem is a narrative poem that normally speaks about heroic acts and events that are significant within a specific cultured. Many ancient writers used these epic poem to tell stories of adventures and of courageous accomplishments. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, we learn about Gilgamesh, a man who is two part God, and one part man. Though he is known as one of the fiercest and most ambitious warriors, his flaws were a major downfall. Through his characteristics and the historical background of Gilgamesh, we learn it’s historical context and the importance of the two main characters, how gods are portrayed and its historical occurrence, and lastly how the Sumerian society functioned.

Musa Keita I became emperor following the death of his predecessor, Abu-Bakr II. When he was crowned, he was given the name Mansa, meaning king. Mansa was the fourteenth century emperor of the Mali Empire, his land was laden with many lucrative natural resources, most notably gold. Mansa Musa vast wealth was only one piece of his rich legacy however. When Mansa Musa came to power in 1312 most of Europe was racked by famine and civil wars. However many African Kingdoms in the Islamic world were flourishing and Mansa Musa played a great role in bringing the fruits of this flourishing to his own realm. By strategically annexing the city of Timbuktu, and reestablishing power over the city of Gao, he gained control over important trade routes

As a son of a slave woman who had drowned herself, Siga isn’t regarded with nearly as high as prestige as Tiekoro is, despite them only being a couple hours apart in age. After being banished away for not being Muslim, Siga adjusted to his environment with the help of a kind boy and, after being a donkey boy for a while, decides to go into trade. Trade goes completely against the respectable income of a Bambara nobleman, which can be made through cultivating agriculture because the Troare family “owned plenty of good land planted with millet, cotton, and fonio, worked by hundreds of slaves” (Conde 4). Especially because the Mali Empire had been on fertile land where many different kinds of crops such as ones of sorghum, millet, and fonio could be maintained and the domestication of animals like sheep, goats, and cattle had been strong (Africa 141). Although the way of a Bambara had been agriculture, Siga ventured onto occupy the city of Timbuktu and then Fex so that

Trade also played a hugely significantly role in facilitating both the rise and expansion of the Mutapa state. Trading activities were internal as when then Mutapa people traded among themselves exchanging items like iron tools, pottery and agricultural produce. It also assumed an external character like when they traded with other African groups and with the Swahili-Arabs and Portuguese. They traded gold and ivory for luxury goods such as mirrors, cloth and