Essay about Sundiata

Ibn Battuta has idiosyncrasies, prejudices, and arrogance. He is also a man of curiosity, and conviction. It is because Ibn Battuta represents or comes across so much like ourselves that it is easy to dive more deeply into his writing and stories and see things through his eyes. What the reader can see is a picture of African civilization before European influence. Battuta’s stories

Muslims controlled the trade routes in Mali which made it easier for Battuta in order to maneuver around the empire because of the fact that he is also a Muslim and traveled throughout the Islamic world. Some Malians would use salt as a medium of exchange even though gold and silver were used mostly everywhere else. Gold, copper, salt, kola nuts, and spices were immensely crucial to the Malian economy, its gold is very important around the world. Battuta explains on the occasion of former king of Mali Mansa Musa went to Cairo two years prior before him and the king “flooded Cairo with his kindness” which would upset their gold market for many years. Social inequality was an issue in Mali, prisoners that were capture were made into slaves, especially women, they were gathers and served as concubines for example, Battuta illustrates how women servants and slaves girls are practically naked in front of everyone including Mansa Suleyman daughters. Men either hunt or maintain the structure of the house. Battuta also expressed his dislike of the way Malian’s were not ritually slaughtering their animals. However he praises how clean the natives are in the mosque on Fridays and memorizing the Quran by

His caravan, the finest ever seen, was magnificent. He did not just bring his riches to spend, but freely gave it away. Word of his generosity spread, wherever he traveled throughout. Mansa Musa became a legend in the eyes of the people, a man so rich, but generous, powerful, yet humble, and intelligent, but not aloof.

The perspectives of African slave merchants, the female slaves, and the plantation workers in the Americans which are missing in this collection might add other dimensions to our understanding of this commerce in people. Knowing the perspective of the African slave merchants who were present during the slave trade in Africa would have

The journey of Mansa Musa was a long and famous journey that took place in the northern part of Africa. However, the journey was not just a religious venture, but one to show off Mansa Musa’s wealth, to establish trade partners, and to

Sundiata an epic of old Mali is a story about Sundiata Keita who was the founder of the Mali Empire in West Africa. This story is an oral tale of a young king’s rise to power and is narrated by Djeli Mamoudo Kouyate’ who was a griot or traditional storyteller. Griots are known to be ancient historians, keeping track of their culture and passing down this information which lasts, generation after generation. In Sundiata an epic, Kouyate’ expresses how important it is to the Malinke culture to preserve this oral history. “I teach kings the history of their ancestors so that the lives of the ancients might serve them as an example, for the world is old, but the future springs from the past” says Kouyate’ ( 1 ).  Preserving Malinke culture and history was ideal in teaching the younger generation of their rich heritage and what it means to live the life of a Malinke.

There are many myths that are often told about the origins of African civilization that make the civilization seen in a negative light; however, the empire of Mali is an excellent example of a positive light and demonstrates how African civilization helped influence the modern civilizations of the future. The Mali empire was founded by Sundiata Keita; it later became well-known for the wealth of the rulers of this empire. Thus, this empire became so great that it was a model to the rest of the African civilizations. However, the success of the Mali empire was always connected to how great the leader was. This stresses the importance of leadership and ambition in order to achieve success in African civilization. During the Middle Ages, the

The historical novel Segu by Maryse Condé is set in the African country of Segu during a time of great cultural change. The African Slave Trade, the spread of Islam, and personal identity challenges were all tremendous and far-reaching issues facing Africa from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Condé uses the four brothers of the Traore family, Tiekoro, Malobali, Siga, and Naba, to demonstrate the impact that the issues of Islam, slave trade, and identity had on African people through the development of each character. The oldest of the sons, Tiekoro exemplifies the influence and spread of Islam through out Africa at the time.

Another focal point in Segu was slavery and the slave trade. There was a strong demand for slaves during this time period and the fact that human beings were being traded physically

The story of Sundiata, well reproduced by the Guinean historian Niane, relates how this king managed to found the second famous Western African empire, the empire of Mali, in the thirteenth century. This tale is still very popular in Mali and other surrounding areas, and is especially used as a way to exacerbate the national pride and identity. The epic of Sundiata helps people to integrate themselves in an historical ensemble and to get a hold on their history. Historical accuracy might seem necessary for such a thing to happen. At least, that is what our Western standards would expect to find in an historical written tale, as if every written historical text was accurate in the first place.

Many times I have struggled to express myself. A plethora of ideas would be trapped inside my head. Sometimes I would be at a loss of words and couldn’t explain my thoughts verbally or on paper. No matter how much effort I put in, my words wandered off and I could find no method of portraying my emotions. After many failed attempts, I finally found something that could express what I feel and what I want others to feel. It’s music. Performance poet, Sekou Sundiata, is able to clearly express himself in a way where others can understand him by incorporating poetry with music. Both Sundiata and I were searching for a way to share our life experiences in a creative yet understandable format; we accomplished that through music.

The world of ancient Africa is a foreign one to many who do not live on the continent. The concept that Africa was once rather like Europe in its many medieval kingdoms, and their upheavals and struggles to be the greatest power, is not widely considered by the general population. Ancient Africa was a place of great tales, heroes, and conquests however. The memories of these still linger even today. The storytellers of Africa are griots. They are a mysterious group, who hold the legends and history of Africa, and orally pass them down father to son through the generations. One of these great stories is the Epic of Sundiata. Maghan Mari Djata, commonly known as Sundiata or Sundiata Keita, was a prince of the state Mail, who created the empire of

The first quarter of this course has been very exciting and informative. I am always interested when learning about the history of my ancestors. The three contents that pulled my attention the most were the effect of religion, the impact of psychological and physical trauma, and the origin of slave rebellion. Painter’s book has great details that captures the reader’s attention and ensure that anyone can comprehend the subject. I cannot wait to gain more insight into the history and transformation of African

Carney and Rosomoff’s In the Shadow of Slavery is a historical account of the role foodstuff, both botanical and animal, from Africa played in the Columbian Exchange. The book begins by discussing Africa’s agricultural history and trade with the Old World. It continues with the need for food during the Atlantic slave trade, how African plants came to the New World, and who was responsible for the planting and care of African plants. Carney and Rosomoff deal primarily with the time period in which the Atlantic slave trade occurred, though they do discuss African agricultural history as far back as 10,500 B. P. They focus on the Columbian exchange on the West Coast of Africa and Latin America.

The book I chose to read for this summer assignment was The Adventures of Ibn Battuta (Revised edition) written by Ross E. Dunn. The predominant reason as to why I chose this book is because I am Moroccan descent and I had a strong desire to learn more about the rich cultures of the Arab world. I once read that those who had the last name Bencomo, which was orginally from the Canary Islands and written as Tehncomo were descendents of the Islamic traveler, Ibn Battuta. This sparked even more curiosity to learn about my ancestor’s history. I heard stories from my grandmother about the Moors since her father was half Moroccan. I knew I had to learn about this since this is a part of who I am.