The First Refuge

The First RefugeTeachPack III

Kingdoms and Roads: a study pack

For a halaqa or a classroom, built on chapter III. A page for the leader, a handout, and the answers. Print it whole, or just the handout.

Read the chapter

Part one

For the one leading

For
Ages 12 and up, and adult study circles
Time
About an hour
You will need
One handout each. The atlas on a screen. The Catalan Atlas picture from chapter III, on a screen or printed.
The chapter
III. Kingdoms and Roads, about a fifteen-minute read

Aims

  • Explain how Islam traveled Africa with merchants and teachers, by caravan across the Sahara and by monsoon along the east coast.
  • Tell the story of Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage of 1324 and what it did to Cairo.
  • Follow Ibn Battuta from Tangier to Kilwa and to Mali, and name one thing he admired.

In a halaqa

  1. 5 minOpen the circle and read the aims.
  2. 10 minRead the story in brief aloud, one line each.
  3. 10 minRead together: the passages, slowly, with the Arabic where given.
  4. 25 minTalk about it: two or three questions, not all of them.
  5. 10 minCheck yourself together, then each person names one thing to carry home.

In a classroom

  1. 5 minStart with the map: find the places on the atlas.
  2. 10 minRead the story in brief and the dates.
  3. 15 minOne activity from “Try this.”
  4. 10 minTalk in pairs: one question each.
  5. 10 minCheck yourself, then go over the answers.

Notes

The story of the gold comes from al-Umari, who came to Cairo about twelve years after Mansa Musa and found people still talking about it.

Dates marked “about” or “traditionally” in the chapter should stay that way in discussion.

Read the chapter yourself first. Every question here can be answered from it, and the section to look in is named under each one.

Part two: the handout

III. Kingdoms and Roads

Islam traveled Africa by caravan and by monsoon. It moved with merchants and teachers more often than with armies, and kings took it up at their own pace.

The story in brief

  1. Islam came to the Sahel with traders. In 1068 al-Bakri described the capital of Ghana with a Muslim town of twelve mosques.
  2. Mansa Musa ruled Mali from about 1312 to about 1337. In 1324 he made the pilgrimage to Makkah by way of Cairo, and gave away so much gold that its value fell.
  3. He came home with scholars and books. In 1375 a mapmaker’s workshop on Majorca drew him on the Catalan Atlas holding out a disk of gold.
  4. Ibn Battuta, born in Tangier in 1304, saw Kilwa about 1330 and crossed the Sahara to Mali in 1352.
  5. On the east coast the monsoon winds reverse twice a year. At Shanga in Kenya, the earliest mosque was dated by its excavator to the late eighth century, and an inscription at Kizimkazi on Zanzibar is dated 1107.
  6. In 1804 Usman dan Fodio’s reform movement began. It became the Sokoto Caliphate, whose founders were writers before they were rulers.
  7. In 1777 Morocco opened its ports to American ships, the first country to recognize the United States.

Dates

  • 1068Al-Bakri describes the capital of Ghana, with a Muslim town of twelve mosques.
  • About 1085The rulers of Kanem, by Lake Chad, traditionally accept Islam.
  • 1324Mansa Musa of Mali makes the pilgrimage by way of Cairo.
  • About 1330Ibn Battuta sails the east coast and praises Kilwa.
  • 1352Ibn Battuta crosses the Sahara to Mali.
  • 1375Mansa Musa is drawn on the Catalan Atlas.
  • 1496Askia Muhammad of Songhay sets out on the pilgrimage.
  • 1591A Moroccan army conquers Songhay. Ahmad Baba is deported to Marrakesh three years later.
  • 1777Morocco opens its ports to American ships, the first country to recognize the United States.
  • 1804Usman dan Fodio’s reform movement begins. It becomes the Sokoto Caliphate.

People

  • Mansa Musa ruled about 1312 to 1337King of Mali whose pilgrimage of 1324 passed through Cairo and left the gold market unsettled for years. He brought scholars and books home, and a mapmaker in Majorca drew him holding gold.
  • Ibn Battuta 1304 to about 1369Left Tangier for the pilgrimage at twenty-one and, by his own account, traveled for about twenty-nine years. He saw Kilwa and Mogadishu about 1330 and crossed the Sahara to Mali in 1352.
  • Usman dan Fodio 1754 to 1817Scholar and preacher whose reform movement of 1804 founded the Sokoto Caliphate. He and his family left hundreds of written works.

Words to know

Sahel
The “shore” of the Sahara, where caravans from the north met gold from the south.
Mansa
The title of the kings of Mali, as in Mansa Musa.
Hajj
The pilgrimage to Makkah, owed once in a lifetime by every Muslim who is able to make the journey.
Monsoon
Winds over the Indian Ocean that reverse twice a year, so a ship could sail to Africa and home inside twelve months.
Swahili
The language of the East African coast. Its name comes from the Arabic word for shores.
Rihla
“Journey”: the book of Ibn Battuta’s travels, dictated to a scribe and finished in 1355.
Caliphate
A state whose ruler leads the community of believers. The Sokoto Caliphate grew from dan Fodio’s movement.

Read together

Surah Al Imran, 96 to 97

إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِى بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًا وَهُدًى لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ ﴿٩٦﴾ فِيهِ ءَايَٰتٌۢ بَيِّنَٰتٌ مَّقَامُ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ ۖ وَمَن دَخَلَهُۥ كَانَ ءَامِنًا ۗ وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ حِجُّ ٱلْبَيْتِ مَنِ ٱسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا ۚ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِىٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ ﴿٩٧﴾

The first House [of worship] established for mankind was the one at Bakkah [i.e., Makkah], full of blessings and guidance for the worlds. In it are clear signs [such as] the standing place of Abraham; whoever enters it will be safe. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Allah upon all people who are able to make their way to it; whoever disbelieves, then Allah is in no need for the worlds.

Quran 3:96 to 97, translation by the Rowwad Translation Center, QuranEnc

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “(The performance of) ‘Umra is an expiation for the sins committed (between it and the previous one). And the reward of Hajj Mabrur (the one accepted by Allah) is nothing except Paradise.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 1773, translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan

Talk about it

  1. Islam traveled Africa more often with merchants and teachers than with armies. How do people carry their faith in the way they trade and live?See: The Sahel
  2. Mansa Musa gave away so much gold that its price fell in Cairo for years. Is generosity always wise? What would you have advised him?See: Mansa Musa, 1324
  3. Ibn Battuta admired the safe roads and the Friday prayer in Mali, and complained about a good deal too. How should we write honestly about a place we visit?See: The man from Tangier
  4. The founders of Sokoto left hundreds of written works. Why might it matter that the rulers were writers first?See: Sokoto, 1804
  5. Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States. What surprises you about that, and why?See: A treaty across the ocean

Try this

  1. Travel with Ibn Battuta. On the atlas, find Tangier, then Kilwa (about 1330), then Mali (1352). Use the chapter to write one line about each place.
  2. Read a map from 1375. Look at Mansa Musa on the Catalan Atlas. What has the mapmaker chosen to show about him? What does that suggest people in Europe had heard about Mali?
  3. Sail with the monsoon. The chapter says a ship could sail from Arabia to Africa and home inside twelve months. Why would sailors need to know the season before they set out? What would they carry each way?

On the atlas: Mali Timbuktu Cairo Makkah Tangier Kilwa Kizimkazi, Zanzibar Shanga Sokoto

Check yourself

  1. In what year did al-Bakri describe the capital of Ghana?
  2. In what year did Mansa Musa make the pilgrimage, and which city did he pass through?
  3. Where and when was Ibn Battuta born?
  4. What is the earliest dated inscription on the East African coast?
  5. Who began the reform movement that became the Sokoto Caliphate, and when?
  6. Which country was the first to recognize the United States, and in what year?

From The First Refuge, ferrand.africa/teach/kingdoms-and-roads/. Free to print and copy for teaching.

Part three

Answers and sources

  1. In what year did al-Bakri describe the capital of Ghana?1068.
  2. In what year did Mansa Musa make the pilgrimage, and which city did he pass through?1324, through Cairo.
  3. Where and when was Ibn Battuta born?Tangier, in 1304.
  4. What is the earliest dated inscription on the East African coast?The inscription at Kizimkazi on Zanzibar, dated 500 after the Hijrah, which is 1107.
  5. Who began the reform movement that became the Sokoto Caliphate, and when?Usman dan Fodio, in 1804.
  6. Which country was the first to recognize the United States, and in what year?Morocco, in 1777.

The readings

  • Quran 3:96 to 97: quranenc.com. Translation by the Rowwad Translation Center, QuranEnc.
  • Sahih al-Bukhari 1773: sunnah.com. Translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
  • Arabic text of the Quran: the Tanzil Project, Uthmani script, tanzil.net.

The chapter’s sources

  • Nehemia Levtzion and J. F. P. Hopkins, editors, Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History (Cambridge University Press, 1981).
  • Michael A. Gomez, African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa (Princeton University Press, 2018).
  • Ross E. Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century (University of California Press, revised 2012).
  • Mark Horton, Shanga: The Archaeology of a Muslim Trading Community on the Coast of East Africa (British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1996).
  • S. Flury, “The Kufic Inscriptions of Kisimkazi Mosque, Zanzibar, 500 H. (A.D. 1107),” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1922).
  • UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara. whc.unesco.org
  • Nehemia Levtzion and Randall L. Pouwels, editors, The History of Islam in Africa (Ohio University Press, 2000).
  • United States Department of State, Office of the Historian, on the treaty of 1786 with Morocco. history.state.gov