Expert answer:Using Written Sources to Study African History
Solved by verified expert:Unit 7 Essay: Using Written Sources to Study African HistoryIntroductionHistorians who study the continent of Africa often run into problems acquiring and interpreting primary sources when they study Ancient and Medieval Africa. Considering these issues, this assignment asks you try your hand at interpretation and articulate some potential challenges with using the available written historical record to discuss African pasts. One reason that historians of Africa struggle is the dearth of historical accounts written by Medieval Africans themselves. From about 800 to 1500 CE, many African cultures relied primarily on oral traditions (for example, see: griots), and did not emphasize written recorded histories. Therefore many of the written accounts we have regarding African societies during this time frame were recorded by visitors to the continent. Relying on accounts written by outsiders means that there aren’t necessarily, but there can be misunderstandings of African practices, glaring silences, and even overt judgment casting African societies in a negative light. This paper assignment intends to have you engage with some of the available written sources so you can assess the available information, explaining what conclusions you can draw about the relevant African society and also recognizing the limitations of using the provided primary sources. Most historians who study Africa combine their interpretation of these sorts of primary sources with in-depth knowledge of the region and the use of archaeology, linguistic evidence, and oral testimonies.InstructionsChoose the Swahili Coast OR the Western Sudanic Empires. Then, write an approximately 3-paged paper (750 words) to answer the following questions using one of the primary source documents listed for your chosen region. Even though you are answering the question prompts provided, organize your answers into an essay with an introduction, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Please limit yourself to our textbook, the information available in this section’s supplementary materials, and the linked primary sources as you work on your paper. Don’t forget to cite these sources in your paper’s internal citations/footnotes and bibliography! Refer to the Guidelines for Writing Essays found in your syllabus. Questions to address in your paper:What does the primary source tell historians about the described society in terms of political organization, lifestyles/values, religious practices, the economy and/or its connections with the rest of the world?What potential silences or misinterpretations are present in the primary source?Overall, is the primary source a useful tool for historians hoping to learn about this society? Explain. The Swahili City-statesPrimary source Options (choose one to analyze in your paper):Fordham sourcebook, “On the Zanj” by Abu Uthman al Jahiz,(c. 860 CE)Duarte Barbosa, “The East Coast of Africa at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century,” (1540 CE)Ibn Battuta, “The East African Coast,” (1331 CE) Battuta in East Africa
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Excerpt from Ibn Battuta, “The East African Coast,” (1331) From Documents from the
African Past, Robert Collins, ed. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2001, p. 12-‐
14.
…I then sailed from the city of Maqdashaw, making for the country of the
Sawahil [Swahili], with the object of visiting the city of Kulwa [Kilwa] in the land of
the Zinji people. We came to the island of Mambasa, a large island two days’ journey
by sea from the Sawahil [Swahili] country. It has no mainland territory, and its trees
are the banana, the lemon, and the citron. Its people have a fruit which they call
jammun, resembling an olive and with a stone like its stone. Their food consists
mostly of bananas and fish. They are Shafiites [Sunni] in rite, pious, honourable, and
upright, and their mosques are of wood, admirably constructed. AT each of the
gates of the mosques there are one or two wells (their wells have a depth of one or
two cubits), and they draw up water from them in a wooden vessel, into which has
been fixed a thin stick of the length of one cubit. The ground round the well and the
mosque is paved; anyone who intends to go into the mosque washes his feet before
entering, and at its gate there is a piece of thick matting on which he rubs his feet. If
one intends to make an ablution, he holds the vessel between his thighs, pours
[water] on his hands and performs the ritual washings. All the people walk walk
with bare feet.
We stayed one night in this island and sailed on to the city of Kulwa [Kilwa], a
large city on the seacoast, most of whose inhabitants are Zing, jet-‐black in colour.
They have tattoo marks on their faces… I was told by a merchant that the city of
Sufala [Sofala – the southernmost Swahili city] lies at a distance of half a month’s
journey from the city of Kulwa, and that between Fufala and Yufi, in the country of
Limis [non-‐Muslims living in the interior], is a month’s journey; from Yufi gold dust
is brought to Sufala. The city of Kulwa is one of the finest and most substantially
built towns; all the buildings are of wood, and the houses are roofed with dis reeds.
The rains there are frequent. Its people engage in jihad, because they are on a
common mainland with the heathen Zinj people and continguous to them, and they
are for the most part religious and upright, and Shafiites in rite.
Account of the Sultan of Kulwa. Its sultan at the period of my entry into it was
Abul-‐Muzaffar Hasan, who was called also by the appellation of Abul-‐Mawahib, on
account of the multitude of his gifts and acts of generosity. He used to engage
frequently in expeditions to the land of the Zinj people, raiding them and taking
booty, and he would set aside the fifth part of it to devote to the objects prescribed
for it in the Book of God Most High. He used to deposit the portion for the relatives
[of the Prophet] in a separate treasury; wherever he was visited by sharifs he would
pay it out to them, and the sharifs used to come to visit him from al-‐Iraq and al-‐Hijaz
[in present-‐day Saudi Arabia] and other countries. I saw at his court a number of
sharifs of al-‐Hijaz, amongst them Muhammad b. Jammaz, Mansur b. Lubaida b Abu
Numayy, and Muhammad b. Shumaila b. Abu Numayy, and at Maqdashaw I met Tabl
b. Kubaish b. Jammaz, who was intending to go to him. The sultan is a man of great
humility; he sits with poor brethren, and eats with them, and greatly respects men
of religion and noble descent.
An anecdote illustrating his generosity. I was present with him on a Friday,
when he had come out [of the mosque] after the prayer and was proceeding to his
residence. He was accosted by a poor brother, a Yamanite, who said to him “O Abul-‐
Mawahib;” he replied “At your service, O faqir – what do you want?” The man said,
“Give me those robes that you are wearing.” He said “Certainly I shall give you
them.” The man said “Now,” and he said “Yes, now,” went back to the mosque and
into the khatib’s chamber, where he dressed in other garments, and having taken off
those robes he called to the poor brother “Come in and take them.” So the faqir came
in, took them, made a bundle of them I a kerchief, placed them on his head and went
off. The population were loud in their gratitude to the sultan for the humility and
generosity that he had displayed, and his son, who was his designated heir, took the
clothing from the poor brother and gave him ten slaves in exchange. When the
sultan learned of the gratitude expressed by the people to him for that action, he too
ordered the faqir to be given ten head of slaves and two loads of ivory, for most of
their gifts consist of ivory and it is seldom that they give gold. When this worthy
and open-‐handed sultan died (God have mercy on him), he was succeeded by his
brother Daud, who was of the opposite conduct. When a petition came to him he
would say to him “He who gave is dead, and left nothing behind to be given.”
Visitors would stay at his court for many months, and finally he would make them
some small gift, so that at last solicitors gave up coming to his gate.
…
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