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18th Century Research Paper

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The African continent has contained, and continues to contain, an incredible diversity of cultures in a countless variety of historical circumstances. When reading for breadth across the African continent’s past prior to the 18th century, some common themes begin to reveal themselves within this vast history. One trend is that of rulers attempting to expand and strengthen societies through trade with foreign powers, which is often accompanied by conversion to (or earlier presence of) a more globalized religion. This can be seen in the cases of 14th century Mali under Mansa Musa, 16th century Kongo under King Afonso I, and 17th century Ethiopia under King Susenyos I. A comparison of these three examples reveals the interconnected nature of …show more content…

This conversion, arguably more political than spiritual, resulted in prolonged cultural and economic contact with the Portuguese, and was accompanied by an increase in trade relations. A letter from King Afonso I to the king of Portugal reveals a certain level of familiarity between the two nations, and last letter in the set of three implies that Afonso was encouraged to ask for any favors he would like from the Portuguese; he asks for doctors, and appeals to their shared religion. The shared Christian heritage briefly facilitated more positive trade and cultural connections between the kingdom of Kongo and Portugal. Furthermore, the Kongolese people did not adopt Catholicism and Portuguese culture wholesale--they often adapted it to suit their needs. For example, schools established in Kongo began to teach writing in Latin, Portuguese, and Kikongo, allowing for international communication while still teaching and maintaining their own written language. This shows some of the positive and strengthening effects of the cross-cultural …show more content…

In the Timbuktu Chronicles, Tarikh Fattash writes about this journey, emphasizing Mansa Musa’s “devout” religious moral quality, and his determination to make the pilgrimage from west Africa to Mecca. While there is less a narrative in this source about the strategic choice to convert to Islam for trading benefits, as the very founder of the Mali empire was said to have been Muslim, the influence of the religion on trade alliances and cross-cultural interaction resounds throughout the source. “As the wealth of Mali grew, so did the influence of Islam.” This quote demonstrates the synchronism of trade power and a more globalized religion. The account in the Timbuktu Chronicles shows Mansa Musa interacting with other Muslims throughout his journey, using his wealth in a display of devotion and asking for Islamic experts from the holy land to return to his kingdom with him. A cross-continental pilgrimage for the purpose of a religion that connects multiple ethnic groups, economically and culturally, shows the power of the shared faith, and how in this case it prompted greater international trade and economic

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Mansa Musa Mansa Musa was a great and very wealthy leader of Mali. He is considered to be the greatest leader that Mali has ever had. But when Mansa Musa journeyed to Mecca with 60,000 other people, was it strictly for religion, or were there other motives for his journey? Clearly, he wanted to go not just for religion. There were other motivating factors.

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287 Words | 2 Pages

Mansa Musa was the wealthiest religious leader of all empires in Africa. During his era, people ventured on a religious pilgrimage in Africa. Mansa Musa was a monotheistic, Muslim leader who wanted to spread the Islam belief of one god and diminish the polytheistic faith while following the 5 Pillars from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, throughout his religious pilgrimage across Africa to the city of Mecca. During the pilgrimage, Mansa Musa combines many religious factors to inform and influence other people about Islam. On Mansa Musa's hajj, 60,000 people followed him (Document A).

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604 Words | 3 Pages

Mansa Musa set off on his hajj and traveled thousands of miles through deserts, and strange cities to get to Mecca. Although this was a very religious journey, was this pilgrimage really all for religious purposes? Religion may have been a large motivating factor for this trip, but Mansa Musa did not journey on his hajj just for religious purposes. There were many other motivating factors for why Mansa Musa took this journey. Some motives were to set up better trade for the future, and gain popularity for his kingdom Mali and himself.

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284 Words | 2 Pages

There are 5 pillars of Islam, one being a Hajj to Mecca, that Muslims take part in to prove that they are good Muslims. Mansa Musa went on a Hajj for his religion, but he had other intentions for participating in this journey. Mansa Musa was a very wealthy leader of Mali who decided to go on this pilgrimage to Mecca to complete one of the 5 pillars of Islam, and he gave some of his gold to people who lived in the cities along the way where salt was abundant and gold was very valuable. Mansa Musa went to Mecca for his religion, but had other motivating factors. Mansa Musa could have gone through Timbuktu, but instead he decided to go the longer route, through Taghaza and Walata.

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1349 Words | 6 Pages

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1046 Words | 5 Pages

Foreign And Domestic Policies of Powerful Nations in Europe & America in the 18th century The Mid-18th Century was during the era that included both the European Age of Enlightenment as well as the Industrious Revolution, this century was a time of political, economic, and cultural reform in much of Europe. Foreign conquest has a great impact on the political stability of the country, as well as the economic well-being, and without properly balanced priority on domestic and foreign policies, a country will suffer greatly. Foreign Policies in Europe did not change greatly during this time period, a few dominant countries conquered and grew more influential constantly, politics in Europe and in America as well as the economies of both continents

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807 Words | 4 Pages

Another result of the Trans-Saharan trade and the increasing spread of Islam is that Mansa Musa, the king of Mali was able to become extremely wealthy and rule over a large empire. Mansa Musa was a very wealthy man who

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463 Words | 2 Pages

Some people lived in larger, centralized states, while other lived in simple village communities. Islam was one of the most widespread religions in Africa before missionaries came to convert them to Christianity. This might have been a more positive influence if the Europeans hadn’t viewed the Africans as a people in need of refinement and guidance instead of understanding and respecting their culture. However, one benefit of Europe’s growing control of Africa was that the transatlantic slavery slowly came to an end, but in East Africa, slavery continued to run rampant. Although the end of much of the slavery did rid Africa of much exploitation, it continued in other ways including the harvest of copper, ivory, and other resources taken from the Congo, civilians forced into hard labor for little compensation, and little to no control of the government was given to native

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716 Words | 3 Pages

In the Mali Empire, education was a significant part of their culture. It started with Mansa Musa, the leader of the Mali empire who focused on spreading Islamic religion throughout Mali after his trip to Mecca. Whilst spreading Islam, Timbuktu

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1185 Words | 5 Pages

Mansa Musa, who ruled from 1312 to 1337 CE (often referred to as “the golden age of the Mali Empire”), was the tenth mansa, or king, of the Mali Empire, which was located in the Sahara Desert and “stretched across two thousand miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Chad” (Alkhateeb; Tesfu). In 1324 CE, Musa, a Muslim ruler, decided to begin his pilgrimage to Mecca, called the Hajj, which is the fifth pillar of Islam. Mansa Musa’s visit to Cairo, Egypt during his Hajj to Mecca had an incredibly negative impact on the economy in Egypt for over a decade. Mahmud Kali, a native scholar and Islamic judge of Timbuktu, provided insight into Mansa Musa’s initial reason for deciding to set out on his pilgrimage to Mecca: Muhammad Quma, a scholar, had told Kali that “the Mali-koy Kankan Musa had killed his mother, Nana Kankan, by mistake. For this he felt deep regret and remorse and feared

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565 Words | 3 Pages

So Europe invaded Africa, took possession of Africa, and divided Africa into colonies of Europe. The period of invasion, lasting some twenty years, was more or less completed by 1900. There followed a longer period, between sixty and ninety years, of direct European rule, called colonial rule. This was a time of profound upheaval for all of Africa’s peoples. It brought irreversible changes” (4).

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506 Words | 3 Pages

The biggest impact of Mansa Musa's journey was in Mali itself, which became a religious and educational place based on the amount of exceptional people Mansa Musa recruited upon his return. He instituted mosques at Timbuktu and Gao. During his reign, Timbuktu became an important trade stop for caravans in the region, and an educational center that evolved into a university where history, law and theology were supported by royal funds. His influence on his people was to instill Islam into their lives, so much that his subjects became educated in religious and secular matters.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Buddhist traders from India and China spread the religion to some inhabitants of Eastern Africa. Hindu traders from India traded with Muslim traders, facilitating

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1476 Words | 6 Pages

Mansa Musa helped Islam spread by leaving to pilgrimage and introduced the empire to the Islamic World. He encouraged learning to read the Arabic language to read the Qur’an. He hired architects to build mosques as well. Another example is the Songhai empire. Songhai leaders were Muslims as well.

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571 Words | 3 Pages

In History of Africa, Shillington focuses on many aspects of African culture and factors that made Africa to be the continent that it is today. Chapter 5 primarily focuses on the Northern region of Africa and how empires took over and spread their ideology technology, and culture all through out the region. Even today some remnants of the Roman and Greek empire live on to this day (Shillington, 69.) Despite many people getting the impression that Northern Africa is only influenced by Arabic and Islam, these empires and their conquests are best understood through topics like intricate trading routes, farming, and the spread of religion. Shillington provides an in depth analysis of how many of these conquests affected Northern Africa centuries ago and today.

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