Ibn Juzay: Non-Written Sources Of Africa's History

Africa’s history was written and depicted by various scholars and merchants. What’s crucial to keep in mind when we analyze these scholar’s work is the credibility of the source and at what hand was this source told and written from. By doing this we raise the questions, “Who is right? Who are we to believe?” Due to the meager amount of written sources regarding Africa’s history, historians have had to piece together what they believe to be Africa’s fundamental history. In order for historians to decipher through the claims of these merchants and scholars, they must use non-written sources such as paleontology, historical linguistics, and archaeology to better understand the times recorded. As my knowledge of the African continent begins to

What’s different about Ibn Battuta is he did not record the data himself, he had someone by the name of ibn Juzayy that would record all the his encounters. Here is where I begin to formulate doubt. Ibn Battuta's work was written by ibn Juzayy and contained many bias claims. As these flaws begin to surface the general question is raised, “Why do we continue to use and refer to it then?” Simple, it’s one of the only few documentations we have of what that region of Africa might have been like at the time. This is where using non-written sources become crucial because without them it would be hard for the, what Ibn Battuta thought to be factual, claims to withstand the examination and analyzation. Here is a prime example of his bias

These sources make appalling claims about the people of Africa and at time depict their living as almost unholy; due to the presence that the Islamic faith has on the continent of Africa. Today, the idea of publicly belittling a minority would cause an uproar but these times were different and so were the people’s mindset. Most scholars and merchants were of some middle eastern religion, whether it be Islamic, Christianity or Judaism. This played a major role in their perception of the Africans that were native to the continent and how they perceived these interactions. What might seem like an outlandish or vulgar statement to us, could have been understandable and rassional to their time. Having this mindset changes the way we view these sources and the objective they