Two centuries later a detailed description of the town is provided by al bakri in his book of routes and realms which he completed in around 1068. The conceptual innovation at the heart of the book is its identification of a discourse of place, a framework for approaching formal texts devoted to the representation of territory across genres. The book of routes and realms abu ubaydallah al bakri. Normans from france invaded saxon england two years prior. Beyond this country lies another called malal, the king of which was sincerely attached to islam, while the common people of his kingdom remained polytheists. This book explores the ways in which muslims expressed attachment to land from the ninth through the eleventh centuries, the earliest period of intensive written production in arabic. Each volume contains a blend of visual and textual sources which are often paired or grouped together for comparison. He lived his entire life in alandalus and never visited mali. Abu ubayd alaziz albakri lived in the eleventh century and.
Abu ubaydallah al bakri, the book of routes and realms ethiopia. Final exam filled out history 101 with canatella at lock. Abu ubaydallah al bakri, the book of routes and realms the land of seyon. Tabula rogeriana kitab alrawd almitar mujam albuldan rihla the meadows of gold piri reis map kitab alkharaj. The human record is the leading primary source reader for the world history course, providing. Some of the raiders apparently remained in the sudan. In it, albakri describes a city in ghana and the king that rules that city. Based upon your readings in both the duiker and andrea textbooks and ecore course material each student should contribute a post that chronicles medieval changes in africa or discussions of geographical features which affected continental societies. My classics book club is reading the book of routes and realms by abu ubaydallah albakri and i wanted to use this blog post to orient myself. Abulhasan ali al masudi, meadows of gold the land of ghana. Round their necks they wear collars of gold and silver studded with a.
The al bakri crater on the moon is named after this great 11th century scholar. Abu ubaydallah albakri, the book of routes and realms albakri is very well know for his travels throughout the islamic world. Abulhasan ali al masudi, meadows of gold blue pgs 382386 ibn battuta. He never travelled to the locations of which he wrote. Mali a gift to those who contemplate the wonders of cities and the marvels encountered in travel red pgs 346. East africa a gift to those who contemplate the wonders of cities and the marvels encountered in travel red pgs 3446 ibn battuta. These excerpts come from albakris book of routes and realms, written in 1068.
Al bakri the book of routes and realms al masudi, meadow of gold an lushan rebellion. The book of routes and realms abu ubaydallah albakri ghana is a title given to their kings. To the arabs this region was known as bilad alsudan the country of the blacks. Abu ubayd al aziz al bakri, the book of routes and realms, in corpus of early arabic sources for west african history, trans. In need of salt sierra leone and west africa before the 1500s. Abu ubaydallah al bakri, the book of routes and realms. Chapter 11 expanding trade networks in africa and india.
Abu ubayd alaziz albakri lived in the eleventh century and died in 1094. Source for information on abu ubayd al aziz albakri. Pages 6287 contain an extract from the book of routes and realms describing west africa. The book of routes and realms, by albakri, lays out additional trade routes. The author albakri is in many ways analogous to strabo. Albakri, the book of routes and realms introduction. Muhammad al idrisi, a 12thcentury moroccan geographer who lived in sicily. As the trade route passed through the territory of the ghana empire, tariffs. Albakri, the book of routes and realms, cited in levitzion and hopkins, corpus of early arabic sources for west african history, cambridge university press, 1981 pp.
Book of roads and kingdoms or book of highways and kingdoms arabic. Scholar from cordoba in old spanish al andalus andalusia wrote the book of the routes and realms 1068 ad. Since then their rulers have been given the title of al musulmani. The nuggets of gold found in all the mines of his country are reserved for the king, and only this gold dust is left for the people. Albakri was born in huelva, the son of the sovereign of the short lived principality of huelva. Located south of the sahara desert is a broad expanse of grasslands, or savanna, that. Albakri based his work on the accounts of traders, the writings of muhammad ibn yusuf alwarraq, 1 on the topography of north africa, and abraham ben jacob. The human record is the leading primary source reader for the world history course, providing balanced coverage of the global past. The nuggets of gold found in all the mines of his country are reserved for the king, and only this gold. Next, you will investigate an excerpt from the book of routes and realms.
He was born to elite arabspeaking parents in southern iberia while it was ruled by muslims, and became a scholar who produced a geography called roads and kingdoms or, alternately translated. The son of a muslim governor of the province of huelva and saltes in southwest spain, al bakri spent most of his life in cordoba, spain, becoming an accomplished scholar and diplomat. Al bakri, from the book of routes and realms, quoted in corpus of early arabic sources for west african history, edited by levtzion and hopkins. Al bakri was born in huelva, the son of the sovereign of the short lived principality of huelva. After zawila, carrying on directly south, traders eventually reached the kingdom of kanem near lake chad, a flourishing commercial centres between the 9th and 14th centuries. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Kingdom of ghana african studies center boston university. The book of routes and realms, by abu ubaydallah al bakri, eleventhcentury muslim historian and geographer. Albakri was born in huelva, the son of the sovereign of the shortlived principality there. The power of place in the early islamic world by zayde antrim. The ghana empire rose to power mainly by capitalizing from the gold trade, as well. The camel soon became the ship of the desert, ferrying salt, gold, and ivory.
He recorded a large amount of his travels mainly impressive parts of the empire. Abu ubayd al aziz al bakri1010circa 1075 geographer sourcesspanish muslim. Kung woman secondary source readings marshall sahlins, stone age economics james scott, the moral economy of the peasant. These routes included wad nun to awdagust by way of the azugi.
Ghana was located in the middle of the salt and gold trade routes. Al bakri, from the book of routes and realms, corpus of early arabic sources for west african history, levtzion and hopkins. Book of roads and kingdoms or book of highways and kingdoms is the name of an eleventhcentury geography text by abu abdullah albakri. Al bakri crater a tangent of my research provides a visual analogy of this post my classics book club is reading the book of routes and realms by abu ubaydallah al bakri and i wanted to use this blog post to orient myself. Al bakri is perhaps better known for his kitab al masalik wa al mamalik the book of routes and realms, one of the most important sources for the history of west africa and the sahara, including crucial information on the ghana empire circa 300. Intrigued by this mysterious place of gold, north african and arabic. Abu ubaydallah albakri was a muslim scholar from cordoba, spain, who.
The marks of akan gold weights constitute a writing system because identical. The residences and migrations of arab tribes world. Albakri, roads and kingdoms 1067 ce the author albakri is in many ways analogous to strabo. In this groundbreaking first book, zayde antrim develops a discourse of place, a framework for approaching formal texts devoted to the representation of territory across genres. Hopkins, corpus of early arabic sources for west african history, cambridge university press, 1981 pp. The book of highways and of kingdoms is one of albakris that has survived.
He sits in audience or to hear grievances against officials in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold embroidered materials. The book of routes and realms abu ubaydallah albakri located south of the sahara desert is a broad expanse of grasslands, or savanna, that stretches across the breadth of the african continent from the atlantic ocean to the red sea. The city of ghana consists of two towns situated on a plain. Unlike many authors of global history textbooks and readers, andrea and overfield do not rely on artificial patterns, imposed on the coincidental to create false connections between societies which in fact had little or nothing to do with one another. Abu ubaydallah al bakri, the book of routes and realms, p. It was written in 10678 in cordoba, al andalus present day spain.
Abu ubaydallah albakri, the book of routes and realms. The crater al bakri on the moon is named after him. In 1068 the spanishmuslim geographer albakri wrote in his kitab almasalik waimamalik the book of routes and realms that ghana had. Al bakri, from the book of routes and realms, corpus of early arabic sources for west african history. The essay was written in 1067 and provides a historical context for the city of ghana, which no longer exists. Muslim geographer al bakri provided the earliest and most detailed description of the kingdom of ghana in his book of routes and realms. Al bakri never visited the region but obtained his information from earlier writers and from informants that he met in his native spain. The nuggets of gold found in all the mines of his country are reserved for the king. The best gold found in his land comes from the town of ghiyaru, which is eighteen days traveling distant from the kings town over a country inhabited by tribes of the sudan whose dwellings are continuous.
Albakri, the book of routes and realms, cited in levitzion and. When his father was deposed by al mutadid he moved to cordoba, where he studied with the geographer al udri and the historian ibn hayyan. Muslims in the middle east and north african developed. The prosperity and power of the ghana empire flourished on the. The book of routes and realms, by al bakri, lays out additional trade routes utilized by the almoravid jihadists in the 11th century.
Saharan smuggling, terrorism, and the struggle for a state. World history topical approaches morehouse college. Pages 6287 contain an extract from the book of routes and realms describing west africa further reading. Two icons of the virgin mary two yoruba stone carvings 73. Appropriately for a book on land, zayde antrims routes and realms. He spent his entire life in al andalus, most of it in seville and almeria. Al bakri, the book of routes and realms, cited in levitzion and.
Routes and realms explores the ways in which muslims expressed attachment to land from the ninth through the eleventh centuries, the earliest period of intensive written production in arabic. The power of place in the early islamic world breaks new ground. Control of highdemand trade products like gold and salt allowed ghana, mali, and songhai to. The empire of ghana although founded by berbers, ghana eventually was controlled by the soninke, a group of people living in the region.
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