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.
The main themes of Before European Hegemony revolve around the many aspects of trade, disastrous events, and the many pivotal events and advancements which changed the course of the many rival nations within the era preceding total European dominance. Before European hegemony is a very thorough book, providing insights into the inner workings of several empires in the thirteenth century.The theme of missteps and misfortune among these earlier nations enables Abu-Lughod’s idea of European dominance with the thirteenth century to be solidified and supplemented with validity, with Abu-Lughod providing a flowing narrative of historical events which permitted Europe to take its place as . Abu-Lughod investigations and observations into the economics
East and West Africa from 1000 to 1500 CE had profound differences in forms of government, with West Africa being kingdom based, and East Africa city-state based. The conversion of Eastern and Western African ruling elites compacted trading between themselves and Islamic traders from Mesopotamia, China, India, and as far away as Oceania. The relatively stable political environment from 1000-1500 CE in Sub-Saharan Africa attracted displaced peoples from the Abbasid empire in Northern Africa, with West Africa utilizing Trans-Saharan trade, and East Africa utilizing mariner trade routes. The East and West developed in clearly different ways, but paralleled each other in a way in which the political, social, and economic environments facilitated stable trade in the region, as well as a distinct blend between Islamic culture and African tradition.
Muhammad ibn Abdalah (founder of Islam) was a frequent visitor to a cave nearby Mount Hira. He used his time at this cave to pray, and get away from the scramble for money and wealth he felt was causing his people to lose their way. According to Muhammad’s words in the Qur’an, on one particular visit to the cave, the archangel Gabriel caused words to flow from his mouth. The words concluded with, Allah is the one true God. Two years after receiving Allah’s words, he decided that it was finally time to teach these words to the public. From that point on, Muhammad decided to move 250 miles north. When Muhammad died, his words, and the ones of Allah’s would be written down in the Qur’an. Within 100 years of Muhammad's death, the
The Islamic religion spreaded quickly because of trade. Based on the fact, that Islam had trade over many empires. Corresponding to the map on Document A, “ Adding from the profits of caravans was a brisk pilgrimage trade, for Mecca was the site of Arabia 's holiest shrine. In addition, the holy city, Mecca was the main site for trade. According to the map, followed by Document C, ”Mecca, the holy city, had military campaigns and was in the middle of Arabia, near the coastlines.” Ultimately, Arabs transported goods to market places. Document A state 's,”Vast camel trains, bearing species, perfume, precious metals, ivory and silk, filed through the town, headed north on the way from Yemen … to the
In the city of Mecca, a man started a new religion known as Islam. This man was Muhammad who was born in about 570 C.E. While going to pray in a cave in the mountains of Mecca, an angel named Gabriel visited Muhammad. Gabriel proclaimed that Muhammad was a prophet, messenger of God. As he received messages from God, Muhammad began to teach and recite them to others. Over time, Islam attracted new followers through military conquest, trade, and the appeal of message, which contributed to the rapid spread of Islam.
Disease became a large part of trading on both the Silk Road and the Mediterranean Sea Trade Complex. They both were trading the Bubonic Plague all around their trading routes. Although they both had it, the plague was more relevant on the Silk Road because the Mediterranean Sea Trade Complex only received it from interacting with the Silk Road, so it wasn’t as impactful. The bubonic plague killed many people in its travels and also leaders of civilizations, as well as leprosy, which was another disease spread along the Silk Road. The Silk Road was also significantly more difficult to travel across than the Mediterranean Sea Trade Complex. To travel the Mediterranean Sea Trade Complex you could just travel by boat, but the Silk Road was a challenge, that some hired others to take for them. You couldn’t take a boat across the Silk Road, so you would have to travel through deserts and rough terrain, proving difficult to last in, with the chance of a bandit robbing you, sandstorms, starvation or thirst. With all the deaths occurring on the Silk Road, it definitely left a huge impact on the civilizations there, by lowering population, distressing family members, and civilizations falling apart as a result of their leader dying.
The Ottoman and Mughal empires both used Islam in their culture, economy, wars, and society. It influenced their art, the way they treated non-Muslims, their motivations for war. It is important to note that both empires were influenced differently by their majority religion. However, both the Ottomans and Mughals were heavily influenced as Islam was a major part of everyday life from the art to the bureaucracy.
In 520 AD, the prophet and messenger Muhammad came to spread Allah's word, and his followers became the first Muslims. Islam spread rapidly and this was was due to the choices that the leaders made through cultural diffusion, strategy for the wage of war, and esteemed morals. When Muslim merchants would trade, they would also spread the culture of Islam. The strategic wage of war helped Islam uphold a strong empire. The desirable morals of the faith led people into becoming Muslim.
One way in which the societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America diverged was in their belief systems. Unlike Europe and North America, West Africa gradually adopted Islam in addition to its traditional religions. Islam diffused through the trans-Saharan trade with North Africa and by the 1200’s was assimilated into the Mali and Songhai Empire. The major benefit of taking up Islam was that it allowed for more wide ranging trade contacts with the non-African Muslim world as well as North Africa (“Pre-colonial African Religion”). On the other hand, Europe was the only society with Catholicism and Protestantism as its major religions after the Protestant Reformation. In other words, Europe was strictly monotheistic whereas West Africa combined Islam and traditional religions based on
Islam is the second biggest religion and fastest growing in the world today. Islam is a religion that Muslims follow and is a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the prophet of Allah. For Muslims, Muhammad is the last prophet and Abraham is the patriarch of the Qur’an, Bible and Torah. Islam is followed by over a billion people and Muslims make up approximately one quarter of the world’s population. Islam spread quickly during the 600’s trade, choice, and conquest.
Not only did the Trans-Saharan trade routes bring commodities such as gold and salt but the Islamic religion as well. Before the Islam reached Sub-Saharan West Africa, Animism was the main religion of Sub-Saharan West Africa. Animism is the belief in numeral spiritual beings that are concerned with human affairs and that they are capable for either helping or harming human instincts. Additionally, kin played a crucial role in early Sub-Saharan societies since who you were related to directly influenced your role in your society. The Islamic empire conquered parts of North Africa which helped spread the influence and wealth of Islam. In North Africa the Berber merchants were one of the major groups that traded with Sub-Saharan West Africa through the Trans-Saharan trade routes. The Berber merchants played an essential part in dispersing the Islam and its traditions into Sub-Saharan West Africa since they frequently used the Sahara to trade. When Islam made its way into Sub-Saharan West Africa, it was absorbed into their society but unlike in other societies, Islam merged with the existing animistic culture. A majority of the Sub-Saharan West African population didn’t convert to Islam but remained animistic. The people who converted were merchants and elite rulers. They converted for economic reasons. The merchants converted to have access to more
Africa before 1500 ce was a time where many events happened that changed the civilization of Africa forever. Africa invented trades, cultures, traditions, and so many other things that affected Africa in many ways. There is a huge timeline that explains all the events that happen in Africa, what year they happen, and why they happen in the first place. Africa along with other certain continents had major events happened before 1500 ce. Since I chose Africa I will be explaining what was Africa before 1500 ce.
First, Islam spread quickly because of its geographic location. Mecca was the center of Islam
Trade between different areas is a useful tool for gaining more and different types of resources given a natural uneven distribution of goods and resources. Trade networks in Afro-Eurasia in the period from 600 CE to 1450 CE changed by involving different classes of people from many different peoples and spreading, despite including the original trade routes and mixing of culture. However, the Afro Eurasian trade network changed for the better as it became widespread among all classes and more ingrained with culture.