primary source: al omari
Background:
Ibn Fadl Allah al Omari was a Muslim who lived in the Middle East during the reign of Mansa Musa. Twelve years after Musa had traveled through Cairo, al Omari wrote a second hand account of his visit. He interviewed many people who had lived in Cairo during Musa's visit. In addition, al Omari showed his interest in the Kingdom of Mali by interviewing a friend who had lived in Mali for thirty-five years. His account is one of the best surviving descriptions of Mali in the Middle Ages.
Ibn Fadl Allah al Omari was a Muslim who lived in the Middle East during the reign of Mansa Musa. Twelve years after Musa had traveled through Cairo, al Omari wrote a second hand account of his visit. He interviewed many people who had lived in Cairo during Musa's visit. In addition, al Omari showed his interest in the Kingdom of Mali by interviewing a friend who had lived in Mali for thirty-five years. His account is one of the best surviving descriptions of Mali in the Middle Ages.
A: The king of this country is known to the people of Egypt as the king of Tekrur; but he himself becomes indignant (offended) when he is called this, since Tekrur is only one of the countries of his empire. The title he prefers is that of lord of Mali, the largest of his states; it is the name by which he is most known. he is the most important of the Muslim Negro kings; his land is the largest, his army is the most numerous; he is the king who is the most powerful, the richest, the most fortunate, the most feared by his enemies and the most able to do good to those around him.
Source: Davidson, Basil. The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England, 1064. pp.85.
Source: Davidson, Basil. The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England, 1064. pp.85.
B:
The sultan [king] of this country has sway [control] over
the land of the “desert of native gold’... they bring him gold every year. The
inhabitants of that land are savage pagans [non Muslims] ... But the [kings] of
this kingdom have learned by experience that whenever one of them has conquered
one of these gold towns, established Islam there, and sounded the call to prayer,
the harvest of gold dwindles and falls to nothing, ... they left the gold
country in the hands of its pagan inhabitants and contented themselves with
assuring their obedience and paying tribute.
Source: Davidson, Basil. The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England, 1964. pp. 86.
Source: Davidson, Basil. The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times. Penguin Books, Middlesex, England, 1964. pp. 86.