What role did the introduction of Christianity and Islam play in the development of the kingdoms of Ghana and Mali? How did these religions influence the actions of the kings? How did they influence the economies of the territories?
Describe al-Bakri’s (Document 10-1), al-Gharnātī’s (Document 10-2), and Leo Africanus’s (Document 10-3) impressions of the sub-Saharan kingdoms of Ghana and Mali. What do they admire about these kingdoms? What local traditions do they criticize?
How does the role of women in society in these passages compare to other societies that you have read about, such as those of India and China?
D. T. Niane, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, G. D. Pickett, trans. (London: Longmans, Green, 1965), 10–12.