SOCIAL SCIENCE

HISTORY FIRST TERM

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Unit 1: Trade across the Sahara Desert
In the 14th century (1301AD – 1400AD), Mali was a powerful Kingdom in West Africa. It became rich and powerful
because of trade across the Sahara Desert. This trade linked Mali to North Africa, Asia and Europe.

Camel caravans as the means of transport

The Sahara Desert is the biggest desert in the word. It is plagued by extremely hot temperatures and terrible sand
storms. When people started using camels, travel across the desert became easier. Camels can walk easier and go
for days without food and water. Traveling across the desert with camels and goods, is called a caravan. Sometimes,
there are 40 thousand camels in one caravan.

Goods brought from Europe and North Africa into Mali for exchange
Salt and Gold: Salt helped to keep meat from going bad. But it was not readily available. So people from North
Africa, brought it to Timbuktu markets, sold it, bought gold and then were considered rich in Arabian and European
standards.

Cloth Horse Weapon: Traders also bought slaves, ivory, ostrich feathers, leather goods from West Africa and took
them northwards. There they sold their goods, and bought goods ,like cloth and horses and took them to back to
West Africa. Thus, through trade, West Africa was brought into other parts of the world.

Traders Spread Islam in the 9th Century

Islam was given to the people in the 7th century through the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammed
lived in Arabia and from there because of trade, Islam was spread. Where they traded, they built mosques. So, the
spread of Islam could be attributed to the spread of trading networks.

Activity 1
1. Why are camels the best form of transport across a desert?
2. What did traders get from West Africa?
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3. Why was salt so important at the time?
4. Use Source A and Source B to explain the spread of Islam.
5. A century is a hundred years. We are living in 21st century. Our year is 2020. What century is the following years.
369, 1589, 1970, 1052,
6. Use google to find out the meaning of BC, AD, Circa

Unit 2: The Kingdom of Mali

Between 700 – 1590, the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai in West Africa, became powerful because they
controlled the trade in salt and gold. The first ruler was Sundiata, who became mansa (or leader) in 1230. Under
him, Islam became the main religion in Mali.

A jail or griot (gree-oh) is a musician who sings of the history of his people. This way of preserving history is a\called
oral tradition. Jali’s were very important people as they were sons of Kings and often acted as spokespersons for the
king.

Mansa Musa
According to oral tradition, Abubakar II wanted to explore the Atlantic ocean. He left with 2000 ships. He never
returned. Mensa Musa then took over and ruled for 25 years. He set up a good system of law and order. Educated
Muslims ran the government efficiently. Mansa Musa made all the important decisions, but he also had a council of
important people from army and royal families, even slaves to give him advice. His army was huge and strong and
kept good control of the kingdom. Travellers to Mali noted that it was a very safe place to stay and very little crime.

1. Why did the kingdoms of West Africa become

powerful?
2/ Use the information in Source A and your ideas to
answer these questions.
2.1 In Source A: discuss the following words –
descendant, ancestor, generations
2.2 Who would a story teller tell his story?
2.3 What kind of information would the “keeper of the
memories” give?
2.4 How would the jail keep the audience interested?
2.5 How was a jail chosen?

3. How did Mansa Musa become king and how do we know about this?
4. Using the text, and source B, explain whether you would have liked to live under Mansa Musa’s rule.
5. Why is it important to study the oral tradition to learn about the history of Africa?

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Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage to Mecca

Mecca is a Holy City to Muslims because the Prophet Muhammed was born there. Muslims believe it is their duty to
make pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. In 1324, Mansa Musa made this pilgrimage. He had to cross the
desert to Cairo. He took thousands of people with him. He took government officials, soldiers, merchants, servants
and slaves with him – some say about 60 thousand people. Some jail sang that his pilgrimage caused the value of
gold to fall as he took with him more than 80 camels weighted down with gold. After this pilgrimage, the entire
Islamic world and Europe knew about Mali and its riches.

Construction of the Great Mosque

When Mansa Musa was king, many religious schools called madrassas, were built in Mali. He also brought in Muslim
prayer on Fridays. He also built and paid for beautiful mosques throughout the Mali empire. When on his
pilgrimage, he met the famous architect, Al-Sahili, who came to Mali with him, to help him plan and build the
beautiful mosques. The two biggest mosques were built at Timbuktu and Gao. The most famous mosque is the
Great Mosque at Djenné but it was built before Mensa Musa was king. Thousands of students from the Islamic
world went to Djenné to study and learn. In 1988 the Great Mosque and old part of in Djenné became a World
Heritage Site. Every year, the Great Mosque has to be covered with a new layer of mud, to repair damage of that
particular year.

Activity 3
1. Look at the sources in this unit and identify an example of each of these types of sources: oral, written, visual,
object
2. Sometimes a source will be more than one type. Look at Source C. Explain why this could be seen as more than
one type of source
3. Maps often use symbols to represent something bigger (like a tree for a forest, a cross to show a church, an H to
show a hospital)
3.1 Study Source C and explain what those symbols represent: crown on Musa Mensa’s head; nugget (gold lump)
that Musa Mensa is holding; the buildings to the right of Mansa Musa
3.2 Mansa Musa died in 1337. How does Source C show that he was important? (Look at how he is shown, where it
was made and when it was made)
4. The old part of the city of Djenné and the mosque became a World Heritage Site. Why are they seen as so
important?

Unit 3: The city of Timbuktu

Timbuktu was an important city of trade and learning long after Mensa Musa died. We know this from oral history
and tradition, objects from that time and from written records and books from the area and the writings of
travellers.

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Leo Africanus’s eyewitness stories of his travels
A number of people visited Mali because it was an important country in the trade route and of the Arab trade
networks. The travellers saw for themselves what life was like in Mali and wrote these things down. This is called
eyewitness evidence. Leo Africanus travelled twice to the area and became an importance source or reference of
information about West Africa.
Travel along caravan routes and visits to Timbuktu
Leo Africanus travelled throughout the north and west of Africa in the 16th century. He travelled along the caravan
routes and into the desert, and then went on to Timbuktu. He was a Muslim born al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-
Wazzan, born in Spain in 1485, but he lived most of his life in Africa. Leo Africanus was captured by pirates and given
as a slave to the leader of the Catholics, Pope Leo X. He became Christian and took the name Leo Africanus. He was
a Humanist and geographer of Africa and became the definitive authority on the geography and history of north and
west Africa. He wrote a book called Description of Africa. Before Leo Africanus died, he reverted to Islam again.

Source A Description from Description of Africa

The houses of Timbuktu are huts made of reeds covered in clay with thatched roofs. In the centre of the city
is a temple built of stone and mortar and there is a large palace where the king lives.

The women of the city keep their faces veiled, except for the slaves who sell all the foodstuffs. The people
living there are very rich. There are many wells containing sweet water in Timbuktu. When the Niger River
is in flood, canals deliver the water into the city. There is a lot of grain and animals, so people eat and drink
a lot of milk and butter.

Source B Oral description of the mansa’s governing style.

The royal court is magnificent and very well organised. When the king goes from one city to another with
people of his court, he rides a camel and the horses are led by hand by servants. If fighting becomes
necessary, the servants mount the camels and all the soldiers mount on horseback. When someone wishes
to speak to the king, he must kneel and bow before him. The king has about 3000 horsemen and many foot
soldiers armed with bows, which they use to shoot poisoned arrows. The king makes war only upon
neighbouring enemies and upon those who do not want to pay him tribute. When he has gained a victory,
he has all of them, including children, sold in a market in Timbuktu.

Activity 4 Gather information about life in Mali

1. Leo Africanus wrote eyewitness accounts of the time. What does this mean?
2. Suggest a reason why “the women of the city keep their faces veiled”.
3. Find evidence in Source A and Source B to answer the following
3.1 Of what were the buildings made?
3.2 In what ways did people show respect to the mansa?
3.3 What were animals used for?
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 3.4 What information can you find about slavery from these sources
4. Were all people equal in this society? Give details from each source to back up your answer.
Timbuktu as a trade centre on the trans-Saharan caravan route
Goods from Mediterranean shores and salt traded in Timbuktu for gold
Timbuktu was a centre of trade for hundreds of years.
(1) It was in a good position on the edge of the Sahara Desert
(2) It stood on the banks of the Niger River
(3) Boats on the river carried goods from the forest lands in the south, to the edge of the desert.
(4) Traders left Timbuktu to travel along the caravan routes over the desert that linked Mali to North Africa.

At first, trade was done by barter. This meant that goods were exchanged without money. Then they started to use
cowrie shells as a form of money. Cowrie shells were used for ordinary shopping, like buying food at the market.
But for important things, gold dust was used and sometimes coins made of gold. Gold and salt were still the most
important items of trade. Mali controlled the gold mines in the southern part of the kingdom. More gold came from
the Akan (found presently in Ghana and Ivory Coast) who lived in the forests to the south, who traded most of their
gold with Mali. Salt came from the coast, where it was made from seawater, or it came from places in the desert.
Traders there sold ivory (elephant tusks), ostrich feathers, leather goods, slaves and grain as well. They bought salt,
horses, cowrie shells, copper beads and cloth from traders who brought these goods from North Africa or Europe.

Source C: Gold coins, cowrie shells, trading

Source D Oral description of trade in Timbuktu

There are lots of shops of the crafts and especially weavers of cotton cloth. Fabrics from Europe and good
horses are brought to Timbuktu by traders from North Africa. But salt is in very short supply because it is
carried here from the north, 800km away.

Timbuktu was also a centre of trade for food

products. Farmers in Mali grew crops such as millet (like
maize), sorghum and rice and they grew more than they
could use themselves. Others caught fish in the rivers,
which they dried and packed into baskets. Farmers and
fishermen took their good by boat up the Niger to markets
in Timbuktu.

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Activity 5 Use objects to learn about the past
You have already learnt that a way to discover things about the past is by studying the objects left behind by the
people who lived long ago. The objects that remain are often things people don’t want and so they landed up in
rubbish dumps. Over the years, they became buried. Archaeologists dig in the ground to uncover them. From the
objects they find, they try to put together an idea of what life was like.
1. Look at the trash in your neighbour’s bin (I dare you!!) Write down what type of lifestyle they lead – what they
eat, their interests, size of the family. (Or just look at the trash in your own home)
2. Look at the trash and decide what would last long (100 years) and that which would not last long (less than 10
years)
3. Discuss with partner why it is difficult to get a clear idea of what things was like years ago. Remember things do
not last.
4. Imagine that the following things have been found deep in the ground at Timbuktu. They date back to the time of
the Kingdom of Mali. Explain what each item could suggest about Mali
4.1 broken cowrie shell
4.2 gold chain
4.3 some cloth
4.4 a broken piece of pottery
4.5 iron weapons

Timbuktu as a centre of learning

The Arabs had a great respect for learning. Under their rule, many people learnt to read and write. The Muslim
Arabs spread their religion and in so doing, built up a huge empire that stretched from Spain to India. They learnt
from the people in their empire. The spread of Arabic (a spoken language and language of the Qur’an) meant that
traders from different countries could understand another. When Islam spread to Mali, Timbuktu became a centre
of learning. There was a university, mosques, libraries and hundreds of schools. Scholars, writers, poets and artists
from all over the Muslim world travelled to Timbuktu to study. Scholars wrote manuscripts on all sorts of subjects,
such as mathematics and astronomy. Timbuktu them became hugely important in the trade of books. People then
started personal libraries which were then passed down in their families.

Maths, chemistry and physics

Arab scientists became the best in the world, and their knowledge of mathematics, chemistry and physics was
advanced. Arab mathematicians adapted some ideas from India and our modern system of numbers comes from
the Arabs. They introduced the concept of zero and developed Algebra . They divided the day into 24hours. They
invented water clocks to measure time.
This replaced the awkward system of Roman numerals. How ancient Romans used to write numbers. I means 1, V
means 5, X means 10, L means 50, C means 100, D means 500 and M means 1000, lV is 4, lX is 9, lXX is 19

Astronomy
Arab astronomers worked out the size of the earth and knew it was round. They ascertained that the Earth travels
around the sun and the moon around the Earth. They based their findings on close observation of the night sky.
Many of these ideas were accepted in Europe only centuries later. At the time when the Arabs were making huge
inroads into Astrology, most Europeans thought the earth was flat. Arabs were the first to discover that The Milky
Way was made up of thousands of stars.

Medicine and Optics

Arabs produced the first medical encyclopaedia. Leo Africanus contributed to medical knowledge by writing a book
that combined Arabic, Hebrew and Latin medical terms. Arab doctors discovered that some illness can be infectious.
They were the first to set up quarantine sections in hospitals, to keep infected persons away from others.

History and Geography

Arab traders and explorers travelled widely and wrote about they saw thus spreading knowledge about the world’s
geography. Travellers such as Ibn Battuta made careful observations during their travels to Persia and India.
Scholars from Timbuktu kept records of the history of west Africa and in this way, it helped the spread of Islam and
African heritage. Arabs developed tools to help people navigate. The astrolabe and quadrant measured the height
of the stars above the horizon and they used this knowledge to traverse the desert.
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Government, law and traditions of Islam
Arab scholars could read and write Arabic and so played an important role in helping leaders to administer efficient
systems of government. They also studied the traditions of Islam and wrote about how these could be applied in
systems of law and government.

Timbuktu Manuscripts Project and South African collaboration

There are still thousands of manuscripts in Timbuktu from the time of the Kingdom of Mali. They are written in
Arabic, and from them we can learn what scholars in Timbuktu knew about astronomy, mathematics, chemistry and
many other subjects. But many of those manuscripts have been damaged by time, weather dust and air. Other have
been sold or lost. In 2001, the South African government offered to help the government of modern Mali to work
out a way to preserve the documents for the future. A special centre called the Ahmed Baba Centre was created
where the manuscripts could be kept at the right temperature.

Why Timbuktu is a World Heritage Site

The United Nations is a world organisation that runs many projects. One of them is to decide which places in the
world are so valuable and important that they should be protected for future generations to see. These places are
valuable because of their history (like Robben island). Or they may be valuable because they teach us about art and
culture of another time (such as the San rock art in the Drakensburg mountains). These are called World Heritage
Sites.

Activity 6 Report writing

You are writing to the United Nations to request they make Timbuktu a World Heritage Site. Use the information in
your notes, use other information read in Google to make your point. Use the following headings
1. A brief history of Timbuktu
2. A summary of Musa Mensa
3. The spread of Islam into Africa
4. The role Timbuktu played in the preservation of African history.
5. Conclusion: Why you think Timbuktu should be made into a World Heritage Site

Rubric: Is the content relevant (10)

Is the message clear and show good understanding? (10)
Is there enough graphics (5)
Grammar (5)

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Revision Activity
1. Match Column A to Column B. Write the answer in Column C
Column A Column C Column B
1. Ancestors 1 A. objects in the ground
2. Manuscripts 2 B. Land, power and wealth
3. Symbol 3 C. future generations
4. Network 4 D. Building plans
5. Descendants 5 E. The sky
6. Astronomy 6 F. Library
7. Archaeology 7 G. Map
8. Mosque 8 H. Trade
9. Empire 9 I. Previous generations
10. Architect 10 J. Religion

2. Name the desert in north Africa.

3. What animal is best for the desert. Give a reason why.
4. What do you call a group of people travelling in the desert.
5. What did Mali get from the north of Africa
6. Name the prophet on whose teaching Islam is based.
7. Which country saw the rise of Islam?
8. What is the title given to a ruler in west Africa?
9. Where did Mansa Musa go on pilgrimage?
10. What is a west African ruler called?
11. Name the town where the Great Mosque was first built in the 13th century.
12. What is an eyewitness account of events?
13. Name the author of Description of Africa.
14. Name the river next to which Timbuktu was built.
15. A shell (from the Indian Ocean) that was used at money.
16. Name the area in the Kingdom of Mali in which gold was mined.
17. Name another trade item that was as important as gold.
18. Name the Holy Book of Islam.
19. Name the parts of history that we choose to remember and celebrate as part of our identity.
20. Name a building preserved as a World Heritage Site.
21. Name a navigation tool developed by the Arabs.
3. Write down two examples of each of these and explain why they are important sources of information
3.1 written sources
3.2 visual sources
3.3 oral sources
3.4 objects used as sources in History

4. In which century are the following dates

4.1 2020
4.2 1994
4.3 1652
4.4 1820
4.5 651
4.6 1011
4.7 1483

5. In which century did these events happen

5.1 Mansa Musa went on pilgrimage to Mecca
5.2 Timbuktu was declared a World Heritage Site
5.3 Sundiata became mansa of Mali
5.4 Leo Africanus wrote Descriptions of Africa