Reddit mentions of The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa

Finally a question about West Africa. My answer will mostly be centered around the Mali Empire.

Now, in 1444 the Portuguese arrived on the Senegambia coast and began slave raids on the coastline, the people of Mali where surprised by the European's Caravel vessels and the white skin of the sailors within them. Now between 1444 and 1456 small naval scrimmages took place between the Mali Empire and Portuguese until, in 1456, the Portuguese sent coutier Diogo Gomes to establish peace with the Mali Empire, and by 1462 peace was established and Portugal switched its intent in Senegambia to trade rather than conquest. This was when the first real knowledge West African rulers had of Europe began.

Keep in mind the Mali empire had no written text, so there is no direct source to say "the west africans knew of the Europeans.". But we can do some estimation on the matter. Mansa Musa, famous ruler of Mali took his pilgrimage to Mecca (The Mali Empire is primarily islamic) so they know the teachings of the Quran and in turn know quite a bit about the middle eastern regions. Simply because it is unknown if the Mali people knew of Europe, it is safe to say the Europeans knew of the Mali Empire.

In 1375 the Catalan atlas was released, stemming from Catalonia it was made by a Jewish book illuminator, Cresques Abraham, who was self described as "The master of the world as well as compasses". All of this seems fairly useless until you realize that in the Catalan Atlas, their is depictions of Mansa Musa on his holy pilgrimage to Mecca and much of the West African coast charted and identified.

Another source is Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan explorer, who arrived in Mali in 1351 after his extensive travels to as far as China. Before his trip to Mali he traveled on the North African coast and took detours to Sardinia and Moor controlled regions of the southern Iberian Peninsula. Though I have not read the Rhila (Ibn Battuta's book telling the story of his travels), and do not know whether it says this but it is safe to assume he shared some of his knowledge with the people of the Mali Empire and of his time in Europe.

Another thing that could point to knowledge of Europe by West African rulers is the fact that the Mali empire is a key part on the Saharan trade route spanning from West Africa, to North Africa, The Levant and, you guessed it, Europe. It is likely European goods, news and knowledge spread from trade along this route and allowed West African rulers some insight into the happenings, and knowledge of Europe. Likely the same way knowledge of Mansa Musa made it's way onto the Catalan Atlas.

So overall, it is quite likely there was knowledge of Europe by West African rulers, what that knowledge is is unknown (because they had no written texts) but the fact that there was knowledge of Europe is a fairly clear "Yes, West African rulers had, though limited, some amount of knowledge on Europe"

Outside of the Mali Empire is a bit iffy. the Berbers of Morocco definitely had extensive knowledge of Europe, but if you go south of the Niger river it is possible the knowledge only came from the few sailors who dared go down there, and those where few and far between.

---

Sources:

[The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa | by Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack] (http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Kingdoms-Ghana-Mali-Songhay/dp/0805042598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414292037&sr=1-1&keywords=Mali+%28Empire%29)

Mansa Musa and the Empire of Mali | by P. James Oliver

Hey, I've been on a similar hunt in recent months myself. It isn't easy. But there are three books at least I can recommend you, and from there hopefully you'll find more that might interest you.

The first is a novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Its pretty popular, and though I haven't picked it up yet it tends to be mentioned whenever I discuss trying to find more books about African inspired cultures or Africa itself. The Goodreads blurb contains the following;

>In the first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.

>Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written an adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf explores the fundamentals of truths, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.

I cut out the actual plot blurb there, so by all means look it up yourself if you're interested.

The second book is between novel and history, in that its a cultural epic along the same vein of the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Secret History of the Mongols. Works written by a culture about that culture's mythical past can tread the line between history and legend, and that's definitely what the Sundiata Keita does. It tells the tale of Sundiata, the legendary founder of the Mali Empire, and how he rose to power and fame. Its a great read, and definitely gives a glimpse into West Africa and how this particular region of it can be the focus for grand tales of heroes and villains, kings and princes and sorcerers.

The last rec is The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa by by Patricia McKissack, which is a rather short but historically-focused book on the kingdoms of Western Africa. The blurb from the Amazon page reads;

>For more than a thousand years, from A.D. 500 to 1700, the medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay grew rich on the gold, salt, and slave trade that stretched across Africa. Scraping away hundreds of years of ignorance, prejudice, and mythology, award-winnnig authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack reveal the glory of these forgotten empires while inviting us to share in the inspiring process of historical recovery that is taking place today.

You can pick it up here if you're so inclined, but it could serve as a pretty solid primer on West African culture. Or, at least, a guideline for where to begin, by introducing you to concepts and terms you might not otherwise be familiar with, and helping you to narrow down your search.

Hope this helps!