SST HOLIDAY

HOMEWORK
BY ESHAL ZAINAB PARY 8C
An information guide on the ‘West
African Islamic Civilizations’

Spread of Islam in West Africa

1 Islam spread from the Middle East to take hold across
North Africa around 715. Muslim forces took
permanent possession of North Africa, converted the
native Berbers to Islam. From there, it spread via
Islamized Berbers in the 8th century CE along the trade
routes which crisscrossed West Africa finally reaching
Lake Chad.

Some West African Islamic

Civilizations
By 1500, Islam was well established in West Africa
throughout the Sahil belt and along the Niger River
2
into modern Nigeria. In West Africa, the three great
medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and the Songhay
developed in Sahel.

Kingdom of Mali
The Mali Empire/Kingdom Of Mali (1240-1645) of West
Africa was founded by Sundiata Keita. Sundiata's

3 centralised government, diplomacy and well-trained

army permitted a massive military expansion which
would pave the way for a flourishing of the Mali
Empire.
 Djingarey Ber Mosque
The Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali is a
famous learning center of Mali built in 1327, and

4 cited as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber in various

languages. At the heart of it, Djinguereber was
and remains a marvel of architecture where,
when 2,000 people line up for prayers on a
Friday, you feel the greatness of God and Islam
in your soul.”

Timbuktu
Timbuktu is a city in Mali, situated
twenty kilometres north of the Niger
River. Timbuktu was a center of Islamic
scholarship under many African
empires, home to a 25,000-student 5
university and other madrassas that
were wellsprings for the spread of Islam
throughout Africa from the 13th to 16th
centuries.

The Mali Empire

The Great Mosque of Djenné is located in the city of
Djenné, Mali. The first Great Mosque of Djenne was
built in the 13th century by Koy Konboro, Djenne's
first Islamicized ruler, but the structure we see
today dates from 1907. Djenne mosque became one

6 of the most important buildings in town because it

became a political symbol for local residents and
for colonial powers like the French who took

control of Mali in 1892.