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Ibn Battuta’s travel account of West Africa helps establish the historical validity of the Sundiata epic by giving eyewitness descriptions of the Mali Empire at a time relatively close to Mali’s rise in power. Even though Ibn Battuta’s portrayal of the Mali Empire is in first person, one should not use this information for or against proving the legitimacy of the Sundiata epic. Rather Ibn Battuta’s memoir is used for a further understanding of the Mali Empire by comparing the political structure, as well as, the social and cultural characteristics described in both Ibn Battuta’s In Black Africa and the Sundiata Epic. ... the young legal scholar Abu Abdallah ibn Battuta set out from his native city of Tangier on the north coast of Morocco to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. ... The main focus of the journal in this essay is Battuta’s writings on his journey to the Mali Empire, which he believes is already a century old, and its various components. On his return home from Mecca, Battuta writes how he came to Mali, or as he calls it, “the capital of the king of the blacks” , after leaving the village of Iwalatan. The description of the political structure in Mali, according to Ibn Battuta’s journal, is depicted by his depiction of the Niger River’s path through West Africa, which he refers to as the Nile River, which translates into “big” river. Battuta notes two particular villages whose sultans “give obedience to the king of Malli. ... Battuta talks about how the mansa sends him gifts and sends even more gifts after learning that he had already met Battuta but had forgotten. ... Battuta’s measurement of the mansa’s wealth derives from the king’s garments, which are made from silk and gold, and pieces of architecture found in the kingdom.
Approximate Word count = 1402
Approximate Pages = 5.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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