The Country of Gold: Arab Observers on the Ghāna Empire Reconsidered

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/42095

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Midden-Oostenstudies (BA)

Sanderse, Daan (2016)

The Country of Gold: Arab Observers on the Ghāna Empire Reconsidered

Bachelor thesis | Midden-Oostenstudies (BA)

The political structure of the medieval Mande empires – namely ancient Ghāna and Mālī – are still largely shrouded in mystery. This paper analyzes the political structure of the Ghāna Empire. By comparing the structural anthropological theory developed by prof. Jan Jansen with the remarks made by medieval Arab geographers such as al-Bakr ī and al-Idrīsī, (utilizing particularly Jansen’s description of the Mande status discourse) it becomes possible to look for Mande 'snippets' in the Arabic texts. This article particularly focuses on the political role of 'the younger brother' in the Ghāna polity. The research presented in this paper show that there are strong indications that the Ghāna Empire had a decentralized political structure in which the 'younger brother' played a leading role. Furthermore, it shows that the Arabic texts, despite their limitations, still proof to be our most valuable sources on the medieval Mande empires, especially when combined with new archeological data.

West Africa

Medieval Arabic geographers

ancient Ghana

Jan Jansen

Structural Anthropology