11th century – 15th century
North Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and western Africa
The second Islamic age in Africa, dated 1050–1450, is characterized in the extract by abundant, varied, and comparatively rich evidence. Archival materials, chronicles, geographical writings, legal texts, European commercial documents, and Ethiopian manuscripts illuminate North Africa, Egypt, and black Africa. The period encompasses Almoravid, Almohad, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Hafsid, Marinid, and Mali contexts, as well as the emergence of Songhay.
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The Story
The second Islamic age is presented as a long phase of exceptional documentary richness, extending from 1050 to 1450. Unlike the preceding centuries, it offers a broad range of archival and literary materials, including Geniza papers, official letters, waqf records, fatwas, Italian commercial documents, chronicles, and Ethiopian manuscripts. These sources make it possible to study political institutions, trade, social life, and religious history across a wide African zone.
The documentation is especially abundant for Egypt and the Maghrib, but black Africa also becomes more visible. Arabic geographical and historical writings preserve information on the Sudan, Ethiopia, Nubia, and trans-Saharan exchanges. Later historians often reproduce earlier materials that have since disappeared, making the chronicles valuable not only for contemporary events but also for the recovery of older historical traditions.
The period includes several major political formations and transitions. The extract refers to Almoravid and Almohad movements in the Maghrib, Ayyubid and Mamluk Egypt, Hafsid Ifriqiya, Marinid Morocco, the Mali Empire, and the emergence of Songhay after Mali’s decline. It also records the Almoravid conquest of Ghana in 1076 and the Portuguese capture of Ceuta in 1415, developments that frame the changing political and commercial geography of the late period.
11th century – 15th century
North Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and western Africa
The second Islamic age in Africa, dated 1050–1450, is characterized in the extract by abundant, varied, and comparatively rich evidence. Archival materials, chronicles, geographical writings, legal texts, European commercial documents, and Ethiopian manuscripts illuminate North Africa, Egypt, and black Africa. The period encompasses Almoravid, Almohad, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Hafsid, Marinid, and Mali contexts, as well as the emergence of Songhay.
Continue exploring
The Story
The second Islamic age is presented as a long phase of exceptional documentary richness, extending from 1050 to 1450. Unlike the preceding centuries, it offers a broad range of archival and literary materials, including Geniza papers, official letters, waqf records, fatwas, Italian commercial documents, chronicles, and Ethiopian manuscripts. These sources make it possible to study political institutions, trade, social life, and religious history across a wide African zone.
The documentation is especially abundant for Egypt and the Maghrib, but black Africa also becomes more visible. Arabic geographical and historical writings preserve information on the Sudan, Ethiopia, Nubia, and trans-Saharan exchanges. Later historians often reproduce earlier materials that have since disappeared, making the chronicles valuable not only for contemporary events but also for the recovery of older historical traditions.
The period includes several major political formations and transitions. The extract refers to Almoravid and Almohad movements in the Maghrib, Ayyubid and Mamluk Egypt, Hafsid Ifriqiya, Marinid Morocco, the Mali Empire, and the emergence of Songhay after Mali’s decline. It also records the Almoravid conquest of Ghana in 1076 and the Portuguese capture of Ceuta in 1415, developments that frame the changing political and commercial geography of the late period.