DELHI SULTANATE MALI vs GHANA Similarities Malis economy

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI vs. GHANA Similarities: Mali’s economy rested on agriculture and was supplemented by control of regional and trans-Saharan trading routes and by control of the gold mines of the Niger headwaters.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI vs. GHANA Differences: 1. Mali was much larger than Ghana; Mali controlled much of the Niger River basin 2. Rulers were Muslims, who fostered the spread of Islam throughout the kingdom

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Mansa Musa’s commitment to Islam • Islam spread to sub-Saharan Africa by a gradual process of peaceful conversion. Conversion was facilitated by commercial contacts. • The Mali ruler Mansa Kankan Musa (r. 1312– 1337) demonstrated his fabulous wealth during a pilgrimage to Mecca. When he returned to Mali, Mansa Musa established new mosques and Quran schools.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Timbuktu represents strength of Islam At its peak in the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, Timbuktu was a major emporium for trade at the southern edge of the Sahara and center of Islamic religion and education

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Muslims take control of Northern India Between 1206 and 1236, the divided states of northwest India were defeated by violent Muslim Turkish conquerors under the leadership of Sultan Iltutmish, who established the Delhi Sultanate as a Muslim state. Although the Muslim elite then settled down to rule India relatively peacefully, their Hindu subjects never forgave the violence of the conquest.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Muslims take control of N. India (cont. ) • Iltutmish passed his throne on to his daughter, Raziya was a talented ruler, but she was driven from office by men unwilling to accept a female monarch. • Under Ala-ud-din (r. 1296– 1316) and Muhammad ibn Tughluq (r. 1325– 1351), the Delhi Sultanate carried out a policy of aggressive territorial expansion that was accompanied (in the case of Tughluq) by a policy of religious toleration toward Hindus—a policy that was reversed by Tughluq’s successor.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Southern India’s reaction to Delhi Sultanate • The Hindu states of southern India unite to form the Vijayanagar Empire. • Struggle between the elites of society…oftentimes distorted their intolerance of the opposing religion.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Decline of the Sultanate In general, the Delhi sultans ruled by terror and were a burden on their subjects. In the mid-fourteenth century, internal rivalries and external threats undermined the stability of the sultanate. The sultanate was destroyed when Timur sacked Delhi in 1398.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Importance of Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo Ibn Battuta • Considered to be a leading explorer of the 14 th Century. He was also a pre-eminent scholar and judge. • Known to be a widely traveled person; he was also the only medieval traveler to have seen the lands of every Muslim ruler in his lifetime.

DELHI SULTANATE & MALI Importance of Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo • Traveled to “far east” (China) during the Yuan empire; well received by Mongols (Kublai Khan) • The influence on geographic exploration was enormous and he was also a major influence on Christopher Columbus, who owned a copy of Travels and made annotations in the margins.