"Braille" and "Mali .. Documents from the 18-20 centuries" published by the Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of London Harry Norris, and deals with documents and manuscripts that show an aspect of the cultural richness of the African desert and its ancient oasis.

The Arab documents - discovered in Libya and Mali and presented in the book - shed light on the history of Islam spread across the Great African Sahara in the early Middle Ages, and trace the roads from Ghadames to the western continent of Africa, and the remaining and ongoing heritage to this day for early Islamic practices in the region. 

Norris (died in 2019 before the publication of his book) studied eastern and African studies, and was interested in the history of North Africa and the Islamic West, he also studied Muslim countries in the Balkans and his book "Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society in Europe and the Arab World" was famous.

African documents on the
manuscripts cover the biography of the scholar Abdullah bin Bakr Al-Ghadamsi, who died in 1719, and its influence, and the intellectual and commercial activities undertaken by the people of Ghadames in this era. The study of manuscripts reveals the links that were forged between scholars in Libya, Egypt and West Africa.

The manuscripts are exposed to the local perspectives of the inhabitants of the region since the era of Uqba bin Nafi 'and the conquests in the northwestern African continent, as well as the great influence of the Almoravid movement in the eleventh century in the regions that are now parts of Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Mali.

Harry Norris's book reviewed the biographies of scholars and tribes from the African desert (Al-Jazeera)

The author says in his introduction to the book that the oasis and the city of Ghadames was the most important stop in the caravan trips that roamed the Sahara in the past, and the gate through which merchants were traveling on their way from Tripoli to the Greater Sudan extending across the length of the Sahara from the present Sudan to Mauritania and Senegal was considered. 

In this region, the desert cities had a great intellectual and epistemic influence, as they included strong scientific societies and great scholars, and occupied since the Islamic conquest a distinguished place in the African deserts and in the Amazigh Islamic history, and included groups of Tuareg and speakers of the Amazigh language that are still a widely spoken language in it today. 

The three oases
are the oasis and the city of Ghadames, the far west of Libya, near the border triangle with Tunisia and Algeria, but its reality as a remote region does not resemble its prosperous past, as it was known as one of the most famous African cities in the region and flourished after the Islamic conquests in 44 AH.

Its indigenous people are descended from the Berbers and Tuaregs, and they belong to two main tribes, Banu, Azit, and Banu Walid. The author says that Ghadames in its golden age was closely related to the caravan routes that traveled between it and West Africa, and their relationship was distinguished in the cities of Arwan and Tadmaka (the market).

The city of Al-Souk (Tadmaka in the Tariqah language) is located in the northeast of Mali, and the city was known as an ancient cultural center for science and literature. But the drought and the lack of gold it is famous for turned it into a remote area.

In his book “Morocco in the mention of African countries and Morocco,” Andalusian writer Abu Obaid al-Bakri, who died in Córdoba in 1094, says that “Tadmakah is more like the countries of the world in Mecca, and the meaning of Tadmakah is this Mecca, which is a large city between mountains and reefs, and it is the best building from the city of Gana and the city of Coco (Kawa) ).

The Andalusian writer, known as the first Muslim geographer in Andalusia, praised the religion and qualities of its people, describing their clothes, their wealth, and their gold coin. 

Like the "market", the city of Orwan was one of the cultural and commercial centers of the Sahara Desert, located in central Mali, north of the capital, Timbuktu.

French historian Francois Xavier Vouville sees in his book "The Golden Rhino" that the African desert has deprived its worthy place in cultural history (Al-Jazeera)

A forgotten history
In his book “The Golden Rhino .. The History of the African Middle Ages”, French historian Francois Xavier Vouvel speaks of the lost history of Africa from the birth of Islam in the seventh century to European exploration trips in the 15th century, and in these times Africa was at the center of active exchange of goods And ideas.

Vouville considers that the history of pre-colonial Africa is missing, due to the fact that there are almost no surviving accounts written by Africans that Europeans refuse to believe that there are advanced empires on the continent before their arrival.

The book tries to restore the right things, with a vivid description of the powerful kingdoms in the lands we now know as Mauritania, Ethiopia, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mali.

However, due to the small number of societies that have a written language that preserves and records events, most of the available resources come from Arab officials and merchants.

Although the author of the book seemed prejudiced against the Arabs who were considered colonialists of the continent before the Europeans, he praised the Arabic language that they brought to Africa as a global language that opened wide commercial and cultural opportunities.

He points out that there is evidence that Chinese, Afghan and Indian commodities were traded in Africa from the sixth century AH onwards, considering that the European Middle Ages were a golden time for Africa, where regions such as Ghana, Nubia, and Zimbabwe became a meeting point for civilizations.

African royal families, thinkers and artists played great roles that were deprived of their deserved place in history, before the slave trade and Western imperialism caused an important African cultural heritage to be lost.