According to the traditional Western narrative, during the Middle Ages, Europe was fighting wars, trading, exploring, and developing, at a time when the continent of Africa lived behind and "without history". However, historian Francois Xavier Vouville revealed the opposite, saying that the great African cultures flourished during the medieval period.
In his article published by the British History Extra website, French writer, historian and archaeologist Francois Xavier Vouvel said that on July 27, 2007, then French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated in a speech to 1300 guests at the University of Sheikh Anta Diop in the capital Senegalese Dakar, during a visit to strengthen relations between France and the African continent, that "the tragedy of Africa is represented in the fact that the Africans have not completely entered history ... and have never set themselves on the path of the future."
Vouville was residing in Ethiopia at the time, and witnessed the massive reactions sparked by Sarkozy's speech in Africa, between historians and the African diaspora. Several of his academic colleagues have decided to respond to Sarkozy's speech to prove he was wrong when he said that Africa has no history.
Lost facts
The writer indicated that he realized that the problem was not with Sarkozy personally, not even with the fact that he dared to deliver this speech, but rather in the fact that society accepted what was said. The writer attributed this to the absence of books dealing with African history from the shelves of libraries and bookstores, which means that such a common view of Africa was not the fault of politicians but rather the fault of historians.
The inferior view of Africa’s past as a dark era without history is closely related to the legacy of slavery, as it is part of an ideology that developed in the western world from the sixteenth century onward, when the “Western Christian” powers began to trade slaves with Africa, and between Africa and the New World (the trade triangle) ).
The writer explained that this trade has created a concept of Africans as almost non-human, and people and societies without history. Despite the abolition of the slave trade and slavery, this ideology is still firmly entrenched in the mindset of many people around the world.
And because African history is a sensitive issue, the book written by Vouville in response to Sarkozy's speech entitled "The Golden Rhino ... History of the African Middle Ages" may be subject to some criticism. However, it is useful to apply the term middle ages to Africa. It helps us to reconsider this period of time as a more comprehensive and broad and not just a period of European history.
The Middle Ages are part of world history, encompassing the civilizations of the Mediterranean, the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world. The Middle Ages witnessed cross-fertilization of civilizations of these regions. If we understand things from this point of view, this will help us to see Christian Europe at the time as just part of the medieval world.
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Out of the dark
The French historian acknowledges that researching and writing African history is challenging in many ways. For example, written sources on African history are few compared to those that talk about Christian Western Europe or the Islamic world. This is partly because many African societies have not felt the need to document their history, so historians in many regions have to resort to written documents created outside of those societies.
They should also use other types of sources, especially archaeological ones. This includes known and unknown archaeological sites, as well as artifacts taken from these sites. We can also work on rock art, comparative linguistics, oral testimonies and traditions.
The challenge faced by African historians working with fragmented evidence is very different from the challenge faced by historians of Western European history in the Middle Ages or modern societies.
Despite the fragmented nature of the evidence available to us today, it is possible to trace broader trends in the history of medieval Africa. Although many regions of the continent did not relate to one another, they enjoyed the same pattern of relations with the outside world. Many of them were based on Islamic trade that was founded in the seventh or eighth century AD. We can track travelers' trips like the Berbers and Arabs coming from more diverse regions like Egypt, Persia and India to sub-Saharan Africa.
These commercial relationships have created changes across the continent in various aspects of life, from political ideology and judicial systems to architectural styles. Many of these changes have been linked to Islam, which is not only a religion but an entire legal system. Islamic kingdoms flourished in Senegal, Mali, Chad, Ethiopia and the surrounding areas in the tenth and eleventh centuries CE.
The writer pointed out that this story is not only related to the dependence of Africans on Islamic cultures, but it is also related to their adaptation to this culture, a process that we can clearly observe in the very distinct local forms of Islamic architecture in different parts of the continent. So this remote relationship between African countries and the rest of the world is a story of adoption and adaptation to external ideas and products.
Highness and mystery
The Middle Ages represented a golden era of great civilizations. For example, during the Middle Ages Mogadishu (which currently represents the capital of the modern Somali state) was not a complex war-torn city as it is today, but rather a peaceful region for trade and coexistence between different religions and ethnic backgrounds.
The writer expressed his admiration for the Kingdom of Mali, which was founded around the thirteenth century and fell around the fifteenth century. Although the beginning and end of that period were not well documented, we know a great deal of what happened in the intervening period between them because we are fortunate enough to have a number of immense testimonies from Arab travelers and historians. In 1324, the Malian sultan, Mansa Musa, passed through Egypt on a pilgrimage to the cities of Mecca and Medina, and stopped in Cairo for several weeks.
"We know a lot about this sultan because after about 25 years, the Arab historian Shihab Al-Omari interviewed people who met the Malian sultan. Thanks to his work, we are able to read a very sensitive description of the sultan's personality and actions as ruler, as well as rare documents about him and his kingdom," he said. ".
The medieval port of Athab is among the best places to visit, and it is located today in the Halayeb Triangle area disputed by Egypt and Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Nevertheless, the medieval port was a place where various societies, including Arabs, Jews, Indians, and Ethiopians, converged.
Foville says that gold and slaves were circulated in the north, and salt went in the south, and the Arabs described sub-Saharan Africa as "Sudan" or the land of the blacks, and in almost all chapters of the book there is a reference to Arab traders and their journeys in "Sudan".
Although the author of the book seemed prejudiced against the Arabs who were considered colonialists of the brown 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.
New dimensions
The author said that these are just some of the stories dealing with the history of Africa in the Middle Ages, indicating that his goal in writing this book is to explore the various dimensions of African history, different sources and methods, and to invite other historians to write other stories and encourage readers to read more about them. To date, there are still many areas to be explored, and a lot of work to be done to restore Africa's past.
The writer stated that history should receive everyone's attention. It is, of course, useful for African societies and nations to have a history to recount locally and globally, because Africa is often viewed as a land of tragedy such as epidemics, droughts, famines, wars and corrupt governments, where their people are seen as mere victims.
"This view has changed for the better in recent decades. But what I find interesting is that many people outside the continent, even those who are well educated, like to think of Africans as people who are rooted in nature rather than culture," the writer emphasized.
The western touch can be seen in documentaries highlighting the African wildlife, from which the African characters are almost completely absent. On the other hand, history teaches us a different lesson. It shows the Africans who were kings, diplomats, merchants, clergy and architects who built landmarks that are still standing today and open to visitors, "according to the French historian.
The writer concluded that the world needs to change the way global history is presented. We need to understand that African societies have always been an active part of the world. Africans have always been economic partners, competitors and allies in other societies. African societies in the Middle Ages were already involved in a vibrant political, economic and intellectual conversation, a conversation that we can still hear today, if we listen carefully.