- Title Pages
- The Oxford History Of Historical Writing
- [UNTITLED]
- General Editor’s Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- List of Maps
- Notes on the Contributors
- Advisory Board
- Editors’ Introduction
- Chapter 1 Chinese Official Historical Writing under the Ming and Qing
- Chapter 2 The Historical Writing of Qing Imperial Expansion
- Chapter 3 Private Historiography in Late Imperial China
- Chapter 4 A Social History of Japanese Historical Writing
- Chapter 5 Writing History in Pre-Modern Korea
- Chapter 6 Southeast Asian Historical Writing
- Chapter 7 Indo-Persian Historical Thoughts and Writings
- Chapter 8 Persian Historical Writing under the Safavids (1501–1722/36)
- Chapter 9 Ottoman Historical Writing
- Chapter 10 Islamic Scholarship and Understanding History in West Africa before 1800
- Chapter 11 Philology and History
- Chapter 12 Major Trends in European Antiquarianism, Petrarch to Peiresc
- Chapter 13 History, Myth, and Fiction
- Chapter 14 Historical Writing in Russia and Ukraine
- Chapter 15 Austria, the Habsburgs, and Historical Writing in Central Europe
- Chapter 16 German Historical Writing from the Reformation to the Enlightenment
- Chapter 17 Italian Renaissance Historical Narrative
- Chapter 18 Italian Historical Writing, 1680–1800
- Chapter 19 History and Historians in France, from the Great Italian Wars to the Death of Louis XIV
- Chapter 20 The Historical Thought of the French <i>Philosophes</i>
- Chapter 21 Writing Official History in Spain
- Chapter 22 Historical Writing in Scandinavia
- Chapter 23 Historical Writing in Britain from the Late Middle Ages to the Eve of Enlightenment
- Chapter 24 Scottish Historical Writing of the Enlightenment
- Chapter 25 English Enlightenment Histories, 1750–<i>c.</i>1815
- Chapter 26 European Historiography on the East
- Chapter 27 A New History for a ‘New World’
- Chapter 28 Mesoamerican History
- Chapter 29 Alphabetical Writing in Mesoamerican Historiography
- Chapter 30 Inca Historical Forms
- Chapter 31 Historical Writing about Brazil, 1500–1800
- Chapter 32 Spanish American Colonial Historiography
- Chapter 33 Historical Writing in Colonial and Revolutionary America
- Index
Islamic Scholarship and Understanding History in West Africa before 1800
Islamic Scholarship and Understanding History in West Africa before 1800
- Chapter:
- (p.212) Chapter 10 Islamic Scholarship and Understanding History in West Africa before 1800
- Source:
- The Oxford History of Historical Writing
- Author(s):
Paul E. Lovejoy
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter examines how Africans perceived history in the period before 1800. The tradition of scholarship paralleled the traditions of the Maghreb and Middle East, connected by literacy, pilgrimage, trade, and migration. The strong influence of Andalusia on sub-Saharan Africa should be noted; the influences across the Mediterranean and Sahara went both ways, reflecting the vitality of linkages rather than isolation because of the vast desert. Moreover, in the sixteenth century, the consolidation of Ottoman control as far west as Algeria extended new influences across the Sahara, especially to Borno. The autonomy of the Ibadi enclaves, along with the influence of Andalusia, and the Ottoman penetration, provided the context for a dynamic local tradition of historical writing and scholarship, not only in Timbuktu but ultimately in scores of towns in the sahel and savanna, in which Muslims were to be found in great numbers.
Keywords: African historical writing, historiography, West Africa, historical scholarship, Ottomans, Muslims
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- Title Pages
- The Oxford History Of Historical Writing
- [UNTITLED]
- General Editor’s Acknowledgements
- Foreword
- List of Maps
- Notes on the Contributors
- Advisory Board
- Editors’ Introduction
- Chapter 1 Chinese Official Historical Writing under the Ming and Qing
- Chapter 2 The Historical Writing of Qing Imperial Expansion
- Chapter 3 Private Historiography in Late Imperial China
- Chapter 4 A Social History of Japanese Historical Writing
- Chapter 5 Writing History in Pre-Modern Korea
- Chapter 6 Southeast Asian Historical Writing
- Chapter 7 Indo-Persian Historical Thoughts and Writings
- Chapter 8 Persian Historical Writing under the Safavids (1501–1722/36)
- Chapter 9 Ottoman Historical Writing
- Chapter 10 Islamic Scholarship and Understanding History in West Africa before 1800
- Chapter 11 Philology and History
- Chapter 12 Major Trends in European Antiquarianism, Petrarch to Peiresc
- Chapter 13 History, Myth, and Fiction
- Chapter 14 Historical Writing in Russia and Ukraine
- Chapter 15 Austria, the Habsburgs, and Historical Writing in Central Europe
- Chapter 16 German Historical Writing from the Reformation to the Enlightenment
- Chapter 17 Italian Renaissance Historical Narrative
- Chapter 18 Italian Historical Writing, 1680–1800
- Chapter 19 History and Historians in France, from the Great Italian Wars to the Death of Louis XIV
- Chapter 20 The Historical Thought of the French <i>Philosophes</i>
- Chapter 21 Writing Official History in Spain
- Chapter 22 Historical Writing in Scandinavia
- Chapter 23 Historical Writing in Britain from the Late Middle Ages to the Eve of Enlightenment
- Chapter 24 Scottish Historical Writing of the Enlightenment
- Chapter 25 English Enlightenment Histories, 1750–<i>c.</i>1815
- Chapter 26 European Historiography on the East
- Chapter 27 A New History for a ‘New World’
- Chapter 28 Mesoamerican History
- Chapter 29 Alphabetical Writing in Mesoamerican Historiography
- Chapter 30 Inca Historical Forms
- Chapter 31 Historical Writing about Brazil, 1500–1800
- Chapter 32 Spanish American Colonial Historiography
- Chapter 33 Historical Writing in Colonial and Revolutionary America
- Index