Knowra Al-Bakri Al-Bakri Abu Ubayd al-Bakri was an eleventh-century Andalusi geographer and historian. His writings preserve descriptions of West African societies, including the Ghana Empire, drawn largely from earlier reports.
Ghana Empire : A medieval West African state whose power grew through control of trans-Saharan trade. Al-Bakri's account is a major written source on its rulers, towns, and commerce.
Book of Routes and Realms : A geographical work by al-Bakri completed in 1068, describing regions, routes, and peoples. It contains his best-known account of Ghana and other West African societies.
Abu Ubayd al-Bakri : The full name of the Andalusi geographer and historian commonly called al-Bakri. This is the personal name behind the familiar shortened form.
Kumbi Saleh archaeological site : The remains of a large medieval settlement in Mauritania, excavated as a center of trans-Saharan exchange. Its archaeology provides evidence to compare with the urban setting in al-Bakri's description.
Archaeology of the Ghana Empire : The study of material remains associated with the medieval polity known as Ghana. Archaeological evidence can test and complicate claims preserved in al-Bakri's text.
Trans-Saharan trade : The exchange of goods and people across the Sahara linking North and West Africa with Mediterranean regions. This network connected the societies and commodities described in his geography.
Medieval Arabic geography : A scholarly tradition that organized knowledge of lands, routes, peoples, and climates in Arabic texts. Al-Bakri used this tradition to structure information about distant regions.
Ibn Hawqal : A tenth-century Arab geographer and traveler known for his work on routes and regions. His geographical writing belongs to the earlier tradition al-Bakri inherited.
Sanhaja : A confederation of Berber-speaking peoples historically prominent across the western Sahara. Al-Bakri describes their communities and their role in Saharan politics.
Historical geography of West Africa : The study of how West African landscapes, settlements, and routes changed through time. It helps evaluate the locations and spatial descriptions in his account.
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