Introduction
In my previous post I looked at the first half of Dr. Bantu’s presentation for the Bisrat Podcast, a podcast hosted by the Jude 3 Project.
In this post we will take a look at the claim that the Gospel spread west from Nubia. Once again, I believe that this claim is true however I think the spread is far more limited than what Dr. Bantu claims. This sections starts at the 22:05 mark.
Nubian Westward Conquest
Dr. Bantu begins by describing the Nubian conquest of the Daju, a people group that migrated to what is now western Sudan. According to al Idrisi they were nomadic and only had two towns, one of which was destroyed by Nubians. While Dr. Bantu suggests that we could “believe that Christianity spread into the Daju” it cannot be based purely on this conquest. When you destroy one of only two towns of the Daju people and disperse those who lived there you have no central place to carry out mission work, even if those whose town you just destroyed would give you a hearing.
It does seem however that trade did pass through the region of the Daju people from Nubian cities along the Nile up into north Africa via the Sahara Desert. What I don’t understand in Dr. Bantu’s presentation is the claim that there was an east-west trade route below the Sahara Desert. His evidence, the writings of Benjamin of Tudela does not describe this trade route. At the 26:20 mark, when describing Benjamin of Tudela’s description of trade routes Dr. Bantu associates Ghana here with the entirety of west and central Africa. It should be noted however that Zavilah is in modern day Lybia. Whether or not Benjamin of Tudela meant all of west and central Africa, this route, that travels from southern Nubia to Lybia, does not go any further west than the Darfur region of modern day Sudan. Kanem, the kingdom to the west of the Daju people, had trade routes that ran north but there is no concrete evidence that they traded east to Nubia while it was a Christian nation.
But the report of ibn Haqwal of Christians in an area five days journey west of the southern Nubian kingdom of Alwa should be considered good evidence that Nubian conquest to the west of the Nile also spread Christianity.
So far in both my previous post and this post good evidence for Christian expansion in the immediate vicinity of Nubia and Ethiopia has been presented but so far I have not seen any evidence that would suggest Christian spread throughout the western and southern regions of Africa. At the 31:00 mark Dr. Bantu presents what he considers the “strongest piece of evidence”.
Christians in Mali?
Mansa Musa was Mansa (King) of the Mali Empire from 1312AD – 1337AD during the height of the empire, which ruled over most of the west African Sahel region. He has been described as possibly the richest man who ever lived and with good reason. He was also a Muslim, as were most of the people in his empire, and thus desired to perform his pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj). This was not his only reason however. While Mali and other regions of West Africa had converted to Islam they were not well known to most of the Muslim world. Mansa Musa set out to put Mali on the map so to speak. He succeeded spectacularly (cartographers actually started putting not just the Mali Kingdom but a picture of Mansa Musa himself on their maps). He gave away so much gold in Cairo, Medina and Mecca that he crashed the value of gold and despite his best efforts to rectify this unintended consequence of his generosity it took 10 years for the value of gold to recover.
The question is however, were there Christians in this region? Dr. Bantu claims that there is good evidence that there were and as you will see you cannot blame him for thinking so. However, as you will see, I think there is a flaw in his source.
Ibn al-Dawadari
At the 32:15 mark Dr. Bantu retells the story recorded by Ibn al-Dawadari. Who? Ibn al-Dawadari was a Muslim historian. Most of his time as a historian was spent in Damascus but he was born in Cairo, the son of a one-time official to the Sultan. His most famous surviving work is Treasure of Pearls and the Collection of Shining Objects. Dr. Bantu incorrectly states that ibn al-Dawadari talked with a member of Mansa Musa’s court. It was instead Fakhr al-Din who spoke with either Mansa Musa himself or a Malian official and the conversation was then relayed to ibn al-Dawadari. That may seem insignificant but keep reading. Ibn al-Dawadari’s afore mentioned book contains the story which Dr. Bantu first came across in Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History.
In this year 724/1324 the king of the Takrur arrived making for the Noble Hijaz. His name was Abu Bakr b. Musa* [sic]. He remained in Egypt for a year before betaking himself to the Hijaz. He had much gold with him. His is the country which puts forth gold. I heard the qadi Fakhr al-Din, Inspector of the (victorious) Army say: “I asked the king of the Takrur: ‘How is the description of the place where gold grows with you?’ He replied: ‘It is not in that part of our land which belongs to the Muslims, but in the land which belongs to the Christians [sic] of the Takrur. We despatch [collectors] to take from them a species of tribute due to us and obligatory upon them. These are special lands which put forth gold in this fashion: it consists of small pieces of varying sizes, some like little rings, some like carob seeds, and the like.’ ” The qadi Fakhr al-Din continued: “I said: ‘Why don’t you take this land by conquest?’ He replied: ‘If we conquer them and take it, it does not put forth anything. We have done this in many ways but seen nothing there; but when it returns to them it puts forth as usual. This is a most amazing thing and is perhaps due to an increase in the oppressiveness of the Christians.’
Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, p. 250
Well that settles it doesn’t it? Not quite. There is a footnote in the book which states:
Cf. p. 267, where the informant was shaykh al-Dukkali. He says that the land of gold belonged to the infidels (kuffar) … but this seems to be the first reference to Christians (nasara), which is odd.
What does that all mean? Well, there are two accounts of the land where the gold is.
Shaykh al-Dukkali
Here is the other account derived from another Islamic historian, al-Umari.
The ruler of this kingdom is he who is known to the Egyptians as king of Takrur. If he were to hear of this he would be disdainful for Takrur is but one of the provinces of his kingdom. He likes best to be called ruler of Mali, because that is the biggest province and that is the name by which he is best known. This king is the greatest of the Muslim kings of the Sudan. He rules the most extensive territory, has the most numerous army, is the bravest, the richest, the most fortunate, the most victorious over his enemies, and the best able to distribute benefits. The provinces comprised in this kingdom are: Ghana, Zafun, Tirafka, Takrur, Sanghana, BANB’W, Zarqatabana, Damura, Zagha, Kabura, Bawaghuri, and Kawkaw. . .The province of Mali is the one where the king’s capital, BYTY [Niane], is situated. All these other provinces are subordinate to it and the same name Mali, that of the chief province of this kingdom, is given to them collectively. The kingdom comprises towns, villages, regions, and districts to the number of fourteen. The truthful and trustworthy shaykh Abu ‘Uthman Sa’id al-Dukkali, who lived at BYTY for 35 years and went to and fro in this kingdom, related to me that it is square, its length being four or more months’ journey and its width likewise. It lies to the south of Marrakech and the interior of Morocco and it is not far from the Atlantic Ocean. It extends in longitude from Muli to Tura on the Ocean. It is all inhabited with few exceptions. Under the authority of the sultan of this kingdom is the land of Mafazat al-Tibr. They bring gold dust (tibr) to him each year. They are uncouth infidels. If the sultan wished he could extend his authority over them but the kings of this kingdom have learnt by experience that as soon as one of them conquers one of the gold towns and Islam spreads and the muezzin calls to prayer there the gold there begins to decrease and then disappears, while it increases in the neighbouring heathen countries. When they had learnt the truth of this by experience they left the gold countries under the control of the heathen people and were content with their vassalage and the tribute imposed on them.
Corpus of early Arabic Sources for West African history, pp. 261-262
There are a number of things to note about the two accounts. First of all, al-Dukkali had lived in Mali for 35 years and gives a much more detailed account as you would expect. Al-Umari is also getting this account first hand and not through an intermediary. These are good reason to believe that this second account is more accurate.
But infidel can mean Christian can’t it? Yes. Infidel can mean Christian, Jew or pagan. So al-Dukkali’s account doesn’t necessary disagree with the account ibn al-Dawadari records right? But al-Dukkali gives us some clues. First of all he describes them as uncouth infidels. I would be surprised if a Muslim would consider Christians as uncouth. But even more than that, the above quote states that the gold countries were controlled by heathen people. Two paragraphs later on page 262 these heathens are described as some “who eat human flesh”. This charge of cannibalism is also sustained by ibn Battuta. This would suggest that infidel refers to pagans and not Christians.
Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta was a world traveler, exploring from Spain to China and everywhere inbetween. While in Cairo he heard about the great hajj of Mansu Musa some 20+ years prior. Ibn Battuta desired to visit Mali for himself and perhaps experience some of the generosity Mansu Musa displayed during his pilgrimage. To his disappointment, when he arrived in Mali 25 years after Mansa Musa’s hajj there was a new, less generous Mansa ruling over Mali and ibn Battuta had to work hard to even get a bit of gold gifted to him. He did stay in Mali for a while and took notes on the customs and practices of the Mali people, much of which he disapproved of. One thing he did not note however was the presence of any Christians. Now, arguments from silence are generally not too persuasive. Perhaps the Mansa kept ibn Battuta away from the land where the gold came from? But ibn Battuta did record this anecdote.
A group of these Blacks who eat the sons of Adam came to the Sultan Mansa Sulaiman with their amir. It is their custom to put in their ears big pendants, the opening of each pendant being half a span across. They wrap themselves in silk and in their country is a gold mine. The Sultan treated them with honour and gave them in hospitality a slave woman, whom they killed and ate. They smeared their faces and hands with her blood and came to the Sultan to thank him. I was told that this is their custom whenever they come on an embassy to him. It was reported of them that they used to say that the best parts of the flesh of human females were the palm of the hand and the breast.
The Travels of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 Volume 4 p. 968
So here we have cannibals, from a vassal state under the Mali Kingdom, with a gold mine in their land. They fit the description of al-Dukkali’s uncouth infidels perfectly and they are most certainly not Christians. In addition, ibn al-Dawadari described the group of people as oppressive and even Dr. Bantu commented that they must have been well established in the region where gold came from. Yet when Europeans did come to west Africa there was no trace of Christianity.
This still leaves one question hanging in the air however. Why did al-Dawadari use the word nasara (Arabic for Christian)? I think it is most likely a translation issue. We have to remember that al-Dawadari got the story secondhand. We also have to remember the context in which the story was being told. Neither al-Dawadari nor Fakhr al-Din had been to Mali. Both had lived in Cairo. It had been less than a century since the 7th Crusade came right to the doorstep of Egypt. For many people in Cairo or Damascus infidel meant Christian. My guess is that Mansa Musa (or a Malian official) said infidel and somewhere along the line of transmission, either from Fakhr al-Din to al-Dawadari, from al-Dawadari himself or from a scribe copying al-Dawadari’s work, it was changed to Christian.
It seems far more plausible that the discrepency between the two recorded histories should be resolved by assuming the word Christian was incorrectly used.
Conclusion
In these two posts I have explored the claim that Christianity spread west and south from Nubia and Ethiopia. There is good evidence that as the kingdoms of Nubia and Ethiopia expanded and controlled neighboring lands that Christianity expanded alongside. There is however little to no evidence that Christianity expanded much further than that.
That is not to say that this is the last word on this subject. I’ve been told that Joseph Kenny’s The Catholic Church in Tropical Africa 1445–1850 has some interesting information in it but I have not been able to verify that claim. Also, there are many more archaeology finds waiting to be discovered in much of Africa. But for now I don’t think the evidence is strong enough to support Dr. Bantu’s claim.
Most of all I’d like to see Dr. Bantu push back on anything he feels I have got wrong. I am just a guy grabbing information off of the internet. The Unspoken film poster told me to do my research so I did.
Did My Research 
Leave a comment