The Ghana Empire ( Arabic : غانا ), also known as simply Ghana , Ghanata , or Wagadu , was a West African classical to post-classical era western-Sahelian empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali .
149-410: It is uncertain among historians when Ghana's ruling dynasty began. The first identifiable mention of the imperial dynasty in written records was made by Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 830. Further information about the empire was provided by the accounts of Cordoban scholar al-Bakri when he wrote about the region in the 11th century. After centuries of prosperity, the empire began its decline in
298-564: A wet period in the Sahel created areas for human habitation and exploitation which had not been habitable for the best part of a millennium, resulting in Wagadu rising out of the Tichitt culture . The introduction of the camel to the western Sahara in the 3rd century AD and pressure from the nomadic Saharan Sanhaja served as major catalysts for the transformative social changes that resulted in
447-732: A client state of the Roman empire in 33 BC, after the death of king Bocchus II , then a full Roman province in AD 40, after the death of its last king, Ptolemy of Mauretania , a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty . According to historians of the Middle Ages, the Berbers were divided into two branches, Butr and Baranis (known also as Botr and Barnès), descended from Mazigh ancestors, who were themselves divided into tribes and subtribes. Each region of
596-594: A complex culture that was present by 1600 BC and had architectural and material cultural elements similar to those found at Koumbi Saleh in the 1920s. The earliest proto-polity ancestral to Ghana likely arose from a large collection of ancient proto- Mande agro-pastoralist chiefdoms that were spread over the western-most portion of the Niger River basin for over a millennium roughly spanning 1300 BCE – 300 BCE. Munsun theorized that, around 700 BCE Libyco-Berbers raiders destroyed this burgeoning state. Their opening of
745-544: A convoluted theory of an invasion by "Judeo-Syrians", which he linked to the Fulbe (who actually co-founded Takrur ). This idea of a foreign origin for Wagadu is generally disregarded by modern scholars. Levtzion and Spaulding, for example, argue that al-Idrisi's testimony should be looked at skeptically due to serious miscalculations in geography and historical chronology . The archaeologist and historian Raymond Mauny argues that al-Kati's and al-Saadi's theories were based on
894-405: A deal with Bida to sacrifice one maiden a year in exchange for rainfall, and other versions add a constant supply of gold. Upon Dinga's death, his two sons Khine and Dyabe contested the kingship , and Dyabe was victorious, founding Wagadu. In some versions, the fall of Wagadu happens when a nobleman tries to save a maiden, despite her objection, and kills the snake, unleashing its curse and annulling
1043-436: A deputy unto him." Koumbi Saleh was abandoned sometime in the 15th century. Most of the information about the economy of Ghana comes from al-Bakri . He noted that merchants had to pay a tax of one gold dinar on imports of salt, and two on exports of salt. Other products had fixed dues; al-Bakri mentioned both copper and "other goods." Imports probably included products such as textiles, ornaments and other materials. Many of
1192-489: A desire to quickly end conflict in a profitable client kingdom, sought to settle the quarrel by dividing Numidia into two parts. Jugurtha was assigned the western half. However, soon after, conflict broke out again, leading to the Jugurthine War between Rome and Numidia. In antiquity, Mauretania (3rd century BC – 44 BC) was an ancient Mauri Berber kingdom in modern Morocco and part of Algeria. It became
1341-693: A dust board. Called takht in Arabic (Latin: tabula ), a board covered with a thin layer of dust or sand was employed for calculations, on which figures could be written with a stylus and easily erased and replaced when necessary. Al-Khwarizmi's algorithms were used for almost three centuries, until replaced by Al-Uqlidisi 's algorithms that could be carried out with pen and paper. As part of 12th century wave of Arabic science flowing into Europe via translations, these texts proved to be revolutionary in Europe. Al-Khwarizmi's Latinized name, Algorismus , turned into
1490-536: A generic manner, insofar as it does not simply emerge in the course of solving a problem, but is specifically called on to define an infinite class of problems. According to Swiss-American historian of mathematics, Florian Cajori , Al-Khwarizmi's algebra was different from the work of Indian mathematicians , for Indians had no rules like the restoration and reduction . Regarding the dissimilarity and significance of Al-Khwarizmi's algebraic work from that of Indian Mathematician Brahmagupta , Carl B. Boyer wrote: It
1639-584: A list of his books. Al-Khwārizmī accomplished most of his work between 813 and 833. After the Muslim conquest of Persia , Baghdad had become the centre of scientific studies and trade. Around 820 CE, he was appointed as the astronomer and head of the library of the House of Wisdom . The House of Wisdom was established by the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mūn . Al-Khwārizmī studied sciences and mathematics, including
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#17327585018031788-609: A monopoly on gold heading north and salt heading south, despite not controlling the gold fields themselves. It is possible that Wagadu's dominance on trade allowed for the gradual consolidation of many smaller polities into a confederated state , whose composites stood in varying relations to the core, from fully administered to nominal tribute-paying parity. Based on large tumuli scattered across West Africa dating to this period, it has been proposed that relative to Wagadu there were many more simultaneous and preceding kingdoms which have unfortunately been lost to time. Information about
1937-577: A more recent intrusion being associated with the Neolithic Revolution . The proto-Berber tribes evolved from these prehistoric communities during the late Bronze - and early Iron ages. Uniparental DNA analysis has established ties between Berbers and other Afroasiatic speakers in Africa. Most of these populations belong to the E1b1b paternal haplogroup, with Berber speakers having among
2086-551: A number of balls of the same metals. Ghana appears to have had a central core region and was surrounded by vassal states . One of the earliest sources to describe Ghana, al-Ya'qubi, writing in 889/90 (276 AH) says that "under his authority are a number of kings" which included Sama and 'Am (?) and so extended at least to the Niger River valley. These "kings" were presumably the rulers of the territorial units often called kafu in Mandinka . The Arabic sources are vague as to how
2235-552: A number to both sides of the equation to consolidate or cancel terms) described in this book. The book was translated in Latin as Liber algebrae et almucabala by Robert of Chester ( Segovia , 1145) hence "algebra", and by Gerard of Cremona . A unique Arabic copy is kept at Oxford and was translated in 1831 by F. Rosen. A Latin translation is kept in Cambridge. It provided an exhaustive account of solving polynomial equations up to
2384-553: A period, the Berbers were in constant revolt, and in 396 there was a great uprising. Thousands of rebels streamed down from the mountains and invaded Punic territory, carrying the serfs of the countryside along with them. The Carthaginians were obliged to withdraw within their walls and were besieged. Yet the Berbers lacked cohesion; and although 200,000 strong at one point, they succumbed to hunger, their leaders were offered bribes, and "they gradually broke up and returned to their homes". Thereafter, "a series of revolts took place among
2533-480: A point of view fundamentally foreign to the Berbers. A population of mixed ancestry, Berber and Punic, evolved there, and there would develop recognized niches in which Berbers had proven their utility. For example, the Punic state began to field Berber–Numidian cavalry under their commanders on a regular basis. The Berbers eventually were required to provide soldiers (at first "unlikely" paid "except in booty"), which by
2682-400: A region that was part of Greater Iran , and is now part of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan . Al-Tabari gives his name as Muḥammad ibn Musá al-Khwārizmī al- Majūsī al-Quṭrubbullī ( محمد بن موسى الخوارزميّ المجوسـيّ القطربّـليّ ). The epithet al-Qutrubbulli could indicate he might instead have come from Qutrubbul (Qatrabbul), near Baghdad. However, Roshdi Rashed denies this: There
2831-492: A rich and stable economy based on trading gold, iron, salt and slaves. In its last centuries, Ghana increasingly lost control of the gold trade to the Mali Empire and relied on slave raiding and trading as a principal economic activity. Testimony about ancient Ghana depended on how well disposed the king was to foreign travelers, from whom the majority of information on the empire comes. Islamic writers often commented on
2980-481: A set of astronomical tables and wrote about calendric works, as well as the astrolabe and the sundial . Al-Khwarizmi made important contributions to trigonometry , producing accurate sine and cosine tables and the first table of tangents . Few details of al-Khwārizmī's life are known with certainty. Ibn al-Nadim gives his birthplace as Khwarazm , and he is generally thought to have come from this region. Of Persian stock, his name means 'from Khwarazm',
3129-483: A trade route north, however, eventually changed the economic calculus from raiding to trade, and the native Soninke reasserted themselves around 300 BCE. This trade and the development of ironworking technology were crucial in the formation of the state. Work in Dhar Tichitt, Dhar Nema and Dhar Walata has shown that, as the desert advanced, the local groups moved southward into the still well-watered areas of what
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#17327585018033278-420: A whole new development path so much broader in concept to that which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future development of the subject. Another important aspect of the introduction of algebraic ideas was that it allowed mathematics to be applied to itself in a way which had not happened before. Roshdi Rashed and Angela Armstrong write: Al-Khwarizmi's text can be seen to be distinct not only from
3427-404: A world map for al-Ma'mun , the caliph, overseeing 70 geographers. When, in the 12th century, his works spread to Europe through Latin translations, it had a profound impact on the advance of mathematics in Europe. Al-Jabr (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing , Arabic : الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wal-muqābala )
3576-453: Is a major reworking of Ptolemy 's second-century Geography , consisting of a list of 2402 coordinates of cities and other geographical features following a general introduction. Berbers Berbers , or the Berber peoples , also known as Amazigh or Imazighen , are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arabs in
3725-406: Is a mathematical book written approximately 820 CE. It was written with the encouragement of Caliph al-Ma'mun as a popular work on calculation and is replete with examples and applications to a range of problems in trade, surveying and legal inheritance. The term "algebra" is derived from the name of one of the basic operations with equations ( al-jabr , meaning "restoration", referring to adding
3874-558: Is a work consisting of approximately 37 chapters on calendrical and astronomical calculations and 116 tables with calendrical, astronomical and astrological data, as well as a table of sine values. This is the first of many Arabic Zijes based on the Indian astronomical methods known as the sindhind . The word Sindhind is a corruption of the Sanskrit Siddhānta , which is the usual designation of an astronomical textbook. In fact,
4023-559: Is generally referred to by its 1857 title Algoritmi de Numero Indorum . It is attributed to the Adelard of Bath , who had translated the astronomical tables in 1126. It is perhaps the closest to Al-Khwarizmi's own writings. Al-Khwarizmi's work on arithmetic was responsible for introducing the Arabic numerals , based on the Hindu–Arabic numeral system developed in Indian mathematics , to
4172-772: Is lost, but a version by the Spanish astronomer Maslama al-Majriti ( c. 1000 ) has survived in a Latin translation, presumably by Adelard of Bath (26 January 1126). The four surviving manuscripts of the Latin translation are kept at the Bibliothèque publique (Chartres), the Bibliothèque Mazarine (Paris), the Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid) and the Bodleian Library (Oxford). Al-Khwārizmī's Zīj as-Sindhind contained tables for
4321-523: Is more entitled to be called "the father of algebra" than Diophantus because al-Khwarizmi is the first to teach algebra in an elementary form and for its own sake, Diophantus is primarily concerned with the theory of numbers. Victor J. Katz adds : The first true algebra text which is still extant is the work on al-jabr and al-muqabala by Mohammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, written in Baghdad around 825. John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson wrote in
4470-424: Is no need to be an expert on the period or a philologist to see that al-Tabari's second citation should read "Muhammad ibn Mūsa al-Khwārizmī and al-Majūsi al-Qutrubbulli," and that there are two people (al-Khwārizmī and al-Majūsi al-Qutrubbulli) between whom the letter wa [Arabic ' و ' for the conjunction ' and '] has been omitted in an early copy. This would not be worth mentioning if a series of errors concerning
4619-518: Is now northern Mali. Historian Dierk Lange has argued that the core of Wagadou was not Koumbi Saleh but in fact lay near Lake Faguibine , on the Niger Bend. This area was historically more fertile than the Tichitt zone, and Lange draws on oral traditions to support his argument, contending that dynastic struggles in the 11th century pushed the capital west. Towards the end of the 3rd century AD,
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4768-461: Is quite unlikely that al-Khwarizmi knew of the work of Diophantus, but he must have been familiar with at least the astronomical and computational portions of Brahmagupta; yet neither al-Khwarizmi nor other Arabic scholars made use of syncopation or of negative numbers. Nevertheless, the Al-jabr comes closer to the elementary algebra of today than the works of either Diophantus or Brahmagupta, because
4917-558: Is sometimes also used in English. While Berber is more widely known among English-speakers, its usage is a subject of debate, due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for " barbarian ". Historically, Berbers did not refer to themselves as Berbers/Amazigh but had their own terms to refer to themselves. For example, the Kabyles use the term "Leqbayel" to refer to their own people, while
5066-604: Is true that in two respects the work of al-Khowarizmi represented a retrogression from that of Diophantus . First, it is on a far more elementary level than that found in the Diophantine problems and, second, the algebra of al-Khowarizmi is thoroughly rhetorical, with none of the syncopation found in the Greek Arithmetica or in Brahmagupta's work. Even numbers were written out in words rather than symbols! It
5215-676: The MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive : Perhaps one of the most significant advances made by Arabic mathematics began at this time with the work of al-Khwarizmi, namely the beginnings of algebra. It is important to understand just how significant this new idea was. It was a revolutionary move away from the Greek concept of mathematics which was essentially geometry. Algebra was a unifying theory which allowed rational numbers , irrational numbers , geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be treated as "algebraic objects". It gave mathematics
5364-470: The Tarikh al-fattash , gave the name of the empire's capital as "Koumbi". According to the description of the town left by Al-Bakri in 1067/1068, the capital actually consisted of two cities 10 kilometres (6 mi) apart but "between these two towns are continuous habitations", so that they might be said to have merged into one. The most common identification for this capital is the site of Koumbi Saleh on
5513-637: The Adrar and Tagant were Black. These regions, part of the core of Wagadu, remained largely Soninke until at least the 16th century. The earliest discussions of Ghana's origins are found in the Sudanese chronicles of Mahmud Kati (the Tarikh al-Fattash ) and Abd al-Rahman as-Sadi (the Tarikh al-Sudan ). Addressing the rulers' origin, the Tarikh al-Fattash offers three different theories: that they were Soninke ; or Wangara (a Soninke/Mande group), which
5662-565: The Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries CE. This started a process of cultural and linguistic assimilation known as Arabization , which influenced the Berber population. Arabization involved the spread of Arabic language and Arab culture among the Berbers, leading to the adoption of Arabic as the primary language and conversion to Islam . Notably, the Arab migrations to the Maghreb from
5811-493: The Babylonian tablets , but also from Diophantus ' Arithmetica . It no longer concerns a series of problems to be solved , but an exposition which starts with primitive terms in which the combinations must give all possible prototypes for equations, which henceforward explicitly constitute the true object of study. On the other hand, the idea of an equation for its own sake appears from the beginning and, one could say, in
5960-889: The Byzantines , the Vandals and the Ottoman Turks . Even after the Arab conquest of North Africa , the Kabyle people still maintained possession of their mountains. According to the Roman historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus , the original people of North Africa are the Gaetulians and the Libyans, they were the prehistoric peoples that crossed to Africa from Iberia , then much later, Hercules and his army crossed from Iberia to North Africa where his army intermarried with
6109-575: The Donatist doctrine and being a Berber, ascribed to the doctrine matching their culture, as well as their being alienated from the dominant Roman culture of the Catholic church), some perhaps Jewish , and some adhered to their traditional polytheist religion . The Roman-era authors Apuleius and St. Augustine were born in Numidia, as were three popes , one of whom, Pope Victor I , served during
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6258-528: The Holocene . In 2013, Iberomaurusian skeletons from the prehistoric sites of Taforalt and Afalou in the Maghreb were also analyzed for ancient DNA . All of the specimens belonged to maternal clades associated with either North Africa or the northern and southern Mediterranean littoral , indicating gene flow between these areas since the Epipaleolithic . The ancient Taforalt individuals carried
6407-613: The Maghreb region of North Africa are collectively known as Berbers or Amazigh in English. Tribal titles such as Barabara and Beraberata appear in Egyptian inscriptions of 1700 and 1300 B.C, and the Berbers were probably intimately related with the Egyptians in very early times. Thus the true ethnical name may have become confused with Barbari , the designation naturally used by classical conquerors. The plural form Imazighen
6556-666: The Niger river and west to the Senegal . This gradually strengthened Ghana's vassals while weakening the core. Awdaghost, at the time a seat of the king, fell to the Almoravids in 1054. Ghana Bassi died in 1063, and was succeeded by his nephew Tunka Manin . This may have created a succession dispute with Bassi's son Qanamar, providing an opportunity for the Almoravids to intervene in the empire, promoting pro-Islam candidates for
6705-589: The Roman era . Byzantine authors mention the Mazikes (Amazigh) as tribal people raiding the monasteries of Cyrenaica . Garamantia was a notable Berber kingdom that flourished in the Fezzan area of modern-day Libya in the Sahara desert between 400 BC and 600 AD. Roman-era Cyrenaica became a center of early Christianity . Some pre-Islamic Berbers were Christians (there is a strong correlation between adherence to
6854-490: The Senegal river valley, first established by Takrur in the 10th century, that exported salt from Awlil throughout the region. It also controlled the gold mines of Bambuk . During this period Ghana was fully Islamized, and the judicial system had shifted to something more closely resembling Sharia . This resurgence did not last, however. By 1203, the Sosso rose against their masters and conquered Ghana. Oral historians link
7003-491: The Wangara diaspora throughout the region. In 1083, supported by the Almoravids, Ghana attacked Tadmekka and may have reached Gao , helping to spread Sunni orthodoxy there as well. Al-Idrisi, whose account was written in 1154, has the country fully Muslim by that date. He describes an empire as powerful as it had been in the days of al-Bakri, 75 years earlier. In fact, he describes its capital as "the greatest of all towns of
7152-478: The Western world . Likewise, Al-Jabr , translated into Latin by the English scholar Robert of Chester in 1145, was used until the 16th century as the principal mathematical textbook of European universities . Al-Khwarizmi revised Geography , the 2nd-century Greek-language treatise by the Roman polymath Claudius Ptolemy , listing the longitudes and latitudes of cities and localities. He further produced
7301-633: The Zayyanids , and the Hafsids – continued to rule until the 16th century. From the 16th century onward, the process continued in the absence of Berber dynasties; in Morocco, they were replaced by Arabs claiming descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad . Berbers are divided into several diverse ethnic groups and Berber languages, such as Kabyles , Chaouis and Rifians . Historically, Berbers across
7450-403: The early Berbers . Hence, the interactions between Berbers and Phoenicians were often asymmetrical. The Phoenicians worked to keep their cultural cohesion and ethnic solidarity, and continuously refreshed their close connection with Tyre , the mother city. The earliest Phoenician coastal outposts were probably meant merely to resupply and service ships bound for the lucrative metals trade with
7599-495: The name of method used for computations, and survives in the term " algorithm ". It gradually replaced the previous abacus-based methods used in Europe. Four Latin texts providing adaptions of Al-Khwarizmi's methods have survived, even though none of them is believed to be a literal translation: Dixit Algorizmi ('Thus spake Al-Khwarizmi') is the starting phrase of a manuscript in the University of Cambridge library, which
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#17327585018037748-564: The second millennium , and would finally become a vassal state of the rising Mali Empire at some point in the 13th century. Despite its collapse, the empire's influence can be felt in the establishment of numerous urban centers throughout its former territory. In 1957, the British colony of the Gold Coast , under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah named itself Ghana upon independence. The word Ghana means warrior or war chief , and
7897-523: The trigonometric functions of sines and cosine. A related treatise on spherical trigonometry is attributed to him. Al-Khwārizmī produced accurate sine and cosine tables, and the first table of tangents. Al-Khwārizmī's third major work is his Kitāb Ṣūrat al-Arḍ ( Arabic : كتاب صورة الأرض , "Book of the Description of the Earth"), also known as his Geography , which was finished in 833. It
8046-411: The "thing" ( شيء shayʾ ) or "root", is given by the steps, Let the roots of the equation be x = p and x = q . Then p + q 2 = 50 1 2 {\displaystyle {\tfrac {p+q}{2}}=50{\tfrac {1}{2}}} , p q = 100 {\displaystyle pq=100} and So a root is given by Several authors have published texts under
8195-454: The 11th century and Ibn Said in the 13th noted that rulers of Ghana traced their descent from the clan of Muhammad , either through his protector Abi Talib or through his son-in-law Ali . French colonial officials, notably Maurice Delafosse , erroneously concluded that Ghana had been founded by the Berbers and linked them to North African and Middle Eastern origins. Delafosse produced
8344-406: The 1920s, French archaeologists excavated the site of Koumbi Saleh , although there have always been controversies about the location of Ghana's capital and whether Koumbi Saleh is the same town as the one described by al-Bakri. The site was excavated in 1949–50 by Paul Thomassey and Raymond Mauny and by another French team in 1975–81. The remains of Koumbi Saleh are impressive, even if the remains of
8493-494: The 5th century BC, Carthage expanded its territory, acquiring Cape Bon and the fertile Wadi Majardah , later establishing control over productive farmlands for several hundred kilometres. Appropriation of such wealth in land by the Phoenicians would surely provoke some resistance from the Berbers; although in warfare, too, the technical training, social organization, and weaponry of the Phoenicians would seem to work against
8642-510: The 7th century to the 17th century accelerated this process. Berber tribes remained powerful political forces and founded new ruling dynasties in the 10th and 11th centuries, such as the Zirids , Hammadids , various Zenata principalities in the western Maghreb, and several Taifa kingdoms in al-Andalus , and empires of the Almoravids and Almohads . Their Berber successors – the Marinids ,
8791-747: The Berber language and traditions best have been, in general, Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Much of Berber culture is still celebrated among the cultural elite in Morocco and Algeria, especially in the Kabylia , the Aurès and the Atlas Mountains . The Kabyles were one of the few peoples in North Africa who remained independent during successive rule by the Carthaginians , the Romans ,
8940-454: The Berber peoples also formed quasi-independent satellite societies along the steppes of the frontier and beyond, where a minority continued as free 'tribal republics'. While benefiting from Punic material culture and political-military institutions, these peripheral Berbers (also called Libyans)—while maintaining their own identity, culture, and traditions—continued to develop their own agricultural skills and village societies, while living with
9089-501: The Berbers continued throughout the life of Carthage. The unequal development of material culture and social organization perhaps fated the relationship to be an uneasy one. A long-term cause of Punic instability, there was no melding of the peoples. It remained a source of stress and a point of weakness for Carthage. Yet there were degrees of convergence on several particulars, discoveries of mutual advantage, occasions of friendship, and family. The Berbers gain historicity gradually during
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#17327585018039238-557: The Berbers who advanced their interests following the Roman victory. Carthage was faulted by her ancient rivals for the "harsh treatment of her subjects" as well as for "greed and cruelty". Her Libyan Berber sharecroppers, for example, were required to pay half of their crops as tribute to the city-state during the emergency of the First Punic War . The normal exaction taken by Carthage was likely "an extremely burdensome" one-quarter. Carthage once famously attempted to reduce
9387-445: The Berbers. Nonetheless, a modern criticism is that the Carthaginians "did themselves a disservice" by failing to promote the common, shared quality of "life in a properly organized city" that inspires loyalty, particularly with regard to the Berbers. Again, the tribute demanded by Carthage was onerous. [T]he most ruinous tribute was imposed and exacted with unsparing rigour from the subject native states, and no slight one either from
9536-438: The Chaouis identified themselves as "Ishawiyen" instead of Berber/Amazigh. Stéphane Gsell proposed the translation "noble/free" for the term Amazigh based on Leo Africanus 's translation of "awal amazigh" as "noble language" referring to Berber languages , this definition remains disputed and is largely seen as an undue extrapolation. The term Amazigh also has a cognate in the Tuareg "Amajegh", meaning noble. "Mazigh"
9685-418: The Diarisso dynasty. His son, Soumaoro Kante , succeeded him and forced the people to pay him tribute. The Sosso also managed to annex the neighboring Mandinka state of Kangaba to the south, where the important goldfields of Bure were located. In his brief overview of Sudanese history, Ibn Khaldun related that "the people of Mali outnumbered the peoples of the Sudan in their neighborhood and dominated
9834-644: The Iberians, and perhaps at first regarded trade with the Berbers as unprofitable. However, the Phoenicians eventually established strategic colonial cities in many Berber areas, including sites outside of present-day Tunisia, such as the settlements at Oea , Leptis Magna , Sabratha (in Libya), Volubilis , Chellah , and Mogador (now in Morocco). As in Tunisia, these centres were trading hubs, and later offered support for resource development, such as processing olive oil at Volubilis and Tyrian purple dye at Mogador. For their part, most Berbers maintained their independence as farmers or semi-pastorals, although, due to
9983-517: The Imazighen were first mentioned in Ancient Egyptian writings . From about 2000 BCE, Berber languages spread westward from the Nile Valley across the northern Sahara into the Maghreb. A series of Berber peoples such as the Mauri , Masaesyli , Massyli , Musulamii , Gaetuli , and Garamantes gave rise to Berber kingdoms, such as Numidia and Mauretania . Other kingdoms appeared in late antiquity, such as Altava , Aurès , Ouarsenis , and Hodna . Berber kingdoms were eventually suppressed by
10132-433: The Libyans [Berbers] from the fourth century onwards". The Berbers had become involuntary 'hosts' to the settlers from the east, and were obliged to accept the dominance of Carthage for centuries. Nonetheless, therein they persisted largely unassimilated, as a separate, submerged entity, as a culture of mostly passive urban and rural poor within the civil structures created by Punic rule. In addition, and most importantly,
10281-583: The Maghreb . Their main connections are identified by their usage of Berber languages , most of them mutually unintelligible, which are part of the Afroasiatic language family . They are indigenous to the Maghreb region of North Africa, where they live in scattered communities across parts of Morocco , Algeria , Libya , and to a lesser extent Tunisia , Mauritania , northern Mali and northern Niger . Smaller Berber communities are also found in Burkina Faso and Egypt 's Siwa Oasis . Descended from Stone Age tribes of North Africa, accounts of
10430-530: The Maghreb contained several fully independent tribes (e.g., Sanhaja , Houaras, Zenata , Masmuda , Kutama , Awraba, Barghawata , etc.). The Mauro-Roman Kingdom was an independent Christian Berber kingdom centred in the capital city of Altava (present-day Algeria) which controlled much of the ancient Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis . Berber Christian communities within the Maghreb all but disappeared under Islamic rule. The indigenous Christian population in some Nefzaoua villages persisted until
10579-430: The Massylii, Masinissa, allied himself with Rome, and Syphax, of the Masaesyli, switched his allegiance to the Carthaginian side. At the end of the war, the victorious Romans gave all of Numidia to Masinissa. At the time of his death in 148 BC, Masinissa's territory extended from Mauretania to the boundary of Carthaginian territory, and southeast as far as Cyrenaica, so that Numidia entirely surrounded Carthage except towards
10728-579: The Mauri, the Numidians near Carthage , and the Gaetulians . The Mauri inhabited the far west (ancient Mauretania , now Morocco and central Algeria). The Numidians occupied the regions between the Mauri and the city-state of Carthage. Both the Mauri and the Numidians had significant sedentary populations living in villages, and their peoples both tilled the land and tended herds. The Gaetulians lived to
10877-604: The Middle East. Another major book was Kitab surat al-ard ("The Image of the Earth"; translated as Geography), presenting the coordinates of places based on those in the Geography of Ptolemy , but with improved values for the Mediterranean Sea , Asia, and Africa. He wrote on mechanical devices like the astrolabe and sundial . He assisted a project to determine the circumference of the Earth and in making
11026-518: The Niger and Senegal Rivers and believed that they formed a single river often called the "Nile of the Blacks". Whether al-Idrisi was referring to a new and later capital located elsewhere, or whether there was confusion or corruption in his text is unclear. However, he does state that the royal palace he knew was built in 510 AH (1116–1117 AD), suggesting that it was a newer town, rebuilt closer to
11175-560: The Roman province of Mauretania (in modern Algeria and Morocco) to the west, the Roman province of Africa (modern Tunisia) to the east, the Mediterranean to the north, and the Sahara Desert to the south. Its people were the Numidians. The name Numidia was first applied by Polybius and other historians during the third century BC to indicate the territory west of Carthage, including the entire north of Algeria as far as
11324-474: The Soninke was a man named Dinga, who came "from the east" (possibly Aswan , Egypt ), after which he migrated to a variety of locations in western Sudan, in each place leaving children by different wives. In order to take power he had to kill a serpent deity (named Bida), and then marry his daughters, who became the ancestors of the clans that were dominant in the region at the time. Some traditions state he made
11473-399: The Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese terms algoritmo ; and the Spanish term guarismo and Portuguese term algarismo , both meaning " digit ". In the 12th century, Latin -language translations of al-Khwarizmi's textbook on Indian arithmetic ( Algorithmo de Numero Indorum ), which codified the various Indian numerals , introduced the decimal -based positional number system to
11622-469: The Sudan with respect to area, the most populous, and with the most extensive trade." This capital may not be the same city as the one described by al-Bakri, however. In this period the ruling dynasty, now thoroughly Islamized, re-established control over many of the former vassals who had become independent, including Kaniaga , Diarra , Diafunu and others. Ghana was the master of an extensive trade system in
11771-668: The Tassili n'Ajjer paintings, developed and predominated in the Saharan and Mediterranean region (the Maghreb) of northern Africa between 6000 and 2000 BC (until the classical period). Prehistoric Tifinagh inscriptions were found in the Oran region. During the pre-Roman era, several successive independent states (Massylii) existed before King Masinissa unified the people of Numidia . The areas of North Africa that have retained
11920-526: The Western world. The term "algorithm" is derived from the algorism , the technique of performing arithmetic with Hindu-Arabic numerals developed by al-Khwārizmī. Both "algorithm" and "algorism" are derived from the Latinized forms of al-Khwārizmī's name, Algoritmi and Algorismi , respectively. Al-Khwārizmī's Zīj as-Sindhind ( Arabic : زيج السند هند , " astronomical tables of Siddhanta " )
12069-499: The author considered improbable; or that they were Sanhaja Berbers , which the author considered most likely. The author concludes that "the nearest to the truth is that they were not black." This interpretation derived from his opinion that the rulers' genealogies linked them to the Berbers. The Tarikh al-Sudan further states that "In origin they were white, though we do not know to whom they trace their origin. Their subjects, however, were Wa'kore [Soninke]." Chronicles by al-Idrisi in
12218-468: The book is not concerned with difficult problems in indeterminant analysis but with a straight forward and elementary exposition of the solution of equations, especially that of second degree. The Arabs in general loved a good clear argument from premise to conclusion, as well as systematic organization – respects in which neither Diophantus nor the Hindus excelled. Al-Khwārizmī's second most influential work
12367-420: The coefficient of the square and using the two operations al-jabr ( Arabic : الجبر "restoring" or "completion") and al-muqābala ("balancing"). Al-jabr is the process of removing negative units, roots and squares from the equation by adding the same quantity to each side. For example, x = 40 x − 4 x is reduced to 5 x = 40 x . Al-muqābala is the process of bringing quantities of
12516-550: The cognate Phoenician states. ... Hence arose that universal disaffection, or rather that deadly hatred, on the part of her foreign subjects, and even of the Phoenician dependencies, toward Carthage, on which every invader of Africa could safely count as his surest support. ... This was the fundamental, the ineradicable weakness of the Carthaginian Empire ;... The Punic relationship with the majority of
12665-497: The coming of Islam to the final end of Ghana. When the Muslims Cisse dynasty came to power they killed Bida, the sacred snake and protector of the kingdom. A seven-year drought ensued, destroying the kingdom and forcing much of the population to flee in search of more hospitable territory. According to much later traditions, from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Diara Kante took control of Koumbi Saleh and established
12814-450: The complexity of the politics involved. Eventually, the Phoenician trading stations would evolve into permanent settlements, and later into small towns, which would presumably require a wide variety of goods as well as sources of food, which could be satisfied through trade with the Berbers. Yet, here too, the Phoenicians probably would be drawn into organizing and directing such local trade, and also into managing agricultural production. In
12963-425: The country was governed. Al-Bakri, far and away the most detailed one, mentions that the king had officials ( mazalim ) who surrounded his throne when he gave justice, and these included the sons of the "kings of his country" which we must assume are the same kings that al-Ya'qubi mentioned in his account of nearly 200 years earlier. Al-Bakri's detailed geography of the region shows that in his day, or 1067/1068, Ghana
13112-490: The country's history as related to him by 'Uthman, a faqih of Ghana who took a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1394, according to which the power of Ghana waned as that of the "veiled people" grew through the Almoravid movement. Whether the Almoravids conquered Ghana or not, the country certainly did convert to Islam around 1076. This conversion and its accompanying rejection of the earlier, more accommodating Islam may have pushed
13261-478: The eldest of the three Banū Mūsā brothers . Al-Khwārizmī's contributions to mathematics, geography, astronomy, and cartography established the basis for innovation in algebra and trigonometry . His systematic approach to solving linear and quadratic equations led to algebra , a word derived from the title of his book on the subject, Al-Jabr . On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals, written about 820,
13410-596: The elegant Libyan pharaohs on the Nile). Correspondingly, in early Carthage, careful attention was given to securing the most favourable treaties with the Berber chieftains, "which included intermarriage between them and the Punic aristocracy". In this regard, perhaps the legend about Dido , the foundress of Carthage, as related by Trogus is apposite. Her refusal to wed the Mauritani chieftain Hiarbus might be indicative of
13559-468: The empire at its height is sparse. According to Kati's Tarikh al-Fettash , in a section probably composed around 1580 but citing the chief judge Ida al-Massini who lived somewhat earlier, twenty kings ruled Ghana before the advent of Islam. Al-Sadi purports that approximately 18 through 34 ancient Kaya (kings) ruled before the Hijra and 24 more kaya (kings) ruled afterward. Written sources are vague as to
13708-515: The empire's formation. By the time of the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century, the camel had changed the ancient, irregular trade routes into a network running between North Africa and the Niger River . Soninke tradition portrays early Ghana as very warlike, with horse-mounted warriors key to increasing its territory and population, although details of their expansion are extremely scarce. Wagadu made its profits from maintaining
13857-504: The empire's maximum extent, though according to al-Bakri , Ghana had forced Awdaghost in the desert to accept its rule sometime between 970 and 1054. Oral traditions indicate that, at its height, the empire controlled Takrur , Jafunu, Jaara , Bakhunu, Neema, Soso, Guidimakha , Gijume, Gajaaga , as well as the Awker, Adrar, and Hodh to the north. It also had some degree of influence over Kaniaga , Kaarta , and Khasso . Diabe, supposedly
14006-563: The example of Carthage, their organized politics increased in scope and sophistication. In fact, for a time their numerical and military superiority (the best horse riders of that time) enabled some Berber kingdoms to impose a tribute on Carthage, a condition that continued into the 5th century BC. Also, due to the Berbero-Libyan Meshwesh dynasty 's rule of Egypt (945–715 BC), the Berbers near Carthage commanded significant respect (yet probably appearing more rustic than
14155-429: The first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations . One of his achievements in algebra was his demonstration of how to solve quadratic equations by completing the square , for which he provided geometric justifications. Because al-Khwarizmi was the first person to treat algebra as an independent discipline and introduced the methods of "reduction" and "balancing" (the transposition of subtracted terms to
14304-595: The fourth century BC became "the largest single element in the Carthaginian army". Yet in times of stress at Carthage, when a foreign force might be pushing against the city-state, some Berbers would see it as an opportunity to advance their interests, given their otherwise low status in Punic society. Thus, when the Greeks under Agathocles (361–289 BC) of Sicily landed at Cape Bon and threatened Carthage (in 310 BC), there were Berbers, under Ailymas, who went over to
14453-422: The hand-crafted leather goods found in present-day Morocco also had their origins in the empire. al-Bakri also mentioned that Muslims played a central role in commerce and held court appointments. Ibn Hawqal quotes the use of a cheque worth 42,000 dinars. The main centre of trade was Koumbi Saleh . The king claimed as his own all nuggets of gold, and allowed other people to have only 'gold dust'. In addition to
14602-527: The highest frequencies of this lineage. Additionally, genomic analysis found that Berber and other Maghreb communities have a high frequency of an ancestral component that originated in the Near East. This Maghrebi element peaks among Tunisian Berbers. This ancestry is related to the Coptic/Ethio-Somali component, which diverged from these and other West Eurasian-affiliated components before
14751-400: The influence exerted by the king in local regions, tribute was received from various tributary states and chiefdoms on the empire's periphery. The introduction of the camel played a key role in Soninke success as well, allowing products and goods to be transported much more efficiently across the Sahara. These contributing factors all helped the empire remain powerful for some time, providing
14900-657: The invading Greeks. During the long Second Punic War (218–201 BC) with Rome (see below), the Berber King Masinissa ( c. 240 – c. 148 BC) joined with the invading Roman general Scipio, resulting in the war-ending defeat of Carthage at Zama, despite the presence of their renowned general Hannibal; on the other hand, the Berber King Syphax (d. 202 BC) had supported Carthage. The Romans, too, read these cues, so that they cultivated their Berber alliances and, subsequently, favored
15049-490: The king stand ten pages holding shields and swords decorated with gold, and on his right are the sons of the kings of his country wearing splendid garments and their hair plaited with gold. The governor of the city sits on the ground before the king and around him are ministers seated likewise. At the door of the pavilion are dogs of excellent pedigree that hardly ever leave the place where the king is, guarding him. Around their necks they wear collars of gold and silver studded with
15198-462: The latter. Furthermore, the archaeology of ancient Ghana does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests. Sheryl L. Burkhalter (1992) suggested that there were reasons to believe that there was conflict between the Almoravids and the empire of Ghana. Ibn Khaldun, a 14th-century North African historian who read and cited both al-Bakri and al-Idrisi, reported an ambiguous account of
15347-758: The local populace and settled the region permanently, the Medes of his army that married the Libyans formed the Maur people, while the other part of his Army formed the Nomadas or as they are today known as the Numidians which later on united all of Berber tribes of North Africa under the rule of Massinissa . According to the Al-Fiḥrist , the Barber (i.e. Berbers) comprised one of seven principal races in Africa. The medieval Tunisian scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), recounting
15496-487: The majority of these Muslims were merchants, this part of the city was probably its primary business district. It is likely that these inhabitants were largely black Muslims known as the Wangara and are today known as Jakhanke or Mandinka . The separate and autonomous towns outside of the main governmental center is a well-known practice used by the Jakhanke tribe of the Mandinka people throughout history. Beginning in
15645-720: The maternal haplogroups K1 , T2 and X2 , the latter of which were common mtDNA lineages in Neolithic Europe and Anatolia . These ancient individuals likewise bore the Berber-associated Maghrebi genomic component. This altogether indicates that the late-Neolithic Kehf el Baroud inhabitants were ancestral to contemporary populations in the area, but also likely experienced gene flow from Europe . The late-Neolithic Kehf el Baroud inhabitants were modelled as being of about 50% local North African ancestry and 50% Early European Farmer (EEF) ancestry. It
15794-501: The maternal haplogroups U6a and M1 , all of which are frequent among present-day communities in the Maghreb. These ancient individuals also bore an autochthonous Maghrebi genomic component that peaks among modern Berbers, indicating that they were ancestral to populations in the area. Additionally, fossils excavated at the Kelif el Boroud site near Rabat were found to carry the broadly-distributed paternal haplogroup T-M184 as well as
15943-589: The mean motions in the tables of al-Khwarizmi are derived from those in the "corrected Brahmasiddhanta" ( Brahmasphutasiddhanta ) of Brahmagupta . The work contains tables for the movements of the sun , the moon and the five planets known at the time. This work marked the turning point in Islamic astronomy . Hitherto, Muslim astronomers had adopted a primarily research approach to the field, translating works of others and learning already discovered knowledge. The original Arabic version (written c. 820 )
16092-539: The mid 20th century as more archeological data became available, scholars began to favor a purely local origin for Ghana. These works bring together archaeology, descriptive geographical sources written between 830 and 1400 AD, the Tarikhs from the 16th and 17th centuries, and the oral traditions. In 1969 Patrick Munson excavated at Dhar Tichitt (a site associated with the ancestors of the Soninke), which clearly reflected
16241-437: The moiety is fifty and a half. Multiply this by itself, it is two thousand five hundred and fifty and a quarter. Subtract from this one hundred; the remainder is two thousand four hundred and fifty and a quarter. Extract the root from this; it is forty-nine and a half. Subtract this from the moiety of the roots, which is fifty and a half. There remains one, and this is one of the two parts. In modern notation this process, with x
16390-669: The mtDNA haplogroups U6 , H , JT , and V , which points to population continuity in the region dating from the Iberomaurusian period. Human fossils excavated at the Ifri n'Amr ou Moussa site in Morocco have been radiocarbon dated to the Early Neolithic period, c. 5,000 BC. Ancient DNA analysis of these specimens indicates that they carried paternal haplotypes related to the E1b1b1b1a (E-M81) subclade and
16539-408: The name of Kitāb al-jabr wal-muqābala , including Abū Ḥanīfa Dīnawarī , Abū Kāmil , Abū Muḥammad al-'Adlī, Abū Yūsuf al-Miṣṣīṣī, 'Abd al-Hamīd ibn Turk , Sind ibn 'Alī , Sahl ibn Bišr , and Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī . Solomon Gandz has described Al-Khwarizmi as the father of Algebra: Al-Khwarizmi's algebra is regarded as the foundation and cornerstone of the sciences. In a sense, al-Khwarizmi
16688-646: The near south, on the northern margins of the Sahara , and were less settled, with predominantly pastoral elements. For their part, the Phoenicians ( Semitic-speaking Canaanites ) came from perhaps the most advanced multicultural sphere then existing, the western coast of the Fertile Crescent region of West Asia . Accordingly, the material culture of Phoenicia was likely more functional and efficient, and their knowledge more advanced, than that of
16837-409: The newcomers from the east in an asymmetric symbiosis. As the centuries passed, a society of Punic people of Phoenician descent but born in Africa, called Libyphoenicians emerged there. This term later came to be applied also to Berbers acculturated to urban Phoenician culture. Yet the whole notion of a Berber apprenticeship to the Punic civilization has been called an exaggeration sustained by
16986-534: The number of its Libyan and foreign soldiers, leading to the Mercenary War (240–237 BC). The city-state also seemed to reward those leaders known to deal ruthlessly with its subject peoples, hence the frequent Berber insurrections. Moderns fault Carthage for failure "to bind her subjects to herself, as Rome did [her Italians]", yet Rome and the Italians held far more in common perhaps than did Carthage and
17135-407: The one by itself; it will be equal to the other taken eighty-one times." Computation: You say, ten less a thing, multiplied by itself, is a hundred plus a square less twenty things, and this is equal to eighty-one things. Separate the twenty things from a hundred and a square, and add them to eighty-one. It will then be a hundred plus a square, which is equal to a hundred and one roots. Halve the roots;
17284-465: The oral traditions prevalent in his day, sets down two popular opinions as to the origin of the Berbers: according to one opinion, they are descended from Canaan, son of Ham , and have for ancestors Berber, son of Temla, son of Mazîgh, son of Canaan, son of Ham, a son of Noah; alternatively, Abou-Bekr Mohammed es-Souli (947 CE) held that they are descended from Berber, the son of Keloudjm ( Casluhim ),
17433-411: The other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation), he has been described as the father or founder of algebra. The English term algebra comes from the short-hand title of his aforementioned treatise ( الجبر Al-Jabr , transl. "completion" or "rejoining" ). His name gave rise to the English terms algorism and algorithm ;
17582-559: The personality of al-Khwārizmī, occasionally even the origins of his knowledge, had not been made. Recently, G.J. Toomer ... with naive confidence constructed an entire fantasy on the error which cannot be denied the merit of amusing the reader. On the other hand, David A. King affirms his nisba to Qutrubul, noting that he was called al-Khwārizmī al-Qutrubbulli because he was born just outside of Baghdad. Regarding al-Khwārizmī's religion, Toomer writes: Another epithet given to him by al-Ṭabarī, "al-Majūsī," would seem to indicate that he
17731-651: The presence (after Ghana's demise) of nomadic Berbers originally from Libya, and the assumption that they were the ruling caste in an earlier age. Earlier accounts such Ya'qubi (872 CE), al-Masudi (c. 944 CE), Ibn Hawqal (977 CE), al-Biruni (c. 1036 CE), and al-Bakri (1068 CE) all describe the population and rulers of Ghana as " negroes ". Delafosse's works, meanwhile, have been harshly criticised by scholars such as Charles Monteil , Robert Cornevin and others for being "unacceptable" and "too creative to be useful to historians", particularly in relation to his interpretation of West African genealogies, Beginning in
17880-517: The prior deal. This tale appears to have been a fragment of what once was a much longer narrative, now lost, however the legend of Wagadu continues to have a deep-rooted significance in Soninke culture and history. The tradition of Gassire's lute mentions Wagadu's fall. The traditions of the Moors , Hassaniya Arabs and Berbers in Mauritania maintain that the earliest occupants of areas such as
18029-451: The region did not see themselves as a single cultural or linguistic unit, nor was there a greater "Berber community", due to their differing cultures. They also did not refer to themselves as Berbers/Amazigh but had their own terms to refer to their own groups and communities. They started being referred to collectively as Berbers after the Arab conquests of the 7th century and this distinction
18178-402: The reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus , who was a North African of Roman/Punic ancestry (perhaps with some Berber blood). Numidia (202 – 46 BC) was an ancient Berber kingdom in modern Algeria and part of Tunisia. It later alternated between being a Roman province and being a Roman client state . The kingdom was located on the eastern border of modern Algeria, bordered by
18327-467: The rim of the Sahara desert. According to al-Bakri, the major part of the city was called El-Ghaba and was the residence of the king. It was protected by a stone wall and functioned as the royal and spiritual capital of the Empire. It contained a sacred grove of trees in which priests lived. It also contained the king's palace, the grandest structure in the city, surrounded by other "domed buildings". There
18476-590: The river Mulucha ( Muluya ), about 160 kilometres (100 mi) west of Oran. The Numidians were conceived of as two great groups: the Massylii in eastern Numidia, and the Masaesyli in the west. During the first part of the Second Punic War, the eastern Massylii, under King Gala , were allied with Carthage, while the western Masaesyli, under King Syphax, were allied with Rome. In 206 BC, the new king of
18625-644: The river than Koumbi Saleh. The empire was populated by ancient Mande tribes and would come under unity through the Soninke tribe of the greater Mande ethnic group, with its citizens living in deeply established patrilineal /paternal clans and family structures. 15°40′N 8°00′W / 15.667°N 8.000°W / 15.667; -8.000 Mu%E1%B8%A5ammad ibn M%C5%ABs%C4%81 al-Khw%C4%81rizm%C4%AB Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi ( Persian : محمد بن موسى خوارزمی ; c. 780 – c. 850 ), or simply al-Khwarizmi ,
18774-414: The royal town, with its large palace and burial mounds, have not been located. In recent years, the identification of Koumbi Saleh with the 'city of Ghana' described in the sources has been increasingly disputed by scholars. al-Idrisi , a twelfth-century writer, described Ghana's royal city as lying on a riverbank, a river he called the "Nile." This followed the geographic custom of his day, which confused
18923-600: The same population as modern Berbers. The Maghreb region in northwestern Africa is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers from at least 10,000 BC. Cave paintings , which have been dated to twelve millennia before present, have been found in the Tassili n'Ajjer region of southeastern Algeria. Other rock art has been discovered at Tadrart Acacus in the Libyan desert. A Neolithic society, marked by domestication and subsistence agriculture and richly depicted in
19072-531: The same type to the same side of the equation. For example, x + 14 = x + 5 is reduced to x + 9 = x . The above discussion uses modern mathematical notation for the types of problems that the book discusses. However, in al-Khwārizmī's day, most of this notation had not yet been invented , so he had to use ordinary text to present problems and their solutions. For example, for one problem he writes, (from an 1831 translation) If some one says: "You divide ten into two parts: multiply
19221-559: The sea. Masinissa was succeeded by his son Micipsa . When Micipsa died in 118 BC, he was succeeded jointly by his two sons Hiempsal I and Adherbal and Masinissa's illegitimate grandson, Jugurtha , of Berber origin, who was very popular among the Numidians. Hiempsal and Jugurtha quarreled immediately after the death of Micipsa. Jugurtha had Hiempsal killed, which led to open war with Adherbal. After Jugurtha defeated him in open battle, Adherbal fled to Rome for help. The Roman officials, allegedly due to bribes but perhaps more likely out of
19370-431: The second degree, and discussed the fundamental method of "reduction" and "balancing", referring to the transposition of terms to the other side of an equation, that is, the cancellation of like terms on opposite sides of the equation. Al-Khwārizmī's method of solving linear and quadratic equations worked by first reducing the equation to one of six standard forms (where b and c are positive integers) by dividing out
19519-454: The social-political stability of the empire based on the seemingly just actions and grandeur of the king. Al-Bakri , a Moorish nobleman living in Spain questioned merchants who visited the empire in the 11th century and wrote of the king: He sits in audience or to hear grievances against officials in a domed pavilion around which stand ten horses covered with gold-embroidered materials. Behind
19668-669: The son of Mesraim , the son of Ham. They belong to a powerful, formidable, brave and numerous people; a true people like so many others the world has seen – like the Arabs, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. The men who belong to this family of peoples have inhabited the Maghreb since the beginning. As of about 5000 BC, the populations of North Africa were descended primarily from the Iberomaurusian and Capsian cultures, with
19817-654: The son of Dinga, is sometimes given credit for driving the Mandinka out of the Gajaaga. Two other Soninke groups to the south, the Gaja and the Karo, were dominated by the Wagu. Given the scattered nature of the Arabic sources and the ambiguity of the existing archaeological record, it is difficult to determine when and how Ghana declined. With the gradual drying of the Sahel, the all-important epicenters of trade began to most south to
19966-574: The throne. A tradition in historiography maintains that Ghana was conquered by the Almoravid dynasty in 1076–77, but this interpretation has been sharply questioned by modern scholars. Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources. Dierke Lange agrees but argues that this does not preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that Ghana's demise owed much to
20115-569: The time a vassal of the Sosso , rebelled with Kangaba and became part of a loose federation of Mande-speaking states. After Soumaoro's defeat at the Battle of Kirina in 1235 (a date again assigned arbitrarily by Delafosse), the new rulers of Koumbi Saleh became permanent allies of the Mali Empire . As Mali became more powerful, the Ghana's role as an ally declined to that of a submissive state, although he
20264-457: The translation of Greek and Sanskrit scientific manuscripts. He was also a historian who is cited by the likes of al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Tahir . During the reign of al-Wathiq , he is said to have been involved in the first of two embassies to the Khazars . Douglas Morton Dunlop suggests that Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī might have been the same person as Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir,
20413-519: The tribal Berbers. This social-cultural interaction in early Carthage has been summarily described: Lack of contemporary written records makes the drawing of conclusions here uncertain, which can only be based on inference and reasonable conjecture about matters of social nuance. Yet it appears that the Phoenicians generally did not interact with the Berbers as economic equals, but employed their agricultural labour, and their household services, whether by hire or indenture; many became sharecroppers . For
20562-488: The whole region." He went on to relate that they "vanquished the Susu and acquired all their possessions, both their ancient kingdom and that of Ghana." According to a modern tradition, this resurgence of Mali was led by Sundiata Keita , the founder of Mali and ruler of its core area of Kangaba . Delafosse assigned an arbitrary but widely accepted date of 1230 to the event. This tradition states that Ghana Soumaba Cisse, at
20711-556: Was a polymath who produced vastly influential Arabic-language works in mathematics , astronomy , and geography . Around 820 CE, he was appointed as the astronomer and head of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad , the contemporary capital city of the Abbasid Caliphate . His popularizing treatise on algebra , compiled between 813–33 as Al-Jabr (The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing) , presented
20860-441: Was also one mosque for visiting Muslim officials. (El-Ghaba, coincidentally or not, means "The Forest" in Arabic.) The name of the other section of the city is not recorded. In the vicinity were wells with fresh water, used to grow vegetables. It was inhabited almost entirely by Muslims, who had with twelve mosques , one of which was designated for Friday prayers, and had a full group of scholars, scribes and Islamic jurists. Because
21009-430: Was an adherent of the old Zoroastrian religion . This would still have been possible at that time for a man of Iranian origin, but the pious preface to al-Khwārizmī's Algebra shows that he was an orthodox Muslim , so al-Ṭabarī's epithet could mean no more than that his forebears, and perhaps he in his youth, had been Zoroastrians. Ibn al-Nadīm 's Al-Fihrist includes a short biography on al-Khwārizmī together with
21158-490: Was on the subject of arithmetic, which survived in Latin translations but is lost in the original Arabic. His writings include the text kitāb al-ḥisāb al-hindī ('Book of Indian computation' ), and perhaps a more elementary text, kitab al-jam' wa'l-tafriq al-ḥisāb al-hindī ('Addition and subtraction in Indian arithmetic'). These texts described algorithms on decimal numbers ( Hindu–Arabic numerals ) that could be carried out on
21307-441: Was principally responsible for spreading the Hindu–Arabic numeral system throughout the Middle East and Europe. It was translated into Latin as Algoritmi de numero Indorum . Al-Khwārizmī, rendered in Latin as Algoritmi , led to the term "algorithm". Some of his work was based on Persian and Babylonian astronomy, Indian numbers , and Greek mathematics . Al-Khwārizmī systematized and corrected Ptolemy 's data for Africa and
21456-579: Was revived by French colonial administrators in the 19th century. Today, the term "Berber" is viewed as pejorative by many who prefer the term "Amazigh". Since the late 20th century, a trans-national movement – known as Berberism or the Berber Culture Movement – has emerged among various parts of the Berber populations of North Africa to promote a collective Amazigh ethnic identity and to militate for greater linguistic rights and cultural recognition. The indigenous populations of
21605-403: Was still accorded prestige as the leader of an ancient and storied state. According to a detailed account of al-'Umari, written around 1340 but based on testimony given to him by the "truthful and trustworthy" shaykh Abu Uthman Sa'id al-Dukkali, Ghana still retained its functions as a sort of kingdom within the empire, its ruler being the only one allowed to bear the title malik and "who is like
21754-725: Was suggested that EEF ancestry had entered North Africa through Cardial Ware colonists from Iberia sometime between 5000 and 3000 BC. They were found to be closely related to the Guanches of the Canary Islands . The authors of the study suggested that the Berbers of Morocco carried a substantial amount of EEF ancestry before the establishment of Roman colonies in Berber Africa . The great tribes of Berbers in classical antiquity (when they were often known as ancient Libyans) were said to be three (roughly, from west to east):
21903-566: Was surrounded by independent kingdoms, and Sila, one of them located on the Senegal River , was "almost a match for the king of Ghana." Sama is the only such entity mentioned as a province, as it was in al-Ya'qubi's day. In al-Bakri's time, the rulers of Ghana had begun to incorporate more Muslims into government, including the treasurer, his interpreter, and "the majority of his officials." A 17th-century chronicle written in Timbuktu ,
22052-464: Was the title given to the rulers of the kingdom. Kaya Maghan (king of gold) was another title for these kings. The Soninke name for the polity was Ouagadou . This meant the "place of the Wague", the term current in the 19th century for the local nobility or may have meant 'the land of great herds'. According to oral traditions , although they vary much amongst themselves, the legendary progenitory of
22201-606: Was used as a tribal surname in Roman Mauretania Caesariensis . Abraham Isaac Laredo proposes that the term Amazigh could be derived from "Mezeg", which is the name of Dedan of Sheba in the Targum . Ibn Khaldun says the Berbers were descendants of Barbar, the son of Tamalla, son of Mazigh, son of Canaan , son of Ham , son of Noah . The Numidian , Mauri , and Libu populations of antiquity are typically understood to refer to approximately
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