Ghana, Mali and Songhai: gold, salt and Timbuktu

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Timbuktu and the Songhai Empire (cards A to C; summaries in our words). Card A, Leo Africanus, a North African who visited Timbuktu in the 1510s and wrote in Italy about 1526: he wrote that Timbuktu had many judges, teachers and clergy, and that books were sold there for more profit than any other goods. Card B, the Tarikh al-Sudan, a chronicle written in Timbuktu in the 1650s by al-Sadi, a local scholar: it tells the history of the Songhai rulers and of the city, including Askia Muhammad, who reigned from 1493 to 1528. Card C, a trade note: Timbuktu stood near the great bend of the Niger River, where goods from boats met camel caravans crossing the Sahara. Songhai, with its capital at Gao, ruled the region in the 1400s and 1500s.

2. 1.

   How do the positions of Leo Africanus and al-Sadi differ as sources on Timbuktu, Ari asks?

   • Leo was a local scholar writing for his city; al-Sadi was a visitor
   • Both lived in Timbuktu, so both knew everything about its history
   • Both were visitors writing in the 1500s for readers in Italy
   • Leo was a visitor writing for Italy; al-Sadi was a local scholar
3. 2.

   Askia Muhammad reigned from 1493 to 1528. For how many years did he reign, Bo asks?

   • 122 years
   • 45 years
   • 35 years
   • 3,021 years
4. 3.

   Al-Sadi wrote in the 1650s about a reign that ended in 1528. About how many years later was that, Esme asks?

   • About 12 to 13 years
   • About 120 to 130 years
   • About 35 years
   • About 3,178 to 3,187 years
5. 4.

   A student says, "Card A proves most people in Timbuktu were scholars." How strong is that claim, Jun asks?

   • Weak: a visitor's book cannot tell us about the people of a city
   • Strong: card A says books were sold to most people in the city
   • Strong: card A names judges, teachers and clergy, so most people were scholars
   • Weak: card A names many scholars, not what share of people they were
6. 5.

   Going by cards A and C, which cause best explains why Timbuktu became a book market, Luz asks?

   • Its books attracted the river and the camel caravans to the city
   • Its judges and clergy by themselves, since scholars were the sole buyers
   • River and desert trade met there, and its scholars wanted books
   • Songhai rulers ordered each trader to carry books to Timbuktu
7. 6.

   Why might Leo Africanus have praised Timbuktu's learning in a book for readers in Italy, Milo asks?

   • To tell readers of a place they did not know, which may shape what he stressed
   • Because the Songhai king paid him well for each page he wrote about the city
   • He did not, since a visitor's praise is untrue
   • Because the chronicle of the 1650s had already praised the city to readers in Timbuktu
8. 7.

   A manuscript from Timbuktu dated 1520 records the sale of a book. How does it fit card A, Noah asks?

   • It fits Leo's remark on book sales, but one sale cannot show profit
   • It adds nothing, since Leo already wrote about book sales and one more sale changes nothing
   • It shows books earned more profit than any other goods in Timbuktu or elsewhere
   • It shows Leo wrote his book after 1520, and not in about 1526 as card A says
9. 8.

   Al-Sadi wrote in the 1650s about Askia Muhammad's reign. How should a historian treat his account of that reign, Pia asks?

   • As a later local account, to be checked against older records
   • As eyewitness evidence, because he lived in Timbuktu
   • As the sole view of Songhai, since a local scholar knows it well
   • As worthless, because he wrote after the reign had ended
10. 9.

    Card C says Songhai ruled in the 1400s and 1500s, and card B puts Askia Muhammad's reign at 1493 to 1528. What do the dates show, Tala asks?

    • His reign came before the 1400s, so he was an early Songhai ruler
    • His reign fell wholly in the 1400s, before Songhai ruled
    • His reign spanned the 1400s and 1500s, inside Songhai's time
    • His reign was the whole of Songhai's time as a ruling power
11. 10.

    A student says, "Cards A and B prove Timbuktu was the richest city in Africa." How strong is that claim, Zee asks?

    • Strong: card A says Timbuktu earned more than any other African city
    • Strong: two sources praise the city, so it must have been the richest
    • Weak: the cards describe Timbuktu and compare it with no other city
    • Weak: praise by a visitor and a local cannot be used as evidence