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 visitor writing for Italy; al-Sadi was a local scholar
   • 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
3. 2.

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

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

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

   • Weak: card A names many scholars, not what share of people they were
   • 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: a visitor's book cannot tell us about the people of a city
5. 4.

   Cards A and B were written about 130 years apart by different kinds of writers. What does it mean that both praise Timbuktu's learning, Kira asks?

   • It means little, since both were written long after the city's finest years
   • Al-Sadi copied Leo, so the two accounts are really one source
   • The cards agree on everything, so nothing about Timbuktu is in doubt
   • Two kinds of sources agree on the city's importance
6. 5.

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

   • Because the chronicle of the 1650s had already praised the city to readers in Timbuktu
   • To tell readers of a place they did not know, which may shape what he stressed
   • He did not, since a visitor's praise is untrue
   • Because the Songhai king paid him well for each page he wrote about the city
7. 6.

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

   • It adds nothing, since Leo already wrote about book sales and one more sale changes nothing
   • It fits Leo's remark on book sales, but one sale cannot show profit
   • 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
8. 7.

   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 worthless, because he wrote after the reign had ended
   • As the sole view of Songhai, since a local scholar knows it well
9. 8.

   Using card C, which chain best explains why goods met at Timbuktu, Ren asks?

   • Goods met at Timbuktu, so the river bent near it
   • The river bend joined boat and caravan trade, so goods met there
   • Caravans crossed the Sahara because Timbuktu paid more for goods
   • Songhai ruled the region, so goods met at Timbuktu with no need for roads
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 spanned the 1400s and 1500s, inside Songhai's time
    • His reign fell wholly in the 1400s, before Songhai ruled
    • His reign came before the 1400s, so he was an early Songhai ruler
    • 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?

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