Racism as a Motive For Imperialism

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Text from the Travels of Ibn Battuta

“We stopped in Maqdasha [Mogadishu], which is an enormous town. Its inhabitants are merchants and have many camels, of which they slaughter hundreds every day [for food]. Each arriving merchant is hosted by a different man in the town. These hosts then help the merchant make fair and profitable deals with local shop owners. We then traveled to Kulwa. Kulwa is a very fine and substantially built town, and all its buildings are of wood. Its inhabitants are constantly engaged in military expeditions. The sultan (head of the government) at the time of my visit was Abu'l-Muzaffar Hasan, who was noted for his gifts and generosity. He used to devote the fifth part of the profit made on his expeditions to pious and charitable purposes, as is prescribed in the Quran, and I have seen him give the clothes off his back to a mendicant who asked him for them. We visited Mali. Among their good practices are their avoidance of injustice, their attention to the safety of travelers and residents, and their care in praying. Their children are educated so that they can read the Quran (the Islamic holy book).”

Ibn Battuta

Ibn Battuta was born in Moroco, which is located in northern Africa. He traveled through parts of Africa on his way to the Middle East in the 1300s and provides a description of what life was like. Although this work was published many years before Imperialism, it still provides a useful look at a variaty of African kingdoms and empires.