Isaac Samuel •• The colonial myth of 'Sub-Saharan Africa' in medieval Islamic geography: the view from Egypt and Born

Isaac Samuel's African History Extra

"the terms ‘North-Africa’ and ‘Sub-Saharan Africa’ are today considered politically expedient by those who seek to reinforce or subvert colonial narratives

But for whatever reason these terms exist today, they didn't exist in the pre-colonial world"https://t.co/9ANvkKci3x

— isaac Samuel (@rhaplord) February 11, 2024

simplified copy of al-idrisi's world map and its translation

'medieval Islamic geographers had no term for the African continent, nor did they have a collective term for "black" African
both were invented much later in colonial geography'https://t.co/9ANvkKcPT5 pic.twitter.com/fYvJjyjbUF

— isaac Samuel (@rhaplord) February 11, 2024

"There was no broad term for the entire African continent in Islamic geography, nor was there a collective term for “black” Africans.

Ibn Khaldun cautioned readers about the specificity of the geographic terms and ethnonyms like Habash, Zanj, and Sudan"https://t.co/9ANvkKcPT5

— isaac Samuel (@rhaplord) February 11, 2024

"Colonialists advanced a Western epistemological understanding of their colonies, classifying races, cultures, and geographies, while disregarding local knowledge.
Pre-existing concepts of ethnicity were racialized, and new identities were created"https://t.co/9ANvkKci3x

— isaac Samuel (@rhaplord) February 11, 2024

 

Africa ≠ Black