Page 87 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

E m p i r E s o f m E d i E v a l w E s t a f r i c a

Al-Idrisi, writing in 1154, described a natural gold nugget in the king’s
palace so big that the reins of the king’s horse were tied to it.

MiliTary poWer and juSTice
The government was backed by a large, powerful army, although the
reported size of the army is probably exaggerated. It is said that the king
of Ghana could put 200,000 soldiers into the field. Of these, 40,000 were
archers, and some of the troops rode small horses. The archers of the
province of Sama were especially skillful, and they used poisoned arrows.
Other weapons included swords, long spears, and short javelins that were
thrown.
Al-Idrisi was impressed by the “righteousness” of Ghana’s ruler, who
by that time had become a Muslim. Al-Idrisi described a daily proces-
sion (a kind of formal parade) to uphold justice, in which the king and his
army commanders went on horseback every morning through the streets
of the town. “Anyone who has suffered injustice or misfortune confronts
him, and stays there until the wrong is remedied” (quoted in Levtzion
and Hopkins).

In TheIr Own wOrds
Justice and Punishment

al-Bakri describes a “truth-telling ritual” that gives to the defendant to drink. If the man
was used to judge whether someone was vomits his innocence is recognized, and
guilty of a crime. these rituals require people he is congratulated. If he does not vomit
and the drink remains in his stomach the
to undergo an unpleasant or even dangerous accusation is accepted as justified.
experience. different types of these rituals
are described in various oral traditions, so al-Bakri also described how some serious
they seem to have been fairly common in the crimes are punished. He wrote that the
medieval societies of the western sudan— “sudan” (blacks) of Ghana “. . . observe the
just as they were in Europe during the same law that a person who falls victim to a thief
historical period. in this case it was trial by may either sell or kill him, as he chooses.” as
water. for people who cheat on their wife, “. . . the law
is that he should be flayed [skinned] alive.”
When a man is accused of denying a debt,
or having shed blood, or some other crime, (source: levtzion, Nehemia, and J. f. p. Hopkins,
the official in charge takes a thin piece of editors. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources
wood, which is sour and bitter to taste, and for West African History. cambridge, U.K.:
pours upon it some water, which he then cambridge University press, 1981.)

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