How Did Islam Influence the Architecture in Ancient West Africa?
Islam's influence on ancient West African architecture dates to the 8th century with the arrival of Muslim traders. Arab Muslims incorporated existing indigenous architectural elements into designs originating in the Middle East.
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Pre-Islamic Architecture
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Pre-Islamic West African architecture consisted largely of compact mud and tent structures, with its styling incorporated into Islamic design, according to muslimheritage.com.
Islamic Architecture
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In the Sahel region, Islamic architectural styles of mosque and palace courtyards and high walls brought the concept of municipal city centers, according to science.jrank.org.
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Architectural Hybrid
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Muslim architects created hybrid mosque designs using existing Mali Dogon architecture of conical towers, pilasters and buttresses that continue today to be a mosque's primary characteristics, according to muslimheritage.com.
New Technology
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Mali Muslim Emperor Mansa Musa returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325, bringing a baked brick technology to build five mosques, which influenced future West African construction, according to worldupdates.tripod.com.
Geometric Street Planning
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Twelfth-century multimosque complexes in Kanem-Bornu, now Nigeria, influenced municipal street grids with wide boulevards extending from an esplanade to link to more than 600 roads, according to definethis.org.
Sudano-Sahelian Architecture
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Islamic architecture heavily influenced the Sahel and Sudanian regions of West Africa during the 16th and 17th centuries with the use of mud bricks, adobe plaster and wooden support beams jutting from the wall to act as scaffolding for reworking.
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