Islam. Though some rulers and their courts converted to Islam and even made pilgrimages to Mecca and carried on wars in the name of Islam, the religion did not become widespread among the general populace until after 1590. Even some rulers who called themselves converts to Islam followed that religion most faithfully during visits from Muslim traders or diplomats and at other times practiced traditional religions. As in the Ashanti kingdom to the west, the dominant religion in the northern part of West African was animism—nature mysticism. However, Islam had already established a strong foothold in the Yoruba lands of present-day Nigeria as well as in Mali and the surrounding Mande territories. Most of what is known about Islam in West Africa, particularly Mali, comes from the writings of Ibn Battuta, a North African Muslim of the Berber ethnic group...