Crash Course: World History

S1 E1

Crash Course: World History — Season 1, Episode 16: Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa: Crash Course World History #16

Talk, Documentary • 10 min • 2 seasons, 72 episodes

Episode synopsis

John Green teaches you about Sub-Saharan Africa! So, what exactly was going on there? It turns out, it was a lot of trade, converting to Islam, visits from Ibn Battuta, trade, beautiful women, trade, some impressive architecture, and several empires. John not only covers the West African Malian Empire, which is the one Mansa Musa ruled, but he also discusses the Ghanian Empire and even gets over to East Africa as well to discuss the trade-based city-states of Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Zanzibar. In addition to all this, John considers emigrating to Canada.

About Crash Course: World History

Crash Course World History is a video course hosted by John Green that teaches world history from growing the first crops in the First Agricultural Revolution to global textile production in the 2010s. Across the series, it builds skills in identifying and explaining historical developments, analyzing events in broader context, and tracing patterns and connections across time and place—aiming to help viewers become more informed citizens of the world. Season 1 follows the 2012 AP World History curriculum in a 42-episode chronological survey, while Season 2 continues in 30 episodes with a more thematic approach that focuses on systems and encourages viewers to question how “history” is written and what biases shape it.

More episodes from Season 1

← Back to Crash Course: World History overview

Series Mexicanas Populares

Cine y Series Argentinas

Mejores Series Colombianas

Séries Brasileiras

Mejor Cine Español

Drama Latino Imprescindible