During some research into Boko Haram, I've come across the claim a few times that if it were not for European colonialism, Islam would have eventually spread all over West Africa. For example the powerful Sokoto Caliphate had been expanding throughout the territory of contemporary north west Nigeria during the early 19th century - eventually to be defeated by the British in 1903.

Prior to this, there had been relatively large and sophisticated Islamic states expanding in the sahel since the 14th century. For example the Sultunate of Kano, the Songhai empire, the Wadai empire, and the Bornu empire. These states were not Islamised by Arab conquest but by conversion of military leaders and parts of the population, who would subsequently convert the rest of the population.

However expansion into the land south of the sahel seems to have been insignificant. There are accounts of Muslims living among the Igbo, for example, but not in any great strength.

Considering that Islam spread throughout the entire southern and eastern mediterranean in about 100 years in the 7th and 8th centuries, and seems to have spread througout the sahel by the 14th century, why did it not spread from the Sahel to the West African southern coast in the 500 years before European colonisation? There's four possible factors I'm thinking of:

1. Culture - it seems to me that Islam would have had a large cultural advantage over the animist areas to the south, not least because it brought literacy, and also connection to a huge cultural and intellectual world. But this advantage doesn't seem to have translated into territory.
2. Military ability - Was there something about the territory that made wars of conquest by Islamic states successful in the sahel but not south of it?
3. The value of the land and people - were Islamic 'missionaries', traders and conquerors simply not interested in the societies and land south of the sahel?
4. European trade before formal colonisation - perhaps bringing goods and ideas into coastal regions from the 15th century contributed to a lesser influence for Islam?

https://i.imgur.com/nfd7G7S.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iWL78ut.jpg

Thanks!

Forgive me if this has been asked before. But I saw this photo in another response today and it reminded me that I've always wondered how Stalin, Churchill, Chiang and other world leaders would travel to the various Allied conferences during WWII.

I'm assuming it was probably a combination of boat and plane travel; but how did they address travel through or across war zones? How did they keep them secret? How long was, say, Roosevelt gone for at the conferences he attended? Were there any "close calls" where one of the leaders' lives was in danger?

And similarly; were there any similar conferences of the Axis powers? Did they have the same travel issues?

I have this penknife which was given to me by my father alongside the throwaway claim that it was military issue from WWII. Is this true?

The claim was that my grandfather acquired a crate of knives after the war in storage sell offs as the military pulled out of the Orkney Isles (as they both lived there, plausible). I never saw any crate but my Dad does have about two dozen of these, many well worn - however I am sceptical because of my fathers tendency to exaggerate.

The knife has

VICTORINOX

SWITZERLAND

STAINLESS

ROSTFREI

at the base of the blade, which seems consistent with all Victorinox knives of the time and since.

I have been unable to turn anything up in regards to a back-catalogue of Victorinox or lists of historic military issue knives.

Does anyone here know anything? It would be a nice little tidbit to throw out whilst cracking open bottles if I knew it was true!

Thanks