Binciken Turai na Afirka

Yanayin yankin Arewacin Afirka ya kasance sananne sosai a tsakanin Turawa tun zamanin da a tarihin Greco-Roman. Arewa maso yammacin Afirka (Maghrib) an san shi da ko dai *Libya* ko *Afirka*, yayin da ake ɗaukar Masar a matsayin yanki na Asiya.

Binciken Turai na yankin kudu da hamadar Sahara ya fara ne da zamanin Ganowa a ƙarni na 15, wanda Masarautar Portugal ta fara aiki ƙarƙashin Henry the Navigator. Bartolomeu Dias ya fara isa Cape of Good Hope a ranar 12 ga watan Maris 1488, ya buɗe muhimmiyar hanyar teku zuwa Indiya da Gabas mai Nisa, amma binciken da Turai kan Afirka ya kasance mai iyaka a cikin ƙarni na 16 da 17. Ƙungiyoyin Turai sun gamsu don kafa wuraren kasuwanci a bakin tekun yayin da suke bincike da kuma mamaye Sabuwar Duniya. Binciken cikin Afirka don haka ya kasance mafi yawa ya bar ga musulmi masu fataucin bayi, waɗanda a cikin yaƙin musulmi na Sudan suka kafa cibiyoyin sadarwa masu nisa tare da tallafawa tattalin arzikin wasu masarautun Sahel a cikin ƙarni na 15 zuwa 18.

A farkon ƙarni na 19, ilimin Turai game da labarin ƙasa na cikin yankin kudu da hamadar Sahara har yanzu yana da iyaka. An gudanar da balaguro na binciken Kudancin Afirka a cikin shekarun 1830 da 1840, ta yadda a tsakiyar  ƙarni na 19 da farkon mulkin mallaka na Afirka, sassan da ba a tantance su ba yanzu sun iyakance ga abin da zai zama Kogin Kongo da Babban Tafkunan Afirka. Wannan "Zuciyar Afirka" ta kasance ɗaya daga cikin "guraren da ba komai" na ƙarshe a kan taswirar duniya na ƙarshen karni na 19 (tare da Arctic, Antarctic, da ciki na Amazon Basin). An bar shi don masu binciken Turai na ƙarni na 19, gami da waɗanda ke neman sanannun tushen kogin Nilu, musamman John Hanning Speke, Richard Francis Burton, David Livingstone, da Henry Morton Stanley, don kammala binciken Afirka ta 1870s. Bayan haka, an san yanayin yanayin Afirka na gaba ɗaya, amma an bar shi don ƙarin balaguro a cikin shekarar 1880s gaba, musamman, waɗanda Oskar Lenz ya jagoranta, don ƙarin cikakkun bayanai kamar kayan aikin ƙasa na nahiyar.

## Tarihi

### Tsohon zamani

Phoenicians sun binciko Arewacin Afirka, sun kafa yankuna da yawa, wanda mafi shaharar su shine Carthage. Carthage da kansa ya gudanar da bincike a yammacin Afirka. Ɗawafin farko da ake zargin na nahiyar Afirka da aka yi shi ne ma'aikatan ruwa na Phoenician, a cikin balaguron da Fir'auna Necho II na Masar ya ba da umarni,  wanda ya ɗauki shekaru uku. Herodotus ya bayar da rahoton wannan balaguron (4.37). Suka nufi kudu, suka zagaye Cape zuwa yamma, suka yi arewa zuwa Bahar Rum, sannan suka koma gida. Ya ce sun dakata kowace shekara don shuka da girbin hatsi. Shi kansa Herodotus yana da shakku game da tarihin wannan aikin, wanda zai faru kimanin shekaru 120 kafin haihuwarsa; duk da haka, dalilin da ya sa ya kafirta labarin shi ne da’awar da ma’aikatan jirgin suka yi cewa a lokacin da suka tashi a gabar tekun kudancin Afirka, sun tarar da Rana ta tsaya a damansu, a arewa; Herodotus, wanda bai san yanayin siffar duniya ba ya ga wannan ba zai yiwu a gaskanta ba. Wasu masu sharhi sun dauki wannan lamarin a matsayin hujjar cewa tafiyar tarihi ce, amma har yanzu wani masani ya yi watsi da rahoton da cewa ba zai yiwu ba. 

Euthymenes na Massalia ya binciko bakin tekun yammacin Afirka a farkon ƙarni na shida BC.

Mai yiwuwa Hanno mai Navigator ya binciko gabar tekun Afirka ta Yamma a wani balaguro c. 500 BC.  Rahoton wannan tafiya ya wanzu a cikin ɗan gajeren *Periplus* a cikin Hellenanci, wanda marubutan Girka suka fara ambata a karni na 3 BC.  Akwai rashin tabbas kan yadda Hanno ya kai daidai; Wataƙila ya yi tafiya har Saliyo, Guinea ko ma Gabon.   Sai dai kuma, Robin Law ya lura cewa, wasu masu sharhi sun ce kila binciken Hanno bai wuce kudancin Maroko ba. 

An sanya sunan *Afirka* ga mutanen Afri waɗanda suka zauna a yankin Tunisiya na yau. Lardin Romawa na Afirka ya ratsa tekun Bahar Rum na ƙasar Libiya da Tunisiya da Aljeriya. Sassan Arewacin Afirka da ke arewacin Sahara sun kasance sananne a da. Duk da haka, da alama Romawa ba su taɓa bincika Saharar kanta ba, ko kuma ƙasashen Kudancinta.

Kafin ƙarni na 2 BC, duk da haka, masana ilimin ƙasa na Girka ba su san cewa ƙasar da aka fi sani da Libya ta faɗaɗa kudu da hamadar sahara ba, suna zaton cewa hamadar ta yi iyaka da tekun waje. Tabbas, Alexander the Great, a cewar Plutarchus *Lives*, yayi la'akari da tafiya daga bakin Indus zuwa Macedonia yana wucewa kudancin Afirka a matsayin gajeriyar hanya idan aka kwatanta da hanyar ƙasa. Ko da Eratosthenes a kusa da 200 BC har yanzu yana ɗaukan iyakar ƙasar da ba ta kusa da kudanci fiye da Kahon Afirka ba.

A zamanin mulkin Romawa, ƙahon Afirka ya kasance sananne ga masu nazarin ƙasan Rum. Wurin ciniki na Rhapta, wanda aka kwatanta da "kasuwa ta ƙarshe ta Azania," na iya yin daidai da gabar tekun Tanzaniya. The Periplus na Tekun Erythraean, wanda aka rubuta zuwa ƙarni na 1 AD, ya bayyana yana faɗaɗa ilimin yanki zuwa kudu, zuwa kudu maso gabashin Afirka. Taswirar duniya na Ptolemy na ƙarni na 2 yana sane da cewa nahiyar Afirka tana da nisa sosai a kudu fiye da Kahon Afirka, amma ba ta da cikakken bayani a kudu da equator (ba a sani ba ko tana sane da Tekun Gine ).

### Tsakanin Zamani
Tsakanin shekarun 859 da 861 jirgin Viking na jiragen ruwa 62, ƙarƙashin jagorancin Hastein da Björn Ironside sun tashi daga Loire don kai hari a cikin Bahar Rum, ciki har da Arewacin Afirka.

Daga shekarun 1146 zuwa 1148 Norseman, Roger II na Sicily, ya kafa daular Afirka.

A cikin watan Mayu 1291 'yan'uwan Genoese, Vandino da Ugolino Vivaldi, sun ba da umarni na farko da aka sani don neman hanyar teku zuwa Indiya a kusa da Afirka, amma sun ɓace. Bayan ’yan shekaru, a shekara ta 1312, wataƙila don neman ’yan’uwan Vivaldi, ɗan’uwan Genoese, Lancelotto Malocello ya sake gano tsibirin Canary. Ana kiran Lanzarote bayansa.

Jaume Ferrer ya taso ne daga birnin Majorca zuwa gabar tekun yammacin Afirka don nemo fitacciyar "Kogin Zinariya" a shekara ta 1346, amma ba a san sakamakon nemansa da makomarsa ba. 

## Manazarta