The Songhay Empire

The largest state in medieval West African history and the greatest patron of Islamic scholarship south of the Sahara.

Region
West Africa (Niger and Mali)
Period
c. 1000 – 1591 CE

Overview

Under Askia Muhammad (1493–1528) Songhay stretched from the Atlantic to Hausaland and made Timbuktu a global centre of learning. The Ta'rikh al-Sudan and Ta'rikh al-Fattash, written in the 17th century, are among the most sophisticated African historical chronicles. A Moroccan army destroyed the empire at Tondibi in 1591. Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti was exiled to Marrakesh after the conquest and is remembered for his treatise on the legality of enslaving Muslims.

Key facts

  • Askia Muhammad's reign (1493–1528): the empire's intellectual peak
  • Timbuktu as a global Islamic intellectual centre
  • Ta'rikh al-Sudan and Ta'rikh al-Fattash: the great African historical chronicles
  • Moroccan victory at Tondibi, 1591
  • Mi'raj al-Su'ud (1616) on the legality of enslaving Muslims

References

  1. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV
  2. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. V
  3. Library of Congress, Timbuktu Manuscripts
  4. vHMML Reading Room
  5. World History Encyclopedia, Songhay Empire

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