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The Timbuktu Diplomat Who Outfoxed the Saadians
When the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur conquered Timbuktu in 1591, he expected to rule through fear. Instead, he found himself negotiating with a single, brilliant qadi: Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti. But this is not the story of Ahmad Baba's deportation to Marrakech — that we covered in earlier episodes. This is the untold story of the Timbuktu diplomat who stayed behind: al-Imam al-Suyuti, a scholar and envoy who negotiated the terms of Saadian occupation, preserved the independence of Sankore's curriculum, and secured the release of captured scholars through a mix of legal reasoning…
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