Latest / The Songhai Empire: Africa's Powerful Forgotten Kingdom — Fexingo History / The Songhai-Saadian War of Archives
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've covered a lot of Songhai's military history — the navy, the slave soldiers, the Battle of Tondibi. But one thing we haven't really touched on is how the empire wrote its own history. And that's a fascinating story because it's almost a miracle that we know as much as we do. Luna: What do you mean miracle? Lucas: Well, after the Saadian invasion in 1591, the Moroccan army didn't just conquer Songhai — they deliberately targeted the intellectual centers. Timbuktu's libraries were looted, many manuscripts were burned or carted off to Marrakesh. But some survived, buried in the desert or hidden in family archives. Lucas: And among those survivors were the two great chronicles of the Songhai Empire: the Tarikh al-Sudan and the Tarikh al-Fattash. These are our main written sources for the empire's history, and they were written by scholars who lived through the collapse. Luna: So they're like eyewitness accounts? Lucas: Partly. The Tarikh al-Sudan was completed around 1655 by a scholar named Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di. He was born in Timbuktu in 1596, just five years after the invasion. He spent his career as a secretary and envoy for the Moroccan pashas, but he wrote his history as a tribute to the glory of Songhai. Lucas: He drew on earlier sources, oral traditions, and his own memories. The book covers the rise of the empire from its origins under the Dia dynasty — that's the first dynasty of the Songhai people, before Sonni Ali — all the way through the Moroccan conquest. Luna: And the Tarikh al-Fattash? Lucas: Ah, that one's more complicated. It was traditionally attributed to Mahmud Kati, a scholar who died around 1593. But modern scholarship suggests it was actually compiled by his son, Ibn al-Mukhtar, and later added to by a grandson. The name means 'The Chronicle of the Searcher' — it's an investigation into the past. Lucas: The Tarikh al-Fattash is particularly interesting because it begins with the earliest known kings of Songhai, going back to the 9th century or so — though a lot of that early material is legendary. It also has a very detailed account of Askia Muhammad's reign and his pilgrimage to Mecca. Luna: So these chronicles are kind of like the Songhai version of the 'History of the Prophets and Kings' by al-Tabari? Lucas: Exactly. They're modeled on Islamic historiography — they start with creation, the prophets, then move into local dynasties. But what's remarkable is that they include so much about the non-Muslim past of the Songhai people, like the Dia kings and the early riverine culture. Lucas: For example, the Tarikh al-Fattash lists the ten kings of the Dia dynasty, who ruled from the town of Kukiya before Islam arrived. They were said to be water spirits or magicians in later traditions, but the chronicle treats them as historical figures. Luna: Wait, how reliable are these lists? Could they be invented to give the empire a longer pedigree? Lucas: That's a great question. Historians like John Hunwick and Nehemia Levtzion have argued that the early parts are partly legendary, but that the names and sequence probably preserve some genuine oral tradition. The later parts — from Sonni Ali onward — are much more reliable, with specific dates and events. Lucas: Both chronicles also include anecdotes that don't flatter the rulers. For instance, the Tarikh al-Sudan describes Sonni Ali as a cruel and impious ruler, which reflects the authors' own Sunni bias. But it also records his military genius and his construction of canals. Luna: So they're not just propaganda. Lucas: Not at all. The chronicles wrestle with contradictions. The Tarikh al-Fattash discusses a massacre of scholars by Sonni Ali, but then it also notes that he built mosques. It's complicated. And that honesty makes them more credible. Lucas: Now, the survival of these documents is a story in itself. When Judar Pasha's troops entered Timbuktu in 1591, the scholars fled or hid. According to tradition, Mahmud Kati buried his library in the sand outside the city. Later, his descendants recovered the manuscripts. Luna: Buried in the sand? That's incredible. Lucas: Yes — and it wasn't just Kati. Many families in Timbuktu preserved their libraries by hiding them in caves, tombs, or underground chambers. That's why we still have about 400,000 manuscripts in Timbuktu today, though many were lost in the 2012 conflict. Lucas: But there's a darker side to this story. The Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur was a zealous follower of the Maliki school and had little tolerance for the Sufi traditions that flourished in Timbuktu. Some scholars argue that his army deliberately targeted works of Sufi mysticism and philosophy. Luna: So it was a kind of religious purge of the libraries? Lucas: Exactly. The Tarikh al-Sudan itself mentions that the Moroccans confiscated many books and shipped them to Marrakesh. Some ended up in the library of al-Mansur's palace. Today, some of those manuscripts are still in Moroccan archives, but access is limited. Lucas: What we do know is that the chronicles were not lost. They were copied and recopied by West African scholars for centuries. The Tarikh al-Sudan was translated into French in the early 20th century, and that's how it entered modern historiography. Luna: So without those chronicles, we'd know almost nothing about Songhai? Lucas: Pretty much. Archaeology has uncovered some evidence — the Gao mosque, the Askia tomb — but the written record is our main source for events, names, and dates. And those texts were written by people who saw the empire fall and wanted to preserve its memory. Lucas: There's also a fascinating debate about one of the chronicles. In the 2000s, a scholar named Christopher Wise argued that the Tarikh al-Fattash was actually a 19th-century forgery, created to legitimize the Fulani jihad of Seku Amadu. But most historians reject that, pointing to manuscript evidence from the 17th century. Luna: Why would someone forge it? Lucas: The Fulani reformers wanted to show that Islamic rule in the region had deep roots, and that Songhai itself was a legitimate Islamic empire. So they might have interpolated passages. But the core of the text is definitely from the 17th century. Lucas: Regardless, the chronicles are a testament to the intellectual life of Songhai. They cite earlier works from North Africa and the Middle East, they discuss jurisprudence, theology, and history. Timbuktu was not just a trading hub — it was a city of scholars. Luna: And the chronicles give us their voices. Lucas: Exactly. When you read al-Sa'di's description of the Moroccan invasion, you can feel his grief. He writes: 'Thus God brought low the pride of the Songhai and scattered their power.' But by writing that, he ensured that the empire would not be forgotten. Luna: I wonder if there are more chronicles still hidden somewhere. Lucas: There could be. In recent years, projects to digitize Timbuktu's manuscripts have uncovered new texts. Some are fragmentary, but every discovery adds to our understanding. The story of Songhai is still being written — or rather, recovered.