Latest / The Songhai Empire: Africa's Powerful Forgotten Kingdom — Fexingo History / The Scholars of Timbuktu: Songhai's Intellectual Golden Age
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Songhai's armies, its trade networks, its canals. But today, I want to take us to Timbuktu — not just as a trading hub, but as one of the great intellectual centers of the medieval world. Luna: I've heard about the Sankore mosque as a university — is that what we're covering? Lucas: Exactly. And before we go deep — quick honest thing. A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. It lets us keep it ad-free and put the time into the research. Luna: Yeah, it's a small group that really keeps this going. Alright, so tell me about Sankore. Lucas: Sankore started as a mosque in the 14th century under the Mali Empire, but it really flourished under Songhai. By the 1500s, it had become a full-fledged university with hundreds of students and scholars. The curriculum wasn't just religious — you had law, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, even poetry. Lucas: And it wasn't just one building. It was a collection of schools and libraries around the mosque, each run by a different scholar. The most famous of these scholars was Ahmed Baba — a name you really need to know. Luna: Ahmed Baba — I've seen that name in the Tarikh al-Sudan. Was he a judge? Lucas: He was a qadi, yes, but also a historian and a prolific writer. He was born in 1556 into a scholarly family in Timbuktu. By the time he was in his thirties, he was already a leading figure at Sankore. He wrote over fifty books, most of which are lost, but one that survives is a biographical dictionary of Maliki scholars. Luna: Fifty books? That's incredible. What happened to them? Lucas: That's the tragic part. In 1591, the Saadians from Morocco invaded Songhai. Judar Pasha's army sacked Timbuktu, and many manuscripts were destroyed or scattered. Ahmed Baba himself was taken captive and marched to Marrakesh, where he was put under house arrest for about two years. Lucas: But even in exile, he kept teaching. The Saadian sultan eventually allowed him to return to Timbuktu in 1608, but by then, the city's golden age was fading. He died in 1627, but his legacy lived on through his students and the manuscripts they managed to save. Luna: So the invasion didn't completely wipe out the intellectual tradition? Lucas: No, but it dealt a heavy blow. The great libraries of Timbuktu — some families had tens of thousands of manuscripts — were plundered. Many texts were used as fuel for fires. But the surviving manuscripts, many hidden in boxes or buried, have been rediscovered in recent decades. There's a whole project in Timbuktu now to digitize them. Lucas: And the two major chronicles we've relied on for Songhai history — the Tarikh al-Sudan and the Tarikh al-Fattash — were written by scholars from this tradition. The Tarikh al-Sudan was finished around 1655 by a man named Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di, who was a secretary and imam in Timbuktu. Luna: So these books are basically the voices of the scholars themselves. Lucas: Exactly. And they give us a glimpse into how Songhai's rulers interacted with these intellectuals. Askia Muhammad, for instance, was very pious and sought advice from scholars like al-Maghili. But later Askias had a more complicated relationship with the scholarly class. Lucas: Take Askia Dawud. He was a great patron of learning — he funded the construction of the Sankore mosque and supported scholars with stipends. But he also had a fierce rivalry with the city of Gao, the political capital. The qadis of Timbuktu often clashed with the Askia over legal matters. Luna: Were there tensions between the secular authority and the religious scholars? Lucas: Definitely. There's a famous story from the Tarikh al-Sudan about a qadi in Timbuktu who refused to pray for Askia Dawud because he disapproved of some of his policies. The Askia had the qadi imprisoned, but then later released him after popular outcry. The scholars had real power as moral authorities. Lucas: And the Koyam — the royal slaves who often served as governors — also played a role. Some were themselves educated and patronized scholars. It was a complex web of influence. Luna: So the intellectual life wasn't just in Timbuktu — other cities too? Lucas: Right. Djenne had its own schools, and Gao had a court culture. But Timbuktu was the crown jewel. It attracted scholars from across the Muslim world — from Egypt, the Maghreb, even from Arabia. They came because of the reputation of Sankore and the generous endowments from the Askia. Lucas: One of the most remarkable things is that many of these scholars were also part of the trans-Saharan trade. They traveled with caravans, trading books and ideas. Ahmed Baba himself was a slave owner and trader, which is a complicated part of his legacy. Luna: Yeah, that's a difficult reality. So when the Saadians came, they didn't just destroy an army — they destroyed a civilization's mind. Lucas: Exactly. Judar Pasha's victory at Tondibi in 1591 was military, but the real tragedy was the cultural devastation. Timbuktu never fully recovered. The manuscripts that survived are now being studied, and they're revealing just how sophisticated Songhai scholarship was. Lucas: There's a saying among the people of Timbuktu: 'The ink of a scholar is more sacred than the blood of a martyr.' And I think that captures what we're talking about today. Luna: That's a beautiful line. So where do we go from here? Is there still a living tradition? Lucas: There is. In Timbuktu today, the ancient manuscript libraries are being preserved by local families — the Ahmad Baba Institute, the Mamma Haidara Library. They hold thousands of texts. And modern scholars are transcribing and translating them. It's a living link to the Songhai era. Luna: And Ahmed Baba's works — are they still being studied? Lucas: His surviving writings are studied by historians of West Africa. His biographical dictionary, 'Nayl al-ibtihaj', is a key source on Maliki scholars. But many of his other works remain in manuscript form, fragile, needing conservation. It's a race against time. Lucas: So I think the takeaway is that when we talk about empires, we often focus on battles and kings. But the Songhai Empire also had a mind — a community of scholars who produced knowledge that still matters. Luna: Makes me want to look up some of those manuscripts online. Lucas: Definitely do. There are digitization projects. And it gives you a window into that world — what they were thinking about, arguing over, celebrating. It's humbling. Luna: Alright Lucas, another great episode. Thanks. Lucas: Thanks Luna. Until next time.