Latest / The Songhai Empire: Africa's Powerful Forgotten Kingdom — Fexingo History / Askia al-Hajj: The Emperor Who Walked to Mecca
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Fexingo History. I'm Lucas, and as always, I'm here with Luna. Today we're picking up the story of the Songhai Empire at a pivotal moment: the year 1496, when Askia Muhammad Toure, the empire's first and greatest emperor, set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Luna: So this is the hajj — but not just any hajj. An emperor leading a caravan across the Sahara. Lucas: Exactly. And remember, Askia Muhammad had only taken power a few years earlier, in 1493, after overthrowing Sonni Ali's son. He was a devout Muslim, but he also had a lot to prove. The hajj was both a spiritual duty and a political masterstroke. Luna: How do we know about this journey? Lucas: We have several sources. The Tarikh al-Sudan, written by the Timbuktu scholar Al-Sa'di in the 1600s, describes it. So does the Tarikh al-Fattash. And there's the account of Leo Africanus, the Moroccan traveler who visited West Africa in the early 1500s and wrote about Askia Muhammad's pilgrimage. Leo actually interviewed people who remembered the emperor. So we have multiple layers of testimony. Luna: What was the scale of this thing? Lucas: Enormous. Askia Muhammad left Gao, the Songhai capital on the Niger River, with a huge entourage. The sources say he brought thousands of soldiers, servants, and scholars. And he carried an immense amount of gold — Leo Africanus claims he distributed 500,000 gold dinars to the poor of Mecca alone. That's a staggering sum. To put it in context, a typical gold dinar weighed about 4.5 grams. So we're talking over two tons of gold given away in charity. Luna: That's almost unimaginable. But it's also a political statement, right? Showing the wealth and power of Songhai. Lucas: Absolutely. Every stop along the way was an opportunity to display Songhai's prestige. The caravan would have crossed the Sahara via the Taghaza salt mines, then up through the Sahel to Egypt. In Cairo, Askia Muhammad met with the Abbasid caliph — or rather, the shadow caliph in Cairo, since the Abbasid caliphate had been destroyed by the Mongols in 1258, but a line of caliphs continued in Cairo under Mamluk protection. Luna: Wait, the Abbasid caliph was in Cairo? Lucas: Yes. The Mamluk sultanate hosted a puppet caliph who was a descendant of the Abbasid line. For Askia Muhammad, getting recognition from this caliph was crucial. It legitimized his rule, both as a Muslim leader and as the rightful sovereign of Songhai. According to the Tarikh al-Sudan, the caliph, al-Mutawakkil III, formally invested Askia Muhammad as the caliph's deputy in the Sudan — the lands south of the Sahara. That gave him immense religious authority. Luna: So he came back with more than just spiritual blessing. He came back with political capital. Lucas: Exactly. And he brought back more than that. He returned with scholars, architects, and books. One of the most famous scholars he met in Cairo was Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, a prolific Egyptian scholar. Al-Suyuti wrote a fatwa confirming Askia Muhammad's right to wage jihad against non-Muslim neighbors, which the Songhai emperor used to justify campaigns against the Mossi and other pagan groups. He also brought back Andalusian-style architects who helped build the famous Sankore Madrasa in Timbuktu — though the madrasa itself was older, it was expanded and renovated during his reign. Luna: And all of this is connected to the hajj. It's not just a religious journey — it's a cultural and intellectual exchange. Lucas: Precisely. The hajj was a conduit for ideas. West African scholars who made the pilgrimage often studied in Cairo, Mecca, and Medina, and brought back texts and teachings. Askia Muhammad's hajj set a pattern. After his return, Songhai became a center of Islamic learning. The Sankore Madrasa and other schools in Timbuktu, Djenne, and Gao attracted students from across West Africa and beyond. Luna: And this is where I feel like the show is giving us something really valuable. If today's episode has been useful to you — and I think it has — the way we keep this ad-free is through listener support. You can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It helps us keep digging into these stories. Lucas: Yeah, we really appreciate that. And speaking of digging deeper — after the hajj, Askia Muhammad didn't just sit back. He used his new religious authority to reform Songhai's legal system, imposing sharia law more strictly and appointing qadis, or judges, across the empire. He also expanded the empire's borders, conquering the Mossi states to the south and the Hausa city-states to the east. Luna: How long did the hajj actually take? Lucas: The round trip probably took about two years. He left Gao in 1496, and according to some accounts, he returned in 1498. The journey itself — from Gao to Mecca and back — would have been around 8,000 kilometers. Crossing the Sahara, then through Egypt, then across the Red Sea to Arabia. It was an enormous logistical undertaking. Luna: And he was in his fifties by then. That's not a young man. Lucas: He was born around 1443, so yes, he was in his early fifties. We don't know exactly how the caravan was organized, but we can imagine: thousands of camels carrying water, food, and trade goods. The Songhai army provided security. And they would have had to negotiate with Tuareg nomads and other groups along the way. Luna: What did he do in Mecca itself? Lucas: He performed the rituals of the hajj — the circumambulation of the Kaaba, the standing at Arafat, the stoning of the pillars. But he also spent time studying and meeting scholars. Leo Africanus says he was so generous that the people of Mecca called him 'the Sultan of the Sudan.' He also bought a house in Mecca, which he used as a residence for West African pilgrims in later years. That house, known as the Ribat of the Songhai, existed for centuries. Luna: That's incredible — a permanent Songhai presence in Mecca. Lucas: It was a smart investment. It gave Songhai a foothold in the holy city and ensured that future pilgrims from the empire would have a place to stay. But the hajj also had a downside. It was incredibly expensive. The gold he gave away was a huge drain on the empire's treasury. Some historians argue that the cost of the hajj weakened Songhai's economy and made it harder to defend against later threats, like the Saadian invasion from Morocco. Luna: But it also cemented his legacy. Askia Muhammad is remembered as one of the great Muslim rulers of West Africa. Lucas: Absolutely. He ruled until 1528, when he was deposed by his son, Askia Musa. But even after his overthrow, his influence remained. The institutions he strengthened — the legal system, the schools, the trade networks — lasted for decades. The hajj was the foundation of all that. Luna: So the pilgrimage wasn't just a personal journey. It was a state-building project. Lucas: Exactly. It's a perfect example of how religion and politics were intertwined in the Songhai Empire. Askia Muhammad used the hajj to secure his legitimacy, gain allies, and bring back knowledge that would transform his empire. And in doing so, he left a mark on West African history that lasted long after his death. Luna: This has been Fexingo History. Thanks for listening.