The Timbuktu Manuscripts' Secret Rescue from al-Mansur

Timbuktu: Africa's Forgotten Center of Knowledge — Fexingo History · May 2, 2026 · 5m · transcript

In 1591, after the Moroccan invasion of Songhai, Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur ordered the confiscation of Timbuktu's scholarly manuscripts for transport to Marrakesh. This episode follows the little-known story of how local librarians and scholars—led by the family of Ahmad Baba al-Timbukti—hid thousands of manuscripts in caves, under floors, and behind walls to save them from the sultan's agents. We explore the logistics of the secret rescue, the role of the Kunta tribe in smuggling texts south, and the eventual fate of the manuscripts that did reach Marrakesh, including their…