Latest / The Songhai Empire: Africa's Powerful Forgotten Kingdom — Fexingo History
Songhai's Pilgrim Emperor: Askia Muhammad's Hajj to Mecca
In 1495, Askia Muhammad—the first emperor of the Songhai Empire—set out from Gao on a pilgrimage to Mecca. This episode of Fexingo History follows his journey across the Sahara with a retinue of thousands and a fortune in gold. Drawing on the Tarikh al-Sudan and Leo Africanus, we explore how the Hajj transformed Songhai's religious and political identity. Learn about Askia Muhammad's audience with the Sharif of Mecca, his investiture as 'Caliph of the Sudan,' and the scholars he brought back to Timbuktu. We also contrast his devout Islam with Sonni Ali's pragmatic…
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