Songhai’s Timbuktu Scholars Who Defied a Conquest

In 1591, the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur invaded Songhai, scattering its army and ending its rule. But among the captives taken to Marrakech was Ahmed Baba, Timbuktu’s greatest scholar. This episode follows his story: how he was seized, how he defied his captors, and how he rebuilt intellectual life in exile. We explore the Saharan manuscript trade, the scholarly networks that connected Timbuktu to Cairo and Fez, and the enduring legacy of Timbuktu’s libraries. A story of resistance through knowledge, set against the collapse of an empire. #AhmedBaba #Timbuktu #SonghaiEmpire #SaadianInvasion #ScholarlyExile #ManuscriptTrade #Marrakech #AskiaIshaqII #AhmadalMansur #TarikhAlSudan #SankoreMadrasa #WestAfrica #16thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #SaharanTrade #IntellectualHistory #Resistance Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo