The Geographer of Timbuktu: al-Sadi and the Tarikh al-Sudan

When the Saadian army from Morocco sacked Timbuktu in 1591, much of the city's intellectual life was scattered or destroyed. But one scholar, Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi, set down a detailed history of the Songhai Empire and the Sahel that survives to this day. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how al-Sadi's 'Tarikh al-Sudan' — written while the city was under occupation — became a cornerstone of West African historiography. They discuss his life in Djenné and Timbuktu, his work as a scribe and imam, and how he wove oral traditions, earlier written sources, and his own observations into a chronicle that ranges from the mythical origins of the Songhai to the fall of Askia Muhammad's dynasty. The episode also examines the challenges of writing history under foreign rule, the reliability of al-Sadi's accounts, and how modern historians use his work to reconstruct the economic and cultural networks of medieval West Africa. Along the way, the hosts touch on the manuscript's journey to European libraries and its rediscovery in the 19th century. #Tarikh al-Sudan #al-Sadi #SonghaiEmpire #SaadianInvasion #Timbuktu #Djenné #AskiaMuhammad #WestAfricanHistory #Historiography #Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi #Manuscripts #Sankore #Morocco #1591 #16thCentury #OralTradition #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo