Songhai Empire
Timbuktu's last great ruler
The Songhai Before Songhai
the Songhai people, the Za and Sonni dynasties at Gao, and the breakaway from Mali
~700–1464 CE
Sonni Ali the Great
the warrior-king who took Timbuktu and Djenné and slaughtered the scholars
1464–1492
Askia Muhammad the Pilgrim-King
the 1493 coup, the 1497 hajj, and the bureaucratic empire
1493–1528
The Empire's Administration
the ministers, the provinces, the army, and the gunpowder gap that was building
1493–1582
Timbuktu's Renaissance
Sankoré at peak, Ahmed Baba, the manuscript tradition, and the gold-and-salt economy at high tide
1493–1591
Islam, Animism, and Daily Life
court Islam, traditional religion, the Sufi orders, and the slavery economy
1493–1591
The Long Decay
Askia Dawud's last great reign, the post-Dawud civil wars, and the gunpowder gap that would not close
1528–1591
Tondibi 1591
the Saharan crossing, the matchlock victory, Ahmed Baba's exile, and the Pashalik that followed
1590–1700