Sundiata Keita
Defeated the Susu king Sumanguru and founded the Mali Empire.
Era 7 of 12 · Station seven
West Africa: Mali, Songhai & Timbuktu
Each year camel caravans crossed the Sahara carrying slabs of salt south, and came back with West African gold. The empires that held those roads, first Mali and then Songhai, grew wealthy, sent their rulers on Hajj and filled Timbuktu with mosques, teachers and books. Their story runs from Sundiata's victory in about 1235 to the Moroccan invasion of 1591.
Who led, and when
Six who shaped the era
The rulers who shaped the era, in order.
Mansa Musa
Took Mali to its height and made the famous Hajj of 1324.
Mansa Sulayman
Ruled Mali when Ibn Battuta visited in 1352.
Sunni Ali
Songhai ruler who took Timbuktu and Djenné and built a great empire along the Niger.
Askia Muhammad
Organised the Songhai state, made the Hajj in 1496–97 and supported scholars.
Ahmad al-Mansur
Sultan of Morocco whose army crossed the Sahara and defeated Songhai in 1591.
The lands of the era
From Mali to Taghaza
Gold came north from the lands south of the Niger, and salt came south from mines such as Taghaza in the Sahara. The towns of the Niger bend, where the two trades met, became the centres of the empires.
- Maliupper Niger and the Mandinka homeland
- GaoSonghai's capital on the Niger
- Timbuktudesert-edge city of books
- Djennériver market and scholarly town
- TaghazaSaharan salt mines
This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.
At a glance
The era in six facts
The years, the people, the places, and what the era left behind.
- Years
- c. 1235–1591c. 1235 to 1591, from Sundiata's victory at Kirina to the Songhai defeat at Tondibi.
- Rulers
- Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa and Mansa Sulayman of Mali; Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammad of Songhai.
- Capital
- Niani for Mali and Gao for Songhai, with Timbuktu the great centre of learning under both.
- Lands
- The Niger valley and the Sahel, with Mali reaching towards the Atlantic and Songhai spreading east of Gao.
- Turning points
- Kirina in about 1235, Mansa Musa's Hajj in 1324, Songhai's rise after 1464, and the Moroccan victory at Tondibi in 1591.
- Legacy
- Timbuktu's manuscript libraries, a living tradition of scholarship in the Sahel, and the lasting memory of Mansa Musa's wealth.
Key moments
Six stops on the road
- 1Sundiata defeats Sumanguru at Kirina, and the Mali Empire begins.
- 2Mansa Musa passes through Cairo on his Hajj with a vast caravan.
- 3Ibn Battuta visits Mali and later writes of its safe roads.
- 4Sunni Ali takes Timbuktu for Songhai.
- 5Askia Muhammad makes the Hajj and returns to rule Songhai.
- 6A Moroccan army defeats Songhai at Tondibi.
The chapters
Read the era, in six parts
Six short chapters take you through the era in order.
- 01Gold, salt and the Sahara roadsto c. 1235How Muslim merchants and camel caravans linked the Sahel to North Africa.Read
- 02Sundiata and the founding of Malic. 1235Sundiata defeats the Susu at Kirina and unites the Mandinka chiefs.Read
- 03Mansa Musa's Hajj1324Mali's king crosses the Sahara to Makkah and returns with scholars and builders.Read
- 04Timbuktu: mosques, scholars and manuscripts14th–16th centuriesA desert-edge city of schools, mosques and manuscript libraries.Read
- 05Songhai: Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammadc. 1464–1528Sunni Ali builds an empire, and Askia Muhammad organises it.Read
- 06The Moroccan invasion and the fall of Songhai1591A Moroccan army crosses the desert and defeats Songhai at Tondibi.Read
Rihla · a journey to play
Take the Rihla through this era
Journey 5, Mansa Musa's Hajj (1324), follows the best-known road of this era. Ibn Battuta's travels (Journey 6) belong to the same age, and he visited Mali himself in 1352.
Sources
Sources for this era
The books, lectures and maps behind this page are listed on our Sources page.
- Classical history
- Modern study
- Lecture series
- Map & atlas
How we choose sources
Classical histories first, checked against trusted modern scholarship. Approximate dates carry a “c.”
Athar’s sources