By the mid-1400s, Timbuktu already had major mosques that also served as centers for Islamic learning. These institutions and their teachers created the base that later Songhai rulers and merchants would expand, linking scholarship to long-distance trade networks across the Sahara.
Around 1468, Songhai under Sunni Ali took control of Timbuktu, ending an earlier period of Tuareg dominance. This change mattered because a strong state could better protect caravans and market activity, helping Timbuktu function as a key hub at the southern end of trans-Saharan routes.
In 1473, Sunni Ali took Djenné (Jenne), another important commercial city on the Niger River. Controlling both Djenné and Timbuktu strengthened Songhai influence over river transport and regional markets, which fed goods and people into the Saharan caravan economy.
Under Songhai, Timbuktu’s economy depended heavily on its position at the edge of the Sahara, connecting camel caravans to Niger River transport. Salt from Saharan mines and other northern goods moved south, while West African goods moved north, making the city a key marketplace and logistics point.
In 1493, Muhammad (later known as Askia Muhammad) overthrew the Sonni line and founded the Askia dynasty. His government reforms helped create more predictable administration and taxation, supporting both commercial growth and the support of scholars and judges in cities like Timbuktu.
During the 16th century, Timbuktu’s major learning centers—especially Sankoré—reached a high point, attracting teachers and students for advanced study in Islamic law and related subjects. This scholarly reputation reinforced commerce: wealthy patrons, judges, and book buyers helped sustain copying, teaching, and manuscript trade.
Askia Dawud’s long reign (1549–1582) is widely described as a period of peace and prosperity for Songhai. Stable government reduced risk for merchants and scholars and helped Timbuktu remain both a commercial center and a place where judges (qadis) and teachers held strong influence.
Beginning in 1570, Timbuktu’s Djinguereber Mosque was renovated under the direction of the city’s qadi (Islamic judge), Aqib ibn Mahmud. The project shows how scholarship, religious authority, and politics overlapped: major building and teaching sites could become symbols contested between local leaders and imperial power.
After 1586, Songhai faced leadership disputes and instability, reducing its ability to defend far-flung trade routes and key northern positions. This weakening made the empire more vulnerable to outside attack and undermined the security that had supported Timbuktu’s growth.
In 1590, the Saadian ruler of Morocco, Ahmad al-Mansur, sent an army south across the Sahara toward Songhai. This move linked politics directly to trade: control over gold and the wealth of West African routes was a major motive, and firearms gave the Moroccan force a key military advantage.
On 1591-03-13, Moroccan forces defeated Songhai at the Battle of Tondibi. The victory opened the way to occupying major cities, turning a long-running commercial and scholarly system into one dominated by a new military regime.
Moroccan troops reached Timbuktu in the spring of 1591 and captured the city on 1591-05-30. With this takeover, Timbuktu shifted from being a major city within a powerful West African empire to becoming a center of Moroccan administration, changing how trade and local authority worked.
By 1591, Timbuktu’s Songhai-period expansion—built on protected trans-Saharan trade and strong scholarly institutions—had reached a turning point. Moroccan control brought a different political order and is widely associated with economic and intellectual decline compared with the city’s 1500s peak.
In 1593–1594, Moroccan authorities arrested and exiled prominent scholars, including Ahmad Baba. This crackdown damaged Timbuktu’s intellectual life and signaled a broader decline: when scholars and judges were removed or threatened, the institutions that supported education and manuscript culture weakened.
Timbuktu's Commercial and Scholarly Expansion under Songhai (c. 1460–1591)