The word ‘Timbuktu’ usually evokes an image of a place of exotic mystery in some far-removed corner of the earth. It evoked similar ideas in the European mind as early as the sixteenth century. By this time Timbuktu was one of the major trade centers of the unknown interior of Africa. Colonies along the western coast of Africa were not only enriching European nations with slaves, but also giving them access to trade routes to the kingdoms of the interior from which they obtained gold dust and other commodities. Timbuktu was also a Muslim center for scholars including the famous Ahmad Baba, to whom reference is made later.

Besides Timbuktu, Gao and Jenne were major cities of the River Niger and its tributary the River Bani during the sixteenth century. From 1493 to 1591 the Songhay rulers extended their kingdom to include the most northern extent of the River Niger at the southern edge of the Sahara, opening trade routes with many of their neighbors, including some intercourse with Morocco.

In the Archives of the Hunt Institute is a French extract from an Arabic manuscript which recounts the fall of Timbuktu to Moroccan forces in 1591. It is not known whether the Arabic manuscript is extant today. According to this manuscript, the Pasha Judar drove Ishaq from Tondibi to Caro (which is probably a lapsus calami for Gao), to which he laid siege for a short time and then returned to Timbuktu to await orders from the Sultan. The emperor sent Mahmud Zarkun with additional troops, and the latter relieved Judar of his command, attacked Caro, and chased Ishaq to Conkia [=Kukya?], where the latter died.