¹ Ta'rīkh al-Fattāsh (Paris, 1913; reprinted Paris, 1980)Google Scholar, hereafter TF; Ta'rīkh al-Sūdān (Paris, 1900;Google Scholar reprinted Paris, 1980), hereafter TS. Concerning TF, now at-tributable to Ibn al-Mukhtār, manuscript ‘C’ has been avoided to eliminate unnecessary complication. For a discussion of manuscript ‘C’, consult Nehemiah Levtzion, ‘A eventeenth century chronicle by Ibn al-MukhtāAS’BSOASXXXIV (1971), 571–93. Hun, J. O. wick has edited Shari'a in Songhay: The Replies of al-Maghili to the Questions of Askia al-Hajj Muhammad (London, 1985).Google Scholar The Replies provide some counterbalance to the Ta';rīkhs, and for the purpose of this study are more valuable for the questions than the responses. Finally, Ahmad Baba's Nayl al-Ibtihāj is of some utility, found in Cherbonneau's, M. A. ‘Essai sur la littérature arabe au Soudan d'aprés le Tekmilat ed-Dibadje d'Ahmed Baba, le Tombouctien’, Société Archéologique de la Province de Constantine (Paris, 1854).Google Scholar

² wick, J. O. Hun, ‘Gao and the Almoravids: a hypothesis’, in Swartz, B. K. and Dumett, Raymond E., eds., West African Culture Dynamics (New York, 1980)Google Scholar; Norris, H. T., ‘Sanhaja scholars of Timbuctoo’, BSOAS, XXX (1967), 634–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Also see Hunwick, J. O., ‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states, 1450–1600’, in Ajayi, J. F. A. and Crowder, Michael (eds.), History of West Africa, vol. 1, 3rd ed. (New York, 1985), 324–6Google Scholar; Saad, Elias N., Social History of Timbuktu (Cambridge, 1983), 6–14.Google Scholar

³ For learning at Dia (Zagha), see Ibn Battuta's comments in Levtzion, N. and Hopkins, J. F. P. (eds.), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History, (Cambridge, 1981), 287.Google Scholar

⁴ TS, 8–9/16–17.

⁵ Concerning the links between the merchant and scholarly communities, see Kaba, Lansine, ‘The pen, the sword, and the crown: Islam and revolution in Songhay reconsidered, 1464–1493’, J. Afr. Hist., XXV, iii (1984), 242–56Google Scholar; also Saad, , Social History, 130–47.Google Scholar See Zouber, Mahmoud A., Ahmad Baba de Tombouctou (Paris, 1977)Google Scholar, introduction, for a similar perspective.

⁶ Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno, and the Hausa states’, 326–8.Google Scholar

⁷ Ibid., 325; Hopkins, A. G., An Economic History of West Africa (New York, 1973), 48.Google Scholar

⁸ Malowist, M., ‘The social and economic stability of the Western Sudan in the Middle Ages’, Past and Present, XXXIII, i (1966), 13.Google Scholar

⁹ McIntosh, Roderick and McIntosh, Susan Keech, ‘The inland Niger delta before the empire of Mali: evidence from Jenne-Jeno’.J. Afr. Hist., XXII, i (1981), 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar A settlement on the site of Jenne actually dates back to the third century B.C.E. Archaeological work is currently under way in the Timbuktu area, and could possibly alter current notions about the founding of that city as well. See Eugenia Herbert, ‘Timbuktu: a case study’, in Swartz and Dumett, West African Culture Dynamics, for a contrasting account of Jenne's origins.

¹⁰ TS, 9/17, 22–4/37–42, 64–5/103–6; TF, 48–9/92–6. See Hunwick, , Replies, 21–2Google Scholar, for a more erudite explanation of the economic fall-out following Sunni ‘Alī's disastrous treatment of the Sankore community; also see Saad, , Social History, 40–3.Google Scholar

¹¹ Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno, and the Hausa states’, 346–7.Google Scholar

¹² TF, 179/314.

¹³ Saad, Social History, 11. See also 94–108, 147–57, especially 153–4, for more discussion of Timbuktu's autonomy.

¹⁴ Levtzion, Nehemiah, ‘The Western Maghrib and Sudan’, in Cambridge History of Africa, in (Cambridge, 1977), 429.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Cissoko, Sekene, Tombouctou et l'empire Songhay (Dakar, 1975), 107–8.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Hunwick, , Replies, 20–1.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states’, 348–9.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Ibid.; TF, 11/13–14, 46/89; TS, 101/166.

¹⁹ The terms koi (Songhay) and farma or fari (Mande) both mean ‘governor’ or ‘leading official’. See Hunwick, J. O., ‘Al-Maghīlī's Replies’ (Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1974)Google Scholar, Appendix F; TF, 11/13–14, 54/103–4, 62/118; TS, 64/104; Saad, Social History, 16.

²⁰ Hunwick, ‘Replies’, Appendix F.

²¹ TF, 46/89–90; see Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states’, 328.Google Scholar

²² TF, 87/163–4, 79/149–50; TS, 100/165; Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states’, 348–50.Google Scholar

²³ See Cissoko, , Tombouctou, 107–8Google Scholar, for a description of Timbuktu administration. Cf. also Hunwick, , Replies, 107–8Google Scholar; Kaba, , ‘The pen, the sword, and the crown’, 242–51.Google Scholar

²⁴ TF, 109–10/202–3. There exists a lack of clarity over whether the Timbuktu-mondio was an office separate from that of the Timbuktu-koi, as Hunwick, suggests (‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states’, 328)Google Scholar, or if they were the same office, the term mondio/mundhu coming into usage with Songhay dominion. The latter explanation is offered by Saad (Social History, 16). In my opinion, the sources indicate that they were separate posts, especially in view of the fact that the word koi is also Songhay, so that there would have been no need to change the term into the language of the conquerors. Neither the Timbuktu-koi nor the Timbuktu-mondio should be confused with the office of the Tusur-mondio, who was also involved with tax collection in Timbuktu (see Saad, Social History, 99).

²⁵ TF, 40/72–4; see Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states’, 341.Google Scholar

²⁶ TF, 126/230–1; see Saad, , Social History, 103–4, n.58.Google Scholar

²⁷ Africanus, Leo, Description de l'Afrique, trans. Epaulard, A. (Paris, 1956), II, 468.Google Scholar

²⁸ Saad, , Social History, 94–9.Google Scholar

²⁹ Or ‘communicable spiritual power’. For a discussion of baraka see Hunwick, J. O., ‘Religion and state in the Songhay empire, 1464–1591’, in Lewis, I. M. (ed.), Islam in Tropical Africa (London, 1966).Google Scholar

³⁰ TS, 65/107–8.

³¹ Cissoko, S., ‘L'intélligentsia de Tombouctou aux XV^e et XVI^e siècles’, Présence Africaine, LXXII, iv (1969), 61.Google Scholar

³² TF, 60–1/115–17.

³³ Saad, , Social History, 102–3.Google Scholar

³⁴ TF, 109–10/202–3. See Saad, , Social History, 52Google Scholar, for a different interpretation of Ibn al-Mukhtār. TF records the visit of Dawūd to Timbuktu after returning from Mali; thus, Saad views the episode as singular and unique. However, TF employs the term ‘āda (‘habit’ or ‘custom’) in characterizing the itinerary of Dawūd's visits to Timbuktu, leaving little doubt that such trips were numerous enough to have established a predictable pattern. Later in his study, Saad, seems to concede this point (Social History, 153–5).Google Scholar

³⁵ Malowist, , ‘Social and economic stability of the Western Sudan’, 14.Google Scholar

³⁶ Africanus, Leo, Description, 11, 466–74.Google Scholar

³⁷ TF, 87/164; TS, 100–1/165–6.

³⁸ See Encyclopedia of Islam, (2nd edn Leiden and London, 1955-), Kharāj, S.V.; Fodio, Usuman dan, ‘Kitāb al-Farq’, trans. Hiskett, M., BSOAS, XXIII (1960), 558–79;Google ScholarHunwick, , Replies, 106–9.Google Scholar

³⁹ TS, 105/171–2, 111/180, 122/196; TF, 110/202; see also Hunwick, , Replies, 107–8.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ The Barbush-mondio and the Taghaza-mondio performed these duties. See TF, 100/202–3; TS, 106/174.

⁴¹ Cf. Encyclopedia of Islam, 1st edn (Leiden and London, 1913–35), S.V. Zakāt.

⁴² Saad, , Social History, 103–4, n.58.Google Scholar

⁴³ See TF 126/230–1; Hunwick, , Replies, 107; below, n.45.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Saad, , Social History, 55, 99.Google Scholar Saad's opinion is based upon a passage of Ibn al-Mukhtār that describes the rebellion of Ṣādiq against his brother Muḥammad Bani (1586–8), and his killing of a second brother, Ṣālih. The passage reads: ‘And the people of Timbuktu, their merchants and some of the ‘ulamà’, agreed with [Ṣāliḥ's men] on [their proclamation of Ṣādiq], as did the Askia's representatives who resided in Timbuktu, including the mondio and the Tusur-mondio’: TF, 131/238–9.

⁴⁵ See Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edn., S.V. Maks.

⁴⁶ TS, 65/105.

⁴⁷ TS, 66/108.

⁴⁸ Hawikit was five miles south of Kabara, across the Niger River (Kaba, ‘The pen, the sword, and the crown’, 251).

⁴⁹ Maḥmud had re-entered Timbuktu in 1480.

⁵⁰ TF, 43/81–2; TS, 64/103.

⁵¹ Hunwick, , Replies, 60–76.Google Scholar

⁵² Sunni ‘Alī was controversial because, although he persecuted the Sankore scholars, he kept the fast of Ramadan, gave alms to certain of the ‘ulamā’, and had a high regard for those scholars who were not Sanhaja (TS 67/109). Hunwick has suggested that Sunni ‘Alī sought to contain and exploit Islam's potential while balancing it with traditional beliefs. Pardo postulates that the ruler sought a synthesis of Islam and African traditional religion. See Hunwick, , ‘Religion and state in the Songhay empire’, 299–303Google Scholar; Pardo, Anne, ‘The Songhay empire under Sonni ‘Alī and Askia Muḥammad’, in McCall, and Bennett, (eds.), Aspects of West African Islam (Boston, 1971).Google Scholar

⁵³ Hunwick, , ‘Songhay, Borno, and the Hausa states’, 341–2.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Al-Sa‘dī in one instance states that Sunni ‘Alī died by an act of God (TS, 71/116), and in another instance suggests he was overthrown by Muḥammad Ture (TS, 102/235). In the Replies, Muḥammad Ture claims to have dethroned Sunni ‘Alī (Hunwick, Replies 71). Finally, oral traditions from the Dendi region maintain the Sunni was murdered by the Tondi-farma, who was Muḥammad Ture. See Rouch, J., ‘Contribution à l'histoire des Songhay’, Bull. IFAN, Sér. B, xxix (1953), 193–4Google Scholar; Hunwick, Replies, 69–76.

⁵⁵ TS, 71/117.

⁵⁶ TF, 53/102.

⁵⁷ Regarding the alliance with the Wangara, see Lovejoy, Paul, ‘The role of the Wangara’, J. Afr. Hist., XIX, ii (1978), 176–7.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Kaba, ‘The pen, the sword, and the crown’. Zouber concurs (Zouber, Ahmad Baba, introduction).

⁵⁹ For a description of Askia Muḥammad's activities see TF, 59–80/115–35; TS, 72–6/117–25; Hunwick, ‘Songhay, Borno and the Hausa states’, 341–6. The seizure of Agades may have been alluded to in Askia Muḥammad's reference to unjust sultans. See Hunwick, , Replies, 79–83.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ TF, 60–1/115–17.

⁶¹ Martin, B.G., ‘A Muslim political tract from northern Nigeria: Muḥammad Bello's Uṣūl al-Siyāsa’, in McCall, and Bennett, (eds.), Aspects of West African Islam, 82.Google Scholar

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⁶³ Al-Sa‘di records that ‘Abd al-Rahmān remained qāḍī for another ten years.

⁶⁴ TF, 75–6/143–5.

⁶⁵ Baba, Aḥmad, Nayl al-Ibtihāj, 15.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ TF, 75/123; cf. Saad, , Social History, 49Google Scholar: both Abū Bakr and al-Mukhtār appear originally to have been candidates for the post themselves.

⁶⁷ Saad, , Social History, 41.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ TS, 100/164.

⁶⁹ TF, 94/177–8. From al-Maghīlī, we know that some form of the Public Treasury (bayt al-māl) was in existence as early as the reign of Askia Muḥammad (Hunwick, , Replies, 75).Google Scholar However, no further information is given on these ‘treasuries’, so that their function and management can only be surmised. Since al-Sa‘dī writes of their creation as something new, one can postulate that they represented a more thorough attempt to meet the demands of Islamic law in fiscal matters.

⁷⁰ TF, 109/201–2.

⁷¹ Baba, Aḥmad, Nayl al-Ibtihāj, 15.Google Scholar

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⁷³ TF, 133–15/207–10.

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⁸⁰ Baba, Aḥmad, Nayl al-Ibtihāj, 15.Google Scholar

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⁸³ TF, 82/153.

⁸⁴ Zouber, , Ahmad Baba, 18.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ TS, 82–3/136–7.

⁸⁶ TS, 82–3/136–7.

⁸⁷ Levtzion, , ‘The Western Maghrib and Sudan’, 420–4.Google Scholar

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⁸⁹ TS, 125–30/200–6.

⁹⁰ TS, 149–52/268–71.