Sunni Ali

Empires

Sunni Ali captures Timbuktu and builds the Songhai Empire—the largest in African history—controlling trans-Saharan gold and salt trade routes. Timbuktu becom…

• ~1464 CE

  Songhai Empire rises

  Sunni Ali captures Timbuktu and builds the Songhai Empire—the largest in African history—controlling trans-Saharan gold and salt trade routes. Timbuktu becomes a center of Islamic learning with universities attracting scholars from across the world.