Timbuktu Chronicles 1493-1599, Ta'rikh al Fattash

As a student of African history, this book and the manuscript it’s translated from are an invaluable source of Songhai/Malian history. The stories it details are magnificent retellings of age old events, like Mansa Kankan Musa Keïta and his world famous pilgrimage to Mecca or the many military campaigns of Askiya Muhammad Toure after seizing power from Shī/Sunni Ali Ber. It’s a must have for anyone who’s serious about expanding their knowledge of the glorious yet underrated history of the African continent and it’s people.

Anyone looking to make an epic movie set in the Sahel would be wise to read this work. It is an account of rulers of the Songhai Empire by a family of scholars based in Timbuktu who lived during the Songhai's heyday--also offering some accounts of earlier monarchs, like Mansa Musa, the Mali Emperor known for his tremendous wealth.It's a fascinating portrait of a time & place that has been mostly neglected by the West, which is a shame, since there's plenty of source material for anyone looking to shoot an epic set in pre-colonial Africa or just learn more about that time & place. These accounts also provide a greater understanding of the cultures of the Sahel and why there are still sectarian clashes, today--some beefs are many centuries old.There are a lot of names and titles to sift through, similar to the Old Testament of the Bible, but there's enough narrative action and fascinating details to keep me turning the pages.

Recieved $34 softcover book, when i purchased the hardcover for $112 dollars. And they hastefully resolved the issue. Thank you.

The book is a compilation of original manuscripts written by Indigenous Africans in Pre-Colonial Mali about 500 years ago. I think it is simply WONDERFUL to FINALLY have such a work translated into an accessible language, like English. It would allow the Western world, and the world at large to finally see that ancient academic enterprise is as old in Africa as the continent itself -- and that knowledge DID NOT come to Africa through the colonization of Europeans.

This book is a Amazing eyewitness account of the life and glory of the Great and Powerful Songhai Kings of Mali and Timbuktu. IT also tells the eastern origins for the African tribes dwelling along the Niger River. Starting from the rise and triumph of King Askia the Great to the fall of the Songhai Empire this book gives all the details needed and it is a must have.

Very well researched and written, fascinating!

Edited out information that suppose to be in the book wasn't there

I just completed the Tarikh al Fattash, a history of the Songhai empire written by Al Hajjj Mahmud Kati over 500 years ago. It is very refreshing to read the history of a people written by those people without the second guessing and slight insults usually injected by those writing from outside the culture. Much of Cheikh Diop's information for his book Precolonial Black Africa was referenced from this book and the Tarikh al Sudan. The Fattash is a must read for anyone interested in West African history and/or contemplating writing sword and soul based on the Sahelian Empires.