Timbuktu Becomes a Center of Islamic Learning

Around 1327, Mansa Musa commissioned the rebuilding of the Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu following his return from pilgrimage to Mecca. Under his patronage, the mosque became a madrasa staffed with scholars from across the Islamic world. Individual scholars maintained private classes with students, covering theology, law, grammar, and astronomy. The institution accumulated manuscript collections ranking among Africa's most extensive. By the 16th century under the Songhai Empire, the Sankore quarter supported approximately 25,000 students in a city of 100,000 residents.