Tuareg Sack Timbuktu

1433

Tuareg nomads from the southern Sahara seized Timbuktu from its weakened Mali overlords, disrupting the scholarly and commercial life of West Africa's most famous city of learning for a generation. The Sankore madrasa continued teaching Islamic jurisprudence and astronomy under new masters, but trade revenues were diverted. The city would change hands again when Songhai's Sunni Ali conquered it three decades later, beginning another turbulent chapter in its restless history.