Askia Muhammad Pilgrimages to Mecca

1501

The Songhai emperor Askia Muhammad I led a vast pilgrimage caravan across the Sahara to Mecca, carrying three hundred thousand pieces of gold. In Cairo he was appointed caliph of the western Sudan. Songhai, the greatest West African empire of the era, was announcing itself to the Islamic world. His lavish gold distribution raised Songhai's profile and attracted scholars from across the Islamic world to Timbuktu and Djenne.