Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Maghīlī (Arabic: محمد بن عبد الكريم المغيلي), commonly known as Al-Maghīlī (Arabic: المغيلي); 909–840 AH/ 1440–1505 CE) was a Berber Sunni scholar from Tlemcen, the capital of the Kingdom of Tlemcen, now in modern-day...
Aḥmad Bābā al-Timbuktī (Arabic: أحمد بابا التمبكتي; 1556 – 1627 CE, 963 – 1036 H), was a Sanhaja Berber writer, scholar, and political provocateur in the area then known as the Western Sudan. He was a prolific author and wrote more than 40 books.
The Wodaabe (Fula: Woɗaaɓe, وٛطَاٻٜ, 𞤏𞤮𞤯𞤢𞥄𞤩𞤫) is a name that is used to designate a subgroup of the Fula ethnic group who are traditionally nomadic and found primarily in Niger and Chad. All Wodaabe people should not be mistaken as Mbororo as these...
Muhammad dan Yakubu, known as Muhammad Rumfa was the sultan of Kano from 1463 until 1499. His reign was characterized by wealth and opulence and signaled the rise of the Kano's commercial dominance in the region.Under the guidance of famed Berber...
Ibn al‐Bannāʾ al‐Marrākushī (Arabic: ابن البناء المراكشي), full name: Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Azdi al-Marrakushi (Arabic: أبو العباس أحمد بن محمد بن عثمان الأزدي) (29 December 1256 – 31 July 1321), was a Moroccan Arab polymath...
Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, 320 km (200 mi) east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history, Gao...
Abdullahi ɗan Fodio (Arabic: عبد الله بن فودي, romanized: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Fūdī; ca. 1766–1828), was a prominent Islamic scholar, jurist, poet, grammarian, and theologian, and the first Amir of Gwandu (r. 1812–1828) and first Wazirin Sokoto (Grand...
Sonni Ali, also known as Si Ali, Sonni Ali Ber (Ber meaning "the Great"), reigned from about 1464 to 1492 as the 15th ruler of the Sunni dynasty of the Songhai Empire. He transformed the relatively small state into an empire by conquering Timbuktu,...
Sidi al-Mukhtar ibn Ahmad al-Kunti (1729–1811) was a leading ʻalim of the Qadiriyya movement in the Western Sudan who played an important role in promoting the spread of Islam in West Africa in the nineteenth century.
Shehu Usman dan Fodio (Fula: Usmanu bi Fodiye; 15 December 1754 – 20 April 1817) was a Fulani Islamic scholar, theologian, religious teacher, poet, author, revolutionary, general, and philosopher who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled as its...