Introduction to the Ta'rīkh al-fattāsh

TIMBUKTU, GAO, AND THE SONGHAY DYNASTY OF THE ASKIYAS

Christopher Wise

Al-Hājj Mahmūd Kati’s Ta’rīkh al-fattāsh is arguably Africa’s most important document from the late medieval period. Its full title is the Ta’rīkh al-fattāsh fī akhbār al-buldān wa l-juyūch wa-ākabīr en-nās (or, The Chronicle of the Seeker: Serving as an Account of the Towns, Armies, and Leading Figures [of the Takrur]). Kati’s monumental chronicle, which was written some five hundred years ago in Timbuktu, documents the rise and fall of the Songhay Dynasty of the Askiyas. The fact that the Ta’rīkh al-fattāsh has not yet appeared in English translation until now is surprising, considering the wealth of information it contains about pre-colonial Sahelian civilization, including the distinct cultures of the Soninke, Songhay, Djerma, Arab, Tuareg, Jewish, Mande, and Fulani peoples. It first appeared as a printed book in 1913 in French translation with an Arabic version, after being carefully edited and annotated by Octave Houdas and Maurice Delafosse, French colonial administrators of the early The text cuts off here, likely continuing onto the next page.