The Chronicles of Two West African Kingdoms

Mauro Nobili is a historian of pre-colonial and early colonial West Africa. His research examines the political and intellectual history of Muslim societies in the region from the late Middle Ages to the early colonial period, focusing specifically but not exclusively on modern-day Republic of Mali. Through his research, he has worked in several archives of Arabic manuscripts in West Africa (Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire), in Europe (France and Denmark), and in the United States, as well as in colonial archives in Britain (Foreign Office, the National Archives) and Germany (Staatsbibliothek, Hamburg). Zachary Wright is associate dean for faculty affairs at Northwestern University in Qatar and professor in residence in the Liberal Arts Program, with joint appointments in History and Religious Studies. Wright received his PhD in history from Northwestern University, his MA in Arabic studies/Middle East history from the American University in Cairo, and his BA in history from Stanford University. He teaches classes on Islam in Africa, Islamic Intellectual History, African history, and Middle East history. His research focuses on Islamic intellectual history in West and North Africa, from the 15th century to the present. Most of Wright’s field research has been conducted in Senegal, Morocco, and Mauritania, with Arabic, French, and Wolof language sources. Ali Diakité is a Cataloguer for West African Manuscripts. He joined the Hill Museum (HMML) in 2019. A native of Burkina Faso, he holds a MA from the Université de Bamako Department of Arabic Studies, Bamako, Mali, and a MA and PhD from the École Normale Supérieure, Lyon, France. Prior to joining HMML, Diakite was at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working on a postdoctoral fellowship financed by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, Germany.

• Acknowledgements AbbreviationsChapter 1 Introduction (Mauro Nobili) - Section 1.1 Historiographical Overview, 1896–2020 - Section 1.2 The New EditionPART I EssaysChapter 2 Muslim Scholars, Political Elites, and Social Complexities In Songhay: Historical Reflections from the Tārīkh Ibn Al-Mukhtār (Zachary Wright and Mauro Nobili) - Section 2.1 Background to the Political History of the Middle Niger from the Eighth to the Sixteenth Centuries CE - Section 2.2 Ibn al-Mukhtār Qunbili as Author - Section 2.3 The Tārīkh Ibn al-Mukhtār and Tārīkh al-Sūdān: Textual Considerations - Section 2.4 Scholars and Sultans - Section 2.5 Other Political and Social Considerations - Section 2.6 Race, Ethnic Identities, and Religious Difference - Section 2.7 ConclusionChapter 3 Religion, Politics, nd Socio-Economic Engineering in the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi: The Tārīkh Al-Fattāsh in Context (Mauro Nobili) - Section 3.1 The Middle Niger from the Fall of the Songhay Empire to the Caliphate of Ḥamdallāhi - Section 3.2 The Author of the Chronicle: Nūḥ b. al-Ṭāhir, His Goals, and His Method - Section 3.3 Enhancing the Legitimacy of Ḥamdallāhi - Section 3.4 Vassals and Slaves - Section 3.5 The Ascription to Maḥmūd Kaʿti - Section 3.5 ConclusionPART II The TextsChapter 4 A Note on the English Translation and the Arabic Edition (Mauro Nobili, Zachary Wright and Ali Diakite)Chapter 5 The English Translation - Tārīkh Ibn al-Mukhtār (Zachary Wright and Mauro Nobili) - Tārīkh al-Fattāsh (Mauro Nobili and Zachary Wright)Chapter 6 The Arabic Edition (Ali Diakite and Mauro Nobili) - Addendum 1 - Addendum 2Maps Bibliography Index

The publication of this work is a landmark event in the historiography of medieval West Africa. For the first time, the Arabic manuscripts from Timbuktu, collectively known as the Tarikh el-Fettach, following the title assigned to their 1913 French translation, have been translated into English directly from the Arabic originals. More significantly, this work restores the manuscripts to their historical truth and reality. [...] [T]his volume is, from the point of publication, an essential reference for anyone studying the medieval polities of West Africa. And the editorial work therein has been carried out with such thoroughness and intellectual rigour that one may safely conclude that the Tarikh al-Fattash affair is finally case closed.