091 - The Great Mosque of Djenné and the Songhai Empire

The best example of Sahelian mud-brick architecture, the great mosque seems like a sandcastle rising from the Niger Inland Delta in Mali. Originally built in the early days of the Mali Empire, the mosque also connects with the Songhai, Africa's largest and strongest empire, whose collapse came at key moment in world history. We'll follow the fates of two great kings and see how choices made in the early 1500s echo today. And we'll eat tiguedegana, a peanut tomato stew that is just so freaking delicious. Sources: Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sa’di. Tarikh al-sudan Davidson, Basil, et al. A History of West Africa to the Nineteenth Century Dorsey, James Michael. “Mud and infidels: Djenné, Mali” in the San Diego Reader Dubois, Félix. Notre beau Niger… French, Howard W. Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War. Ibn Mukhtar.  Tarikh al-fattash Lonely Planet West Africa Meredith, Martin. The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000-year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavour Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent Wilson, Joe. “In search of Askia Mohammed: The epic of Askia Mohammed as cultural history and Songhay foundational myth”   Photograph by Francesco Bandarin CC 3.0