Sonni Ali takes Timbuktu
Songhai becomes West Africa's largest empire
The Songhai ruler Sonni Ali took Timbuktu from the Tuareg and then Djenné, making Songhai the largest empire in West Africa. Under his successor Askia Muhammad, Timbuktu became a renowned centre of Islamic learning.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 15th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Europe
- c. 1450 Gutenberg's printing press — 18 years earlier
- 1492 Fall of Granada — 24 years later
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1478 Annexation of Novgorod by Moscow — 10 years later
- 1480 Great Stand on the Ugra River — 12 years later
Middle East
- 1453 Fall of Constantinople — 15 years earlier
Asia
- 1446 King Sejong promulgates Hangul — 22 years earlier
Americas
- c. 1450 Building of Machu Picchu — 18 years earlier
- c. 1450 Founding of the Iroquois Confederacy — 18 years earlier
- 1492 Columbus reaches the Americas — 24 years later
Oceania
- c. 1445 Extinction of the moa — 23 years earlier
Alive at the time
- Johannes Gutenberg (aged 68)
- Mehmed II (aged 36)
- Christopher Columbus (aged 17)
- Leonardo da Vinci (aged 16)
- Pachacuti (aged 50)
- Louis XI (aged 45)
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa (aged 32)
- Ivan III (aged 28)
- Isabella I of Castile (aged 17)
- Richard III (aged 16)