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In 1591, Al-Mansur, the Sultan of Morocco declared war to the Songhai empire. The songhai army was expecting an invassion coming from the coastline, but Al-Mansur's army crossed the Sahara and arrived to the songhai territory where they weren't expected, taking Timbuktu after a crushing victory.
Leading the victorious army was Yader Pasha. He was born in Cuevas de Almanzora, near Almería in southern Spain, as a "morisco". Most of his 4000 men were also expatriate "moriscos" except some english mercenaries.

Yader's idea was to make Timbuktu become a safe place for those spanish cripto-muslims who was often suffering inquisitorial prosecution in Spain (probably the reason that forced him to leave Spain and get a new life in Marrakech). After some sources, soon after the fall of Timbuktu , Al-Mansur faced a rebellion and Yader retourned to Marrakech in order to help his master. Other sources say that contradicting Al-Mansur's orders, he had been merciful with the defeated and granted their lifes and properties, (probably because the city was more valuable to his goals being the prosperous and wealthy city that it was, the hub between the subsaharian and saharian trade routes) and for that reason he was dismissed. Anyway, his substitute, Mahmud ben Zergun, thinking in another way, pillaged and ravaged the city.

Nowadays, the descendants of those moriscos who stayed in the region are known in Mali as "Arma" people. Also the dogon people have adapted some classical castilian fables to their oral traditions.


And now the alternate history:

What if Yader stays in charge and manages to create a morisco center in Timbuktu?
Could he attract a significant number of the moriscos expeled from Spain in 1609?
How does the African history change?


Cheers.
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