In 1591, Moroccan forces with firearms defeated the Songhai Empire at the Battle of Tondibi, ending West Africa's last major indigenous empire. Songhai had been a hub of learning in Timbuktu. The invasion fragmented the region, disrupting trans-Saharan trade and scholarship. It marked the decline of powerful Sahelian states amid European and North African pressures.

The fall inspired laments in Arabic and local oral poetry about lost glory and knowledge. Timbuktu's scholarly tradition influenced African literary preservation efforts, with poets drawing on it for themes of empire, resilience, and cultural memory in West African and diaspora traditions.