Ahmed Baba was the last chancellor of the University of Sankore. He was one of the greatest African scholars of the late 16th century. His life is a brilliant example of the range and depth of West African intellectual activity before the colonial era. Ahmed Baba was the author of more than 40 books; nearly every one of these books had a different theme. He was in Timbuctoo when it was invaded by the Moroccans in 1591, and he was one of the first citizens to protest this occupation of his beloved home town. Ahmed Baba, along with other scholars, was imprisoned and eventually exiled to Morocco. During his expatriation from Timbuctoo, his collection of 1600 books, one of the richest libraries of his day, was lost by John Henrik Clarke