Áhmed Bábá, however, limits himself to the records of the political relations of Songhay, and does not enter into any ethnological questions, leaving us entirely in the dark as to the original seats of the tribe; for while in general, on the banks of the Niger, the towns of Tindírma and Díre are supposed to be the original seats of the Songhay, Áhmed Bábá apparently restricts the limits of the ancient Songhay to the eastern quarter around Kúkiya, stating distinctly[91] that the town of Timbúktu was not under the authority of any foreign king before it became subjected to the dominion of Kunkur-Músa, the celebrated king of Melle. Yet from this statement we cannot conclude with absolute certainty that the banks of the great river to the south-west of that town were not comprised in the kingdom of Songhay before that period; for Timbúktu, lying on the north side of the river, and being founded by the Tawárek or Imóshagh, was an independent place by itself, and in the beginning not closely connected with the history of the surrounding region. It might easily have happened, therefore, that the Songhay language was not at all spoken in Timbúktu at a former period, without any conclusion being drawn from this circumstance respecting the country to the south and south-west of the river. But although, according to Áhmed Bábá’s account, the foundation of the place was entirely due to the Imóshagh, it is probable that, from the very beginning, a portion of the inhabitants of the town belonged to the Songhay nation[92]; and I rather suppose, therefore, that the original form of the name was the Songhay form Túmbutu, from whence the Imóshagh made Tumbýtku, which was afterwards changed by the Arabs into Tumbuktu.[93] But the series of chronological facts which we learn from Áhmed Bábá, or from other sources, I shall give in a tabular form in the Appendix. Here I will only draw the reader’s attention to a few of the most striking facts, and make some general remarks on the character of that history. It is very remarkable, that while Islám in the two larger westerly kingdoms which flourished previously to that of Songhay,—I mean Ghána, or Ghánata, and Melle,—had evidently emanated from the north, and especially from Sijilmésa, Songhay appears to have been civilised from the other side, namely, from Egypt, the intimate relation with which is proved by many interesting circumstances, although, in a political respect, it could only adopt the same forms of government which had been developed already in Ghána and Melle; nay, we shall find even some of the same titles. With respect to Ghána, we learn from Áhmed Bábá the very interesting fact[94] that twenty kings were supposed to have ruled over that kingdom at the time when Mohammed spread the new creed which was to agitate and to remodel half of the globe.