Scholars wrote their own books as part of a socioeconomic model. Students were charged with copying these books and any other books they could get their hands on. Today there are over 700,000 manuscripts in Timbuktu with many dating back to West Africa's Golden Age (12th-16th centuries). * Ahmad Baba al Massufi (1556–1627) * Mohammed Bagayogo * Al-Qadi Aqib ibn Mahmud ibn Umar