Baghayogho originated from among the Juula people, who are a Mande ethnic group composed of merchants and scholars.
As a youth he attended the majlis of Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Sa’īd, where he studied the Mukhtasar, along with the Mudawwana of Sahnun and the Muwatta Imam Malik along with his brother Ahmad.
[3] Bagayogo eventually became the Sheikh and teacher of the famous scholar Ahmed Baba[4] at the Sankore Madrasah, one of three philosophical schools in Mali during West Africa's golden age (i.e. 12th-16th centuries); the other two were Sidi Yahya Mosque and Djinguereber Mosque.
[7] A significant amount of his writing has been preserved in manuscript form at the Ahmed Baba Institute, a repository for African literature.
A project is under way to digitalise these manuscripts which will lead to better understanding of the culture that flourished in Mali in the medieval period.