The Empire of Songhai was originally part of

The leader that inspired this rise was Sonni Ali, or Ali, Ber, who conquered most of the remaining Mali empire, including the city of Timbuktu. During the next 100 years the Songhai empire reached its peak as Islam as a religion and Islamic learning was actively promoted by the king. By the end of the 15th century Songhai had replaced Mali, but was defeated by a large Moroccan force at the end of the 16th century. This ended 700 years of domination of the western Sudan by centralized and powerful black kingdoms.

Kings

Great Songhai leaders like Sonni Ali Ber, who was killed in a Muslim rebellion, and his successor Askia Muhammad Toure, who ruled from 1492 to 1528, built this empire into the most powerful in West Africa. It was larger than both Mali and Ghana and introduced organized government to the area. Sonni Ali aggressively built Gao into the Kingdom of Songhai by using his cavalry and very mobile fleet of ships. He conquered Timbuktu and the harbor of Jenne, or Djenne, both important Malian cities.

The kings of the Mali empire were called “mansa” which means “lord”, a title that had been adopted by Sudiata. The most famous of all, after Sundiata, was his grandson, Mansa Kankan Musa I. Musa, who was in power from 1312, to 1337 was not the first Muslim ruler of Mali, but he became famous as a result of his hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, the holy city of Islam, in 1324 and 1325. His lavish display of riches and generosity drew the attention of the whole Islamic world and Europe.

Sonni Ali was replaced by Askia Muhammad Toure, who established a new ruling dynasty, the Askia. He continued Sonni Ali's campaign to expand the kingdom by taking control of important oases in the Sahara Desert and finally defeating Mali. He followed this with further campaigns to conquer more neighboring kingdoms. He centralized his government by introducing a large bureaucratic force to oversee and administer his kingdom.

Muhammad Toure was innovative and improved trading by standardizing weights, measures and currency, blending the different Songhai cultures into one national culture. He was also a devout Muslim and replaced Songhai administrators with Arab Muslims to spread Islam through his empire. Muslim judges called qadis, ran his legal system on Muslim principles. Most of the people living in cities embraced Islam. In rural areas where 97% of the Songhai people lived, traditional African religions dominated.

Economy and industry

Like the kingdoms of Ghana and Mali before it Songhai became rich through trade. There was a privileged class of craftsmen and slaves were mostly used as farm workers. Trade only really thrived under Muhammad Toure with kola nuts, gold and slaves as the main exports. These goods were exchanged for textiles, horses, salt and luxury goods.

Leo Africanus, a Spanish Moroccan traveler and writer, visited Gao and noted that there was a very wealthy ruling class: "The houses there are very poor, except for those of the king and his courtiers. The merchants are exceedingly rich and large numbers of Negroes continually come here to buy cloth brought from Barbarie (Morocco) and Europe."Leo Africanus, a Spanish Moroccan traveler and writer, visited Gao and noted that there was a very wealthy ruling class: "The houses there are very poor, except for those of the king and his courtiers. The merchants are exceedingly rich and large numbers of Negroes continually come here to buy cloth brought from Barbarie (Morocco) and Europe."

Decline

Songhai declined as a result of internal political struggles but its mineral wealth also drew the attention of invaders. The Songhai empire had become too large to control while changes in the environment caused droughts and disease. Even though its army was 35 000 men strong, some of the inhabitants started to rebel against the king. This made the empire vulnerable and Morocco, which was one of its territories, revolted to gain control of its own gold mines and the sub-Saharan gold trade. After the Moroccan army attacked in 1591 the Songhai empire collapsed. In 1612 the Songhai cities fell to anarchy and the greatest empire in African history disappeared.

The Empire of Songhai

Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Songhai Empire was the largest and last of the three major pre-colonial empires to emerge in West Africa.  From its capital at Gao on the Niger River, Songhai expanded in all directions until it stretched from the Atlantic Ocean (modern Senegal and Gambia) to what is now Northwest Nigeria and central Niger.  Gao, Songhai’s capital, which remains to this day a small Niger River trading center, was home to the famous Goa Mosque and the Tomb of Askia, the most important of the Songhai emperors. The cities of Timbuktu and Djenne were the other major cultural and commercial centers of the empire.

The Songhai people founded Gao around 800 A.D. and established it as their capital in the 11th century during the reign of Dia Kossoi.  As the city and region grew in importance, the Malian Empire incorporated both as it expanded across the West African savanna.

Mali’s power however was eventually weakened by palace intrigue that interrupted the orderly succession of emperors.  Recognizing the weakness at the center of Mali, Gao rebelled in 1375.  Songhai then began its own imperial expansion at the expense of Mali, conquering Mema in 1465 and three years later seizing Timbuktu, the largest city in the region, from the Taureg who had recently taken it from Mali.

Sunni Ali Ber, the military commander responsible for these victories, is widely considered the first great ruler of the Songhai Empire.  He continued to enlarge the empire, taking control of important Trans-Saharan trade routes as well as other cities and provinces of Mali.

After Sunni Ali Ber’s death in 1492, his son, Sonni Baru, became emperor but soon lost the throne to Askia (Emperor) Muhammad Toure one year later.  The new ruler, a devout Muslim, was responsible for few additional conquests.  Instead he centralized the bureaucracy, appointing virtually all of the mayors and provincial governors, established Sharia law throughout the empire, expanded Sankore University in Timbuktu and built numerous schools through Songhai.  Askia Muhammad Toure also strengthened political and cultural ties with the rest of the Muslim world, encouraging the immigration of scholars and skilled workers from Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Muslim Spain.  He was the first West African ruler to allow the exchange of ambassadors with these and other Muslim states.

After Askia Muhammad Toure’s death in 1528, Songhai enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity under a succession of emperors.  Urban-centered trade flourished in Gao, Timbuktu and Djenne although the vast majority of Songhai’s inhabitants were small farmers whose fortunes were tied to success in agriculture rather than in commerce.

That period of peace and stability ended in 1591 when a civil war created an opportunity for Morocco Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi to send an army to conquer Songhai. Al-Mansur hoped to control the West African gold fields and establish himself as the Caliph of Sudan.

The invading Moroccans face Askia Ishaq II, the last Songhai Emperor at the Battle of Tondibi.  Although they outnumbered the invading army, the Songhai were routed by the Moroccans’ use of primitive muskets called arquebus and six cannon, both of which appeared for the first time with this invasion.  The Songhai fell back in confusion particularly after Ishaq was killed by the Taureg who were allied with the Moroccans.

The Moroccan Army, however, soon realized that conquering Songhai was far easier than governing it.  Constant rebellions and resistance and shortages of supplies forced Morocco to send additional resources across the Sahara.  Faced with these logistical problems and the near impossibility of controlling the gold mines which prompted the initial invasion, the Moroccans withdrew from the region in 1661.

Nonetheless the Songhai Empire could not be reestablished.  The surviving elites fled Gao and set up a new capital at Lulami.  From 1591 to 1901 various Askias (Emperors) attempted to continue the traditions of the old empire.  Finally in 1901 French colonial forces conquered their state, extinguishing the last connection to Songhai’s earlier glory.

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Cite this article in APA format:

Tesfu, J. (2008, June 29). Songhai Empire (ca. 1375-1591). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/songhai-empire-ca-1375-1591/

Source of the author's information:

E. W. Bovill, The Golden Trade of the Moors (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968); Thomas A. Hale and Nouhou Malio, Scribe, Griot and Novelist: Narrative Interpretations of the Songhay Empire (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1990); Kevin Shillington, History of Africa (New York: Palgrave, 2005); Ari Nave, “Songhai Empire” in Africana, The Encyclopedia of the African & African American Experience, Kwame Anthony Appiah, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. eds., (New York: Oxford: University Press, 2005; Timothy Insoll, “Looting the antiquities of Mali: the story continues at Gao.” Antiquity 67: 256 (Sept 1993).

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