• The Nobles moved south to present-day Niger and formed various smaller kingdoms
1591
• French depose last Askia of the Dendi
1901
Area
1550[2]
800,000 km2 (310,000 sq mi)
Currency
Cowry shells
gold coins
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Mali Empire
Gao Empire
Saadi dynasty
Pashalik of Timbuktu
Dendi Kingdom
The Songhai Empire was a state located in the western part of the Sahel during the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest African empires in history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its largest ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai people. Sonni Ali established Gao as the empire's capital, although a Songhai state had existed in and around Gao since the 11th century. Other important cities in the kingdom were Timbuktu and Djenné, where urban-centred trade flourished; they were conquered in 1468 and 1475, respectively. Initially, the Songhai Empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty (c. 1464–1493), but it was later replaced by the Askia dynasty (1493–1591).
During the second half of the 13th century, Gao and the surrounding region had grown into an important trading centre and attracted the interest of the expanding Mali Empire. Mali conquered Gao near the end of the 13th century. Gao remained under Malian command until the late 14th century. As the Mali Empire started disintegrating, the Songhai reasserted control of Gao. Songhai rulers subsequently took advantage of the weakened Mali Empire to expand Songhai rule.
Under the rule of Sonni Ali, the Songhai surpassed the Malian Empire in area, wealth, and power, absorbing vast regions of the Mali Empire. His son and successor, Sonni Bāru, was overthrown by Muhammad Ture, one of his father's generals. Ture, more commonly known as Askia the Great, instituted political and economic reforms throughout the empire.
A series of plots and coups by Askia's successors forced the empire into a period of decline and instability. Askia's relatives attempted to govern the kingdom, but political chaos and several civil wars within the empire ensured the empire's continued decline, particularly during the rule of Askia Ishaq I. The empire experienced a period of stability and a string of military successes during the reign of Askia Daoud.
Askia Ishaq II, the last ruler of the Songhai Empire, ascended to power in a long dynastic struggle following the death of Daoud. In 1590, Al-Mansur took advantage of the recent civil conflict in the empire and sent an army under the command of Judar Pasha to conquer the Songhai and gain control of the trans-Saharan trade routes. The Songhai Empire collapsed after the defeat at the Battle of Tondibi in 1591.
Extent of the Songhai Empire, circa 1500.
^Bethwell A. Ogot, Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century, (UNESCO Publishing, 2000), 303.
The SonghaiEmpire was a state located in the western part of the Sahel during the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest African...
linked to the SonghaiEmpire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. Predominantly adherents of Islam, the Songhai are primarily...
The Moroccan invasion of the SonghaiEmpire began with an expedition sent in 1590 by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur of the Saadian dynasty, which ruled over Morocco...
and the SonghaiEmpire chipped away at Mali's borders. In 1542, the Songhai invaded the capital but were unsuccessful in conquering the empire. During...
Empire and the Mali Empire before more significant parts of its territory became included in states such as the Sultanate of Agadez and the Songhai Empire...
Askia dynasty of the SonghaiEmpire, reigning from 1493 to 1528. He is also known as Askia the Great, and his name in modern Songhai is Mamar Kassey. Askia...
the SonghaiEmpire by the army of the Saadi dynasty in Morocco. Though vastly outnumbered, the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia...
Songhai architecture or Zarma architecture refers to the traditional Sahelian architectural style of the Songhai people in West Africa. The architecture...
the Songhai people Safiya Songhai (born 1984), American film director SonghaiEmpire, a former country The Songhai, a geographic area in Niger Songhai or...
The expanding SonghaiEmpire absorbed the empire in 1468,[not verified in body] followed by a Saadian army which defeated the Songhai in 1591. In the...
century, Mai Idris Alooma modernized its military, in contrast to the SonghaiEmpire. Turkish mercenaries were used to train the military. The Sayfawa dynasty...
before the 13th century The history of the eponymous Mali Empire and of the SonghaiEmpire during the 13th to 16th centuries The borders of Mali are those...
Notably, they trace their lineage to the ruling dynasties of the ancient SonghaiEmpire. In Niger and Burkina Faso, differentiating the Songhaiborai from the...
delivered sporadic, surprise assaults on the enemy. In West Africa, the SonghaiEmpire under the Askia Mohammad I (1493–1528) possessed a full-time corps of...
widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the era of the SonghaiEmpire. In Mali, the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao (east...
15th ruler of the Sunni dynasty of the SonghaiEmpire. He transformed the relatively small state into an empire by conquering Timbuktu, Massina, the Inner...
Ghaji ibn Dunama was the first ruler of Bornu Empire to assume the title. Askia Mohammad I of SonghaiEmpire also assumed the title around the same time...
Several empires in human history have been contenders for the largest of all time, depending on definition and mode of measurement. Possible ways of measuring...
Takrur to the west, the Malinke kingdom of Mali to the south, and the SonghaiEmpire centred on Gao to the east. When Ghana atrophied in the face of invasion...
conquest by and annexation to the Sultanate of Ndzuwani (Anjouan). In the SonghaiEmpire, criminal justice was based mainly, if not entirely, on Islamic principles...
Lamtuna, the Mali Empire and the Jolof Empire, in the early 16th century the area was conquered by Koli Tenguella, who founded the Empire of Great Fulo....
the Wangarawa and the Dallazawa, and was a vassal to neighboring empires such as Songhai and Bornu. At its peak, Katsina's capital was a prominent city...
invasion 1440 — 1490 The empire on the defensive The Portuguese Songhai hegemony Tengela War 1500 — 1600 Collapse of the Mali empire Songhay hegemony in the...
by the Za dynasty from the capital of Gao, the empire was an important predecessor of the SonghaiEmpire. Apart from some Arabic epitaphs on tombstones...
conquests of Sunni Ali (ruled 1464–1492) it became the capital of the SonghaiEmpire. The Empire collapsed after the Moroccan invasion in 1591 and the invaders...
important successors of the SonghaiEmpire. Based on an earlier kingdom established in 1640, it grew into a powerful empire in the early 18th century under...
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