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  • Bornu Empire
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  • Great Zimbabwe
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Songhai Empire

 The Songhai empire was founded in 1464 by Sunni Ali Ber. He conquered many cities including the famous Timbuktu. He would also take the great city of Djenne but in reality the city's leader chose to surrender after the city had been under attack by Sonni's forces for over 7 years. Djenne was also attacked by the Mali empire 99 times but never surrendered. The military he used consisted of 42,500 soldiers and 400 war vessels. Some say that he was a ruthless tyrant that slaughtered many of Timbuktu's scholars due to their relationship to Islam and the Tuareg, a nomadic people. Others say that all he wanted to do was replace Islam with native African religions and was in fact a great reformer who wanted to preserve African traditions. Under Sunni Ali the Songhai empire grew to be about 900,000 kilometers however a later king would make it the largest empire in Africa's history. Sunni Ali would rule from 1464 to 1492. At the time of his death Sonni Ali Ber was more famous than Columbus and had made Africa famous and respected by the known world.
Askia the Great ruled from 1492 to 1528. Due to his conquests the Songhai empire would cover an area of about 1.4 million kilometers and become the largest empire in Africa's history. He made Songhai a great center of learning by building upwards of 150 schools and made Islam a large part of the empire. Trade with Europe, Asia and North Africa also increased. There were many scholars, judges and doctors in Timbuktu at this time. Askia the Great also made a pilgrimage to Mecca like Mansa Musa did in the 1300s and carried huge amounts of gold estimated to be worth $13 million. Thanks to Askia the Great the Songhai empire experienced a major rebirth of culture. He was so respected that he was buried in a mausoleum that can still be seen today in Gao. Songhai would end up being called the Mecca of the Sudan by many and would even be compared to Athens by others. Other rulers would come and go such as Askia Musa, Askia Daoud, Ismail, Ishaq I just to name a few. Some ruled in prosperity and brought great stability such as Askia Daoud. While others such as Askia Musa ruled with such cruelty that they were eventually overthrown.
Ishaq II would be the last emperor of the Songhai empire. During his reign the empire was weakened, largely due to civil wars. Morocco wanted to control the salt mines of Songhai and sent an army of 4,000 soldiers armed with guns and cannons supplied by Queen Elizabeth the 1st of England. The journey through the desert was tough and several Moroccan troops perished. The Songhai didn't take the threat from Morocco seriously since previous Moroccan expeditions had perished in the desert. When the army reached Songhai the Songhai war council quickly put together an army of 40,000 soldiers. This may seem like over kill but this Songhai army was poorly trained, undisciplined, and consisted of very few archers. In 1591 the Songhai army and the Moroccan army did battle. The Songhai tried to send a herd of 1000 cattle to break the Moroccan lines but the noise from the guns scared the cattle and caused them to charge back towards the Songhai army causing disorder. The Songhai sent their infantry and horsemen next and while they put up a fight they were ultimately killed. Finally, only the rearguard was left. This was a tiny group of archers that's fought the Moroccans valiantly but were also killed. The Songhai could have won if they prepared differently for this battle. Had the Songhai put their army together much earlier they would have had more time to train their soldiers and they would have been much better trained and more disciplined. Another problem was that the Songhai had put very few archers into the defending army and archers were one of two types of African soldiers along with javelin throwers that could effectively challenge firearms. Finally the Songhai made the poor move of fighting the Moroccans on open ground instead of launching a surprise attack during the night. The Moroccans captured the towns of Gao, Djenne and Timbuktu. Despite their victory the Moroccans did not know how to control such a vast territory and were destroyed by disease, weather and Songhai rebellions. In the long run the occupation of the Western Sudan cost Morocco 23,000 soldiers and many firearms.
Askia Nuh would launch a deadly revolt against the Moroccan invaders and in some battles killed as many as 80 Moroccan troops however his army was tiny and the rebellion was eventually crushed. Another Songhai ruler from the South , Askia Al Amin, would put together a much larger army but before he engaged the Moroccans both armies departed without fighting. It has been proven that the general leading the army was bribed by the Moroccans. The general's treason was discovered and he was executed. By the 1700 and 1800s the descendants of the Moroccan invaders known as the Arma who ruled Timbuktu and Djenne would finally be defeated for good by the armies of the Tuareg and Fulani peoples. The Arma were then reduced to nothing more than a small ethnic group with virtually no power.

Sadly the Songhai empire would end up falling apart and this great state that had kept the transatlantic slave trade at bay was no more. This empire had ruled so much of West Africa that when it collapsed the transatlantic slave trade was able to spread inland and run rampant in all of West Africa. Also the collapse of such an advanced state allowed Europeans to create the myth of African inferiority and distorted views of Africa across the world.

 

 



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