Songhai Empire

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Songhai Empire
←
1000 – 1591 →
 
→
Location of Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire, (ca. 1500)
Capital Gao
Language(s) Songhai language
Religion Islam
Government Monarchy
Sonni; later Askiya
 - c. 1275 Ali Kolon (first)
 - 1588-1591 Askia Ishaq II (last)
History
 - Songhai settle in capital of Gao c.800
 - Songhai state established at Gao under Za dynasty 1000
 - Sonni dynasty established 1275
 - Songhai permanently free of Mali Empire 1375
 - Songhai empire destroyed by Morocco 1591
 - Songhai rule transferred to Dendi Kingdom 1591

The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire was a pre-colonial African state centered in eastern Mali. From the early 15th to the late 16th Century, Songhai was one of the largest African empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city of Gao, where a small Songhai state had existed since the 9th Century. Its base of power was on the bend of the Niger River in present-day Niger and Burkina Faso.

Contents

Prior to the Songhai Empire, the region had been dominated by the Mali Empire. Mali grew famous due to its immense riches obtained through trade with the Arab world, and the legendary hajj of Mansa Musa. By the early 15th Century, the Mali Empire began to decline. Disputes over succession weakened the crown and many subjects broke away. The Songhai were one of them, making the prominent city of Gao their new capital.

The Songhai are thought to have settled at Gao as early as 800 A.D., but did not establish it as the capital until the 11th Century, during the reign of Dia Kossoi. However, the Dia dynasty soon gave way to the Sunni, preceding the ascension of Sulaiman-Mar, who gained independence and hegemony over the city and was a forbearer of Sunni Ali Ber. Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire and gaining independence for the then small Songhai kingdom.

Sunni Ali Ber quickly established himself as the empire's most formidable military strategist and conqueror. He took advantage of the decline of the Mali empire, leading his armies on a series of conquests. His empire expanded to eventually eclipse Mali, covering a kingdom that encompassed more landmass than all of western Europe and, to date, was the largest empire that Africa has ever seen.

The first great king of Songhai was Sunni Ali(Although the name can be spelled Sonni Ali as well). Ali was a Muslim like the Mali kings before him. He was also an efficient warrior who, in the 1460s, conquered many of the Songhai's neighboring states, including what remained of the Mali Empire. With his control of critical trade routes and cities such as Timbuktu, Sonni Ali brought great wealth to the Songhai Empire, which at its height would surpass the wealth of Mali.

During his campaigns for expansion, Sonni Ali conquered many lands, repelling attacks from the Mossi to the south and overcoming the Dogon people to the north, before ultimately annexing Timbuktu in 1468, after Islamic leaders of the town requested his assistance in overthrowing marauding Tuaregs who had overtaken the city subsequent to the decline of Mali.[1] Sonni however, immediately met stark resistance after setting his eyes on the wealthy and renowned trading town of Djenne. Only after much persistence and a seven-month siege was he able to forcefully incorporate it into his vast empire in 1473, but only after having starved them into surrender, allowing no entrance into or exit out of the city.

While a Muslim in faith, Ali did not impose Islamic policy on non-Islamic peoples and instead, allowed and acknowledged the observance of traditional African religion and practices as well. Mainly due to his violent sack of Timbuktu, in many Islamic accounts, he was described as an intolerant tyrant. Islamic historian, Al-Sa'df expresses this sentiment in describing his incursion on Timbuktu:


“ Sonni Ali entered Timbuktu, committed gross iniquity, burned and destroyed the town, and brutally tortured many people there. When Akilu heard of the coming of Sonni Ali, he brought a thousand camels to carry the fugahd' of Sankore and went with them to Walata..... The Godless tyrant was engaged in slaughtering those who remained in Timbuktu and humiliated them. ”

[2]


In Oral tradition, he is often known as a powerful magician. Whatever the case may have been, Sonni's legend consists of him being a fearless conqueror who united a great empire, sparking a legacy that is still intact today. Under his reign, Djenne and Timbuktu were on their way to becoming the greatest centers of learning in the ancient world.

Tomb of Askia
Tomb of Askia

Sonni Ali was followed by an emperor named Muhammad Ture commonly thought to have been from the Soninke people, who would preside over Songhai's golden age. He was called an Askiya or usurper, and he adopted the name as his title and name of his dynasty. Whereas Ali brought conquests, Muhammad brought political reform and revitalization. He set up a complex bureaucracy with separate departments for agriculture, the army, and the treasury, to each of which he appointed supervising officials. A devout Muslim, Muhammad not only completed a pilgrimage to Mecca like Mansa Musa before him, but opened religious schools, constructed mosques, and opened up his court to scholars and poets from throughout the Muslim world.

The time of Muhammad's birth is cause for much speculation and the exact date is generally unknown. Assumed by most Africanists and scholars to have been of a Soninke background, it has instead been postulated that Muhammad could have been of Tukulor origin, descended from a Senegalese family who settled in Gao, based on Arabic spellings of his name (Ture, or Towri). Oral tradition of the Griots however, holds that he was the nephew of Sonni Ali. Muhammad began to establish himself as a significant force directly proceeding the reign of Sonni Ali. In 1493, he began a campaign to relieve power from the rightful heir to the throne, Sonni Baru, son of Ali. A battle ensued at Anfao, where his troops were victorious. The throne then passed to Ture, under the title of Askia.

During his reign, Askia Muhammad was revered as a devout Muslim and respected statesman. He set up administration through out the various lands previously conquered by his predecessor, Sonni Ali; decisions were motivated by his strict adherence to Islam. While not renowned as much as his predecessor as a dominant military tactician, he initiated many warring campaigns, notably declaring Jihads against the neighboring Mossi, whom he could not get to convert to Islam, even after subsequent victory. His army consisted of war canoes, expert cavalry, protective armor, iron tipped weapons, and an organized militia. Muḥammad also increased organization and stability, creating the positions of director of finance, agriculture, justice, interior, protocol, waters and forests, etc. Under the rule of Muhammad Ture, it can be undoubtably stated that the empire reached its Zenith.

Safe economic trade existed throughout the Empire, due to the standing army stationed in the provinces. Central to the regional economy were the gold fields of the Niger River. The Songhai Empire would trade with these nearby but independent gold fields; salt was so precious in the region that the people of West Africa would sometimes be prepared to trade gold for equal quantities of salt. 80 percent of the people lived on small, family-owned farms no more than 10 acres large. The trans-Saharan trade consisted primarily of gold, salt, and slaves. The Julla (merchants) would form partnerships, and the state would protect these merchants, and the port cities on the Niger. It was a very strong trading kingdom, known for its production of practical crafts as well as religious artifacts.

The Songhai economy was based on a traditional caste system. The clan a person belonged to ultimately decided their occupation. The most common castes were metalworkers, fishermen, and carpenters. Lower caste participants consisted of mostly non-farm working slaves, who at times were provided special privileges and held high positions in society. At the top were nobleman and direct descendants of the original Songhai people, followed by freemen and traders. At the bottom were war captives and slaves obligated to labor, especially in farming. James Olson describes the labor system as resembling modern day unions, with the empire possessing craft guilds that consisted of various mechanics and artisans.[3]

Criminal justice in Songhai was based mainly, if not entirely, on Islamic principles, especially during the rule of Muhammad Ture. Ture appointed various ministerial positions, notably the minister of foreign relations, who was responsible for the well being of the Korei-Farma, or "white minorities". In addition to this was the local Cadis, or judges whose responsibility was to maintain order by enforcing Sharia law under Islamic doctrine, according to the Qu'ran. An additional Cadi was noted as a necessity in order to settle minor disputes between immigrant merchants. Kings usually did not judge a defendant; however, under special circumstances, such as acts of treason, they felt an obligation to do so and thus exert their authority. Results of a trial were announced by the "town crier" and punishment for most trivial crimes usually consisted of confiscation of merchandise or even imprisonment, since various prisons existed throughout the empire.[4]

Cadis worked at the local level and were positioned in important trading towns, such as Timbuktu and Djenne. The Assara-munidios, or "enforcers" worked along the lines of a police commissioner whose sole duty was to execute sentencing. Jurists were mainly composed of those representing the academic community; professors were often noted as taking administrative positions within the empire and many aspired to be Cadis.[5]

Upper classes in society converted to Islam while lower classes often continued to follow traditional religions. Sermons emphasized obedience to the king. Timbuktu was the educational capital. Sonni Ali established a system of government under the royal court, later to be expanded by Askia Muhammad, which appointed governors and mayors to preside over local tributary states, situated around the Niger valley. Local chiefs were still granted authority over their respective domains as long as they did not undermine Songhai policy.[6]

Tax was imposed onto peripheral chiefdoms and provinces to ensure the dominance of Songhai, and in return these provinces were given almost complete autonomy. Songhai rulers only intervened in the affairs of these neighboring states when a situation became volatile, usually an isolated incident. Each town was represented by government officials, holding positions and responsibilities similar to today's central bureaucrats.

Under Askia Muhammad, the empire saw increased centralization. He encouraged learning in Timbuktu by rewarding its professors with larger pensions as an incentive. He also established an order of precedence and protocol and was noted as a noble man who gave back generously to the poor. Under his Islamic policies, Muhammad brought much stability to Songhai and great attestations of this noted organization is still preserved in the works of Maghrebin writers such as Leo Africanus, among others.

At its greatest extent, the Songhai lands reached far down the Niger river into modern day Nigeria itself, all the way to the Northeast of modern day Mali, and even to a small part of the Atlantic ocean in the West. There were large cities such as Gao and Timbuktu, though 80% of the population remained in small family-owned farm houses. Songhai would continue to prosper until late into the 16th century, reaching its height under the long and peaceful rule of Askia Dauoud.

Following Dauoud's death, a civil war of succession weakened the Empire, leading Morocco Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi to dispatch an invasion force under the eunuch Judar Pasha. Judar Pasha was a Spaniard by birth, but had been captured as an infant and educated at the Moroccan court. After a cross-Saharan march, Judar's forces razed the salt mines at Taghaza and moved on Gao; when Askia Ishaq II (r. 1588-1591) met Judar at the 1591 Battle of Tondibi, Songhai forces were routed by a cattle stampede triggered by the Moroccans' gunpowder weapons despite vastly superior numbers. Judar proceeded to sack Gao, Timbuktu, and Djenné, destroying the Songhai as a regional power. Governing so vast an empire proved too much for the Moroccans, and they soon relinquished control of the region, letting it splinter into dozens of smaller kingdoms.

The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years if one traces its rulers from the first settlement in Gao to its semi-vassal status under the Mali Empire through its continuation in Niger as the Dendi Kingdom. Below are list of the kings according to the period they occupied..

There were 14 Za dynasty rulers in the early period of Songhai history.

Za Kusoy is the first Songhai ruler to convert to Islam. He also turns the small kingdom of Gao into a Muslim state. Gao begins to attract North African merchants under his reign.

According to Stride and Ifeka's Peoples and Empires of West Africa, Gao fell under the indirect control of the Mali Empire during the reign of Sundiata. In around 1275, an official of Mali fled to Gao established his own dynasty. The kings of the dynasty were called Sunni or Sonni meaning "replacement" or "liberator" kings. Gao had to be continuously attacked to keep the new Sunni dynasty paying tribute, first by Mansa Sakura and later by General Sagmandir under Mansa Musa. Around 1375, Songhai became fully independent of Mali. And by 1420, Songhai was strong enough to exact tribute from Masina. In all, the Sunni dynasty would cound 18 kings.

In 1493, Muhammad Toure the Great deposes the brother of Sunni Ali. The sister of the deposed monarch cries out at Toure the word "Askiya" meaning usurper. Toure adopts the moniker as the title of his new dynasty.

After the Battle of Tondibi, Moroccan forces destroy the Songhai Empire in Mali. The askiya dynasty survives however and flees to their native Dendi region of Niger. They set up a new capital at Lulami and continue all the traditions of the Songhai Empire.

  1. ^ Sonni ʿAlī.(2007). Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite.Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
  2. ^ The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol 5: University Press, 1977, pp421
  3. ^ Olson, James Stuart. The Ethnic Dimension in American History. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., 1979
  4. ^ Lady Lugard:1906199-200
  5. ^ Pre-Colonial Criminal Justice In West Africa
  6. ^ Iliffe, John, op cit., p.72

  • Cissoko, S. M., Timbouctou et l'empire songhay, Paris 1975.
  • Hunwick, J., Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire, Leiden 2003.
  • Lange, D., Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa, Dettelbach 2004 (the book has a chapter titled "The Mande factor in Gao history", pp. 409-544).

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songhai_Empire"
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