Volta
Politics1464

The Songhai Empire

Songhai, centred on Gao on the middle Niger, replaced Mali as the great power of West Africa under Sonni Ali and reached its height under Askia Muhammad.

The Tomb of Askia at Gao, the mud-brick tomb of Askia Muhammad
The Tomb of Askia at Gao, the mud-brick tomb of Askia Muhammad

David Sessoms · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

Songhai was a state centred on Gao on the middle Niger, at one time subject to Mali. Sonni Ali, who came to the throne in 1464, took Timbuktu in 1468 and then Djenné, supplanting Mali. His successor Askia Muhammad built an Islamic administration and army and made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and learning flourished at Timbuktu around the Sankore Mosque. Rich from the trans-Saharan trade, the empire fell in 1591 to a Moroccan army armed with muskets.

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States at the time
Songhai Empire · established
Mali Empire
Places
Timbuktu

People

  • Sonni Ali1492

    monarch · King who built the Songhai Empire (r. 1464–1492), taking Timbuktu and Djenné and mastering the middle Niger

  • Askia Muhammad1538

    monarch · King of the Songhai Empire (r. 1493–1528) who organised an Islamic administration, made the pilgrimage to Mecca and patronised learning at Timbuktu

Before and after

Earlier
1324 Mansa Musa’s Pilgrimage to Mecca

Themes that include this event

  • Turkic-Islamic Empires and Other Civilizations1000 – 1533

    From the Ghaznavid raids on India to the Mughal Empire and Suleiman I — five centuries in which Turkic-led Islamic empires took western Asia and India, while Africa, Southeast Asia and the Americas raised civilisations of their own