Rise to Glory: West Africa

SONGAY

The empire of Songay took over from Mali, when this kingdom fell into decline. The Songay people still live along the river Niger between Timbuktu and the northern borders of Nigeria and have lived there for over 900 years. In the sixteenth century their capital was at Gao, which was a centre of learning, government and commerce, similar to Timbuktu and Djenne. Gao became a muslim centre of learning very early, and inscriptions in Arabic have been found which date back to the twelfth century. It is said that King Kossoi of Gao became Muslim in 1010 AD, before the Almoravid conquests from North Africa.

The people lived along the river, basing their economy on fishing, farming and trade. They were forced to pay taxes to Mali for a short time around 1325 at the height of the development of the state of Mali, and were then invaded the Mossi. In 1464 a new king, Sonni Ali, came to power and made Songay the most powerful state in West Africa at the time. He soon brought Timbuktu and Djenne, as well as the whole of the Mali empire under his control and forced people to pay taxes. 1      2