Songai (state)

Gao's Kingdom

The empire was based on a small kingdom, which, according to legendary information, existed in the Gao region from the 9th century . Little is known about the early history of the Songai, who assimilated the Northerners who lived in the valley of the Niger and militarily weaker ethnic groups, Gov and Do. The oldest Songai dynasty, whose rulers bore the title "malik", is known only for tombstones from an ancient burial in the village of Sanya near Gao. The history of the next dynasty - Za, or Zuva - was raised in Muslim sources to a Yemeni Arab named Za Aliamena , who, according to legend, killed a sacred fish revered by the Sorco and Gabibi peoples.

By this time, while the gold-bearing empire of Ghana was flourishing in the west, the Songai clans established control of the trade routes and settled in Gao, creating a small kingdom here. In the XI century, the local ruler Kossoy converted to Islam and over the next 300 years, his successors managed to extend their power to most of the territory of modern Mali .

By the turn of the XIII and XIV centuries, the neighboring medieval empire of Mali conquered Songai, which remained a vassal state for more than half a century (when Ibn Battuta visited Gao in 1353, the city belonged to Mali) until he became independent under Suleiman-Mara, although he continued to pay tribute until 1430- x years. At that time, the Zuv dynasty in Gao was replaced by a new one whose dynastic title sounded “shi”. Shi Suleiman Dama around 1460 captured the region of Memu, which for a long time was considered part of the empire of Mali.

In 1405-1413, the noble Occitan citizen Anselm d' Isalgie , who married a local woman and managed to return to Languedoc , where his story was recorded by the chronicler and adviser to the Toulouse Parliament, Guillaume Barden , visited Gao in Gao. "The chronological history of the Parliament of Occitania" ^[1] .

Creation of an empire. Ali Ber and Askia Muhammad

The creator of the Songai Empire was the successor of Suleiman Dam - Sonny (shi) Ali Ber , who between 1464 and 1492 significantly expanded the borders of the state, using cavalry and a river fleet. He actively fought with the Mosi and Fulbe peoples, drove the Tuareg from Timbuktu ( 1468 - 1469 ), then massively persecuting the Muslim elite who collaborated with the Tuareg (escaping from them, its representatives fled to Valata - Ali Bury was going to dig a canal there to invade the water by way, but in the end left this venture) and after a seven-year siege he took control of the city of Jenna ( 1468 - 1475 ). During his reign, Songai surpassed the empire of Mali , which subsequently became part of the Songai empire.

His son Abubakar, or Sonny (Shi) Baru , could not maintain a balance between the interests of pagan pastoralists and Islamic merchants and, according to oral tradition, was overthrown in 1493 by the leader of the Soninke tribe, the devout Muslim and military commander in the army of Ali Behr, Askiya Muhammad Ture ( Askia - a rank in the Songai army, which became the title of the dynasty founded by him). During the long reign of Askia Muhammad, nicknamed the Great (1493-1528), the empire reached the peak of its power: in the west, the former lands of the empire of Mali subordinated to it, and in the east the Tuareg Sultanate of Agades . The policy of Askiya Muhammad led to the rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of schools, and Islam became an integral part of the empire. The ruler himself in 1495 made a pilgrimage to Mecca. Muhammad I created a bureaucratic apparatus for the effective management of the empire and tax collection, carried out reforms in agricultural and military policy.

However, the ruler had problems with succession to the throne - according to various sources, he had from 37 to 471 children. In 1528/1529 , 70-year-old Muhammad Askiya, decrepit and blind, was overthrown by his own son, Askiya Musa, deprived of the throne and died a decade later.

Askiev Dynasty

The dynasty of the descendants of Askia Mohammed the Great, who bore the title of Askia , remained on the throne until 1591 . However, after the deposition of the first Askia, no emperor was able to hold on to power for a long time.

The son of Muhammad I, Musa, ruled incomplete for three years, during which he managed to kill many of his own brothers (and, accordingly, candidates for the throne); the survivors joined forces and killed him, but not one of them seized the throne, but Askiya Mohammed Benkan , the nephew of the first Askia Muhammad, whom he exiled from the royal palace to an island infested with mosquitoes in Niger. Muhammad II finally spent six years (1531-1537), until he went on a campaign and was declared deposed by his close, cousin and son-in-law - the next son of Muhammad I, Askiya Ismail. However, the fourth Askia sat on the throne for only two years (1537-1539), although he died his death. The fifth representative of the dynasty, another son of Muhammad the Great - Askia Ishaq I - proved himself to be an extremely tyrannical ruler and ruled for ten years (1539-1549).

Only in 1549 , when the last of the royal sons of the founder of the dynasty, Askiya Daud , came to power, stability was established in Songai. Daud ruled for more than three decades, until 1582, during which he reorganized the army, strengthened the economy, patronized Islam and the sciences (including creating libraries). After his death, a dynastic strife broke out, the winner of which was Askiya Muhammad al-Hajj (1582-1586), who was soon defeated by paralysis and was deposed by his brother Muhammad Bani. The latter reigned until 1588, when he died of a heart attack during a campaign against his former military leader Muhammad Sadik, who rebelled against Askia as a result of a fight with another high-ranking official Allu. On the side of Sadik, the aristocracy of Timbuktu came forward, not recognizing the new Askiya Ishaq II. As a result of the outbreak of civil war, Songai’s army was bloodless, as many soldiers from both factions died, including those executed by the victorious Ishaq II Sadik and his supporters.

War with Morocco and the fall of Songai

The Moroccan sultan Ahmad al-Mansour sought to establish control over trans-Sahara trade and demanded that Songai pay taxes on the profits from salt production, taxing every camel departing from Tagaz, which was a disputed possession between Morocco and Songai. The sultan also had his own pretender to the Sungai throne - according to chroniclers from Timbuktu, the fugitive slave Woold Kirinfil, who proclaimed himself the brother of Ishaq II. The invasion of the troops of the military leader of the Sultan, the Spanish eunuch Dzhudar Pasha , for the transportation of supplies and equipment which took about 10 thousand camels, brought the end of the Songai empire, weakened by the internecine dynastic struggle after the death of Askiya Daud. The technological superiority of the Moroccan invaders played an important role, including at least 2.5 thousand foot soldiers and horsemen armed with firearms. The slow-moving Songai ruler was unable to fill wells in the desert and stop the advance of the Moroccans. The result of their campaign was the defeat of the Songai at the Battle of Tondibi on March 12, 1591 and their submission to Morocco ^[2] . Askiya Ishaq made an attempt to bribe Dzhudar Pasha, but al-Mansur replaced him with Mahmud Pasha, who completed the looting of Timbuktu, Gao and Jenna, sending the looted treasures to Marrakesh .

Songay’s military leaders at first removed Askiya, and then killed Muhammad Gao, who they had replaced in his place, which was succeeded by his brother Nuh. Under his command, hostilities against the Moroccan invaders did not stop until 1599. However, the Songai were not able to return their cities, although the Moroccan Saadite dynasty could not gain a foothold in this region. The remnants of what used to be the Songai Empire broke up into many small states. The successor of the Songai tradition was the state of Dandy (1591-1901).

• Askia Mohammed I
• Bambara (state)
• Empire of Mali
• Empire Ghana
• Tombouctou
• Gao

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• Kubbel L. E. Country of gold - centuries, culture, state . - 2nd ed. - M .: Nauka, Main editorship. literature, 1990 .-- 240 p. - ( In the wake of the disappeared cultures of the East ). - ISBN 5-02-016730-4 .

• List of Kings Gao
• List of Songai Askians (emperors)
• CIVILIZATION OF THE NIGER VALLEY: LEGENDS and GOLD. PART I - SONGAI .