Songhai (empire)

Songhai (empire), West African empire, centered on the largest bend of the Niger River, that reached its zenith in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The Songhai, a fishing and trading people who originated in the Dendi region of northwestern Nigeria, gradually extended their domination upstream in the 8th century ad and by 800 had established themselves at Gao, which soon became a flourishing market town. Having come into contact with Muslims from the north, the Songhai accepted Islam, at least nominally, shortly after 1000. For some centuries they dominated the petty adjacent states while being in turn overshadowed by the powerful Mali Empire to the west.

In the late 13th century, power in Songhai was consolidated in the Sunni dynasty, which gradually gained independence from Mali and thereafter began to encroach upon the weakening Mali power. Songhai expansion was most aggressively advanced by Sunni Ali, who incorporated the eastern part of Mali into his empire, subjugating Djenné in 1471. He was followed by Muhammad, of the Askia dynasty, who further extended Songhai's influence and made Tombouctou again a thriving cultural center. After his reign, however, dynastic rivalry perilously weakened the empire, while revolts and raids from neighboring states further tested its endurance. An assault by Moroccan forces equipped with firearms in 1591 was the final blow, from which the Songhai state never recovered.