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The Songhai Empire was a state located in the western part of the Sahel during the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest African empires in history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its largest ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai people.
The Songhai Empire was a succession of dynasties that spread through portions of present day Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea, Nigeria, Niger, and Mauritania between the sixth and sixteenth centuries. At the empire’s zenith, from 1460 to 1591, the government took the form of an absolute monarchy headed by a sovereign who served as head of ...
The Portuguese and Dutch governments were unable to colonise West African kingdoms because they were too strong and well organised. As a result, the slave and ivory, rubber and gold trades remained under the control of Asante, Fon, and Kongo kingdoms.
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a pre-colonial West African trading state centered on the middle reaches of the Niger River in what is now central Mali. The empire eventually extended west to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and east into present-day Nigeria and Burkina Faso .
Nov 24, 2023 · Songhai rose to great wealth and power and, for almost two centuries, controlled West Africa politically and economically. Like many empires before and after, Songhai fell prey to hubris. Greed and the political machinations of human beings were the reasons for its downfall. This is the story of one of Africa’s greatest empires.
- Greg Beyer
The Songhai Empire was a state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th centuries. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. Initially, the empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty (c. 1464–1493), but it was later replaced by the Askiya dynasty (1493–1591).
Muhammad I Askia, West African statesman and military leader who usurped the throne of the Songhai empire (1493) and, in a series of conquests, greatly expanded the empire and strengthened it. He was overthrown by his son, Askia Musa, in 1528.
