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Empires 
Part
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Muhammad Askia
The Great:
 Sunni Ali's
successor to the throne of the
Empire of
Songhai was his son Abu Bakr Dao who
only reigned for just over one year and
was overthrown in a coup d'etat by
Sunni's trusted Serahule general and
prime minister, Mohammed Ture Ibn Abi
Bakr or King Askia Muhammad I. He reigned
from 1493 to 1528 and under him Songhai
saw a rapid expansion of its territory
making Songhai the largest former
African empire in history. His term also
saw an increase of trade with Europe,
the building of many Islamic schools and
incorporating Islam into the workings of
the government. This was the period that
saw the peak of the ancient civilization
of the Songhai.
 When he
came to the throne his first challenge
was to legitimize himself on the throne
and to ensure that his children would
become accepted rulers of the empire. To
achieve this end he either executed or
exiled from the empire all members of
the previous two dynasties which were
the Za dynasty that originally founded
the capital Gao and the Sunni dynasty
that ruled until 1493.
Religion:
After securing his place on the throne
he tried to win over the allegiance and
support of his people through Islam
 which he calculated would act as a
unifying force. He also made friendly
overtures to the Muslim population whom
he and his predecessor Sunni Ali had
persecuted. Many appointed as royal
advisers. To further emphasise his
religious credentials he went on an
extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca in 1497.
He spent vast amounts of gold on giving
to charity, gifts and the purchase of a
hostel located in Cairo for use by
Sudanese pilgrims. In recognition of
this, Askia Muhammad, was awarded the
title "Caliph of The Blacks" by the then
Sharif of Mecca. As a result of this
title he became the Islamic leader of
Western Sudan. Like Mansa Musa before
him he came back home with a group of
respected Islamic scholars who served as
administrators, educators and judges as
well as giving out religious advice. As
relations with the Muslim world improved
so more trade and prosperity came to
Songhai.
Territorial
Expansion:
With a disciplined,
well trained, and well equipped army the
king began a campaign of conquest
through Jihad by marching south and
attacking the Mossi of Yatenga whom he
failed to defeat but nevertheless the
battle reinforced the grip of the empire
in its southern territories. From here
he drove westward and attacked and
conquered the remaining part of the
Manding (Mali)
Kingdom in a war which lasted 13 years.
He then proceeded with his army eastward
and re-conquered Agadez (Afades) and
reduced Hausaland states of Katsina and
Kano and Zamfara to subordinate states
of the Songhai Empire. In the north, he
also consolidated Ali's conquest and
extended the empires political influence
into the Sahara dessert as far north as
the salt mining center of Taghaza.
Administration
& Government:
To consolidate
all these territorial gains he
established a sophisticated system of
administration. He scrapped the existing
political divisions and re-drew the map
of the empire by splitting it into four
regions with each region having an
appointed governor. Local chiefs and
rulers had authority over their
geographic area but were answerable to
the governors. Judges were put in place
in all the major towns within the empire
meting out Sharia Law. As for the
capital city the king had direct
authority and controlled the government
workings.
The king created a
council of ministers which assisted his
rule in the metropolitan area and the
rest of the empire. These included the
defence minister or Balama,
finance minister or Fari-Mundya,
foreign affairs minster or
Korey-farma and the Bari Farma
or minister of fisheries, lakes and
rivers. All these government posts were
held by the kings own family or people
who had married into the royal family.
Finances:
In order to pay for the cost of the
large and complex administration and
meet the cost of maintaining a powerful
standing army a dependable source of
imperial revenue had to be created. The
most significant of these sources of
income were derived from the royal
estates spotted all over the empire and
worked on by slaves under an estate
manager or Fanfa. Each estate had
to produce a set quantity of a
particular crop or other commodity every
year. These could be in the form of
rice, corn or dried fish. Some slaves
were put to work as craftsmen making a
fixed number of arrows, spears or say
boats each year. Some of these weapons
were sold to create income for the royal
coffers.
To ensure maximum income
from customs duties and tolls Askia
actively promoted commerce and trade for
example controlling the meddlesome
Tuareg on the trade routes. He
standardised the system of weights and
measures and inspectors regularly went
to the major trade markets to check
traders for any fiddling or
short-measures. As a result of the above
reforms and new measures trade rapidly
expanded. The commercial activities of
Songhai were centred on the cities of
Timbuktu which regulated commerce in the
northwest and west; Gao which served the
east and north east such as Egypt,
Tripoli and Kano. The last city was
Jenne which was the commercial centre
for domestic commercial activity. The
main exports of Songhai were still
slaves, ivory, gold while her major
imports were salt from Taghaza and
horses from North Africa. The money
medium of exchange was normally cowry
shells though it is thought that plain
gold coins may have been used in
Timbuktu.
Education:
Another achievement of Askia The Great
was in the field of education. The king
encouraged education to a level
unsurpassed in the history of western
Sudan. He promoted higher education and
professors and scholars were attracted
to Timbuktu which became an august
educational centre. There were up to 150
Koranic schools in Timbuktu alone and
university education was provided by the
Sankore mosque which saw the graduation
of a large number of eminent historians,
theologians and jurists.
One of
them was the distinguished scholar Ahmad
Baba who created a biographical
dictionary and wrote as many as 50 books
on Islamic Law.
In the 16 century
the empire had now reached its peak of
glory, wealth and power. Yet by 1596
Songhai had faded out of the stage of
history.
Deposed
King Askia's last years were humiliating
and full of suffering. He was almost 80
years old and blind. His son deposed him
in 1528. He died in 1538 at the age of
96 back in his old palace. His reign
represented the most illustrious period
in the history of the Western Sudan. He
is regarded as the greatest of the
former kings of Songhai. He consolidated
the work of Sunni Ali Ber and expanded
the empire which eventually became the
largest and wealthiest of the kingdoms
of the Western Sudan.
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