Empires
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Origins &
Rise:
 The Songhai Empire
(also spelt Songhay) is a
medieval civilization
thought to have started in the 9th
century and originated as a small
principality (in West Africa) located on both banks of
the Niger River referred to as
Al-kaw kaw by
Islamic scholars. In the 16th century it
became & still remains the
largest empire ever to have been
created in tropical Africa. The kingdom arose from
a fertile area which was very suited for
livestock rearing and agriculture. The
river was also very suitable for
fishing. As early as 800 A.D. the
indigenous people of the area made full
use of the natural resources of their
region and by the time they entered on
history's word state, they were already
divided
 into two specialised
professional groups i.e. the Gabibi who
were agriculturalists and the Sorko who
were fishermen. Its
borders extended from the central area
of present Nigeria to the Atlantic coast
and included parts of what are now
Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso,
Niger, Guinea and Mauritania.
Over time the
people of Songhai also became very adept
and astute traders and merchants. The
area's rich and fertile land and other
resources soon attracted traders to the
kingdom. To benefit from an expanding
trade, the leaders of Al-kaw moved their
capital from Kukia to Gao (known as
Kawkaw). As early as
the start of the 10th century Gao had
become the last stop for 3 major trade
routes. The first was the trans-Saharan
route from Egypt into Fezzan, Ghat and
Agadez. The second was from Tripoli and
Tunis from Ghat and the third route was
from Algeria and Morocco. These Arab
traders bought with them Islamic
influences which contributed in shaping
the direction of the empire. These
influences became more prominent from
the 11th century with the conversion of
king Za Kossoi to the religion. Over
time the Muslims were appointed as royal
court advisers and their teachings
impacted socio-economic and political
life as well as government.
In
the 13th century Gao was a tributary of
the Mali Empire and it was in 1275 that
Gao managed to break Mali's hegemony
over its affairs in a rebellion began by
a couple of Gaoan princes who were also
Manding military chiefs. Sulayman and
Alikolon Narr broke away from the
Manding army and drove out them out of
Gao and thus established the Za royal
lineage. This breaking away however, did
not gain Gao complete independence for
the time being.
In 1464, during
the 28 year reign of
Sunni Ali Ber,
did the small kingdom of Gao transform
into the Songhai Empire and the start of
a new royal dynasty.
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Empires
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