1. What could bring down an empire?
Songhai
Question # 4
What could bring down an empire?

2. I. Songhai
In 1468 Sunni Ali took back Timbuktu and drove out the Berbers.
He swept throughout western Africa and took Berber salt mines.
He declared himself Muslim to keep the support of the townspeople.
By his death in 1492-he has built the largest empire in Western Africa.

3. A. Songhai and Askia Muhammad
Sunni Ali’s son refused to follow his father’s example.
Sunni Ali’s general, Muhammad Ture, saw a chance to take over the government.
With the support of the townspeople he drove out Sunni Ali’s family and made himself leader- renamed Askia Muhammad.
Built the largest empire in medieval West Africa.
Made Timbuktu an important center of Islamic culture with a university and set up some 150 schools to teach the Quran.

4. B. The End of Songhai
Lasted for 100 years-was conquered in 1591 by a small army from the Arab kingdom of Morocco crossed the Sahara.
Soldiers with cannons and guns easily cut down Songhai soldiers armed with swords, spears, and bows.

5. This map was created in The same trade routes were used by the merchants of the Songhai kingdom. What kinds of pictures do you see on the map and why do you think the mapmaker put them there?

6. The picture above is one artist’s idea of what the great Songhai leader, Sunni Ali might have looked like. Sunni Ali saw that the kingdom of Mali was weakening and he led his soldiers to conquer the area. He began the kingdom of Songhai. He also set up a complex government to rule all the lands he had conquered.

7. Silk, Ceramics, Beads, Islam from Europe and Asia
All three kingdoms of West Africa relied on trade for their strength and wealth. Look at the map at complete the “In and Out of Africa” worksheet in your packet.
Salt
Timbuktu
Gao
Jenne
Gold, Ivory, Wood, Slaves
Coming into West Africa
Coming from Africa and going to Europe and Asia

8. Click here to complete a scavenger hunt about western Africa
Click here to complete a scavenger hunt about western Africa. Use the “Scavenger Hunt” worksheet in your packet.

9. This is a photo of a mosque, or place of worship for Muslims, in western Africa. Many mosques were built of local materials.
Sunni Ali died in 1492 CE. His son took over the rule of Songhai but he did not accept Islam as a religion. Islam was accepted as a religion by many people in northern Africa. One of Sunni Ali’s generals, named Muhammad Ture, overthrew the new king and made himself king of Songhai. Ture was a follower of Islam (Muslim) and so he made Islam the religion of his kingdom.

10. For more detailed information on Songhai, click on the picture.
Songhai remained a rich and strong kingdom under Muhammad Ture’s rule. It had a complex government centered in the city of Gao, and great centers of learning. But later rulers were not as powerful. In the late 1500s, Morocco invaded Songhai to take its rich trade routes. Moroccans had a new weapon, the gun, and the army of Songhai did not. This led to the fall of Songhai.
(Photo courtesy of African Origin of Civilization by Cheikh Anta Diop)