This was one of the major empires of western sudan. The original homeland of the people of songhai was Dendi. Songhai existed at the same time with Mali but never had a state of its own. At that time it was ruled by a line of rulers called DIA. The capital back then was KUKYA before being moved to GAO by Dia KOSSOI.
In the 13th century, Songhai was captured by Mali and became a vassal state of Mali for a short time. In 1335, two Songhai prince were captured SULEMAN NAR and ALI KOLEN who had been hostages at the court of Mali escaped to Gao. ALI KOLEN became king and took the title of SUNNI which meant “ liberator”. ALI KOLEN then became SUNNI ALI and declared the Songhai kingdom independent. He replaced the DIA dynasty, which had ruled Gao from 1010 to 1335 AD.
As Mali grew weaker, Songhai grew stronger and the Songhai kingdom of Gao was gradually transformed into the Empire of Songhai during the reign of SUNNI ALI. It was during the reign of the new line of emperor in Songhai known as ASKIA that Songhai reached at its peak especially during the reign of ASKIA MUHAMMAD (MUHAMMAD TOURE).
THE FALL OF THE SONGHAI EMPIRE
The Songhai Empire also declined like Ghana and Mali but the immediate cause of the decline on the Songhai Empire was the MOROCCAN INVASION of 1591 AD. The sultan of Morocco sent his army to Songhai to seize the wealth of the Songhai to enrich himself with the West African gold. The army was led by Judar Pasha, but ASKIA ISHAQ II tried to resist but met with the most up-to-date weapons and soldiers that were well trained, well equipped and much disciplined. They pushed into Timbuktu and then Gao where they collected valuable items and took them to Morocco.
