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Songhai Empire
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. Sonni Ali established Gao as the empire's capital, although a Songhai state had existed in and around Gao since the 11th century. Other important cities in the kingdom were Timbuktu and Djenné, where urban-centred trade flourished; they were conquered in 1468 and 1475, respectively. Initially, the Songhai Empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty (–1493), but it was later replaced by the Askia dynasty (1493–1591). During the second half of the 13th century, Gao and the surrounding region had grown into an important trading center and attracted the interest of the expanding Mali Empire. Mali conquered Gao near the end of the 13th century. Gao remained under Malian command until the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east, Nigeria to the Niger–Nigeria border, south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the Benin-Niger border, south-west, Mali to the Mali–Niger border, west, and Algeria to the Algeria–Niger border, north-west. It covers a land area of almost , making it the largest landlocked country in West Africa and the second-largest landlocked nation in Africa behind Chad. Over 80% of its land area lies in the Sahara. Its Islam in Niger, predominantly Muslim population of about million lives mostly in clusters in the south and west of the country. The capital Niamey is located in Niger's south-west corner along the namesake Niger River. Following the spread of Islam to the region, Niger was on the fringes of some states, including the Kanem–Bornu Empire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Askia Daoud
Askia Daoud (also Askia Dāwūd, Askiya Dawud) was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1549 to 1582. His rule saw the empire rise to a peak of peace and prosperity following a series of succession disputes and short reigns."Songhai empire." ''Britannica Academic'', Encyclopædia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2019. academic-eb-com.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/levels/collegiate/article/Songhai-empire/68696. Accessed 30 Nov. 2019. Background and rise to power Dawud was one of many sons of Askia Muhammad Ture, the first ruler of the Askia dynasty. Under his rule, the Songhai economy thrived and developed a profoundly Islamized society, with the government promoting trade, education, and literacy. Dawud and his brothers received a good Islamic education. Beginning with his father's deposition in 1528, the Songhai empire was shaken by a series of succession disputes until his brother Askia Ishaq I was peacefully elected Askia in 1539.Root, Mario. "Songhay Empire." ''Encyclopedia of Black Studies'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire (Manding languages, Manding: ''Mandé''Ki-Zerbo, Joseph: ''UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century'', p. 57. University of California Press, 1997. or ''Manden Duguba''; ) was an empire in West Africa from 1226 to 1610. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita () and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of Manding languages, its language, laws, and customs. The empire began as a small Mandinka people, Mandinka kingdom at the upper reaches of the Niger River, centered around the Manding region. It began to develop during the 11th and 12th centuries as the Ghana Empire, or Wagadu, declined and trade epicentres shifted southward. The Pre-imperial Mali, history of the Mali Empire before the 13th century is unclear, as there are conflict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunni Ali
Sonni Ali, also known as Si Ali, Sonni Ali Ber (Ber meaning "the Great"), reigned from about 1464 to 1492 as the 15th ruler of the Sunni dynasty of the Songhai Empire. He transformed the relatively small state into an empire by conquering Timbuktu, Massina, the Inner Niger Delta, and Djenne. Early life Sunni Ali was born the son of Sonni Muhammad Da'o, who appears in the kinglists of the '' Tarikh al-Sudan'' and '' Tarikh al-Fattash'' as the 10th Sonni ruler. His mother was from Fara, an area that was still heavily pagan, and Ali was raised in this milieu. As a Sonni, he also received an Islamic education, but practiced a syncretic, unorthodox faith. Reign Upon Sunni Ali's accession, the Songhay already controlled the Niger river basin from Dendi to Mema. His first major conquest was the ancient city of Timbuktu. Controlled by the Tuaregs since the Malian retreat a few decades earlier, in 1469 the Timbuktu-koi 'Umar asked for Songhai protection. He conducted a repressive p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songhai People
The Songhai people ( autonym: Ayneha) are an ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and ''lingua franca'' is linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. Predominantly adherents of Islam, the Songhai are primarily located in Niger and Mali. Historically, the term "Songhai" did not denote an ethnic or linguistic identity but referred to the ruling caste of the Songhay Empire known as the Songhaiborai. However, the correct term used to refer to this group of people collectively by the natives is "Ayneha". Although some speakers in Mali have also adopted the name ''Songhay'' as an ethnic designation, other Songhay-speaking groups identify themselves by other ethnic terms such as Zarma (or Djerma, the largest subgroup) or Isawaghen. The dialect of Koyraboro Senni spoken in Gao is unintelligible to speakers of the Zarma dialect of Niger, according to at least one report. The Song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historiographical
Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic by using particular sources, techniques of research, and theoretical approaches to the interpretation of documentary sources. Scholars discuss historiography by topic—such as the historiography of the United Kingdom, of historiography of World War II, WWII, of the Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Americas, of early historiography of early Islam, Islam, and of Chinese historiography, China—and different approaches to the work and the genres of history, such as political history and social history. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the development of academic history produced a great corpus of historiographic literature. The extent to which historians are influence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Empires
There were many kingdoms and empires An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred t ... in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. A kingdom is a State (polity), state with a king or Queen regnant, queen as its Head of state, head. An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military Outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a Hegemony, dominant centre and subordinate peripheries". In Africa states emerged in a process covering many generations and centuries. Most states were created through conquest or the borrowing and assimilation of ideas and institutions, while some developed through internal, largely isolated development. Economic development "gave rise to a perceived need for centralized i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahel
The Sahel region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a Semi-arid climate#Hot semi-arid climates, hot semi-arid climate and stretches across the tropics, southernmost latitudes of North Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. Although geographically located in the tropics, the Sahel does not have a tropical climate. Especially in the western Sahel, there are droughts in the Sahel, frequent shortages of food and water due to its very high Corruption Perceptions Index, government corruption and the semi-arid climate. This is exacerbated by very high list of countries by birth rate, birthrates across the region, resulting in a rapid increase in population. In recent times, various Coup Belt, coups, Foreign internal defense#Preemptive counterinsurgency in Africa, insurgencies, terrorism ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Askia Ishaq II
Askia Ishaq II, also known as Askia Isḥāq Zughrānī, was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1588 to 1591. He commanded the Songhai force at the Battle of Tondibi, where he was defeated by Saadian forces from Morocco who subsequently destroyed the empire. Early life and rise to power Ishaq was the son of Askia Daoud and a Zughrani concubine from the middle Niger region. He was the first son born to Daoud after his rise to power in 1549. Ishaq came to power upon the death of his brother Askia Muhammad Bani, while another brother, the ''Balma'a'' (military governor of Kabara), was bearing down on Gao with a rebellious army. After discovering the body of the deceased Askia, eunuch courtiers conspired to have Benga-''farma'' Maḥmūd b. Ismail take the crown, but another royal slave tipped off Ishaq, the oldest of the sons of Askia Daoud present that day. He and his supporters surrounded the conspirators, and he was proclaimed Askia on April 10th. Before engaging the rebe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Askia Ishaq I
Askia Ishaq I, also known as Ishaq Ber (Ishaq the Great), was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1539 to 1549, elected Askia following the death of Askia Isma'il. He was the fifth ruler of the Askiya dynasty. Rise to Power Ishaq was born the son of Askia Mohammad I and a Tuareg concubine from Dirma Kulthūm Barda. When Askia Isma'il died on campaign, the leading men in the empire peacefully agreed that Ishaq would be the next ruler. Reign Askia Ishaq was a ruthless and paranoid ruler, inspiring fear and anxiety among the Songhai people. Despite being a devout Muslim, he sent agents to Timbuktu on a regular basis to demand enormous sums of money from the merchants, which is against Islamic law. This damaged the economy of the empire and made him unpopular, thus gaining him many enemies. Askiya Ishaq I was completely ruthless as a ruler and executed any official whom he considered as a threat. The '' Tarikh al-Sudan'' gives this description: "If he imagined anyone was maki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Askia Isma'il
Askia Ismail was the sixth ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1537 – 1539, and fourth from the Askia dynasty. He was the son of Askia Mohammad I, the founder of the Askia dynasty, and Maryam Daabu, a member of the Malian royal family captured in 1501. Dynastic Struggles Ismail, a younger son, joined an abortive rebellion against his brother Musa, and was sheltered by the ''Maghsharen-koi'', the leader of the Tuareg community of Timbuktu, in the aftermath. He was recalled to court by Askia Mohammed Benkan, given the king's sister as a wife, and made to swear a public loyalty oath. Despite this, he plotted with his father, imprisoned on an island in the Niger river, to regain power. The conspiracy came to fruition in April 1537 when Benkan was encamped at a village called Mansur, site of the murder of his own predecessor Musa. Benkan’s captains turned against him and he was deposed by the Dendi-fari, who then proclaimed Ismail as Askia. Reign Ismail's reign began inausp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
