KINGDOM OF SONGHAI

IMPORTANCE OF SUNNI ALI

• Sunni Ali founded what would become the greatest empire in West African history
• Declared independence from Mali, and created a bureaucracy
• Took over Timbuktu; rich trade city in Mali, and made it his own benefiting people under his rule
• Apparently Sunni Ali had magical powers coming from traditional religion
• Centralized the empire of Songhai, better than its predecessors Ghana and Mali

DECLINE OF SONGHAI

• The abundant amount of gold and salt mines in the Songhai Empire drew invaders
• Several weak rulers contributed to the demise of the kingdom
• Civil war caused weakness in the empire and fractured in severely
• Moroccans invade Songhai because of the already weak empire it had become
• Moroccans had guns which only made it easier

Untitled Slide