Songhai1

SONGHAI

The River Niger forms a vast and unlikely arc arcoss west Africa. Arising in the Guinea Highlands, not far from the Atlantic Ocean it flows north and east through the plain of Sahel into the Sahara Desert. Eventually it bends and turns east and south, finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria, having taken a four thousand kilometre detour through land which otherwise would be utterly barren. Right at its turning point sit Djenne, Timbuktu, and Gao, around which Songhai, the third of the three great empires of West Africa, flourished. 

The empire began its life as a small state at Gao, ruled by the Zuwa dynasty, about whom I know little more than their names. They converted to Islam around the year 1000 and came under the control of the Empire of Mali (based to the west), in the 1330s. The famously wealthy Mansa Musa built a mosque in Gao and the Great Mosque at Timbuktu on his return from Mecca. But as time went on, Mali became less and less effective - Timbuktu was captured by the Mossi of the south around 1343 and then by the Tuareg of the Sahara in 1433. 

Revitalisation came from a minor princeling, Sunni `Alī (1463-1492), who spent his thirty year reign carving out a kingdom encompassing the arc of the Niger from Jenne in the west to Gurma in the east. Tradition remembers him as a terrible tyrant and perhaps he was (conquerors often are), but the fury with which they remember him probably has more to do with the fact that at his death his realm was seized by one of his ministers, the Askiya Muḥammad (1493-1529). His reign saw the consolidation and further expansion of the empire Sunni `Ali had created, until it reached the scale depicted above. 

Askiya Muḥammad was deposed in 1529 and the following twenty years were full of fighting between his heirs, until the Askiya Dawud came to power and stabilised things for some time. The fighting does not seem to have fatally wounded the kingdom's prosperity, which derived from the gold of the West African jungle and the salt mines of the Sahara desert. These resources travelled across the desert to Europe and the Middle East and made the Songhai exceptionally wealthy. The city of Timbuktu, with its monumental mud-brick mosques, became a major centre of Muslim scholarship and mercantalism.

The wealth was the problem. Far to the north, Morocco had been impoverished by wars with Portugal. Songhai cavalry and swordsmen were overwhelmed by Moroccan muskets and cannon. The kingdom fell, a colonial government called the Arma was established over Djenne, Timbuktu and Gao. Only then did the Moroccans discover that the gold they had hoped to win came from far, far further to the southwest. 

There were two Songhai successor states - one controlled by the Arma, and the other south of Gao, at Dendi, which was outside the Arma's area of control and was extingusihed by another colonialist power: the French, in 1901.

ZUWĀ

Zuwā Alayman, First Ruler of Gao. According to legend, he came from Yemen to the River Niger where he killed the god of the place - a large fish with a nose-ring - and became the new ruler.

Zuwā Zakoi, Second Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Tukoi, Third Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Ikoi, Fourth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Kū, Fifth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā 'Alī Fay, Sixth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Biyay Kumay, Seventh Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Bī / Bay, Eighth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Karay, Ninth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Yama Karaway, Tenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Yuma Dunku, Eleventh Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Yuma Kību'u, Twelfth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Kūkuray, Thirteenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Kinkin, Fourteenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Kusoy, Fifteenth Ruler of Gao, under whom Gao was converted to Islam - this would place his life around AD 1000. He was referred to in Songhai as Muslim Dam "Convert to Islam."

Zuwā Kusur Dārī, Sixteenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Hin Kun Wunka Dum, Seventeenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Biyay , Eighteenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Koi Kīmi, Ninteenth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Nintā Sanay, Twentieth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Biyay Kayna Kinba, Twenty-First Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Kayna Shinyanku, Twenty-Second Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Tib, Twenty-Third Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Yama Dao, Twenty-Fourth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Fadazaw, Twenty-Fifth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā 'Alī Kur, Twenty-Sixth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Bēr Falaku / Barai, Twenty-Seventh Ruler of Gao, who campaigned successfully against the Mossi to the south.

Zuwā Yāsiboy, Twenty-Eighth Ruler of Gao. He married Fātī and when she did not conceive, he married her sister Umma. Then both conceived on a single day and gave birth together nine months later:

• • 1) Sunni 'Alī Kulun, First King of Gao (see below).

  • 2) Silman Nārī, Second King of Gao (see below)

Zuwā Dūru, Twenty-Ninth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Zunku Bāru, Thirtieth Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Bisi Bāru, Thirty-First Ruler of Gao

Zuwā Badā, Thirty-Second Ruler of Gao

SUNNI

Sunni 'Alī Kulun, First King of Gao. Born on the same day as his brother, Silman Nārī, he was washed first and was therefore the elder. In their youth, the brothers were sent to the court of their overlord in Mali, but they fled to the east and rebelled. Sunni 'Alī led his army west, besieged Jenne for seven years, seven months, and seven days and married the Sultan of Jenne's widow. He was succeeded by his brother

Sunni Silman Nārī, Second King of Gao.

Sunni Ibrahīm Kabay, Third King of Gao.

Sunni `Uthmān Kanafa, Fourth King of Gao.

Sunni Bār Kayna Ankabī, Fifth King of Gao.

Sunni Mūsā, Sixth King of Gao.

Sunni Bukar Zunku, Seventh King of Gao.

Sunni Bukar Dala Bunyunbu, Eighth King of Gao.

Sunni Mār Kiray, Ninth King of Gao.

Sunni Muḥammad Dao, Tenth King of Gao.

Sunni Muḥammad Kūkiyā, Eleventh King of Gao.

Sunni Muḥammad Fār, Twelfth King of Gao.

Sunni K.r.bīf / Kuni B.bū, Thirteenth King of Gao.

Sunni Mār Fī Kulī Jim, Fourteenth King of Gao.

Sunni Mār Ar Kayna / Kuna, Fifteenth King of Gao.

Sunni Mār Arandan, Sixteenth King of Gao.

Sunni Sulaymān, Seventeenth King of Gao.

1463 - 1492 Sunni `Alī, Eighteenth King of Gao. The account of his life his heavily biased as part of an effort to tarnish his reputation by his successors, who were not his heirs.

In 1469 he plotted with the governor of Timbuktu, Umar bin Muḥammad-n-Allah, who rankled under Tuareg rule, to take Timbuktu. He attacked Timbuktu  and both the Tuareg Sultan and Umar fled. The histories say that he sacked the city violently, persecuted the religious scholars, and intercepting the remnants as they fled towards Biru in 1470. Advancing on Alfa-Gungu ("Scholar's Island"), they say that he slaughtered the scholars there as well. Bias aside, the conquest of the region was clearly long and hard - he did not capture Kabara, the port of Timbuktu until 1477.

He led a number of campaigns against the Mossi of the southeast (who were not Muslims) after they raided his territory. In 1483 he won a major victory, further expeditions took him into Gurma (Eastern Burkina Faso & western Niger). On his way back from one such expedition in 1492, he was caught in a rainstorm, developed hypothermia, and died. Receiving justice in death, so later commentators said, his corpse stank so severely that his men removed his entrails and filled him with honey.

1493 Sunni Abū Bakr Dao, Nineteenth King of Gao. Taking power after the death of Sunni `Alī, he immediately faced rebellion from the future Askiya Muḥammad, who defeated him twice. He fled south towards Gurma and died on the island of Ayarou in the middle of the Niger.

ASKIYA MUHAMMAD

Abū Bakr aṭ-Ṭuri / as-Sillankī, who had issue:

• 1) Askiya al-Ḥājj Muḥammad, First Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below).

• 2) `Umar Komadiakha, who was appointed Kurmina-fari (chief officer of the state) by his brother, conquered Diakha in 1494, extending the realm far to the west, onto the banks of the Senegal river. He was left in charge of the whole realm 1496-8, when his brother went on the pilgrimmage to Mecca. In 1501 he led a campaign against the remnant of the Malian Sultanate and had to send to the Askiya for help. He died in 1520.

• He married Mina Kirow.

  • a) `Uthmān Tinfarin, who participated in the 1501 campaign against Mali.

  • b) `Alū Zalīl

    • i) Qāsin

    • ii) Bukar Shili-ije

    • iii) Muḥammad Shili-ije

  • c) Alfaqi Dunku, who was buried alive on Alfa Gunga with his maternal and paternal cousin Balla in 1529.

  • d) Askiya Muḥammad Bonkana Kirya, Third Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below).

• 3) Yaḥyā, appointed Kurmina-fari after the death of his brother in 1520. When sent to bring the Askiya's sons back into the fold in 1528, he was attacked, demeaned, and murdered by the former.

1493 - 1529 Askiya al-Ḥājj Muḥammad, First Askiya & Caliph of Songhai. He was initially an important official of Sunni `Alī. The story has it that in sudden rages Sunni `Alī would order the execution of officials and later regret their deaths. When this anger fell upon Askiya Muḥammad, the servants of the court, having noticed the pattern, hid the Askiya instead of executing him. Sure enough, Sunni `Alī soon regretted his command and they brought Askiya Muḥammad out of hiding, to Sunni `Alī's great relief.

At Sunni `Alī's death in 1492, Askiya Muḥammad saw an opportunity and rebelled against the designated heir, quickly driving him and his forces out of the realm. Then he declared himself Commander of the Faithful and Caliph. Almost immediately, he extended his realm far to the west, his armies reaching the Senegal River in 1494. With things in order, he departed the realm on a pilgrimmage to Mecca. On the way he met with the Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, who confirmed his Caliphate (according to the Songhai version of events - the Egyptians do not even record the Askiya's visit). In Mecca he dedicated a hundred thousand dinars (Again, no other source reports this). He returned in 1498.

Invigorated by his pilgrimmage, he led further campaigns between 1499 and 1518, mostly branded as jihads, until his realm stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Kebbi (northwest Nigeria) in the east and from Taghaza (deep in the Sahara) to Bendugu near the source of the Niger in the Guinea Highlands. 

In the 1520s, however, things fell apart. In his old age, the Askiya became blind, hiding his affliction by reliance on his Hugu-koray-koi `Alī Fulan. When he appointed Balla, one of his younger sons, to an important post, his other sons became convinced that he was under the control of `Alī Fulan. Led by Mūsā, they chased the Hugu-koray-koi off in 1527, and when the Kurmina-fari Yaḥyā was sent to sort things out, they killed him too. Coming to the palace, the found the Askiya preparing for his prayers and deposed him.

He married (first) the daughter of the Islamic scholar Anda-n-`Allāh `Alī ibn Abī Bakr, who had previously been married to the ruler of Mali.

He married (second) Zara Kabirunkoi

He married (third) Maryam Dabo

He married a fourth woman

He married (fifth) Kamsa.

He married (sixth) Sanay bint Fari-koi

• 1) Askiya Mūsā, Second Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (son of Zara) (see below)

• 2) Askiya Ismā`īl, Fourth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (son of Maryam) (see below)

• 3) Kibiru (son of Maryam), who married Akbaran Kasu

• 4) Askiya Isḥāq, Fifth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (son of the fourth wife) (see below)

• 5) Faran `Abd-Allāh (son of the fourth wife)

  • a) Muḥammad Hayku

  • b) Tiliti

• 6.) `Uthmān Yawbobo (son of Kamsa), appointed Kurmina-fari in succession to his murdered uncle in 1528. When Mūsā became Askiya, he sent many letters calling on `Uthman and his mother to remain loyal. He refused, and Mūsā marched against him in force. Realising his position was untenable, he fled to Tumni, where he died in 1556.

• 7) Balla (son of a Fulani woman), Adika-farma until 1524 when he was promoted to the important position of Benga-farma. His jealous older brothers threatened to split open his drum and he replied that he would split open their mothers' anuses. Then he marched to Gao, beating his drum all the way to the Askiya's palace - an irreverant or rebellious act, which convinced the brothers to give in. When one of his brothers, Mūsā, took the throne in 1529, he came to Timbuktu to seek an indemnity and almost received one in a personal audience with Mūsā. An ill-timed remark revealed his rebelliousness and he was buried alive on Alfa-gunga.

• 8) Askiya Dāwūd, Sixth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (son of Kamsa) (see below)

• 9) Bukar Kirin-kirin

  • a) `Uthmān Durfan

• 10) Shā`-farma `Alū Way

• 11) Ya`qub

  • a) Muḥammad Koi-ije

  • b) Bukar

• 12) `Uthmān Sīdī

• 13) al-Ḥājj

• 14) Dalla

  • a) Muḥammad 

• 15) Muḥammad Dundumiya

• 16) Khalid

• 17) Sulaymān Kangāga

• 18) Yāsī

  • a) Māranfa

• 1) Kuburu

  • a) Aribunda-farma Bukar

 1529 - 1531 Askiya Mūsā, Second Askiya & Caliph of Songhai. The eldest of the Askiya al-Ḥājj Muḥammad's sons, he was early appointed Fari-mondyo (administrator of the royal estates). In 1524 he was enraged when one of his younger half brothers received a promotion that he perceived as out of order. Over the next few years he became convinced that his father was dominated to an unhealthy degree by his Hugu-koray-koi. In 1527, he chased him out of Gao. The next year he rebelled, leaving Gao along with most of his brothers and killed his uncle when he attempted to mediate. Returning in force in 1529, he deposed his father and took the throne for himself. 

Then he turned on his brothers, attacking and eliminating those that did not flee.

 1531 - 1537 Askiya Muḥammad Bonkana Kirya, Third Askiya & Caliph of Songhai 

• 1) Bukar

  • a) Marba

• 1) Fāti, who married Ismā`īl, Fourth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai and had issue (see below)

• 2) A daughter

  • a) Maḥmud 

  • b) Kalku-farma Sa`īd

1537 - 1539 Askiya Ismā`īl, Fourth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (

He married Fāti, daughter of Muḥammad Bonkana Kirya, Third Askiya & Caliph of Songhai.

• 1) Maḥmud

1539 - 1549 Askiya Isḥāq, Fifth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below)

• 1) `Abd al-Malik

• 2) Amar

1549 - 1582 Askiya Dāwūd, Sixth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (son

He married Nāra, with whom he seems not to have had any children.

• 1) Al-Hādī

• 2) Askiya al-Ḥājj Muḥammad II, Seventh Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below)

• 3) Askiya Muḥammad Bani, Eighth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below)

• 4) Tunki Sālika

• 5) Daku Kama-ije

• 6) Muḥammad Bonkana

  • a) Huṣuli-farma `Alū Buṣa

  • b) `Umar Bēr

  • c) `Umar Kata

  • d) Yimba Koira-ije

• 7) Hamid

• 8) Sāliḥ

• 9) Askiya Isḥāq II, Ninth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below)

• 10) Askiya Muḥammad Gao, Tenth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

• 11) Askiya Nūḥ, Eleventh Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

• 12) Askiya Muṣṭafa, Twelfth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

• 13) Askiya Muḥammad Sorko-ije, Thirteenth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

• 14) Askiya Harun Dankataya, Fourteenth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

• 15) Muḥammad aṣ-Ṣādiq

• 15) Sulaymān

• 16) Yāsī Buru-Bēr

• 1) Bita, who married Maghsharan-koi al-Ḥājj Maḥmud Bēr bin Muḥammad al-Lim bin Ag-Alangay

1582 - 1586 Askiya al-Ḥājj Muḥammad II, Seventh Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (s

• 1) Muḥammad 

1586 - 1588 Askiya Muḥammad Bani, Eighth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (s

1588 - 1592 Askiya Isḥāq II, Ninth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai (see below)

1592 Askiya Muḥammad Gao, Tenth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

1592 - 1599 Askiya Nūḥ, Eleventh Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

1599 Askiya Muṣṭafa, Twelfth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

1599 Askiya Muḥammad Sorko-ije, Thirteenth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai  (see below)

1599 - Askiya Harun Dankataya, Fourteenth Askiya & Caliph of Songhai