Africanna Studies: Medieval Ghana , Mali 🇲🇱, and Songhai Empires III
This West African Sahelian civilization had been in the Existential course of duration from the 9th Century C.E to the 15th Century C.E. There was visible patterns of evolution , plateau , economic growth , and anticlimax leading to declination . Mercantilism such as trade and Commerce flourished unencumbered at the Center of Timbuktu. Political infrastructure , people , atavistic worship , and monotheistic religion took on kaleidoscopic and changing characters . Two Capitals emerged as the seat of assembly and government : Kikuya ( 9th Century C.E. ) and Gao ( 12th Century C.E. ) . Historical data points to the sequential leadership of Sonni Ali and Muhammad Ture. The indigenes were largely piscary descendants who conversed in the Linguistics of the Nilo - Saharan Branch. The fishing industry thrived .
Songhai Empire : Its Preamble
Songhai 8th Century C.E Capital
Kikuya
Songhai 12th Century C.E Capital
Gao
The primarily spoken Linguistics of the Songhai indigenes.
Nilo - Saharan Branch
This Songhai native reigned from 1468 A.D. to 1492 A.D. In 1468 , he audaciously staged a conquest , thus , Timbuktu was spirited away from the Tuareg. This interstice once had reclamation of its center following the terminus of Mansa Suleyman's final 14th Century C.E. power . This native continued his territorial expansion into the northern desert and forced the Mossi State of Southwest zone to retreat into the South of Niger . He seiged Djenne Djenno ( Bamako , Mali 🇲🇱 de jour ) . His well trained Cavalry was akin to the Mossi States . Given his navigational prowess , he led a fleet of pirogues ( canoes ) across thhe ocean . This leader was a non Muslim ☪️ who died in 1492 A.D.
Sonni Ali of the 15th Century C.E
In the Eastern section of Mali 🇲🇱 , Gao straddled along the Eastern bak of the Niger River and converged at the juncture of Tilemski Valley. As encumbered by the Kidal desert , Gao was an arid , sultry , and desiccated climate of season rainfall . It met the Northeasterly Harmattan wind as blown from the Sahara . Its annual deluge of the Niger River became the heavy & concentric as it emptied into the Niger & Bani rivers in Guinea 🇬🇳 & Ivory Coast . Once called KawKaw Kingdom in Middle Niger 🇳🇪 that presage and promulgated the Malian & Songhai Hegemonic Colonialism. The subjects paid obeisance to the Kings of resonating Sovereignty ( AL Yaqubi , Tarik ) . Local rulers by the 10th C. finalized their apostasy to Islam ☪️.
Gao History Lesson : Its Emergence
By the end of the 13th Century C.E , Gao fell under Mali's 🇲🇱 Colonial Authority . Thereafter , its autonomous independence restored itself amidst the 1st half of the 15th C . Sonni Ali Ber ( r, 1468 A.D . - 1492 A.D. ) colonially ruled over Gao after his territorial conquests. His successor was Muhammad Ture of the Askiya Dynasty. What is the motif of this passage ?
Gao History Lesson II : Its Dissolution
In the wake of Sonni Ali Ber's ( 1468 - 1492 A.D. Reign ) territorial conquest of Gao , he assumed Colonial rule over its indigenes. His successor , Muhammad Ture of the Askiya Dynasty , enforced the portable legacy of the colonialistic regime over Gao. There was a strong cardinality of its TransSaharan Mercantilism at Gao. The Mercantile Merchants bartered melon 🍈 , squash , bread 🍞, rice , cucumbers 🥒 , and sweet water . Sadly , the Human Commercialism and trafficking of Africans ushered in a sustainable capital gains & profits . Gao left an indelible mark if shame : MAAFA
Gao 15th Century C.E Economy
The Gao 9th Century C.E Kingdom existed in Middle Niger . It presaged the colonization by the Mali & Songhai Empires. Its myrmidons , namely the subservient subjects , paid homage and obeisance to the King . Their celebratory pageantry where subjects would protect their venerated Kings with parasol as they marched to the arena . His whetted coffers had dependency on the tributes and imposts . All men of regnant power and authority converted and apostasized to Islam ☪️ by the 10th Century C.E. What was the original name of its Kingdom ?
Kaw Kaw Kingdom
The Songhai King Sonni Ali launched a fierce conquest of the Mossi State and Mandingo land in 1464 A.D. He captured Timbuktu from the nomadic Tuareg of Northern Africa. Around 1473 A.D. , he besieged Djenne Djenno with his imposing Naval presence of 400 riverboat 🚢 at Maritime sea 🌊. Where did this event nautically transpire ?
Niger River Bend
The year 1493 marked as an eventual watershed in the late 15th Century C.E Sahelian African Kingdoms. The forthcoming civilization experienced the embryonic and final governance of political rejuvenation. The then Muslim General stealthily orchestrated a masterminded coup d'etat of this Dynasty in 1493 A.D. He succeeded and deposed of the King Sonni Ali's heir of the Sonnis Dynastic throne . Thereafter , he self proclaimed as the legendary Askiya , the titular designation for a King . His fleeting and fugacious reign took dimensional form from 1493 A.D. to 1528 A.D. . Askiya Muhammad Ture opened up a nascent chapter when he broached the end of this Dynasty.
Sonnis Dynasty : its Dethronement
The Medieval Songhai titular term and designation for a King . It was instituted by Muhammad Ture of the late 15th Century C.E.
Askiya
Askiya Muhammad Ture preserved the legacy of territorial expansion via conquests and expropriation . He expanded into the largest Sub- Saharan States of du jour Senegal 🇸🇳 , Gambia 🇬🇲, Guinea Bissau 🇬🇼, Guinea 🇬🇳 , Mauritania 🇲🇷 , Ivory Coast , Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 , and the Hausa State . This was Askiya Ture's consolidation of smaller political states into Federation of Songhai Empire . What other four vulnerable ecozones did Askiya expropriated and siege ?
Mali 🇲🇱 , Niger 🇳🇪 , Northern Nigeria 🇳🇬 , & other West African Kingdoms
Askiya Muhammad Ture of Medieval Songhai launched the second phase of territorial conquests and expansion . This encompassed the Atlantic Ocean to Bornu from the Berber country of North Africa to the Mossi States . Name the remaining ONE area of conquest .
Benin 🇧🇯 State of the South
Askiya Muhammad Ture of Medieval Songhai Empire was enthroned for over 3 decades . He instilled economic prosperity , and educational reformation. When was the reigning duration ?
1493 A.D. -1528 A.D.
Askiya Muhammad Ture became a remarkable Artificer of Medieval Songhai with ingenuity. As a visionary , and illustrious Monarch , he wielded a superbly clever artifice of his Empire . Enumerated below were his accomplishments: 1) Administration of government ; 2 ) Law Codification of Songhai; 3( Industry & trade ; 4 ) the Administration of Justice ⚖️ based on Sharia ( the Quran & the Laws of Prophet Muhammad ) & the orderly reconstitution of the Army . What other political agenda did he implement ?
Appointment of NOI ( the Chiefs ) to administer the provinces and the large Metropolis & assignment of FARI ( the Governor ) to rule over the Empire's subdivisions .
Askiya Muhammad Ture like his predecessor Mansa Musa of Medieval Mali 🇲🇱, paid obeisance to Allah during the festive Hajj in Mecca , the Holy city . How did Askiya Muhammad Ture's 1497 A.D. Hajj differ from the 14th Century C.E Mansa Musa's pilgrimage ?
Ture's spiritualism coincided with economic , political , and educational orientation . He & his retinue of Scholars , and Viziers or Officers of the States conversed with the Meccan ejusdem generis of Arabian Scholars , Doctors , Mathematicians , Crestomathy specialists , and Scientists .
Post 1497 A.D. Hajj events : Askiya Ture of Medieval Songhai reformed finance , trade , & commerce . The Banking and credits were ameliorated . He elevated Timbuktu and Gao as the 2 fabled cities and Metropolis as centers of trade and commerce . He installed a uniform system of weights and measure for the quarried & auriferous gold and other calibration . The Askiya placed imprimatur in one critical area as essential to the cardinality of the Empire sustainability. What was it ?
International Diplomacy was capitalized .Ture stressed the importance of the economy of International trade relations between the Africans and the Arabians .
Medieval Songhai of the late 15th Century C.E : Two fabled cities embraced the bartering system of trade and commerce . They enticed caravan Merchants & Mercantilists from far afield as Asia & Europe . The Mercantile transaction yielded an enhanced revenue generations and amassed fortune . What were the names of the 2 fabled cities ?
Timbuktu and Gao
The 15th Century C.E. Askiya Muhammad Ture and his myrmidons: Fari , Noi , and other bureaucrats engaged in immersive study at the University of Sanskore's School of Islam ☪️. Whst was the dominant motifvofvthe curriculum ?
Sharia : its Islamic ☪️ Law based on the Qu'ran
What was the appellative term for the late 15th Century " Chief " in Medieval Songhai Empire called ? This person upon appointment was charged with the administration of Songhai's provinces and Metropolis .
NOI
Askiya Muhammad Ture of Medieval Songhai Empire instilled the pragmatism of intellectual tradition. He usurped his plenary power to lay the progressive foundation toward the construction 🚧 of pedagogical institutions of Learning at 4 critical locations : Gao , Walata , Timbuktu ,and Djenne . These schools inspired the fruition and cardinality of precociousness ,applied pragmatism, scholarship , and algorithm . They uniquely churned out graduates of Clerisy , Scholars , scribes , jurists , Imams , physicians , and surgeons . The Askiya's educational reform embodied THIS special University within the fabled Metropolis of Timbuktu , which incorporated a richly vibrant , & didactic curriculum as taught in Arabics: Sudanese Literature ( 16th & 17th Centuries Incorporation ) and extraneous literatures ; Malian grammar, conjugation , and syntaxes ; Geography , Lexical Etymology, Astrological reading 📚 and interpretative exegesis ; Law , jurisprudence , and Sharia ; Science and Medicine 💊 and Surgery. What was the name of this Ancient University ?
University of Sanskore
In alignment with the political institutional ideologies , administration was centralized with Royal servants and the Regnant family . Its centralization resonated with political stability and plateau . There was a distinctive appellation for the Governor as assigned by the 15th Century C.E. Askiya Muhammad Ture in Medieval Songhai Empire. His role involved the administration of the Empire's subdivisions such as finances , military , and other. What was he called by name ?
Fari
The Familial Avarice & Vendetta : The fugacious and fleeting glory of the 15th Century C.E Medieval Askiya Ture's civilization came to a screeching halt . Askiya Muhammad Ture was , unfortunately, subjected to his eldest son's dethronement. He was deposed of vested political power in 1528 A.D. . The son's action brought about the King's anticlimax after 35 years of reign . Who was this avaricious son ?
Askiya Daoud who usurped political power and reigned from 1529 A.D. to 1528 A.D. The internecine rivalry of course preceded his enthronation.
Final Terminus of Medieval Songhai Empire after 1528 A.D. Who invaded and caused massive destruction ?
Moroccan 🇲🇦 Invasion
A Spiritual leader of Islam ☪️ claiming descent from Prophet Muhammad . In Arabic , the cognate is '...Khalifa... ' .
Caliph
Askiya Muhammad Ture ( reigned, 1492 - 1528 A.D. ) usurped his Islamic authority to declare Jihad on the Mossi State . He continued the Revivalism of the TransSaharan trade. He became an Abbasid Caliph Shadow in Cairo and self proclaimed as a Caliph of Sudan 🇸🇩. His territorial conquests included Air Mountain in the East and the Salt producing facilities at Taghaza . What else did he do ?
Ture's Incorporation of Hausa State into Trade Network of Songhai Federation .
Sadi Dynasty of the late 16th Century C.E arose in Morocco 🇲🇦 . It was another West African Sahelian Empire. In 1592 A.D. , Moroccoan people made an incursion of the Songhai Gold field . Who was the Dynastic ruler of Saadi ?
Ahmad al Mansur
At the Battle of Tondibi ( 1591 A.D. ) , Ahmad al Mansur led a victorious defeat and ambush of the Songhai Army . His army furtively and aggressively captured 3 cities .What were they ?
Djenne , Gao , and Timbuktu
Askiya Nuhu , the 17th Century C.E African Warrior, avenged the Saadi Dynasty Moroccan 16th Century C.E ambush . Nuhu's guerilla forces waged a fierce resistance against them and reclaimed the Gold extractive field . What happened to Morocco ?
Concession : The 17th Century Morocco 🇲🇦 lost Monopoly of the Gold trade to Europe 🇪🇺.