The Fall of Songhay and Atlantic Slave Africa has had great nations such as Ghana, and Mali. In keepingup with their tradition of great civiliztions, out emerges Songhay. TheSonghay Empire was a black trading state that reached its peak during the1400’s and 1500’s.Songhay extended from the central area of what is now Nigeria to theAtlantic coast and included parts of what are now Burkina Faso, Gambia,Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. Gao, the capital, stood on the Nigerriver.Songhai became powerful chiefly by controlling trade across theSahara. Most of Songhay’s people were farmers, fishers, or traders. Thetraders exchanged gold and other West African products for goods fromEurope and the Middle East.The Songhay Empire was based on the strength of the importanttrading city of Gao. This city won its independence from Mali as early as1375, and, within a century, it had developed into an empire. Songhaycarried on a vigorous trade with the outside world particularly with theArabic countries. The ruling class, in particular, continued to follow thereligion of Islam, but it is generally believed that the masses of thepopulation remained faithful to the more traditional West Africanreligions based on fetishism, and ancestor worship. Two of the more powerful rulers were Sunni Ali, who began his28-year reign in 1464, and Askia Mohammed, who began his 36-yearreign in 1493. Akia Mohammed was also known as Askia the Great.Songhay reached its peak during his rule. Askia expanded trade, andencouraged people to practice Islam, the religion of the Muslims. Histhree sons disposed him in 1591.The security of Songhay was undermined when the Arabs fromMorocco invaded and captured the key trading city of Timbuktu in 1591. Thus ended the last of the three great empires of West Africa. ...
