Origin and Location of the Ancient Songhai Empire

JSS 2 

Week 1: Origin and Location of the Ancient Songhai Empire

The Songhai people made up the Songhai Empire, and they were originally part of the ancient Mali Empire. The Songhai were people from different tribes who united and lived in Songhai, settling along the eastern side of the Niger River Bend. They were majorly hunters, fishers, farmers and traders. Gao was the trade and capital city of the ancient Songhai empire.

The Sorko. Gow and Do tribes were among the early settlers around the Gao region until the 9th century, when Songhai horsemen came to the Niger River Bend and, over time, became the predominant tribe in the area. The four tribes and some other people became the residents of ancient Gao, and they united to make up the Songhai people, speaking Songhai as a language.

When the ancient Mali Empire began to lose its political power and decline, the Songhai people in Gao city were rising in political and socio-economic power. During the 1430s, the Mali rulers lost Timbuktu and Gao. Thus, the Songhai people asserted themselves, refused to pay taxes and eventually became independent, taking control of their land and trade. They also saw this as an opportunity, and Sunni Sulayman Dama rose and conquered Mema in 1460 and brought the Mema people under Songhai.

After the death of Sunni Sulayman Dama, Sunni Ali, who was a competent military commander, rose and rallied infantry, cavalry and naval forces (mainly the Sorko people). Together, they took Timbuktu and Dịenne, which were trading cities under the ancient Mali Empire, and Sunni Ali established the land of Gao as the trade and capital city of the rising Songhai Empire.

With time, the Songhai Empire became the third and largest Western African Sudanic Empire, extending from its initial location, which was south of the Sahara Desert along the Niger River, to over a thousand miles from the present-day Nige,r reaching to the Atlantic Ocean.