Sunday 26 January 2014

The songhai empire in the 15TH and 16TH centuries (1340-1591)

Origins

In the years around 700 AD there was a series of great kingdoms developed in West Africa each of them became powerful in turn because they controlled the trade of salt and gold trade across the Sahara desert. The kingdoms that controlled these were Ghana followed by Mali and eventually Songhai.
The Songhai                                                                           
The Songhai had settled on both sides of the middle Niger River. They established a state in the 15th century, which was a large part of the western Sudan and developed into a powerful civilization. It was ruled by the dynasty or royal family of the Sonni from the 13 century to the late 15 century. The capital was at GAO, it was surrounded by a wall. It was a diverse market place where kola nuts, gold, ivory, slaves, spices, palm oil and precious woods were traded in exchange for salt, cloth, arms, horses and copper.
 
Songhai government
Islam had been introduced to the royal court of Songhai in 1019, but most peasants remained faithful to their traditional religion. The monarchy based at GAO ruled with absolute power. People paid taxes to the king in return for internal and external security. The royal court was responsible for the administration and the army. Large estates belonged to nobles. They were worked by slaves that did the fishing, animal raising for milk, meat and skins, and the agricultural work.
 
Women in the Songhai Empire
They participated in many actives such as some were traders and were as important as men. Wealthy women were sometimes educated and had control over their own property and resources.in the 16-17 centuries poorer women often worked as servants and wealthy households. A few were slaves and some were kept for sexual services.
Trade
The Songhai had to build and maintain a large army to keep order. This helped trade to be carried peacefully through the empire. Trade expanded in Europe which brought in European cloth, horses and weapons which were traded for slaves, leather goods and ivory from West Africa. Huge caravans traded goods across the Sahara desert and as a result commercial cities such as Timbuktu became commercial centers.
 
Learning and culture
Arab traders brought Islam to Africa in the 8TH century. Many rulers and merchants accepted Islam as their religion. African kingdoms adopted muslin ideas and learning. As this time knowledge of mathematics, astronomy and medicine was very advanced. Askia Mohammed a ruler welcomed Islamic scholars to Timbuktu which was the Centre of learning for the Songhai.is was 1 of the first universities of the world.
 
The fall of the Songhai Empire: the Moroccan invasion in 1591
During the 16TH the Songhai kings were losing control over their empire. They also didn’t control trade and struggle for power led to civil wars. But the real reason for the fall on the Songhai Empire was gunpowder. In 1591 the Moroccan army invaded Songhai and after defeating the Songhai they plundered cities like GAO and Timbuktu. But after 25 years the Moroccans lost power and the Songhai Empire split into separate independent kingdoms.



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