The Reign of Askia the Great

EARLY MODERN AFRICA and the WIDER WORLD HIST 1301 | History The Reign of Askia the Great Sonni Baru, the heir apparent to Sunni Ali's kingdom upon his death in 1492, held the position for less than a year. Sonni Baru was challenged by Muhammad Ture, one of Sunni Ali's generals and province governors, and lost the fight in April 1493. After that, Muhammad Ture grabbed the throne and became Askia Muhammad, or Askia the Great. With his rule, the Askia dynasty was established. By annexing vassal territories to the east and west, Askia the Great expanded and fortified the Songhai Empire, making it the biggest in the history of West Africa. At its height, the Songhai Empire included what is now modern-day Senegal on the Atlantic coast, Taghaza, with its rich salt mines, in the north, and Kano in Hausaland, in the southeast (modern-day Nigeria). Controlling access to the main commercial routes across the Sahara was one of Askia's main goals. His accomplishments were swift: by 1512, records show that even the mansa of Mali were honouring Askia. Another way that Askia the Great changed Songhai control was in its essence. Traditional rulers had been placed in charge of Songhai government at the province level under Sunni Ali. Askia discarded this concept in favour of appointing members of the royal family or dependable attendants. These provincial governors were completely reliant on the monarch as appointments, and they owed it to him to continue being in his good graces. Nonetheless, the governors had a considerable lot of power; they could, for instance, organise their own troops to levy local taxes. The state's propensity towards centralization under Sunni Ali was strengthened by the decision to forgo the usage of traditional rulers. The possibility that these provincial officials would use dynastic conflicts to establish their dominance and create a breakaway area or state was significantly reduced by the appointment of royally nominated officials who were intimately associated with the monarch. The fact that the state survived many dynastic conflicts in Askia's latter reign attests to the effectiveness of this strategy. Islam had a pivotal role in Askia the Great's power consolidation. Since Askia was not of Songhai descent, he was unable to justify his control via customs and traditions. Rather, he founded his power on Islam and swiftly established Songhai as a Muslim state. He justified his invasions into the non-Muslim Mossi area in 1498 by declaring a holy war against them. Additionally, he understood the significance of Islam for trans-Saharan trade and publicly expressed his support for the religion by travelling to Mecca after his ascension. Askia persuaded Egypt's caliph, the country's religious and political head, to acknowledge him as the caliph of all of Sudan when he was visiting Cairo. He lavished while in Mecca, giving out some 100,000 gold pieces to charitable causes and associated almsgiving initiatives. But the majority of his subjects continued to practise their traditional religions, and he did not compel them to change. By armed conquest, Askia the Great expanded his domain farther into the desert. The Songhai were able to take control of Taghaza, the northern centre of salt production, after their army drove the Tuareg nomads to leave. More than any other leader, Askia regulated trans-Saharan commerce. Along with instituting uniform weights and measures, he also hired trade inspectors in every empire's principal trading hub. The Hausaland kingdoms entered the wider commercial network of the Songhai Empire after seeing the advantages of the trade resurgence under the Songhai. Taxes on trade products, particularly gold and salt, which had also been vital to the economy of the Mali Empire, and agricultural output centred on the Niger floodplain were the main sources of revenue for the Songhai Empire. Cowrie shells were utilised for internal commerce, but salt continued to be Songhai's medium of exchange for foreign trade. Indian Ocean cowrie shells were imported. As a result, they were comparatively rare and impossible to fake. The principal cargo shipped via the trans-Saharan trade routes was still gold, but kola nuts and enslaved captives were also exported. The empire imported a wide range of products, including as fabric, horses, luxury items, and salt from the Sahara. Under Askia the Great, Timbuktu, which Sunni Ali had devastated, came back to life. Leo Africanus noted that in addition to a large number of enslaved individuals, the city was home to affluent merchants and artists. In Timbuktu, there were "many religious teachers, judges, scholars and other learned persons, who are bountifully maintained at the king's expense," according to his sixteenth-century report. Manuscripts and written books from Barbary are also brought here, where they fetch higher prices than any other goods. By the middle of the sixteenth century, calligraphers and scribes were employed to copy books, and public libraries had been founded. Higher education developed in Timbuktu alongside the return of Islamic knowledge. After receiving several tutorials from Islamic scholars in a variety of areas, students went on to become teachers after mastering these courses.