Songhay Empire Research Articles

Eunuchs and the Practice of Power in the Early Songhay Empire

Abstract Eunuchs were central to court life in many parts of precolonial West Africa, nowhere more than the Songhay Empire. This article argues that eunuchs were institutionalized there by the askia Muḥammad I in the late 1490s as part of his broader project of Islamic legitimation. Eunuchs, who served many practical functions, were also symbols of imperial splendor, placing the Songhay court on the same footing as its peers elsewhere in the Dār al-Islām. Once implanted in Songhay, the eunuch institution would develop a life of its own, culminating in the empire's legendary 4,000-strong eunuch cavalry in the 1580s. Yet until now, the traditional chronicle sources of imperial West African history—the Tārīkh al-Sūdān and the Tārīkh al-fattāsh—have not been read for what they can tell us about this understudied institution, one that significantly affected the construction of gender and authority in the region.

Scholars, Secrets, and Sultans: Clerical Authority in West Africa, 1450–1650

AbstractAvailable historical sources for West Africa's Middle Niger c. 1450–1650 reveal that the ‘indigenous’ (non-Arab) Islamic scholarly class was already a self-conscious, independent social entity long before the clerical revolutions of later centuries. The influence of Muslim scholars was not limited to urban environments like Timbuktu, and clerical elites claimed a number of mostly independent communities throughout West Africa by the end of the sixteenth century. Mostly based on a reading of Arabic texts such as Muḥammad al-Kābarī's Bustān al-fawāʾid (‘Garden of Beneficial Prayers’) in dialogue with the Tārīkh Ibn al-Mukhtār and Tārīkh al-Sūdān (‘Timbuktu Chronicles’), this article argues that Muslim scholars were engaged in a spiritual war for independence clearly on display since the beginning of the Songhay empire. Scholarly texts display deep concern for tempering unjust political power and the protection and attraction of women, discourses that reveal a perilous clerical struggle to assert community independence. Later armed jihads were thus not so much a break from earlier traditions of clerical pacificism, they were the natural evolution from this earlier spiritual jihad.

Moon Witch, Spider King

Moon Witch, Spider King

Partners in empire: Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur and Queen Elizabeth I

ABSTRACT During the late 1500s, the imperial centres of London and Marrakech could not have been more different. Both Queen Elizabeth I (1553–1603) and Sultan Ahmad al-Mansūr (1549–1603) reigned over kingdoms whose political, cultural, and religious landscapes appeared to be worlds apart. Yet despite these divergent realities of Tudor England and Sa’di Morocco, both Elizabeth I and Ahmad al-Mansūr shared one common goal that eventually brought them together to form an unlikely alliance: empire-building. From a shared curiosity of one another’s fledgling empires to a desire to strike a mutually beneficial alliance, Elizabeth I and Ahmad al-Mansūr forged ties that were unprecedented for both Tudor England (1485–1603) and Saʿdi Morocco (1554–1660). Moreover, their alliance was not necessarily one of power imbalances, as one might anachronistically presume. During their reigns, England had yet to establish its first colony in the Atlantic, while Morocco had extended its territorial control deep into the Niger Delta after successfully invading the West African Songhay Empire in 1591. Elizabeth I and Ahmad al-Mansūr each held a significant amount of leverage in setting the terms for their alliance. Throughout their communications, these two rulers contrived plots against foes, negotiated trade agreements, and, most importantly, took steps to secure their respective imperial interests. By situating the correspondences between Elizabeth I and Ahmad al-Mansūr alongside historical developments, this paper argues that the alliance between these two rulers was foundational in each of their ascents to the ranks of Atlantic powers and that the fates of their empire-building projects were intertwined.

Economic and Political Factor of Songhay Empire the Emergence of Kebbi Kingdom Nigeria, <i>c.</i> 1500s

The influence of the Almoravids movement in 1076 was one of the landmark developments that engendered the collapsed of Ghana Empire, from whence, Mali came into the limelight of political history in Western Sudan. From the second half of the 15th century, Mali Empire became weakened and disintegrated and thus eventually led to the emergence and rise to glory of the Songhay Empire. The Songhay was the last of the great Empires of the Western Sudan and the language called the Emghedesi remained the lingua franca until the middle of the 19th century. The expansion of the Songhay Empire since the second half of the 15th century was mainly along the large arc of the Niger River, from Dendi (Gaya Dosso region-Niger) on Nigerian border. The Niger River became important commercial waterways with the development of Timbuktu and Jenne as the principal extrepots of Western Sudan trade. Besides, Kanta Mohammad (Salih), a local chief of a vassal area gave military supports to Songhay Empire and defended it against Air and Borno having been aided by Kano and Katsina. In addition, between 1516 and 1517, Kanta Mohammad and his army took part in a Songhay expedition against Agadez in which afterward quarreled with Dendi-fari over division of booty. With these developments, Kanta broke away with Songhay and established himself as an independent State of Kebbi. As a result of vicissitude of time, Leka became the early capital of Kebbi kingdom with the celebrated attack on Borno in 1561, the wall of Surame was already built. In the meantime, the heartlands of Kebbi which lie to the west of Sokoto fall between the lands bordering the Niger, inhabited by the Songhay-speaking people territories of Zamfara and Katsina. The paper adopted the qualitative analysis as well as synthesized research methodology has so far examined and interrogated of the factor of Songhay Empire in the emergence of Kebbi in c.1500s.

Sub‐Saharan Africa: Jihads, Slave Trade and Early Colonialism in the Long Eighteenth Century

AbstractThis study explores the meaning of the eighteenth century for sub‐Saharan African historiography. The period is understood as an extension of changes initiated with the collapse in 1591 of the West African Songhay empire and the presence of the Portuguese on the coast of West Central Africa at the end of the fifteenth century. The end of the long eighteenth century is delimited by the British occupation of Cape Colony, the end of the British slave trade and the jihads in central Sudan. This long eighteenth century is marked by the transatlantic slave trade and its effects on African societies.

Rulers, Scholars, and Invaders: A Select Bibliography of the Songhay Empire

The Songhay Empire was a remarkable west African state, flourishing in several areas including territorial and trade expansion, development of a strong military and centralized government, unprecedented support for learning and scholarship, and skilful relations with the greater Sudanic and Islamic lands. Songhay arose out of the remains of the Mali empire under the rule of Sonni Ali ca. 1464. Yet it was the empire's second ruler, Askiya Muhammad, who initiated the century-long golden age of peace and stability, bringing Songhay to its zenith. This era was particularly fruitful for the cities of Gao, Timbuktu, and Jenne, the empire's administrative, scholarly, and trade centers respectively. Timbuktu soared to preeminence in the Sudan and became known in other parts of the Muslim world, producing many respected scholars. However, by the later part of the sixteenth century fractious disarray among the descendants of Askiya Muhammad weakened the state, ultimately leading to the Moroccan invasion of 1591. Songhay's capitulation to the invaders ended the age of the great medieval west African states.

Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sadi's Tarikh al-sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents

Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sadi's Tarikh al-sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents

:Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sadi's "Tarikh al-Sudan" down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents

:<i>Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sadi's "Tarikh al-Sudan" down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents</i>

JOHN HUNWICK, Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa⊂di's Ta⊃rikh al-s―ud―an Down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents, Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1999). Pp. 477. $141.00 cloth.

Al-Sa⊂di's Ta⊃rikh al-sudan is an essential source for the history of West Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries and a significant volume in the library of Muslim history. Although a French translation by Octave Houdas has been available for more than a century, al-Sa⊂di's history has been used primarily by specialists and is known more generally only through references to it in textbooks and monographs. The publication of John Hunwick's translation makes this important work readily available to a broad audience in a readable and very usable form.

The Near and Middle East - John Hunwick: Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire, Al-Sa‘dī’s Ta'rīkh al-sūdan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents. 412 pp. Leiden, Boston and Cologne: Brill, 1999. Guilders 239, $140.75.

The Near and Middle East - John Hunwick: Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire, Al-Sa‘dī’s Ta'rīkh al-sūdan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents. 412 pp. Leiden, Boston and Cologne: Brill, 1999. Guilders 239, $140.75.

Timbuctu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa'di's Ta'rikh Al-Sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents

Timbuctu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa'di's Ta'rikh Al-Sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire

Review. Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire. Followed by 'The Epic of Askia Mohammed' recounted by Nouhou Malio. Hale, Thomas A.

Review. Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire. Followed by 'The Epic of Askia Mohammed' recounted by Nouhou Malio. Hale, Thomas A.

Book reviews

Investment in human resources development: an escape route for trapped minorities a review essay Ausaf Ahmad, Indian Muslims, Issues in Social and Economic Development, New Delhi: Khama Publishers, 1993, pp.164. Thomas A Hale Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire, followed by The Epic of Askia Mohammed recounted by Nouhou Malio, Gainesville: University of Florida Press/ Centre for African Studies, 1990, pp 313., Price $ 29.95. Steven Barboza American Jihad: Islam after Malcolm X. New York: Doubleday, 1994. 370 pp. Hakim Mohammad Said, ed., Essays on Islam, Felicitation Volume in Honour of Professor W. Montgomery Watt Karachi: Hamdard Foundation, Pakistan. pp. 241, Price Rs. 500/‐ or U.S.$50.00. Wilfred Cantwell Smith What is Scripture? – A Comparative Approach London: S.C.M., 1993, p381. Price L17.50 Seyyed Hossein Nasr A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World, Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1993, 270 pp. L10.50.

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access Scribe, Griot and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire. By THOMAS A. HALE. Gainesville, University of Florida Press, 1990. 313 pp. BELINDA JACK BELINDA JACK CHRIST CHURCHOXFORD Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar French Studies, Volume XLVII, Issue 2, April 1993, Pages 244-a–244, https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/XLVII.2.244-a Published: 01 April 1993

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire. THOMAS A. HALE

American EthnologistVolume 19, Issue 4 p. 846-847 Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire. THOMAS A. HALE JUDITH T. IRVINE, JUDITH T. IRVINE Brandeis UniversitySearch for more papers by this author JUDITH T. IRVINE, JUDITH T. IRVINE Brandeis UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: November 1992 https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1992.19.4.02a00310AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume19, Issue4November 1992Pages 846-847 RelatedInformation

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire Followed by The Epic of Askia Mohammed Rerecounted by Nouhou Malio

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire Followed by The Epic of Askia Mohammed Rerecounted by Nouhou Malio

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire

Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire