The Songhai Empire, Africa’s Largest Native Kingdom
by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
The Songhai Empire is a medieval civilization In the 16th century it became the largest empire ever to have been created in tropical Africa. The Songhai empire is thought to have been started in the 9th century as a small principality (in West Africa) located on both banks of the Niger River referred to as Al-kaw kaw by Islamic scholars. The Niger River is the main river of western Africa. It is over 2500 miles long. It has a crescent shape and it goes through Guinea, Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria. It finally reaches the sea at a part of the Atlantic Ocean called the Gulf of Guinea. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa (only the Nile and the Congo are longer).
I have always had an interest in African history, and it has always amazed me that Africa’s largest native empire is almost completely unknown outside west Africa. I’ve always considered it the largest most powerful empire in the world that is unknown in the western world.
The Songhai kingdom arose from a fertile area which was very suited for livestock rearing and agriculture. The Niger river is also very suitable for fishing. As early as 800 A.D. the indigenous people of the area made full use of the natural resources of their region and by the time they entered into recorded history, they were already divided into two specialized professional groups, the Gabibi who were agriculturalists and the Sorko who were fishermen. The Songhai kingdom’s borders extended from the central area of Nigeria to the Atlantic coast and included parts of what are now Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Guinea and Mauritania. Its capital was the city of Gao, on the bend of the Niger River in present day Niger and Burkina Faso where a small Songhai state had existed since the 11th century.
The Songhain empirei were the successor state to both the earlier Ghanain and Malian empires. The Songhai people are thought to have settled at the city of Gao as early as 800 AD, but did not establish it as the capital until the 11th century, during the reign king Dia Kossoi. However, the Dia dynasty soon gave way to the Sunni family, proceeding the ascension of Sulaiman-Mar, who gained independence and hegemony over the city and was a forbearer of Sunni Ali Ber. Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire and gaining independence for the then small Songhai kingdom.
In the 13th century Gao was a tributary of the large and powerful Mali Empire and it was in only 1275 that Gao managed to break Mali's hegemony over its affairs in a rebellion began by a couple of Gaoan princes who were also Manding (Mandingo) military chiefs. Sulayman and Alikolon Narr broke away from the Manding army and drove out them out of Gao and thus established the Za royal lineage. This breaking away however, did not gain Gao complete independence for the time being. Disputes over succession weakened the Mali Empire, and many of its peripheral subjects broke away. The Songhai made Gao their capital and began an imperial expansion of their own throughout the western Sahel. And by 1420, Songhai was strong enough to exact tribute from Masina. In all, the Sunni dynasty would count 18 kings.
Sunni Ali Bar
The first Songhai emperor was Sunni Ali (also known as Sunni Ali Bar), who reigned from about 1464 to 1493. Like the Mali kings before him, Ali was a Muslim. In the late 1460s, he conquered many of the Songhai's neighboring states, including what remained of the then declining Mali Empire. Sunni Ali quickly established himself as the empire's most formidable historical military strategist and conqueror.
At its height Ali’s empire encompassed more landmass than all of western Europe and was the largest indigenous empire that Africa has ever seen. With his control of critical trade routes and cities such as Timbuktu, Sonni Ali brought great wealth to the Songhai Empire, which at its height would surpass the wealth of it’s historical predecessor the Malian empire.
During his campaigns for expansion, Ali conquered many lands, repelling attacks from the Mossi to the south and overcoming the Dogon people to the north. He annexed Timbuktu in 1468, after Islamic leaders of the town requested his assistance in overthrowing marauding Tuares who had taken the city after the decline of the Malian empire. However, Ali met stark resistance after setting his eyes on the wealthy and renowned trading town of Djenne. After a persistent seven-year siege, he was able to forcefully incorporate it into his vast empire in 1473, but only after having ruthlessly starved them into surrender.
Ali imposed Islam on non-Muslims and forced them to abide by Islamic law. Due to his violent sack of Timbuktu, he was described as an intolerant tyrant in many Islamic accounts. Islamic historian Al-Sa'df expresses this sentiment in describing his incursion on Timbuktu:
Sonni Ali entered Timbuktu, committed gross iniquity, burned and destroyed the town, and brutally tortured many people there. When Akilu heard of the coming of Sonni Ali, he brought a thousand camels to carry the fuqaha of Sankore and went with them to Walata..... The Godless tyrant was engaged in slaughtering those who remained in Timbuktu and humiliated them.
After Ali’s death in around 1494 the Songhai empire fell into a period of civil war and discord between warring factions of generals and sons of Ali. This period of instability continued until the the rise of a general who had served under Sonni Ali named Muhammad. After uniting the warring factions through shrewd use of both political and military means Muhammad claimed the Songhai empire’s crown. After taking the throne Muhammad I would be known as Askia the Great, even though he had no real right to be the king. Not only was he not in the royal family blood line, he did not hold the sacred symbols (scarification) which entitled one to become a ruler. Furthermore, he was most likely a descendant of Soninke lineage rather than Songhay, which mean that by Songhay standards his family background would have not allowed him to be King. But Askia managed to bypass the traditional law and take the throne.
Askia the Great
Askai’s policies resulted in a rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of many schools, and made Islam an integral part of the empire.
Askai is buried in the Tomb of Askia in Gao, a World Heritage Site. Rumor has it that he gained the name Askia (which means forceful one) after Sunni Ali Ber's daughter heard the news of one of his wars
The successor of Sunni Ali Ber, Askia Muhammad was much more astute and farsighted than his predecessor had ever been. The intended successor of Sonni Ali was removed by rebelling Islamic factions. In 1493, one of his generals, Muhammad Toure, later known as Askia Muhammad I or Askia the Great, mounted the throne. He orchestrated a program of expansion and consolidation which extended the empire from Taghaza in the North to the borders of Yatenga in the South; and from Air in the Northeast to Futa Tooro in Guinea. Instead of organizing the empire along Islamic lines, he tempered and improved on the traditional model by instituting a system of bureaucratic government unparalleled in the Western Africa.
In addition, Askia established standardized trade measures and regulations, and initiated the policing of trade routes. He also encouraged learning and literacy, ensuring that Mali's universities produced the most distinguished scholars, many of whom published significant books. To secure the legitimacy of his usurpation of the Sonni dynasty, Askia Muhammad allied himself with the scholars of Timbuktu, ushering in a golden age in the city for Muslim scholarship.
The eminent scholar Ahmed Baba, for example, produced books on Islamic law which are still in use today. Muhammad Kati published Tarik al-Fattah and Abdul-Rahman as-Sadi published Tarik ul-Sudan (Chronicle(history) of the Sudan(an ancient reference to Africa, not political Sudan), two history books which are indispensable to present-day scholars reconstructing African history in the Middle Ages.
Like Mansa Musa, Askia also completed one of the five Pillars of Islam by taking a hajj to Mecca, and, also like the former, went with an overwhelming amount of gold. He donated some to charity and used the rest for lavish gifts to impress the people of Mecca with the wealth of the Songhay. Islam was so important to him that upon his return he recruited Muslim scholars from Egypt and Morocco to teach at the Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu as well as setting up many other learning centers throughout his empire.
Not only was he a patron of Islam, he also was gifted in administration and encouraging trade. He centralized the administration of the empire and established an efficient bureaucracy which was responsible for among other things tax collection and the administration of justice. He also demanded for canals to be built in order to enhance agriculture, which would eventually increase trade. More importantly than anything he did for trade was the introduction of weights and measures and appointing an inspector for each of its important trading centers. During his reign Islam became more widely entrenched, trans-Saharan trade flourished, and the Saharan salt mines of Taghaza were brought within the boundaries of the empire.
The following pictures are copies of works of scholarship by Africans during Askia The Great reign’s
Unfortunately as Askia the Great grew older his power declined. Askia Muhammad eventually went blind in his old age, and was deposed (removed from the throne) in 1528 by his son Askia Musa at the age of 80. He died at the age of 96.
Following Musa’s overthrow in 1531, Songhay’s empire went into decline. Following multiple attempts at governing the Empire by Askia’s various sons and grandsons there was little hope for a return to the power and greatness it once held. Between the political chaos and multiple civil wars within the empire it was a surprise in 1588 that actually ended the great empire. Morocco invaded Songhay unexpectedly that year to seize control of and revive the trans-Saharan trade in gold that the empire’s disorganization had mostly haulted. The Empire fell to the Moroccans and their firearms in 1591. The use of firearms was important because although Askia was an innovator, he never modernized his army and replaced their weapons with new European firearms, which in retrospect may have given them a fighting chance against the Moroccans. It’s speculated that Askia’s impending blindness may have prevented him from viewing their effectiveness before he was deposed. Without the importation though trade and implementation of firearms Africa’s largest empire, never had the chance to prevent the eventual conquest and colonization of West Africa changing the course of history.
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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Activists, voters and members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed frustration at the Democratic Party's apathy on issues that affect Black America. The Root: The Unbearable Whiteness of the Democratic Party...and America
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There is a secret that all of your favorite Black pundits and even members of the Congressional Black Caucus know.
Black people are on their own.
Black America’s unwavering loyalty to the Democratic Party is as much a function of the conservative racism as it is a belief in the values and ideals of the Democratic Party’s platform. We might not express this apprehension publicly (because why would we give that ammunition to the opposition party?), but we know what white people are going to do. We remember how white abolitionists fought against slavery while stiff-arming full equality for Black Americans. We remember how they supported integration±but not where their kids attended school.
And when it comes to problems that face the Democratic Party’s most loyal base, we know the party is more than willing to compromise our rights for their power. In numerous conversations with The Root, high-level staffers and members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed frustration with the Democratic Party’s apathy or lack of urgency on police reform, voting rights and other political issues important to Black America.
No, Black people are not devoted to the Democratic Party; Black people are devoted to Black people (Candace, Kanye and Jason Whitlock excluded).
But the 2020 election was different.
When the Democratic Party campaigned and told Americans to roll into their polling places to vote in the 2020 election, it seemed as if they had finally gotten their shit together. After witnessing a decline in Black voter turnout in the 2018 election, the party finally decided to pay attention to Black voters. Candidates touted policies that addressed systemic inequality without cloaking them in the euphemism of “economic disparities.” They had an open discussion on school segregation, criminal justice, reparations and policing during the primary debates. Even white candidates actually said the words “white supremacy.”
To be fair, the Democratic Party’s white contingent had no choice. White Democrats wanted their country back, and by “their country,” they meant their seats in the halls of power. They had watched their fellow white Americans send addle-brained mediocre white nationalists to Congress, the Senate and the White House. The 2016 election and the 2018 midterms had shown what could happen if Black voters became apathetic.
So Black people worked their asses off to hand the White House and the Senate to the Democratic Party.
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Some residents are pushing to make Buckhead its own city, the latest in a series of political ruptures by race and class across the metro area. Bloomberg: Atlanta’s Wealthiest and Whitest District Wants to Secede
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White is the chief executive officer of the Buckhead City Committee (BCC), a group trying to convince lawmakers and voters that the neighborhood should split—or de-annex—from Atlanta and become a city unto itself. There are many political hurdles, but White’s group has already cleared a few of them, and a bill has been introduced in the Georgia legislature to allow the de-annexation to come up for a vote next year. If all goes in the BCC’s favor, White expects the new city to be up and running by June 2023.
The push is part of a movement around metro Atlanta known as cityhood. Since 2005, communities in the region have formed more than a dozen new cities, with several more hoping to incorporate. But Buckhead City would be the first Georgia city to form by breaking off from an existing one.
A split could be devastating for Atlanta financially. Buckhead isn’t small—it stretches over 24 square miles—and the proposed new city would take with it nearly 90,000 residents, about one-fifth of Atlanta’s current population. Atlanta would lose an estimated 38% of its tax revenue if Buckhead leaves, according to the Buckhead Community Improvement District. The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and two local civic and business groups, the Buckhead Coalition and the Buckhead Business Association, have said they oppose de-annexation.
Buckhead’s secession would strike at the power of Atlanta’s Black political class. Black residents have been involved in a 50-year project to accrue power in the city, beginning with the election of the first Black mayor, Maynard Jackson, in 1973. Today, a mostly Black cast of elected officials is in charge of the largest city in the South, which has one of the highest concentrations of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the nation.
Atlanta as a whole is 51% Black , according to 2019 census data. An analysis by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that the new Buckhead City would be roughly three-quarters White.
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It took the jury just nine hours to deliberate after prosecutors, with the help of 45 witnesses, untangled a web of abuse that targeted Black women and girls as young as 13 and teenage boys. The harrowing stories of these survivors — and their bravery to share them — helped lead to the R&B superstar’s conviction after years of evasion.
One woman testified that R. Kelly gave her herpes when she was 16 and he was 42. Another shared how Kelly locked her in a room for days without food to eventually wake up having been drugged and raped. Others on the stand told of Kelly forcing them to get abortions, demanding they have sex with other women who were locked up in his studio, coercing them to have sex and perform sexual acts under the threat of a gun, and obsessively recording much of the abuse on video.
The verdict, many say, is evidence that a cultural tide has turned after years of activism. Since the Me Too movement took off in 2017, Kelly’s reckoning has been a major milestone in the music industry and the first high-profile case in which the majority of the victims were Black women and girls. These survivors had to fight especially hard to have their stories be heard and taken seriously.
Allegations go back as far as 1996, when a young woman filed a lawsuit against Kelly, saying she was underage when he initiated sex with her; in 2001, another young woman did the same. A year later, police indicted Kelly on 21 counts of child pornography after an anonymous source sent a sex tape to the Chicago Police Department. When the case went to trial in 2008, jurors were not convinced by the video evidence that showed Kelly sexually abusing what appeared to be a young Black girl, and Kelly was acquitted of the child pornography charges.
In the years since, activists — from Me Too founder Tarana Burke to the women behind the #MuteRKelly social media campaign — have worked hard to cultivate a climate that brings attention to Black survivors. The explosive Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly further brought allegations against the singer to light.
Only time will tell if Kelly’s conviction will be an outlier, or if it means that Black women and girls are truly being recognized and taken seriously in discussions about sexual abuse and assault. Much like Harvey Weinstein, who in February 2020 was sentenced to 23 years in prison for third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual acts, Kelly’s list of abuses is egregious, excessive, and damning. But there are signs that Me Too fatigue has set in, with the public less interested in following abuse cases, and Kelly’s music still remains popular on streaming platforms. Some who have long followed the allegations see the verdict as a step forward for the country’s most vulnerable survivors — but they note that there’s still a long way to go to change the reality that one in four Black girls will be sexually abused before age 18, according to the American Psychological Association (APA).
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We see this double standard play out almost weekly on social media. It usually starts with a celebrity or prominent person going viral for saying something that sends social media into a frenzy. Said celebrity then gets criticized and at times ridiculed in tens of thousands of social media posts. Despite the widespread and large volume of critics, it is the posts by prominent Black women that are often singled out and responded to with particular ire and contempt.
Two recent examples of these online clashes immediately come to mind: those between Dez Bryant and Jemele Hill, and Nicki Minaj and Joy Reid.
To be fair, any person that broadcasts their opinion is subject to and should be prepared for pushback; and to be clear, Black women are not exempt from having their critiques challenged. However, the pattern of celebrities using a prominent Black woman to redirect the outrage and criticisms lobbed at them is troubling.
A study conducted by Amnesty International found that Black women are the most abused group of women on Twitter. According to the study, Black women were “disproportionally targeted, being 84% more likely than white women to be mentioned in abusive or hateful tweets.” Given this already toxic environment, the hostility perpetuated by prominent targeting of Black women cannot be ignored. When pushing back against critiques and corrections, all users but especially ones with large platforms need to take care to not turn a response into a targeting campaign.
The common sentiment expressed by those singling out their Black women critics is ‘how dare you.’ People, whether subconsciously or not, often expect Black women to come to the rescue and to be their biggest cheerleaders. Black women are given plenty of space to boost those around them with a well-timed ‘yaaas, sis!’ and ‘I see you, king!’ However, when they don’t tow the line, the reprisal is swift and indignant. This was on full display this week in an exchange between former Dallas Cowboys star, Dez Bryant, and journalist, Jemele Hill.
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Secretary-General António Guterres said it was engaging with the government "in the expectation" the affected staff could "continue their important work".
Ethiopia earlier declared the seven "persona non grata" and said they had 72 hours to leave the country.
The UN has raised concerns in recent weeks about a "de-facto" blockade of aid to the war-torn region of Tigray.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths earlier this week said he assumed there was now famine in Tigray and urged the Ethiopian government to "get those trucks moving".
Ethiopia's UN mission in New York said claims of a blockade were "baseless".
Thousands of people have been killed and more than two million have fled their homes since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive against regional forces in Tigray in November 2020.
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Nearly 40 years have passed since downtown Rio was overrun with what one awestruck reporter declared “the greatest and most fantastical popular demonstration of all time”.
It was 10 April 1984, the twilight of Brazil’s two-decade dictatorship, and more than a million dissenters from across the political spectrum had hit the streets with a deafening and unified call for change.
“There was such euphoria, such unity, such kinship. You felt you could breathe the freedom,” said Caíque Tibiriçá, one of the organizers of that historic rally, which helped catapult South America’s biggest country towards a new democratic era – which some now fear is under threat.
This Saturday, Tibiriçá, now 70, will return to the same streets outside Rio’s Candelária church for what he hopes will be a similarly forceful demonstration of popular resolve – this time targeting his country’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, whose authoritarian idols the septuagenarian communist once helped evict.
“Brazil cannot take what’s happening any more. It’s one crisis after the next,” said Tibiriçá, who is again helping coordinate the demo and believes Bolsonaro’s assault on democracy and handling of a Covid outbreak that has killed nearly 600,000 Brazilians mean he must be impeached.
As objectors intensified their campaign against Bolsonaro, with plans for rallies in dozens of major cities, Tibiriçá urged them to seek inspiration from the broad political coalition that helped defeat the 1964-85 dictatorship.
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