Sub-Saharan Trade Contributed to the Greatness of Songhai Empire

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How the Sub-Saharan Trade Contributed to the Greatness of the Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire is one of the major Empires in Africa. The rise of the Songhai Empire was as a result of the fall of the Mali Empire (Lang, 48). Just like any other empire, the Songhai Empire had its share of success until it eventually collapsed. The Sub-Saharan trade was one of the contributing factors to the success of the Songhai Empire. It expanded the empire’s reach to the outside world. Further, this trade was also the reason why the Songhai was invaded, just like the “fairly extensive cross-channel trade probably brought the growing prosperity of southeast England” to Caesar’s attention (Parsons, 43). The purpose of this paper is to explore the Songhai Empire, and specifically, to examine how the Sub-Saharan trade influenced the success of the empire.
The Origin and History of the Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire rose at a time when the Mali Empire had started to weaken in the 15th century. Before that, the Songhai was a state that comprised of four different groups which settled there at different times. The first group to arrive during the 9th century was the Sorko, who were skilled fishermen (Lang, 48). The Sorko occupied the banks of River Niger because it gave them access to the water where they could practice their fishing activities. The second group was referred to as Gow, who were skilled hunters. They also settled along the Niger River and hunted animals that lived in the river, such as hippopotamuses. The third group to settle in the Songhai area was the Do. This group comprised of farmers who focused on crop farming in the plains of the Niger. The fourth group, which came later on in the 10th century, was the Songhai. This group settled in the area and dominated the other three groups. They were expert horse riders and soon enough, the four groups started speaking the same language and referred themselves as the Songhai people(Lang, 48). The Songhai people had different skill sets which allowed them to be self-sufficient.
As the Songhai people flourished from their exchange of fishing, hunting and farming produce, they drew the attention of the Mali Empire. The Songhai state had gained prominence, thanks to the growth of its capital, Gao. Gao had become a center for trade and as a result, it became valuable, especially to the powerful Mali Empire. During the 14th Century, Mali’s Emperor Mansa Musa conquered the Songhai people and Songhai became a Mali province, although it had its own kings (Amoah-Boampong, 1). The incorporation of the Songhai into the Mali Empire further made Gao a prosperous trade center. Cloth manufacturing, jewelry, and leather production became the main economic activities in Gao. Of course, the Songhai people were not content with being subjects of the Mali Empire and they wanted to break away from their ruler. So, when the Mali Empire started to weaken, some of the Songhai leaders took this chance to re-establish their independence.
The independence of Songhai from the Mali Empire marked the beginning of the rise of the Songhai Empire. A very powerful local leader, known as Sunni Ali, took over and sought to expand the Songhai territory. His focus was on the major commercial centers of Timbuktu and Jenne. He was able to capture these major centers, but this provided him with another challenge; managing a large territory. Besides, his legitimacy as a leader was questioned because many of his subjects believed he was not a good Muslim (Linehan, Nelson and Costambeys, 554). Thus, he failed to consolidate his power because unlike other imperial rulers who established religious authority to gain legitimacy (Parsons, 68), he lacked the religious authority. Some of his subjects were concerned that Sunni Ali was mixing Islam with other religious traditions. However, there was one leader who managed to legitimize his power after Sunni Ali died. Muhammad Ture made his subjects believe that he took over power so that he could protect and “restore” the Islamic faith which had been neglected for years (Amoah-Boampong, 2). As a result, he gained the support of Muslim scholars, who were instrumental in the success of Goa and the Songhai Empire as a whole.
The Role of the Sub-Saharan Trade in Empowering the Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire was situated within the proximity of the trans-Saharan trade routes. A closer look at Roman Britain reveals that trade was instrumental in its success as it was in the success of the Songhai Empire. South-Eastern England had control of many trading links even before the conquest (Parsons, 42). These trade routes ensured that the territory flourished as locals exchanged goods with other traders. When Sunni Ali of the Songhai Empire gained power after the collapse of the Mali Empire, he invaded and captured some of the major trans-Saharan trading centers such as Timbuktu and Jenne (Amoah-Boampong, 2). These centers were highly commercialized and their economic benefits further pushed other rulers to conquer more trading centers. During Muhammad Ture’s rule, the Songhai Empire was in control of many trading routes, especially between Western Sudan and North Afri...