Askiya Dynasty - Historical Background

Historical Background

After Sonni Ali's death in 1492, one of his sons, Sonni Baru, became ruler of the Songhay Empire. He was immediately challenged for the leadership by Muhammad (son of Abi Bakr) who had been one of Sonni Ali's military commanders. In 1493 Muhammad defeated Sonni Baru in battle and in so doing brought an end to the Sonni Dynasty. Muhammad adopted the title of 'Askiya'. The origin of the word is not known. The Tarikh al-Sudan gives a 'folk etymology' and explains that the word derives from a Songhay expression meaning "He shall not be it" used by the sisters of Sunni Ali. The Tarikh al-fattash, in contrast, mentions that the title had been used previously. The early use of the title is supported by the discovery of tombstones (stellae) with the Askiya title dating from the 13th century in a cemetery in Gao.

A patrilineal system of succession was used in which power passed to brothers before passing to the next generation. Some of the Askiya rulers had a large number of children creating great competition and sometimes fratricide. Margin notes in one manuscript of the Tarikh al-Sudan indicates that Askiya al-hajj Muhammad had 471 children while Askiya Dawud had 333. The Tarikh al-fattash states that Askiya Dawud had 'at least 61 children', of whom more than 30 died as infants.

At the time of the Moroccan invasion in 1591, the empire was ruled by Askia Ishaq II. After his defeat, Askiya Ishaq II was deposed by his brother, Askiya Muhammad Gao. The Moroccan military leader, Pasha Mahmud, set a trap for Askiya Muhammad Gao and gave orders for him to be killed. Sulayman, another brother of Askia Ishaq II, then agreed to cooperate with the Moroccan army and was appointed as a puppet Askiya in Timbuktu. Yet another brother, Nuh, became Askiya in Dendi, a region south of the modern town of Say in Niger. From Dendi Askiya Nuh organised a campaign of resistance against the Moroccan forces.