Ali The Great: The Rise Of The Mali Empire

of the city of Gao, after rebelling against the Mali Empire, continued to expand their territory. Ali the Great, who ruled Songhai from 1464 to 1492, formed a fierce army of cavalry (horse-riders) and infantry (foot soldiers) and captured the cities of Timbuktu and Djenne along the Niger River. He incorporated the people he conquered into his army, which helped increase its numbers and strength.

Another strong Songhai ruler was Askia Muhammed Touré who ruled from 1493 to 1528. He overthrew the Songhai king and proclaimed himself king. He expanded the boundaries of Songhai’s empire until it reached its greatest extent. He also created a system for governing his vast empire, dividing the empire into five provinces and appointing a governor to each province.
At its peak, the Songhai Empire stretched from the gold fields in the south to the salt mines in the north and from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the modern-day countries of Niger and Nigeria in the east.

Although the Songhai Empire was the largest of the three empires, it was also the shortest lived. In the 1580s, Moroccan forces from across the Sahara invaded first the salt mines of Taghaza and then the heart of the Songhai Empire. The Songhai Empire fell around