The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in Morocco's sixteenth-century invasion of the Songhai Empire. Though vastly outnumbered, the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia Ishaq II, guaranteeing the Empire's downfall. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... From the early 15th to the late 16th century, the Songhai Empire was one of the largest African empires in history. ...

Background

The Songhai had for centuries been the dominant force in West Africa, controlling the Sudan from the headwaters of the Senegal River to what is now Niger and Nigeria. However, a rivalry for succession after the 1583 death of Askia Daoud left the Empire in a weakened state. West Africa is the region of western Africa that, most strictly speaking, includes the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte dIvoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. ... The Senegal River, in West Africa, forms the border between Senegal and Mauritania. ... Events August 5 - Sir Humphrey Gilbert establishes first English colony in North America, at what is now St Johns, Newfoundland. ...

Meanwhile, to the west, the Saadi Dynasty of Morocco was at the height of its power, having just annhiliated a Portugese army at the Battle of Ksar el Kebir. In search of new resources for his kingdom, Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi turned his eyes to the gold mines of the Songhai. The Saadi Dynasty of Morocco began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed I in 1554, and ended in 1659 with the end of the reign of Sultan Ahmad II. The Saadi family claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad, through the line of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima Zahra (the... The Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a democratic republic located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, and is the westernmost country in continental Europe. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...

Desert crossing

Though many of his advisors warned of the dangers of crossing the Sahara, Ahmad I maintained that any path that merchants could travel could surely be used by soldiers as well. In October 1590, he dispatched a force of 1,500 light cavalry and 2,500 infantry, many of whom were equipped with arquebuses. The command he entrusted to Judar Pasha, a former Christian Spaniard who had converted to Islam. The army traveled with a transport train of 8,000 camels, 1,000 packhorses, 1,000 stablemen, and 600 laborers; they also transported eight English cannons. Italian cavalry officers practice their horsemanship in 1904 outside Rome. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus or hackbut) was a primitive firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Islam   listen? (Arabic: al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ... Great Britain lies between Ireland and continental Europe. ... A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. ...

After a four-month journey, Judar reached Songhai territory with his forces largely intact. After seizing the salt mines of Taghaza, he advanced on the Songhai capital of Gao. Taghaza is a destroyed town in present-day Mali. ... GAO may mean: The U.S. Government Accountability Office (formerly General Accounting Office) Golf Association of Ontario Gipuzkoako Aldizkari Ofiziala Grupo de Agricultura Organica This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same...

Battle

In response to the Moroccan incursion, Songhai ruler Askia Ishaq II raised an army of between 40,000 and 50,000 men, more than ten times the size of Judar's army, and awaited him near Tondibi, a city just north of Gao. Though the Songhai had a powerful cavalry, they lacked the Moroccan's gunpowder weapons, which would turn the tide of the battle. Gunpowder is a substance which burns very rapidly and is used as a propellant in firearms, specifically either black powder or smokeless powder. ...

In March of 1591, the armies met. After an initial cavalry skirmish, Judar manuvered his arquebusiers into place and opened fire with both arquebuses and cannons. The noise and tremendous initial damage began a cattle stampede behind the Songhai position. Faced with gunfire ahead and a stampede behind, the poorly-armed, less-disciplined Songhai army fled, ending the battle. Events June - Capture of Zutphen by the Dutch under Maurice of Nassau. ...

Consequences

Judar Pasha continued onto Gao and sacked the city, but finding little in the way of riches soon moved on to the richer trading centers of Timbuktu and Djenné. The looting of the three cities marked the end of the Songhai Empire as an effective force in the region. However, Morocco proved likewise unable to assert a firm control over the area, due to the difficulties of communcation and resupply across the Saharan trade routes, and a decade of sporadic fighting began. Morocco withdrew its forces by the end of the seventeenth century, leaving the region to splinter into a group of smaller kingdoms. Timbuktu or Timbuctu (Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city populated by the Songhay, Tuareg, Fulani, and Moorish people in the West African country of Mali. ... The location of Djenné within Mali Djenné (also Dienné or Jenne) is a city on the Bani River in southern Mali with a population of about 12,000 (in 1987). ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

References

• Davidson, Basil. Africa in History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
• Velton, Ross. Mali: The Bradt Travel Guide. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press, 2000.

External link

• The Invasion of Morocco in 1591 and the Saadian Dynasty