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when did sonni ali take power?
1464
what does 'ber' mean in sonni ali 'ber'
'ber' is an epithet for 'great' (sonni ali 'the great')
define 'dynasty'
a line of hereditary or blood-related rulers of a state, kingdom, empire etc. can effectively be thought of as a 'ruling family' or 'house'
main way sonni ali consolidated his power was through:
taking control of the main cities brutally and militarily (e.g. taking timbuktu from the tuareg nomads at the behest of the ulema or the 7 year siege of djenné)
examples of sonni ali's brutality include: (during the takeover of timbuktu)
-enslaving muslims
-driving mothers to committing infanticide
-executing daughters of rival lords in kabara
how did sonni ali secure control of djenné
7 year siege + kinship (marrying the ruler so tying the kingdom to songhai through familial means)
did sonni ali have legitimacy?
yes because:
-through hereditary means as he was related to sonni souleyman dam
-through his military prowess
-religious backing of the ulema
however:
-ethical argument as he seized power immorally
when did sonni ali capture timbuktu?
1468
religion of sonni ali:
-professed himself to be muslim yet his practices didnt show as such.
-he was largely syncretic in his beliefs, integrating aspects of animism and islam. al-maghili a berber scholar accused him of practices such as venerating trees and stones, black magic, fortune tellers.
-didnt implement shari'ah law in songhai
-didnt pray according to sunnah (e.g. saying maghrib maghrib for the maghrib prayer)
-didnt clamp down on islamic malpractice in songhai
-but repressed the ulema very harshly from 1468-73 and then 1477-85 after a brief reconciliation as he viewed ulema as more loyal to the tuaregs rather than the songhai
why did he pursue this religious policy?
-could be laziness/ unwillingness to practice islam
-appeal to rural traditional populations who were animist/ more tentative to accept islam
-ulema were simply an elite minority, everyone else would support this
-not concerned with religion, more military minded
other military achievements of sonni ali:
capturing the peoples of dogon, soninke, made and tuareg during his 28 year reign
what did these conquests rely on?
-organisation: each province had a governor controlling the military in his region
-technology: troops fought with metal breastplates, knives, sabres, lances, bows, arrows, cavalry, battle canoes
politics and organisation of sonni ali:
ali organised empire into provinces each with one chief who recognised his authority with 8 provinces and 3 royal residences
names of the eight provinces:
bara, dirma, bani, kala, tondi, katala, baghena, taraton
names of the royal residences:
kukyia, kabara, dirma
what was the political model of songhai?
suzerainty: provinces had some autonomy as long as they paid allegiance to the suzerain in some form of tribute
core of songhai:
djenné, gao (where the empire was run from), timbuktu
the periphery:
the outer, loosely controlled parts of the empire
who were the sounna?
an imperial council of military leaders
system for taxation as laid out by sonni ali:
organised individual farmers into villages who were collectively responsible for paying tribute/tax to ruler
governors of provinces were known as:
farma
types of farma were:
fari-mondiyo (overseer of royal estates + taxes)
jenne-montiyo (overseer of djenné)
yubo-kol (chief of the market)
niger related offices:
goima-koi (harbourmaster)
hi-koi (chief of boats)
military offices:
rabb al tariq: (commander of foot soldiers)
baray-koi (commander of cavalry)
