THE SONGHAI HERO

             

            Sunni Ali THE GREAT:HIS EXPLOITS

1.     THE Personality of Sunni Ali has been regarded with much esteem   particularly in relation to the rise of the songhai empire .in fact, Sunni Ali or Sunni Ali Ber[great] who reigned from 1464-1492 A.D was a warrior king who possessed remarkable and a well organized army. Unlike his predecessor he abandoned the raiding policies in favor of territorial conquest and throughout his reign he travelled across every part of the Niger region and by using is superior and efficient military strategies combined with his  combat skills imposed his authority through violence and fear and thereby uniting the various western Sudan states. he was in other words an extraordinary and charismatic figure.

1.   The warrior king began his military campaign not too long after his   accession. starting from the event causing the leading officials of Timbuktu appealing for assistance against the Tuaregs. However ,expecting aid to procure the war he was disappointed since the peoples of Timbuktu realized that Sunni Ali would eventually become a far more superior master than the Tuareg leader Akil. hence, Sunni Ali had to retire and because of this disloyalty he returned In full fury to massacre the town of Timbuktu. Furthermore in order to ensure complete annihilation of the ulama who sponsored

•     Timbuktu’s reluctance he pursued the fleeing ulama who fled to walata by employing armed bands to hunt them for three years. 

1.   Also, like his predecessors Sunni Ali was attracted by the rich regions and in his territorial expansion he conquered Jenne ;which was a popular trading centre wealthy from the gold resources  gotten from bondoku and possibly Asante and other trading activities .he conquered the city through siege because of the environmental hindrance that posed a problem for his calvary.it is said that the siege lasted for seven years ,seven months , seven days, and finally fell in the year 1475 A.D. though the fall of jenne did not witness the brutality inflicted on Timbuktu it would have been highly unlikely that the people of jenne did not account for deaths probably due to shortages in supplies and resources.

1.   Judging from the accounts of Muslim historians from that period such as Al-sadi .he was described s a man who had an unstable temperament and was very strict so it is not surprising that he dealt harshly with any form of disloyalty which arose in those times .it was probably because of this he was feared by his people and also the migration of many of his people away from his empire.

1.   Furthermore in his attempt to construct a canal to walata he was met with oppositions. Raids from the Mossi of Yatenga increased causing disruption to the construction. these raids lead to the counter raid by his calvary into the mossi for three years consequently leading to the end of the mossi threat in the valley of the Niger. in fact Sunni Ali was said to have put an end to other raidin kinds such as the gurmache, dogon  ,koromba ,e.t.c accounting for a large number of deaths and destruction within that period.

1.    Although sunni ali was viewed by many as a great oppressor and dictator  his reign of thirty five years which was never opposed led to the rise of the famous Songhai empire.

Sources

Issoko,s m ‘’The Songhai from the twelfth to the sixteenth century’’-Unesco general history of Africa volume iv[Africa from the twelfth to the sixteenth century] edited by m.el fasi,119-39 paris;unesco 1989

Stride,g.t and c.ifeka—peoples and empires of west-africa,1000-1800 surray;Thomas nelson,1971

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