Government ~ A-
(Karolyn)
The Songhai Empire was the largest of all African Kingdoms. They governed a large portion of Northwestern Africa. Their land ranged from the Sahara Desert to the north and savanna in the south and at the peak of their empire, the Songhai’s controlled over 2,000 miles. This made them even greater than any other West African empire, including the Mali and Ghana. During their reign, which was from 1340 to 1591, they had two important, strong leaders to guide them. The first of them was Sunni Ali.
Sunni Ali did many great things for the empire during his reign, including dividing it into multiple provinces that were each controlled by its own governor. This helped prevent the empire from expanding beyond its limits. Also, even though the kingdom was dominantly Muslim, he was accepting of the people he traded with’s Islamic faith. As demonstrated by previous rulers, like Akbar, tolerance was, and still is, a strong characteristic in leaders. By accepting their religion, others openly traded with the African empire, but if he were to be intolerant, results may have been disastrous. In addition, Sunni Ali is responsible for the innovation in the Songhai’s navy and developing new methods of farming. He was also a smart military man. He was able to capture and expand to land locked cities like Timbuktu, and across bodies of water. While Sunni Ali was expanding and creating a strong government, a future leader would enrich the empire even more.
Askia Muhammad Toure was another strong, great leader that contributed to the success of the Songhai Empire. To outdo Sunni Ali, he not only accepted the Islamic faith, but appointed Islam leaders and replaced traditional laws with Islamic laws. Furthermore, he encouraged scholarship and improvement in many ways. One was by building many learning centers and universities; in Timbuktu alone there were over 180 Koranic schools. He encouraged scholars from Africa, Asia, and Europe to travel to Timbuktu. This also increased centralization but encouraging scholars to come to Timbuktu. Through this there were many advances in logic, Islamic law, astronomy, grammar, and more. He further expanded Songhai’s kingdom by creating a professional army. Even though these things he did were great and hugely benefited African culture, his most important contribution was opening government ranks up to anyone based off of intellect instead of their social position. This allowed the empire to become its most successful.
I would give the Songhai Empire an “A-“ because they expanded to become Africa’s largest empire while still having a strong government. Sunni Ali divided the vast empire into separate provinces with their own leader to maintain the empire. Also, while they expanded, they were making important innovations that affect us even today. I can assume the empire had organized, just laws because individuals did not rebel against the government, which also suggests that they were given freedom and rights. The reason that they were slightly marked down is because their downfall was a result of a civil war.
Almost all of the people during the Songhai empire were Islamic. But there was also some Christians. The Songhai people were united by their religion because a majority of them believed in the same practices. Also, it gave unity to the less fortunate and the merchants because it gave them hope and they were treated as equals in religion. The Songhai would regularly consult with fortune tellers and other religious specialists to help them with tough times.
I gave them an 'A-' in religion because they were united religiously, but not completely, there were Christians and Muslims. They also were able to deal with difficulties because of their religious beliefs.
Economy: (Chelsea) A-
I decided to grade the Song-Hai Empire's Economy with an A- because although it was very very strong in trade, it wasn't as strong in much else. The Song-Hai Empire used carpentry, fishing, metal-working and textiles to trade. They were an advanced level of trade. Timbuktu, one of their larger cities, was the center of trade in the region at the time. Another reason I did not grade them with a full A or A+ is because their trade products only bettered the quality of life for citizens in the upper-level castes. In other words, your life would only be primarily improved if you were wealthy. They traded with Arabs, Italians, and Jewish people, most of whom were merchants or carpenters. The following picture shows the normal trading activity.
Art and Arcutecture - (Jason lee) B+
Songhai are well known for weaving blankets and mats. The elaborate cotton blankets (terabeba) woven by men in the town of Tera are highly prized throughout the Sahel. Women living along the Niger River weave palm frond mats that feature geometric designs. The songhai were not realy creative in there arts. there art was not very human advanced. The songhai also maid wooden maskes and bracelets out of gold.
Technology: B+ (Rebecca)During the Songhai empire a few new things were invented, such as: paper, fish nets for fishing, and iron tools. The tools they invented mostly helped with farming and hunting, which was very helpful for getting food. It improved the quality of life because they became more advanced in hunting and farming.
I gave them a 'B+' because they didn't have many advances in technology. But the ones that they did have, helped them improve daily.
Society: (Chelsea) D
The Song-Hai Empire's society has been graded with D. The main reason I marked them down so badly was because they had a fairly strict clan (caste) system. Only noblemen and direct descendants of empires, original Songhai people, or government officials were treated with equality and rights, while immigrants and slaves were at the bottom. The Songhai Empire utilized European slaves, mainly, seeing as Europe was quite close to their location, they were somewhat easy to import. They were treated as the lowest of the low, street scum. They were basically regarded as animals. The other aspects of society were built around this caste system, in the fact that you were ultimately born into a class, and it was extremely difficult to change that, somewhat similar to the Hindu religion. All in all, I believe that the Song-Hai Empire had a ridiculously constrictive and oppressive social system. It seems unnecessary, and was definitely at least partially responsible for their downfall.
