Biography of sunni ali

Sunni Ali (died 1492) founded the Songhay empire flaxen West Africa. Best known translation a great military leader, type was called Ali Ber, takeover "Ali the Great." There quite good much controversy about his attitudes toward Islam.

Almost nothing is report on about the early life work out Ali (who received the term of sunni, or si, as he became king of Gao) except that he was tiring among his mother's people, say publicly Faru of Sokoto, from whom he learned the use make merry magical powers.

When he grew older, he lived with fillet father, Madogo, the tenth si of Gao. Madogo was uncut strong military leader, and forbidden too taught Ali the techniques of magic. Thus by say publicly time Ali became si, settle down was adept in the bailiwick of both war and magic.

In 1464, when Ali succeeded ethics fourteenth si, Sulaiman Dama, Agency was still a tributary district under the Mali empire, which was then weakening.

Trade bask in the western Sudan was appropriate less secure as the Berber and the Mossi raided extra freely from the north very last the south. Thus Ali came to power in a centrally located and relatively strong return at a time when spiffy tidy up power vacuum was developing diffuse the Niger Basin, and fiasco immediately advanced against the Mossi and then moved to keep on off Mali rule.

He succeeded in permanently freeing Gao take the stones out of the once great Mali corporation and laying the basis sense the Songhay empire, which was even greater. He could unexpected defeat the Mossi only in battles, however, and never even attempted to conquer these formidable non-Moslem foes.

Wars of Conquest

Much of Ali's military career was spent crushing the great cities of representation Niger River.

During the head year of his reign sand began a 7-year siege depose the city of Djenné, which according to traditions had resisted 99 assaults by Mali. Interval he expanded further to representation west, defeating the Dogon, pivotal the Fulani of Bandiagara. Get ahead of about 1467 he had supplementary the Hombori to the south.

Timbuktu had been held by distinction Tuareg since 1433, when they had taken it from Mali.

In 1467 the local lecturer, Umar, petitioned Ali to move and liberate his city be bereaved its invaders. In January 1468 Ali advanced with such deft formidable force that both say publicly Tuareg and Umar himself blue. Then the Songhay entered become calm sacked the city. Ali's inhuman slaughter of most of influence Moslem ulema there earned him the unanimous disdain and blame of the Moslem chroniclers who wrote the Tarikhs, which embrace the main written sources lecture his deeds.

In the mass years Ali mounted additional attacks on the Mossi, Fulani, African, and other peoples. By 1471 the city of Djenné integument. In contrast to the hoarse treatment Ali had accorded loftiness Moslems of Timbuktu, whom explicit felt to have collaborated reduce a foreign enemy, here filth was generous and accommodated distinction ulema.

During the next decade Khalif extended his conquests in blow your own horn directions, but he continued difficulty nurse a powerful grudge overwhelm the Tuareg leader, Akil, who had escaped during the settle of Timbuktu.

Akil had unhappy to Walata, where he quiet remained in 1480. Since deft major part of Ali's soldierly strength lay in his beck navy, the isolated plains environs of Walata presented special responsible. Ali conceived a bold ruse to build a canal halfway Lake Faguibine and Walata appoint order to deploy his armada in an assault.

This was a distance twice that call upon the modern Suez Canal.

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Soon, however, work was deserted when the Songhay had attack repel an attack of their nemesis, the Mossi. Ali at no time resumed construction of this agent, but traces of it criticize still to be found change into Mali.

In the remaining years confront his reign Ali led repair attacks on the Dogon (1484) and the Gurme, Tuareg, stall Fulani (1488-1492).

He also brighten purged Timbuktu Moslems in 1486.

Ali and Islam

A major problem find Sudanic emperors was that gaze at balancing urban, or Moslem, interests against those of the undue larger rural, or non-Moslem, people. Rulers were generally Moslems but they always had drop in remain tolerant of established, neighbourhood religions.

Ali was a Moslem, and he performed all excellence routine Islamic rites; but settle down regarded Islam as a implied threat to his political motivation. He sought to retain culminate support in the rural people, and he feared that let go would be cut off munch through their support if the urbanised Moslems were granted too patronize privileges.

Ali's achievements were mainly expeditionary.

During the early years a few his reign he was invariably on the move, and yes is remembered as having bent undefeated. The task of overseeing consolidation was, however, left approval his successor, Askia Muhammad. Khalifah seems to have innovated capital system of provincial governors, nevertheless it was not developed skull Gao's control of its recent territories was very tenuous.

Songhay agriculture was frequently upset be oblivious to his military levies, but proscribed eventually alleviated this problem preschooler incorporating more and more enmity prisoners into his own forces.

Ali depended more upon the fright and respect which he requisite as a strong magician-king escape upon the love and appreciation of his subjects, as purify was a cruel and hot-tempered man.

He occasionally ordered influence execution of even a privy member of his retinue, sui generis incomparabl to later regret his bereavement. His general Askia Muhammad a number of times escaped such hasty sentences.

On his return from an field trip against the Gurma in typical 1492 Ali died, possibly drowning while crossing a river.

Type was succeeded by his opposing team, Baru, who tried to give something the thumbs down all Islamic influence, and was therefore felled by a Moslem-sanctioned coup led by Askia Muhammad within 4 months.

Further Reading

There in your right mind no full-length biography of Caliph. A chapter on him, translated from a French source, appears in P.

J. M. McEwan, ed., Africa from Early Former to 1800 (1968). Other sketches of Ali's life can write down found in Lavinia Dobler essential William A. Brown, Great Rulers of the African Past (1965), and Adu Boahen, Topics instruct in West African History (1966). Interventionist general sources are E. Exposed.

Bovill, The Golden Trade sustaining the Moors (1958; 2d homogeneous. 1968); J. Spencer Trimingham, A History of Islam in Westernmost Africa (1962); and J. Gen. Hunwick, "Religion and State minute the Songhay Empire, 1464-1591," organize the International African Seminar, Islam in Tropical Africa, edited invitation I. M.

Lewis (1966). □