Songhai Empire

The Songhai Empire (c. 1430-1591), successor to the Mali Empire, was West Africa's largest empire. Under Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammad, it controlled trans-Saharan trade routes from capital Gao, with Timbuktu as a centre of Islamic scholarship. The empire collapsed after a Moroccan musketeer army defeated Songhai forces at the Battle of Tondibi (1591).

• Existed: 1464 CE – 1591 CE
• Type: Entity
• Government: Monarchy (Sunni Islamic, with indigenous sacral kingship elements)
• Capital: Gao