They were worked by servile labour that did the fishing, animal raising for milk, meat and skins, and the agricultural work. The royal court was responsible for the administration and the army.
![islam a concept of political world invasion ebook islam a concept of political world invasion ebook](https://centralasiaprogram.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/UZBEKISTAN-232x300.jpg)
People paid taxes to the king in return for internal and external security. He sat on a raised platform surrounded by 700 eunuchs. It was possible to approach him only in a prostate position. The new monarchy based at Gao had centralised and absolute and sacred power. The Sonni’s were driven from power by the Muslim Askiya dynasty. Muslim scholars at Timbuktu called Sonni Ali ‘tyrannical, cruel and impious’. They conquered the cities of Timbuktu and Jenne. The Songhai defence system was the largest organised force in the western Sudan not only was a political instrument, but also an economic weapon by virtue of the booty it brought in. The total army comprised 30 000 infantry and 10 000 horsemen. Military music as produced by a group of trumpeters. The foot soldiers were armed with spears, arrows and leather or copper shields. They wore iron breastplates underneath their battle tunics. Foot soldiers captured the best men of the defeated armies. The commander of the fleet was known as the ‘Master of the Water’. Sonni Ali reorganised the army, which was equipped with a fleet on the Niger River. Islam had been introduced to the royal court of Songhai in 1019, but most people remained faithful to their traditional religion. It was a great cosmopolitan market place where kola nuts, gold, ivory, slaves, spices, palm oil and precious woods were traded in exchange for salt, cloth, arms, horses and copper.
![islam a concept of political world invasion ebook islam a concept of political world invasion ebook](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61526/61526-h/images/titlepage.jpg)
The capital was at Gao, a city surrounded by a wall. It was ruled by the dynasty or royal family of Sonni from the thirteenth century to the late fifteenth century. They established a state in the 15th century, which unified a large part of the western Sudan and developed into a brilliant civilisation. The Songhai had settled on both banks of the middle Niger River. Songhai became independent of Mali, and rivalled it as the leading power in West Africa. Quarrels over who should succeed the throne and rebellion by the Fulani people in Senegambia and the Songhai people in Gao led to the collapse of the Mali kingdom in the 16th century. The adoption of the Islamic faith by the Mali people in about the 1500s during the rule of Kankan Musa, created a point of unity for this kingdom.
![islam a concept of political world invasion ebook islam a concept of political world invasion ebook](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/411py+3yfnL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
This enabled the easy and speedy dispatch of soldiers across the region to conquer neighbours. The Mali kingdom was able to establish its influence with ease due to the surrounding savannah terrain. Finally, the Ghana kingdom was taken over by the Mali kingdom. This brought the two kingdoms into conflict. At the same time (1230-1300) the Mali kingdom of the Mande people, to the east of Ghana, was growing and increasing its control of trade in the region. Products were traded with Berber societies north of the Sahara desert. The economy of Ghana was based on iron and gold mining along with agriculture. By the year 300 A.D, this kingdom had been ruled by about 40 kings, showing that its political administration was well developed to allow new kings to take office without destroying the kingdom by fighting destructive civil wars. One of the earliest kingdoms to emerge here was ancient Ghana to the far West. These rivers also maintained the fertility of the soil all year round.Īt the same time kingdoms were developing in this region. Broad rivers linked people in these larger towns by way of canoe travel. This led to improvements in agriculture and greater productivity of the land, as prosperity grew the population expanded giving rise to larger towns. Iron farming tools made agricultural methods far more efficient. the people of West Africa could already smelt iron ore to make tools for warfare and agriculture. These civilisations developed at a time when most of Europe was experiencing the Dark Age, after the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire around 476 A.D. The earliest African civilizations south of the Sahara desert were in West Africa.
![islam a concept of political world invasion ebook islam a concept of political world invasion ebook](https://static.openedition.org/covers/OB/obp/8981/8981-225x270.jpg)
West African societies were shaped by competition for wealth and the search for independence from more powerful kingdoms. The transformations were influenced by conquest and warfare along with patterns of trade. As old kingdoms came to be replaced by new smaller ones many changes were experienced. These kingdoms played an important role in the development of trade and economic growth of the region. West Africa is home to many of Africa's oldest kingdoms. Overview, West Africa and the rise of the Songhai Empire