This time, Sunni Ali was merciful and did not allow his soldiers to plunder or hurt the people. He soon left Jenne in order to conquer the lands in between Jenne and Timbuktu. Songhai became bigger than Ghana and Mali combined. Sunni Ali made Songhai the dominant empire in West Africa , but it was always filled with violence. Sunni Ali was described as being ruthless with his opponents, who either suffered death or were sent into exile.
He was not a supporter of Islam and treated Muslim badly, so many Muslims became angry at him. In , Sunni Ali disappeared; most historians think he was accidentally drowned in the Niger River when was on a march. He continued to enlarge the empire, taking control of important Trans-Saharan trade routes as well as other cities and provinces of Mali.
The new ruler, a devout Muslim , was responsible for few additional conquests. Instead he centralized the bureaucracy, appointing virtually all of the mayors and provincial governors, established Sharia law throughout the empire, expanded Sankore University in Timbuktu and built numerous schools through Songhai.
Askia Muhammad Toure also strengthened political and cultural ties with the rest of the Muslim world, encouraging the immigration of scholars and skilled workers from Arabia , Egypt , Morocco and Muslim Spain.
He was the first West African ruler to allow the exchange of ambassadors with these and other Muslim states. That period of peace and stability ended in when a civil war created an opportunity for Morocco Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi to send an army to conquer Songhai. Al-Mansur hoped to control the West African gold fields and establish himself as the Caliph of Sudan. The Songhai fell back in confusion particularly after Ishaq was killed by the Taureg who were allied with the Moroccans.
The Moroccan Army, however, soon realized that conquering Songhai was far easier than governing it. Trade improved under Mohammed Ture Askiya, with gold, kola nuts and slaves being the main export. Textiles, horses, salt and luxury goods were the main imports.
He was amazed at the wealth of the ruling class: "The houses there are very poor, except for those of the king and his courtiers. The merchants are exceedingly rich and large numbers of Negroes continually come here to buy cloth brought from Barbarie Morocco and Europe… Here there is a certain place where slaves are sold, especially on those days when the merchants are assembled.
And a young slave of fifteen years of age is sold for six ducats, and children are also sold. The king of this region has a certain private palace where he maintains a great number of concubines and slaves. Various manuscripts and written books are brought here out of Barbarie and sold for more money than any other merchandise. The coin of Timbuktu is of gold without any stamp or superscription, but in matters of small value, they use certain shells brought here from Persia, four hundred of which are worth a ducat and six pieces of their own gold coin, each of which weighs two-thirds of an ounce.
Echoing the fates of Ghana, Mali and Kanem. The wealth and power of Songhay was also undermined by environmental change, causing droughts and diseases.
But Songhay might have survived all this. The decisive factor in its downfall was the determination of the Moroccans to control the sub-Saharan gold trade. In the Moroccan army invaded. The Songhay were caught unawares and were defeated by the superior fire power of the Moroccan army. Morocco won the war but lost the peace. The Sultans of Morocco eventually lost interest.
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