16th century – 16th century
Songhay and Western Sudan
The Moroccan conquest of Songhay began in 1591 when the Moroccan ruler Abu ’l-‘Abbās al-Manṣūr sought to reopen the region’s gold and slave routes. Led by Djūdār Pasha, the expedition reached Timbuktu, whose capture in 1593 enabled the removal of 1,200 slaves across the Sahara. The intervention accelerated the collapse of Songhay’s commercial and imperial power rather than restoring the former trans-Saharan trade. It marked the end of what the extract calls the greatest empire in Western Sudan during the sixteenth century.
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The Story
The Moroccan expedition against Songhay must be understood within a wider predatory economy shaped by European expansion and the disruption of older commercial systems. After the conquest of Songhay in 1591, the Moroccan ruler Abu ’l-‘Abbās al-Manṣūr attempted to reopen the gold and slave routes linking Western Sudan with North Africa. The campaign was therefore directed not only toward political control but also toward the recovery of long-distance commerce.
Djūdār Pasha led the expedition into Songhay territory. In 1593, the capture of Timbuktu enabled the victors to bring 1,200 slaves across the Sahara. This episode illustrates how military intervention and the traffic in enslaved people became closely connected in the political economy of the region.
The campaign did not revive the former commercial order. Instead, it hastened the downfall of Songhay and contributed to the collapse of the trade it was meant to reopen. The extract presents the conquest as the end of the greatest empire in Western Sudan during the sixteenth century, with consequences extending across the region’s gold, slave, and trans-Saharan networks.
16th century – 16th century
Songhay and Western Sudan
The Moroccan conquest of Songhay began in 1591 when the Moroccan ruler Abu ’l-‘Abbās al-Manṣūr sought to reopen the region’s gold and slave routes. Led by Djūdār Pasha, the expedition reached Timbuktu, whose capture in 1593 enabled the removal of 1,200 slaves across the Sahara. The intervention accelerated the collapse of Songhay’s commercial and imperial power rather than restoring the former trans-Saharan trade. It marked the end of what the extract calls the greatest empire in Western Sudan during the sixteenth century.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Moroccan expedition against Songhay must be understood within a wider predatory economy shaped by European expansion and the disruption of older commercial systems. After the conquest of Songhay in 1591, the Moroccan ruler Abu ’l-‘Abbās al-Manṣūr attempted to reopen the gold and slave routes linking Western Sudan with North Africa. The campaign was therefore directed not only toward political control but also toward the recovery of long-distance commerce.
Djūdār Pasha led the expedition into Songhay territory. In 1593, the capture of Timbuktu enabled the victors to bring 1,200 slaves across the Sahara. This episode illustrates how military intervention and the traffic in enslaved people became closely connected in the political economy of the region.
The campaign did not revive the former commercial order. Instead, it hastened the downfall of Songhay and contributed to the collapse of the trade it was meant to reopen. The extract presents the conquest as the end of the greatest empire in Western Sudan during the sixteenth century, with consequences extending across the region’s gold, slave, and trans-Saharan networks.