The dramatic 17-m pyramidal structure of the Tomb of Askia was built by Askia Mohamed, the Emperor of Songhai, in 1495 in his capital Gao. It bears testimony to the power and riches of the empire that ...

Askia Muhammad I was overthrown by his son in 1528, and the Songhai Empire's power declined throughout the 1500s. In 1591 the Moroccan army, which was well-equipped with canons and early types of ...