In 1493 Muhammad Ture, a general of the Songhai Empire on the Niger, overthrew Sunni Baru, the son of Sunni Ali, and took the title Askia. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1496 to 1497, with 1,500 men and a large amount of gold, and returned as a caliph of the western Sudan. Under him Songhai became the largest empire in the history of West Africa, stretching from the Atlantic coast to what is now Niger, with Gao as its capital and Timbuktu and Djenne as centres of trade and Islamic scholarship. Askia set up a bureaucracy and a standing army. Morocco destroyed the empire at the Battle of Tondibi in 1591.
Before and after
- from 1492 to 1681Spanish Golden Age
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
- 31 March 1492Alhambra Decree
- from 1493 to 1593Hundred Years' Croatian–Ottoman War
- 1493Askia Muhammad I takes power and builds the Songhai Empire
- from 24 September 1493 to 13 July 1898Spanish colonization of the Americas
- 1494Birth of François Rabelais
- from 1494 to 1559Italian Wars
- 14 April 1494Construction of Frauenkirche
More in Civilizations & archaeology
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- 990 CEConstruction of Château de Montsoreau
- from 11th century to 18th centuryHouse of Habsburg
- from c. 1113 to 1150Suryavarman II builds Angkor Wat
- 1239Construction of Alhambra
- 1420Construction of Kremlin
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.