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Battle of Tondibi
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The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in Morocco's sixteenth-century invasion of the Songhai Empire. Though vastly outnumbered, the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia Ishaq II, guaranteeing the Empire's downfall.
Songhai had been the dominant force in West Africa for more than a century, controlling the Western Sudan from the headwaters of the Senegal River to what is now Niger and Nigeria.
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The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in Morocco's sixteenth-century invasion of the Songhai Empire. Though vastly outnumbered, the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia Ishaq II, guaranteeing the Empire's downfall.
Background
The Songhai had been the dominant force in West Africa for more than a century, controlling the Western Sudan from the headwaters of the Senegal River to what is now Niger and Nigeria. However, a rivalry for succession after the 1583 death of Askia Daoud left the Empire in a weakened state.
Meanwhile, to the west, the Saadi Dynasty of Morocco was at the height of its power, having just annihilated a Portuguese army at the Battle of Ksar el Kebir. In search of new resources for his kingdom, Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi turned his attention to the gold mines of the Songhai.
Desert crossing
Though many of his advisors warned of the dangers of crossing the Sahara, Ahmad I maintained that any path that merchants could travel could surely be used by soldiers as well. In October 1590, he dispatched a force of 1,500 light cavalry and 2,500 infantry, many of whom were equipped with arquebuses. The command he entrusted to Judar Pasha, a former Christian Spaniard who had converted to Islam. The army traveled with a transport train of 8,000 camels, 1,000 packhorses, 1,000 stablemen, and 600 laborers; they also transported eight English cannons.
After a four-month journey, Judar reached Songhai territory with his forces largely intact. After seizing the salt mines of Taghaza, he advanced on the Songhai capital of Gao.
Battle
In response to the Moroccan incursion, Songhai ruler Askia Ishaq II raised a large army that included some 9,700 to 30,000 infantry and 12,500 to 18,000 cavalry. Aksia Ishaq II also brought along a herd of 1,000 cattle, which he planned to use as a screening force for his infantry The Songhai army awaited Judar's force near Tondibi, a village just north of Gao. Though the Songhai had a powerful cavalry, they lacked the Moroccan's gunpowder weapons, which would turn the tide of the battle.
In March of 1591, the armies met. After an initial cavalry skirmish, Judar maneuvered his arquebusiers into place and opened fire with both arquebuses and cannons. The noise and tremendous initial damage began a cattle stampede behind the Songhai position. Faced with gunfire ahead and a stampede behind, Songhai army fled, ending the battle.
Consequences
Judar Pasha continued onto Gao and sacked the city, but finding little in the way of riches soon moved on to the richer trading centers of Timbuktu and Djenné. The looting of the three cities marked the end of the Songhai Empire as an effective force in the region. However, Morocco proved likewise unable to assert a firm control over the area, due to the difficulties of communication and resupply across the Saharan trade routes, and a decade of sporadic fighting began. Morocco withdrew its forces by the end of the 17th century, leaving the region to splinter into a group of smaller kingdoms.
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