7. The Songhai Empire - Africa's Age of Gold

WATCH WITH VIDEO:    • 7. The Songhai Empire - Africa's Age of Gold   Today, the Songhai Empire is all but forgotten by history. But this medieval kingdom was once the most powerful force in Africa. Find out how this civilization grew up on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, among some of the most extreme conditions that nature can throw at us. Discover how it grew and flourished, passing through a process known as the imperial cycle, and learn about what ultimately caused its sudden and dramatic collapse. Support Fall of Civilizations on Patreon:   / fallofcivilizations_podcast   Books on the Songhai Empire: UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fallofci... US: https://bookshop.org/shop/fallofcivil... Affiliate links, purchases support the show. Credits: Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas Voice Actors: Jake Barrett-Mills Rhy Brignell Bryan Tshiobi Pip Willett 0:00 Introduction to the Songhai Empire 6:13 Planetary Cycles and African Climate 11:29 The Niger River and West Africa 14:29 What Is an Empire? 19:46 Trans-Saharan Caravans and Trade 22:23 Slavery in Medieval West Africa 24:58 Gold and the Mali Empire 30:34 Mansa Musa: The Richest Man in History? 43:32 Three Sources for the History of Mali and Songhai 45:14 West African Oral Storytelling Tradition 47:08 Scribes and Written Sources 54:26 The Mali Empire 57:46 Royal Succession in the Mali Empire 1:07:23 Sunni Ali and the Rise of the Songhai Empire 1:17:14 Timbuktu: City of Learning and Trade 1:22:47 Askiya Muhammad Takes Power 1:31:49 Songhai Empire's Golden Age 1:37:54 Civil War and the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade 1:44:36 Askiya Dawud and the Songhai Empire 1:49:24 Why Did Morocco Invade the Songhai Empire? 1:57:12 Battle of Tondibi: Morocco vs Songhai 2:02:31 Sack of Gao and Timbuktu 2:04:30 Fall of the Songhai Empire Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: incompetech.com/ Title theme: Home At Last by John Bartmann. https://johnbartmann.com/