levo

Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case Studies

The Songhay Empire c.1450–1591: the Sahel c.1450, Sonni Ali and Askia Muhammad

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on the Sahel around 1450, Sonni Ali and the capture of Timbuktu, cavalry and river power, the scholars’ hostility, Askia Muhammad’s rise and pilgrimage, al-Maghili, Shari’a and centralised government.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Process

How was Shari'a applied within the empire?

Key term

What was the political situation in the Sahel around 1450?

Key term

Identify Sonni Ali and give the dates of his reign.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the political situation in the Sahel around 1450?

    Model answer

    The Mali Empire's authority was collapsing, leaving its provinces and trading towns semi-independent; the Tuareg held Timbuktu, and Songhay at Gao was emerging as the strongest power on the middle Niger.

  2. 2

    Identify Sonni Ali and give the dates of his reign.

    Model answer

    Sonni Ali was the ruler of Songhay from 1464 to 1492 and the real founder of its empire, a relentless campaigner who turned the kingdom of Gao into the dominant power of the western Sudan.

  3. 3

    Name the great trading and scholarly city Sonni Ali took in 1468.

    Model answer

    He took Timbuktu in 1468, driving out its Tuareg overlords and bringing the greatest commercial and intellectual centre of the Sahel under Songhay control.

  4. 4

    Why was cavalry so important to Songhay's military success?

    Model answer

    Horsemen could cross the open savannah quickly to raid, pursue and overawe rival states, and a costly armoured cavalry arm gave the ruler a permanent striking force that towns and villages could not resist.

  5. 5

    Besides cavalry, what other arm gave Songhay control of the middle Niger?

    Model answer

    A river fleet of war canoes, commanded by an officer known as the hi-koi, which moved troops and supplies along the Niger and allowed Songhay to besiege and blockade river towns such as Djenné.

  6. 6

    Why were the Muslim scholars of Timbuktu hostile to Sonni Ali?

    Model answer

    They regarded him as only nominally Muslim because he continued traditional religious practices, and he in turn distrusted them as a rival source of authority and persecuted, exiled and killed leading Sankore clerics.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case Studies, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.