Askia The Great

1. Askia The Great 6.3 Mattias Henning Alec Berry Tommy Baronner And Cameron Carter

2. Introduction In past section Sunni Ali strengthened and enlarged empire. He died in 1492. His son, Sunni Barru followed in his foot steps, but he was not Muslim.

3. Information-Askia the great • Sunni Baru was not Muslim, which made people afraid. • People rebelled, leader was called Muhammad Ture. • He overthrew Sunni Baru, and took title Askia (a title of high military rank). • He soon became known as Askia the great.

4. Information-Religion • Muhammad Ture took Muslim faith very seriously. • Went on pilgrimage to Mecca.

5. Information- Education • Muhammad Ture greatly supported education. • Under his rule Timbuktu flourished. • The city had universities, schools, libraries, and mosques. • People from all of West Africa came here to study. • Djenne was also a center of learning, here they discovered that Mosquitoes spread Malaria and even performed surgery on the human eye.

6. Information-Trade and Government • Each of these cities were also centers of trade. • Merchants from afar came to trade here. • Askia greatly encouraged growth of Islam. • His laws were similar to other Muslim nations across Sahara. • To keep order he divided Songhai into five provinces. • Removed local leaders, and selected loyal governors. • One governor ran empire while he was on Hajj. • Created special departments to supervise certain tasks. • Formed a standing professional army, the first in West Africa.