The dramatic 17-m pyramidal structure of the Tomb of Askia was built by Askia Mohamed, the Emperor of Songhai, in 1495 in his capital Gao. It bears testimony to the power and riches of the empire that ...

In 1591 the Moroccan army, which was well-equipped with canons and early types of gun, defeated the Songhai army in the Battle of Tondibi and took control of Gao and Timbuktu. The Asante Empire ...