Page 117 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

E m p i r E s o f m E d i E v a l w E s t a f r i c a

African Muslim Berbers. They
traded with the peoples on the
The Sorcerer King southern fringe of the Sahara,
including the Songhay. In Gao, a
commercial and residential area
in songhay culture, the greatest hero is sii ali Beeri. He with mosques was established for
was a historical person who actually ruled from 1464 to the Muslim merchants. Later, as
1492. But in the oral traditions of songhay storytellers, Islam became increasingly influ-
sii ali becomes a mythical figure. He is called za beri ential, one of Gao’s earlier ruling
wandu, “the great and dangerous Za,” a sorcerer who dynasties, probably the Maliks,
commanded great magical power. allowed a mosque to be built in
sii ali’s mother was from a small country town whose their own part of the city.
people were not strict muslims. their religious leaders According to the Arab geog-
were sohanci and various kinds of healers who followed rapher al-Muhallabi (who wrote
the traditional religion. as a songhay prince, ali received before 985), by the time that
some basic instruction in the religion of islam. But when mosque was built, the ruler of
he became an adult, he displayed more faith in the Gao had converted to Islam and
ancient ways of magic and sorcery. many of his subjects were also
when he came to power in songhay, he ruled over Muslims. This religious conver-
muslim traders and scholars who lived in the cities, sion improved relations with the
but most of his subjects were farmers, hunters, and Muslim traders and increased
fishermen of the countryside who were not muslims. the king’s influence over them.
therefore, sii ali was able to govern most effectively by Some of the early Songhay rulers,
maintaining his association with both islam and the reli- and many of the ordinary citi-
gion of his ancestors. zens, did not necessarily regard
Islam as a replacement for their
traditional religion. Rather, they
tended to think of it as a source
of additional spiritual power. And spiritual power was something all
people of the Middle Niger region valued greatly.

OFFICERS OF THE COURT AND ARMY
The historians of Timbuktu give the titles of no less than 63 offices that
existed during the time of the Askias. That is too many to describe in
this book. But here are a few of the most important and interesting.
The office of the balma’a existed before the time of the Askias, and
probably originated in the Ghana Empire. In Songhay, the balma’a was
one of the most powerful officers. He was military commander of the

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