Songhai's Decline
Like the Mali empire before it, the Songhai empire weakened due to arguments over succession. Askia Toure's children fought for the crown and caused a civil war. The Moroccan King sensed this weakness and used it to his advantage. Major cities like Gao, Jenne, and Timbuktu were raided. The Songhai army, although trained, was unable to fight off the Moroccans who had superior modern weaponry like gunpowder. Songhai was especially valuable because it operated as the trading center for all of West Africa and had a large amount of gold and other resources. However, the Moroccans were unable to keep control over such a large empire and it splintered out into many small kingdoms.
