The Songhai Empire (aka Songhay, c. 1460 - c. 1591) replaced the Mali Empire (1240-1645) as the most important state in West Africa (covering modern southern Mauritania and Mali). Originating as a smaller kingdom along the eastern bend of the Niger River c. 1000, the Songhai would expand their territory dramatically from the reign of King Sunni Ali (1464-1492).

With its capital at Gao and managing to control trans-Saharan trade through such centers as Timbuktu and Djenne, the Songhai empire prospered throughout the 16th century until ripped apart by civil wars, it was attacked and absorbed into the Moroccan Empire c. 1591.

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