Muhammad Ture ( 1493 – 1528 ) founded the Askiya Dynasty, askiya being the title of the king.

Leo Africanus left vivid descriptions of the empire under Askiya Muhammad.

Askiya Muhammad was deposed by his son in 1528.

After much rivalry, Muhammad Ture's last son Askiya Daoud ( 1529 – 1582 ) assumed the throne.

Inhabitants called the islands Nuhu Evav ( Evav Islands ) or Tanat Evav ( Evav Land ), but known as Kei for people from neighbourhood islands.

In October 2003, Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu, Chairman of the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ), said that Ajudua had twelve cases pending against him including an advance fee fraud of 1. 6 million Euros and another of $ 1. 5 million, both committed in 2001.

When Songhay's answer is defiant, the sultan declares war and marches his army through Sahara to Songhay.

The Songhay military, during Askia's reign consisted of full-time soldiers, but the king never modernized his army.

* 1462: Sonni Ali Ber, the ruler of the Songhai ( or Songhay ) Empire, along the Niger River, conquers Mali in the central Sudan by defeating the Tuareg contingent at Tombouctou ( or Timbuktu ) and capturing the city.

* Songhay languages page in the MultiTree Project at the LINGUIST List.

The Songhay or Songhai languages ( pronounced, or are found in the cities of Timbuktu and Gao and are a group of closely related languages / dialects.

The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa.

The Songhai ( also Songhay or Sonrai ) are west Africans who speak Songhai languages, the lingua franca of the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century.

The name Songhai is historically neither an ethnic nor a linguistic designation, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhay Empire.

Koyra Chiini (, literally " town language "), or Western Songhay, is a variety of Songhai in Mali, spoken by about 200, 000 people ( as of 1999 ) along the Niger River in Timbuktu and upriver from it in the towns of Diré, Tonka, Goundam, and Niafunké, as well as in the Saharan town of Araouane to its north.

And though initially successful in their military campaign against the Songhay Empire, the Moroccans found it increasingly difficult to maintain control over the conquered locals as time went on.

Meanwhile, as the Moroccans continued to struggle in the Songhay, their power and prestige on the world stage declined significantly.

The largest ethnic groups in Niger are the Hausa, who also constitute the major ethnic group in northern Nigeria, and the Zarma Songhay ( also spelled Djerma-Songhai ), who also are found in parts of Mali.

Enslaved people of the Songhay Empire were used primarily in agriculture ; they paid tribute to their masters in crop and service but they were slightly restricted in custom and convenience.

This link between non-tonality and geographic location is not limited to Hausa alone, but is exhibited in other northern dialects of neighbouring languages ; such as the difference within Songhay language ( between the northernmost Koyra Chiini and Koyraboro Senni dialects of Timbuktu and Gao, and the Zarma dialect, spoken from western Niger to northern Ghana ), and within the Soninke language ( between the northernmost dialects of Imraguen and Nemadi spoken in east-central Mauritania, and the southern dialects of Senegal, Mali and the sahel ).

Zarma ( Djerma ), the most widely spoken Songhay language with two or three million speakers, is a major language of southwestern Niger ( downriver from and south of Mali ) including in the capital city, Niamey.

While retaining a basically Songhay structure, it is extremely heavily influenced by Berber and Arabic ; about 20 % of the 100-word Swadesh list of basic vocabulary consists of loans from Arabic or Berber, and the proportion of the lexicon as a whole is considerably higher.

* Ahmad al-Mansur, sultan of Morocco, demands that the king of Songhay pay a heavy tribute in exchange for Saharan salt, probably as an intentional provocation.

Between the political chaos and multiple civil wars within the empire it came as a surprise when Morocco invaded Songhay unexpectedly.

Tamari has described endogamous castes of over fifteen West African peoples, including the Tukulor, Songhay, Dogon, Senufo, Minianka, Moors, Manding, Soninke, Wolof, Serer, Fulani, and Tuareg.

Castes appeared among the Malinke people no later than 14th century, and was present among the Wolof and Soninke, as well as some Songhay and Fulani populations, no later than 16th century.

He brought the Hausa states into the Songhay trading network.

Centralization made Songhay very stable, even during dynastic disputes.

Mali's early history was dominated by three famed Western African empires -- Ghana, Mali or " Manden Kurufa ", and Songhay.

The reign of Ahmad al-Mansur brought new wealth and prestige to the Sultanate, and an invasion of the Songhay Empire was initiated.

The Niger is called Jeliba or Joliba " great river " in Manding ; Orimiri or Orimili " great water " in Igbo ; Egerew n-Igerewen " river of rivers " in Tuareg ; Isa Ber " big river " in Songhay ; Kwara in Hausa ; and Oya in Yoruba.

His evidence was mainly based on the uncertainty in the classification of Songhay, morphological resemblances, and lexical similarities.

Eight of its proposed constituent divisions ( excluding Kunama, Kuliak, and Songhay ) are found in the modern nation of Sudan, through which the Nile River flows.

* Songhay ( 3. 2 million all dialects, mostly Zarma ).

Proposals have sometimes been made to add Mande ( usually included in Niger – Congo ), largely due to its many noteworthy similarities with Songhay rather than with Nilo-Saharan as a whole.

Barth could read Arabic and was able to investigate the history of some regions, particularly the Songhay empire.

Outside of Eastern Europe, the " š " is also used in Pashto, North American Lakota, Cheyenne and some African languages such as Northern Sotho and Songhay.

Medieval West Africa Before 1400: Ghana, Takrur, Gao ( Songhay ) and Mali.

La Religion et la Magie Songhay.

They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the era of the Songhay Empire.

As regards interintelligibility of Songhay languages, the dialect of Koyraboro Senni spoken in Gao is unintelligible to speakers of the Zarma dialect of Niger, according to the Ethnologue.

For linguists, a major point of interest in the Songhay languages has been the difficulty of determining their genetic affiliation ; they are commonly taken to be Nilo-Saharan, as defined by Greenberg in 1963, but this classification remains controversial.

The name Songhay is historically neither an ethnic nor a linguistic designation, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhay Empire.