“Turned His Attention to the Land of Sudan”: Teaching the 1591 Conflict between Morocco and the Songhai

As empires expanded between 1450 and 1750, conflicts often occurred between states. Rulers frequently used different reasons to justify invading neighboring states. One of the conflicts textbooks tend to skim over is between the Saadian Moroccan Dynasty and the Songhai Empire in the late sixteenth century. This conflict occurred at the same time the Ottomans expanded up to the border of Morocco, and the Portuguese and Spanish pressured Morocco’s coastal cities. In this context, the Moroccans crossed the Sahara Desert and overthrew the Songhai Dynasty. The Moroccan army was smaller than the Songhai cavalry, but the Moroccans had gunpowder.

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