1. Askia The Great 6.3 Mattias Henning Alec Berry Tommy Baronner And Cameron Carter

2. Introduction  In past section Sunni Ali strengthened and enlarged empire.  He died in 1492.  His son, Sunni Barru followed in his foot steps, but he was not Muslim.

3. Information-Askia the great  Sunni Baru was not Muslim, which made people afraid.  People rebelled, leader was called Muhammad Ture.  He overthrew Sunni Baru, and took title Askia (a title of high military rank).  He soon became known as Askia the great.

4. Information-Religion  Muhammad Ture took Muslim faith very seriously.  Went on pilgrimage to Mecca.

5. Information- Education  Muhammad Ture greatly supported education.  Under his rule Timbuktu flourished.  The city had universities, schools, libraries, and mosques.  People from all of West Africa came here to study.  Djenne was also a center of learning, here they discovered that Mosquitoes spread Malaria and even performed surgery on the human eye.

6. Information-Trade and Government  Each of these cities were also centers of trade.  Merchants from afar came to trade here.  Askia greatly encouraged growth of Islam.  His laws were similar to other Muslim nations across Sahara.  To keep order he divided Songhai into five provinces.  Removed local leaders, and selected loyal governors.  One governor ran empire while he was on Hajj.  Created special departments to supervise certain tasks.  Formed a standing professional army, the first in West Africa.