Songhai at its height

Songhai succeeded Mali as the dominant power of the Sahel, controlling the Niger bend, the gold routes and the salt of Taghaza. Askia Muhammad centralised the administration, created a professional army, and made Timbuktu and Djenné centres of learning with a manuscript culture that still survives. The empire fell in 1591 when a Moroccan force with gunpowder and muskets crossed the Sahara — an early demonstration that firearms could cancel out distance and numbers.