Moroccan Invasion of the Songhai Empire

The Moroccan Invasion of the Songhai Empire was launched in 1590 when Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur of Morocco's Saadi dynasty sent an expeditionary force across the Sahara, seeking to seize control of the trans-Saharan gold trade and, by some accounts, access to slave labor for Morocco's sugar industry. A Moroccan army under Judar Pasha, though vastly outnumbered, won a decisive victory over Songhai forces under Askia Ishaq II at the Battle of Tondibi in 1591, its firearms overwhelming the larger Songhai army, and went on to occupy the great cities of Gao and Timbuktu. The Songhai Empire, one of the largest states in West African history, effectively collapsed after this defeat, fragmenting into rival factions even as Moroccan forces struggled for years afterward against continued Songhai guerrilla resistance. The conquered territory eventually settled into the Pashalik of Timbuktu, a nominal Moroccan dependency, while the disruption of the old trade routes marked a lasting decline in trans-Saharan commerce.