In the 16th century, the Saadian dynasty managed to put a stop to Spanish, Portuguese, or Turkish ambitions on its territory. But any expansion to the North or East has become impossible. So there remains the southern route, across the Sahara, where the Songhai Empire reigns.
Relations between the Sahel and Morocco have existed throughout history. The Moors, the Tuaregs… All these tribes are there to attest to economic exchanges, through caravan trade. However, for a long time, the Moroccan army refrained from venturing into the desert dunes to look at the other side of the Saharan strip.
This changed radically with Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour, nicknamed al-Dahabi (“the golden victor”), ruler of the Saadian dynasty having earned his stripes in 1578, during the Battle of the Three Kings, near Ksar el-Kébir, thanks to which he put a stop to Portuguese attempts to invade his country. The event also had a worldwide impact, according to the criteria of the time. “At the end of August, in Paris, we heard the news of the disaster of the Portuguese army, but we do not know whether Sebastian [the king of Portugal] is dead or a prisoner. Likewise in Antwerp, we are awaiting confirmation of news on the Portuguese debacle. At the end of September, in London, we learned […] that Sébastien had indeed died in the battle”, recounts the historian Lucette Valensi in her essay Fables of Memory, the Glorious Battle of the Three Kings (1578).
The death of the young Portuguese king is an electric shock in the West and a providential triumph for the Maghreb. “The Battle of the Three Kings in 1578 will be the staggering event that will elevate Morocco to the forefront of powers vying for mastery of the Old World.” , confirms historian Daniel Rivet. This Moroccan victory over Christian troops will make the Shereef Empire a regional power in the eyes of the West. A military credibility which the Shereef kingdom greatly needed in the face of the Iberian push. Not just Iberian, by the way: the Turks, allies of Sultan Abd al-Malik, also failed to subdue Morocco.
For the new Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour of Morocco, the defeat inflicted on the Portuguese carries two lessons. The first: any intrusion from the North or the East seems to go away for a long time. The second: the Cherifian Empire, despite its victory, is now geographically limited, both in its northern and eastern parts. The only opening that remains is therefore southern.
Dominate the Sahara
The logic is not only geographical but also economic. Money, and more precisely gold, is the news of war. By directing his gaze towards the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa, the sultan is thinking both of conquering their riches and of cutting off the road to gold for Europeans. “This Ahmed al-Mansour – “the golden one” or rather “the golden one” – practices a strategy of large spaces consistent with the country’s African ties, write Jacques Berque and Jacques Cousteau. He wanted to bypass European companies on the coast of Senegal by the continental route, and thus cut off one of the continental gold routes. He established himself firmly in Niger, Touat and Gourara. » Touat, which is located today in Algeria, in the wilaya of Adrar, was taken back from the Ottomans in 1583.
In the mid-1580s, the Sultan of Morocco therefore secured part of the Sahelian zone to his advantage. It can therefore push further south. Niger becomes the new objective of the Saadian soldiery. This is the expedition to Sudan, which Ahmed el-Mansour remotely guides from his palace in Marrakech, despite the reluctance of the ulama who did not want a war against other Muslims. He delegated power to General Djouder Pasha (or Yuder), an Andalusian renegade like there were so many in the sultan’s army in the 16th century. He leads the Moroccan expeditionary force across the Sahara, towards the borders of the Sahel.
The idea is nothing new: El-Mansour is in fact following up on the operations initiated by his predecessors to control the salt route from Sudan. Before him, his father, Mohammed al-Sheikh, who died in 1557, had delivered a missive to Emperor Askia of Songhai to claim the salt pans of Teghazza (a town located in the northeast of Mali and now abandoned), a source of gigantic profit for this African-Muslim dynasty. “In response,” recalls archaeologist Henri Terrasse, “Askia Ishaq Ier sent a raid of 2,000 Tuaregs to plunder the Drâa. »
The sultan’s troops, under the orders of Djouder Pasha, therefore continued their advance. The warlord “assembles 2,000 arquebusiers on foot and 5,000 arquebusiers on horseback, almost all Andalusians or renegades, and 1,500 Arabs armed with spears, or 4,000 fighters who are equipped with swivels and several small cannons,” continues Henri. Terrace. It was these guns purchased from the English that made the difference against the Turks, and soon against the Askia.
Sherifian Empire versus Songhai Empire
After 135 days of walking across the Sahara, confrontation is inevitable. It took place in 1591, during the battle of Tondibi. This takes place upstream of Gao, on the banks of the Niger River. “The troops of Askia attempted a desperate maneuver by throwing herds of oxen against the invaders. Panicked by the cannonade, the animals turned against their masters, which added to the stampede,” explains journalist Bernard Nantet in his book Le Sahara. Once again, firearms made the difference.
The Songhai Empire is defeated. Emperor Askia submits to the Cherifian sultan. He offers “100,000 gold coins, 10,000 slaves, an annual tribute, the monopoly on importing salt into Sudan […] in exchange for the departure of the Sharif’s troops,” explains Henri Terrasse. Insufficient for Ahmed el-Mansour who, as soon as he learned the terms of the agreement, sent a new general, Mahmoud, and reinforcements. The new offensive is fatal. This time, it’s really over for the Songhai Empire. Sudanese gold will generously fuel the coffers of the Makhzen. The Moroccans settled in Gao, in Timbuktu. They even created their own kasbah.
To establish Sherifian authority, a pasha is appointed. “For some time, the sultans kept an eye on Timbuktu by appointing pashas until 1604. The newly promoted crossed the desert with trusted soldiers and members of their tribe,” says Bernard Nantet. Over time, however, the political unrest, but also the epidemics that hit the kingdom, will gradually turn it away from Africa, while the profit from salt and gold will gradually decline. In the conquered lands south of the Sahara, however, Friday prayers will continue to be said in the name of the Moroccan sultan. It is a spiritual allegiance that speaks volumes in Muslim oekoumene. If we refer to the classic times of Islam, the fact of saying the Friday sermon in the name of a caliph determines the spiritual, even secular, power of the latter.
And when in 1894, French troops invaded the country, it was again from the Moroccan sultan that the pasha of Timbuktu asked for help. A missive intercepted by the French.
