s expenses, and greatly impressed
the people of the East with his magnificence.

On his return he found that Timbuktu had been sacked by the Mossi, but he
rebuilt the town and filled the new mosque with learned blacks from the
University of Fez. Mansa Musa reigned twenty-five years and "was
distinguished by his ability and by the holiness of his life. The justice
of his administration was such that the memory of it still lives."[18] The
Mellestine preserved its preeminence until the beginning of the sixteenth
century, when the rod of Sudanese empire passed to Songhay, the largest
and most famous of the black empires.

The known history of Songhay covers a thousand years and three dynasties
and centers in the great bend of the Niger. There were thirty kings of the
First Dynasty, reigning from 700 to 1335. During the reign of one of these
the Songhay kingdom became the vassal kingdom of Melle, then at the height
of its glory. In addition to this the Mossi crossed the valley, plundered
Timbuktu in 1339, and separated Jenne, the original seat of the Songhay,
from the main empire. The sixteenth king was converted to Mohammedanism in
1009, and after that all the Songhay princes were Mohammedans. Mansa Musa
took two young Songhay princes to the court of Melle to be educated in
1326. These boys when grown ran away and founded a new dynasty in Songhay,
that of the Sonnis, in 1355. Seventeen of these kings reigned, the last
and greatest being Sonni Ali, who ascended the throne in 1464. Melle was
at this time declining, other cities like Jenne, with its seven thousand
villages, were rising, and the Tuaregs (Berbers with Negro blood) had
captured Timbuktu.

Sonni Ali was a soldier and began his career with the conquest of Timbuktu
in 1469. He also succeeded in capturing Jenne and attacked the Mossi and
other enemies on all sides. Finally he concentrated his forces for the
destruction of Melle and subdued nearly the whole empire on the west bend
of the Niger. In summing up Sonni Ali's military career the chronicle says
of him, "He surpassed all his predecessors in the numbers and valor of his
soldiery. His conquests were many and his renown extended from the rising
to the setting of the sun. If it is the will of God, he will be long
spoken of."[19]

Sonni Ali was a Songhay Negro whose father was a Berber. He was succeeded
by a full-blooded black, Mohammed Abou Bekr, who had been his prime
minister. Mohammed was hailed as "Askia"