The Epic of Askia Mohammed
SynopsisPlot
Songhay, approximately halfway between the present-day cities of Timbuktu in Mali and Niamey in Niger, became a political force beginning in 1463, under the leadership of Sonni Ali Ber. By the time of his death in 1492, the foundation had been laid for the development under Askia Mohammed of a complex system of administration, a well-equipped army and navy, and a network of large government-owned farms. The present rendition of the epic was narrated by the griot (or jeseré) Nouhou Malio over two evenings in Saga, a small town on the Niger River, two miles downstream from Niamey. The text is a word-for-word translation from Nouhou Malio's oral performance.
Story
About this book
The Epic of Askia Mohammed is an oral narrative performed by the griot Nouhou Malio, recorded over two evenings in the small town of Saga on the Niger River, about two miles downstream from Niamey, the capital of Niger. A griot, known in the Songhay language as a jeseré, is a West African storyteller and keeper of historical memory. The published text is a direct, word-for-word translation of Malio's spoken performance, preserving the rhythms and structure of a living tradition.
The epic centers on Askia Mohammed, the most prominent ruler of the Songhay Empire, who governed from 1493 to 1528. The empire's rise as a political force began earlier, in 1463, under Sonni Ali Ber. By the time of Sonni Ali Ber's death in 1492, the groundwork was in place for what followed: an organized system of administration, a military that included both army and navy, and a network of large government-run farms. The Songhay heartland lay roughly midway between present-day Timbuktu in Mali and Niamey in Niger, along the middle stretch of the Niger River.
Askia Mohammed's reign marked the period when the empire reached its greatest extent and organizational complexity. The epic as performed by Malio gives this history its narrative shape through oral tradition rather than written chronicle.
