Latest / The Songhai Empire: Africa's Powerful Forgotten Kingdom — Fexingo History / The Songhai–Portuguese Alliance That Never Was
Transcript
- Lucas: So last time we talked about the Mossi horsemen and why they were such a persistent threat along Songhai's southern frontier. But while Askia Muhammad was dealing with the Mossi, another power was creeping up from the coast that he never fully got a handle on — the Portuguese. Luna: Wait, the Portuguese reached Songhai? I thought their focus was the Gold Coast and Benin. Lucas: Exactly — that's where most of their early activity was. Starting in the 1470s, they built the fortress of São Jorge da Mina, modern-day Elmina, on the Gold Coast. But their presence had ripple effects up the Niger River. The trade in gold, slaves, and salt was shifting, and Songhai's trans-Saharan routes were starting to feel competition from the Atlantic. Lucas: By the 1490s, Portuguese explorers and traders had pushed into the interior. They made contact with the Hausa states like Kano and Katsina, which were vassals of Songhai under Askia Muhammad. And that's when the first direct contact between Songhai and Portugal happened. Luna: How did they communicate? I imagine no one spoke each other's language. Lucas: They used intermediaries — Tuareg traders who were familiar with both worlds. The Tuareg had been moving across the Sahara for centuries, and some of them had learned Portuguese from coastal dealings. In 1495, a Tuareg leader named, we think, Musa al-Kabir, carried letters from Askia Muhammad to King Manuel I of Portugal. Lucas: The letters proposed an alliance. Askia Muhammad wanted Portuguese military support against the Mossi, who were raiding his southern borders. In return, he offered to give Portugal exclusive trading rights in Songhai — particularly in gold and slaves. It was a bold diplomatic move. Luna: So a West African emperor trying to play European powers against each other. That's advanced statecraft. Lucas: Absolutely. Askia Muhammad was no naif. He had built a centralized bureaucracy, reformed the tax system, and created a standing army. He understood the game of alliances. But King Manuel I was cagey. He sent a reply, but it took two years to arrive, and when it did, it was full of ecclesiastical language and demands for conversion to Christianity. Lucas: In 1497, a Portuguese embassy actually reached Gao. It was led by a factor named Balthasar de Castro. He brought gifts — horses, textiles, and a letter from Manuel asking Askia to convert and allow missionaries. Askia was polite but noncommittal. He accepted the gifts, sent back token presents, but the alliance never materialised. Luna: Why didn't Askia want the guns? The Mossi were a real threat. Lucas: Partly because the Portuguese terms were too high. They wanted religious concessions that would have undermined Askia's authority. He had just been proclaimed Caliph of the Sudan after his hajj; he couldn't be seen as bowing to a Christian king. Also, the Portuguese couldn't project enough force inland. Their strength was naval, and Songhai was far up the Niger. Lucas: There's also evidence that Askia was wary of Portuguese motives. They had already raided the coast for slaves and were allied with the kingdom of Benin, which was a Songhai rival in the south. So the alliance fell apart. But the contact itself is remarkable — it shows that Songhai under Askia Muhammad was reaching out to the wider world. Luna: So what happened afterwards? Did they ever try again? Lucas: There were a few more exchanges. Under Askia Dawud, in the 1540s, a Portuguese trader named João de Barros reported that Songhai had sent an ambassador to Lisbon. But by then, Portuguese interests had shifted to the Indian Ocean, and Songhai was increasingly focused on internal stability. The window for a joint venture had closed. Lucas: Some historians speculate that if the alliance had gone through, Songhai might have acquired firearms earlier, potentially changing the outcome of the Battle of Tondibi in 1591. But that's a big if. The real takeaway is that Songhai was engaged in sophisticated diplomacy on multiple fronts — with the Saadians in Morocco, with the Portuguese, with the Ottoman Empire even — long before European colonialism. Luna: It's a fascinating 'what if'. But it also shows how quickly the world was changing around them. Lucas: Exactly. The Portuguese presence was a harbinger. Within a century, the Atlantic would eclipse the Sahara as the main trade route, and empires like Songhai that were built on desert commerce would struggle to adapt. So this missed alliance is a small but telling moment — a glimpse of a different possible future.