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Dia means king,

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The Songhai people are originally from Mali, but broke off from them to establish a new country

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The Songhai Empire had a caste system with the emperor and his family at the top. Next came the nobles who helped the emperor govern the country and lead armies. Traders and free people where the next people in the caste, they ran business' and farms. Skilled workers who specialized within their particular jobs were second to the lowest class, the enslaved people. Families in Songhai were patriarchal, the women always had to obey their husband, father or brother.  Overall men and women were treated equally throughout the empire. Like the Ghana and Mali they were influenced by Islam. The military was bigger, math and science ideas were encouraged, new laws made, and scholars were welcomed in.This is Sunni Ali- the first king.

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Gao was first founded

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Dia kossoi converts Gao to capital of empire

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Dia Kossio converted empire to Islam

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-First King of the Songhai Empire
-Fifteenth ruler of the Sonni Dynasty
-His soldiers marched and fought on foot (Infantry).
-Under his Infantry, many cities like Timbuktu and Djenne were captured and strengthened.
-Created a repressive policy against Timbuktu scholars to gain more control.
-Organized a fleet patrol to the Niger River.
- In 1492, he died from swimming across the Niger valley, but it is believed that he was killed by his sister's son.
-After his death, his son took over for him.

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- Long distance trade helped their local economy and supported internal trade.
- Songhai had a cosmopolitan market where kola nuts, gold, ivory, slaves, spices, palm oil and precious woods were traded in exchange for salt, cloth, arms, horses and copper.

- The wealth made by trade was used too build larger kingdoms and empires.
- Songhai used their slaves as soldiers and were expected not to overthrow their rulers.
- Slaves also were farmers in the villages to help produce enough food to supply the growing populations in the towns.

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Dia kings are replaced by new leaders whose title was Sunni or Shi

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The Songhai empire was the biggest empire to exist in West Africa of its time. The empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean and reached all the way into modern day Niger. The empire began in the city of Gao, and as the Mali empire began to lose power the people of Gao invaded Mali and took control of the empire. The empire lasted from 1375-1591, and the empire fell after losing in war with the Moroccans. A monarch developed under the first great leader Sunni Ali , and the monarchy continued after Sunni Ali's son became the leader. The third king, Muhammad Toure developed a bureaucracy, and he chose his officials to help him lead. Toure helped strengthen the relationships of other muslim empires near the Songhai such as Egypt, Arabia, and Muslim Spain.

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Songhai Empire becomes free. While the Mali empire was on decline in 1340, the songhai freed themselves and gained independence

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Songhai defeated by Morocco

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-Islam was introduced to Songhai in 1019 and was a growing faith, but was mostly limited to urban cities as most people remained faithful to their traditional religions.
-Songhai became a major center of Islamic learning and commerce; great numbers of Muslim religious teachers, judges, scholars and others were bountifully maintained at the king’s expense
-There was cultural divide within Songhai largely due to religious behavior. Emperor Sonni Ali’s administration angered the Islamic community by granting equal status to native tribal religions and reducing the power and influence of Islamic leaders. Muslim scholars at Timbuktu called Sonni Ali “tyrannical, cruel and impious.”
-The people of Songhai spoke Arabic and Songhai languages, since they did not write anything down the Songhai people used Griots to teach about history, music, poetry and dance.