However, throughout these numerous raids, the Moroccan army began modernizing their fighting tactics with the use of firearms, while the Songhai army failed to modernize and relied on spears, arrows[13] and guerrilla warfare instead.[5] With the failure to modernize, in1591 the empire was finally defeated by the Moroccan forces.[14] With the fall of the Songhai Empire the Moroccan powers continued to rule over the land for 100 years until the colonization of the French power arrived in West Africa.[4][14]