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Songhai became independent of Mali, and rivalled it as the leading power in West Africa. Culture, Religion and Monarchy. The Songhai had settled on both banks of the middle Niger River. They established a state in the 15th century, which unified a large part of the western Sudan and developed into a brilliant civilisation.
The first emperor of Songhai was Sonni Ali, reigning from about 1464 to 1493. Like the Mali kings before him, Ali was a Muslim. In the late 1460s, he conquered many of the Songhai's neighboring states, including what remained of the Mali Empire. Sunni Ali quickly established himself as the empire's most formidable military strategist and conqueror.