Askia Daoud

Who was Askia Daoud?

Askia Daoud was ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1549 to 1582. Daoud came to power unopposed following the death of his brother Askia Ishaq I in 1549. The Empire continued to expand under Daoud's rule, and saw little internal strife.

He organised a series of military campaigns against tributary territories of his large empire. The Songhai forces were frequently successful, but in the 1561-1562 campaign against the Mossi, a number of his commanders were killed.

In 1556-1557 troops of Mulay Muhammad al-Shaykh, the sultan of Marrakesh captured the salt mines of Taghaza but then withdrew. Soon after his accession in 1578 Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur of Morocco demanded the tax revenues from the salt mines. Ashiya Dawud responded by sending a large quantity of gold as a gift.

Daoud's 1582 death began a struggle for succession that critically weakened the Empire and prepared the way for the 1591 Moroccan invasion by the troops of Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi.