Askia Mohammed: Hero or Tyrant

Askia Mohammed is one of those giants of African history routinely referred as worthy of emulation and/or respect. Originally a general under Sonni Ali Ber, upon Ali's death, his chosen successor and son, Sunni Baru refused to declare he was Muslim. Using Baru's refusal as his opening, General Mohammed Toure, as he was then known, challenged Baru for the throne. Successful in his strive for power, Askia Mohammed, as he became known - Askia being his title, ascended the throne of the Songhai Empire in 1493 and ruled until 1528. Under his leadership, Songhai assumed the status of being the largest country in the history of West Africa. It was also under his rule that Timbuktu become the world-famous center of learning that it was.

In 1496, Askia went on pilgrimage to Mecca. The journey, which took two years, resulted in Askia being declared the caliph [leader of a given Islamic community]; effectively making him both the political and religious leader of the area.

Most of the above history is based on traditional sources such as books. However there is another source - the orature of the jeseré [griot] class. I chose this as my main method of understanding - or coming to a conclusion about Askia Mohammed being that it is a method of recounting history indigenous to the area under discussion. The Epic of Askia Mohammed, edited and translated by Thomas A. Hale, is a word for word translation of an oral rendition of the Songhai Empire under the Askia. In his preface, Hale states

[...] the goal is to make available to the public another example of African epic from an authentic source in a format that conveys as much as possible the aura of the original performance.

In this format, from a modern perspective, the behavior of Askia Mohammed as he went about consolidating the Songhai Empire into the largest country in West Africa's history becomes questionable. There is repeated mention of

Every village that follows his orders, that accepts his wishes, he conquers them, he moves on. Every village that refuses his demand, he conquers it, he burns it, he moves on. Until the day-Mamar [Askia] did that until, until, until, until the day he arrived at the Red Sea.

It is repeated so regularly it becomes a chorus and leads me to interpret the consecutive "untils" as representing an event which happened repeatedly over not just an extended period of time but also over a great expanse of land. Considering that Askia Mohammed was a pious Muslim whose climb to power had as its foundation a disagreement with a previous ruler's refusal to declare religious affiliation to Islam, one has to wonder whether the acceptance of Islam throughout the Songhai Empire was based on violence and coercion. Wonderings such as these are the reason I question whether he was a hero or a tyrant. Consolidating different forms of presenting of historical data makes it seems the truth might be somewhere in the middle.