Соңғай империясының ұлы билеушісі Аския Мухаммед

Askia Muhammad I (1443–1538), born Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al Turi or Muhammad Ture, was the first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire, reigning from 1493 to 1528. He is also known as Askia the Great, and his name in modern Songhai is Mamar Kassey. Askia Muhammad strengthened his empire and made it the largest empire in West Africa's history. At its peak under his reign, the Songhai Empire encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano (in present day Northern Nigeria) and much of the territory that had belonged to the Songhai empire in the east. His policies resulted in a rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of many schools, and the establishment of Islam as an integral part of the empire. Muhammad was a prominent general under the Songhai ruler Sunni Ali. When Sunni Ali was succeeded by his son, Sunni Baru, in 1492, Muhammad challenged the succession on the grounds that the new ruler was not a faithful Muslim. He defeated Baru and ascended to the throne in 1493. Ture subsequently orchestrated a program of expansion and consolidation which extended the empire from Taghaza in the North to the borders of Yatenga in the South; and from Air in the Northeast to Futa Djallon in Guinea. Instead of organizing the empire along Islamic lines, he tempered and improved on the traditional model by instituting a system of bureaucratic government unparalleled in Western Africa. In addition, Askia established standardized trade measures and regulations, initiated the policing of trade routes and also established an organized tax system. He was overthrown by his son, Askia Musa, in 1528.

The Tarikh al Sudan gives Askia Muhammad's name as Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al Turi or al Sillanki. The Tarikh al Fattash gives his name as Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. Al Turi and al Sillanki have been interpreted as the Soninke clan names Ture and Sila by many historians. However, Stephan Bühnen has argued that they should be interpreted as nisbas referring to ancestry from Futa Toro or Silla in the Senegal valley, and favors the possibility that his ancestors originally came from Futa Toro. After going on the hajj in 1497–1498, he also became known as Askia al Hajj Muhammad. In modern Songhai, he is known as Mamar Kassey. Mamar is a form of the name Muhammad, and Kassey is a matronymic. The theory that Askia Muhammad's family originated in Futa Toro is controversial and has been generally rejected by the Songhai people themselves, especially by Muhammad's modern descendants who see in it a challenge to their ethnicity. His exact surname has not been definitively determined and no Toucouleur or Soninke oral source claim him as one of their own. The Tarikh al Fattash uses the title 'maiga' for him, which is only used for the patrilineal kin of the Sunni dynasty. The term 'sonhinkey,' which suggests a Soninke ethnic origin for Askia, is also the name of a clan of Songhai magicians responsible for the pre Islamic cult and forming a younger branch of the royal Sunni clan without rights to the throne. Songhai oral traditions claim the father of Askia Mohammed originated from this clan. Omar Komajago, Askia's brother, is never described as a Touré or a Sylla. The term at Turi, which designates the geographical origin of a person, could be the name of Askia's father's village. There is a Songhai village call Tureh in Niger in the Tillabéri Region in the Tera Department. Although Askia Mohamed is generally seen as the son of princess Kassey, sister of Sunni Ali Ber, it is impossible that he himself came from Fouta Toro because the post of general was only given to a member of the royal family and ethnic Songhai patrilineally. The theory that he is an ethnic Songhai through both his father and mother is being studied at the Ahmed Baba center in Timbuktu.

The title Askia (اسكيا) is of unknown origin, but had been in use since the early 13th century, if not earlier. It may derive from an arabic word for 'general.' The Tarikh al Sudan provides a folk etymology for the title, claiming that Askia Muhammad invented the title himself based on the lament of Sonni Ali's daughters when they had learned he had seized power: "a si Kiya", meaning "it is not his" or "he shall not be it". The original pronunciation of the title is not known; in modern Songhai, it is pronounced siciya. Moroccan sources spelled the title Sukyā or Sikyā, Leo Africanus spelled it Ischia, and a contemporary Portuguese source spelled it Azquya.

Askia Muhammad was born in Gao. His father, Baru Lum, was of Toucouleur or Soninke ancestry, with ancestors hailing from the Senegal River valley. His mother was named Kassey and is said in oral tradition to have been the sister of Sonni Ali.

Under Sonni Ali, Muhammad Ture was a powerful general but frequently clashed with the king. The Tarikh al Fattash paints him as a faithful Muslim opposed to Ali's harsh treatment of the ulama of Timbuktu. In 1492, shortly after the death of Sonni Ali, Muhammad Ture, then a general, rose up against Ali's son Sonni Baru, claiming he was not a faithful Muslim. He drew his support from the ulama of Timbuktu, harshly persecuted under Ali, and Mansa Kura, the Muslim chief of Bara. Sonni Baru drew his from the traditional religious leaders of the Songhay and the Dendi fara, commander of an eastern province. Ture defeated Baru at the Battle of Anfao in April 1493 outside of Gao and took power and the title 'Askia'.

In 1496 he made the hajj to Mecca, accompanied by 500 horsemen and 1000 infantry. Although he made many charitable donations during his pilgrimage, including setting up a place for West Africa pilgrims to stay in Medina, he returned to Gao having accumulated 50,000 ducats in debt. Despite being away for nearly two years, his return buttressed his position with the prestige of the titles of al hajj and khalifa, and Islam became a pillar of his rule. Upon his return, he embarked on a series of campaigns against the Mossi, the Sultanate of Agadez, and the Kanem Borno empire. In 1504 an invasion of Borgu ended in disaster. An expedition to Walata captured the town, but was unable to hold it against Tuareg pressure, and Askia Muhammad accepted tribute in exchange for his abandoning the town. This alliance with the Tuareg was a key pillar of Songhai power, particularly in their control over the salt mines of Taghaza. In 1512, his brother Omar Komajago led an army that destroyed Futa Kingi, killed Tenguella, and brought the Kingdom of Diarra under the empire's sway. 1515 saw another campaign against Agadez, reinforcing the Songhai position there. This was the peak of his power. Askia Muhammad had earlier conquered Katsina, Zaria and Gobir, devastating the cities with slave taking and heavy taxation. The expedition against Agadez caused dissession when the Emir of Kebbi felt he had been cheated of his share of the spoils and rebelled, ending Songhai hegemony in Hausaland.

Askia Muhammad profoundly reorganized the Songhai empire. Where Sonni Ali had been a diffident Muslim, Askia was devout. He based the legal system on sharia law, invited Islamic scholars from North Africa, and established Islam as the official religion of the noble class. He also divided the empire into provinces with centrally appointed governors and created a series of ministries (including finance, justice, interior, protocol, agriculture, waters and forests, and matters pertaining to “tribes of the white race” e. g. Tuaregs and Berbers), with all important positions filled by relatives.

The Arma who come from the marriage between the Spanish soldiers of Morocco and the Songhai women are also in matrilineal line descending from the Askiya for the most part. Throughout the Central Sahel, the descendants in patrilineal or matrilineal line of the askia can be around Million drawn from the ethnic Songhai which amounts to nearly 11 million people and possible descendants among the Hausa, The Fula and there are generally only than associated with royal houses. The pyramidal Tomb of Askia located in Gao has not been the subject of any excavation to examine his remains in order to carry out genetic examinations and these known descendants have no longer been the subject of study, only a genetic study can confirm the historical connection. Are sons the Askia Dawud also had Total 333 children according to the Tarikh al Sudan while the Tarikh al Fattash has 61 children, 30 of whom died at a young age. the many princes died for the most part young because of the assassinations that occurred during the successions to the imperial throne, especially with the emperors Askia Musa the eldest of the sons of the askia born of his Dahomean concubine who carried out a coup and murdered a good number of these brothers and 25 to 35 of these cousins. The successions on the imperial Songhai throne are generally preceded by a battle between the princes, the strongest generally takes power, it is this instability which favored the Moroccan invasion and the defeat of Tondibi due to a weak contribution of troops resulting from the cold between the emperor Ishaq II and the balama of the kurmina.

Askia encouraged learning and literacy, ensuring that Songhai's universities produced the most distinguished scholars, many of whom published significant books and one of which was his nephew and friend Mahmud Kati. To secure the legitimacy of his usurpation of the Sonni dynasty, Askia Muhammad allied himself with the scholars of Timbuktu, ushering in a golden age in the city for scientific and Muslim scholarship. The eminent scholar Ahmed Baba, for example, produced books on Islamic law which are still in use today. Muhammad Kati published Tarikh al fattash and Abdul Rahman as Sadi published Tarikh al Sudan (Chronicle of The Black Land), two history books which are indispensable to present day scholars reconstructing African history in the Middle Ages. The king's supposed tomb, the Tomb of Askia, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Nigerien musical group Mamar Kassey is named after Askia Muhammad. In the turn based strategy game Sid Meier's Civilization V, Askia Muhammad is depicted as the leader of the Songhai civilization, one of the playable factions.