Askia Ishaq II

Askia Ishaq II, also known as Askia Isḥāq Zughrānī, was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1588 to 1591. He commanded the Songhai force at the Battle of Tondibi, where he was defeated by Saadian forces from Morocco who subsequently destroyed the empire.

Ishaq was the son of Askia Daoud and a Zughrani concubine from the middle Niger region.^[2]: 301 He was the first son born to Daoud after his rise to power in 1549.^[3]

Ishaq came to power upon the death of his brother Askia Muhammad Bani, while another brother, the Balma'a (military governor of Kabara), was bearing down on Gao with a rebellious army. After discovering the body of the deceased Askia, eunuch courtiers conspired to have Benga-farma Maḥmūd b. Ismail take the crown, but another royal slave tipped off Ishaq, the oldest of the sons of Askia Daoud present that day. He and his supporters surrounded the conspirators, and he was proclaimed Askia on April 10th.^[2]: 361

Before engaging the rebel army, Ishaq lured away two nephews who had supported the Balma'a. When the battle came, around April 20th 1588, Ishaq's Tuareg cavalry proved decisive. The rebels were defeated, with the Balma'a fleeing first to Timbuktu and then Tindirma, where he was captured and killed.^[2]: 362

While Ishaq was victorious, the army had lost significant manpower and leadership as the new Askia purged dozens of rebellious leaders from the western provinces.^[4] During his three year reign, Ishaq continued to campaign, marching twice into the Gurma region south of the Niger river. His brutal purge of rebel leaders notwithstanding, he was reputed to be kind, honest, generous, and popular with the people of Gao.^[2]: 363

Ishaq did not get the opportunity to restabilize the empire. A royal slave imprisoned at the remote but very valuable Taghaza salt mine escaped to Marrakesh, where he told the Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi about the fractured and weakened Songhai. Al-Mansur dispatched a letter in December 1589 demanding the revenue from Taghaza; Ishaq responded with bluster, but it failed to dissuade the Moroccans from sending a powerful force of musketeers to invade the Songhai empire.^[2]: 364

The 4,000-man force under the Islamicized Spaniard Judar Pasha crossed the Sahara desert, arriving on the Niger on February 28th 1591. Though Ishaq assembled more than 40,000 soldiers to meet the Moroccans, his army fled the enemy's gunpowder weapons at the decisive Battle of Tondibi in March 1591. Ishaq had the capital of Gao evacuated, which Judar soon seized and looted, along with the trading centers of Timbuktu and Djenné. The Askia sued for peace, but in response al-Mansur sent reinforcements and replaced Judar with Pasha Maḥmūd, a more aggressive commander.^[2]: 365

Pasha Maḥmūd defeated the Songhai again at the battle of Zanzan on October 14, forcing Ishaq to flee to Dendi, where he was soon deposed and sent into exile in Gurma. He attempted to find refuge in the town of Bilanga, one the towns he had campaigned against during his reign, and was killed in April 1592 by a vengeful mob.^{[2]: 365 [1]}

• Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire