Battle of Tondibi The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in Morocco ' s 16th - century invasion of the Songhai Empire . Though vastly outnumbered , the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia Ishaq II , guaranteeing the Empire ' s downfall . Background . The Songhai had been the dominant force in Western Africa for more than a century , controlling the Western Sudan from the headwaters of the Senegal River to what is now Niger and Nigeria ; however , a rivalry for succession after the 1583 death of Askia Daoud left the Empire in a weakened state . Meanwhile , to the north , the Saadi Dynasty of Morocco was at the height of its power . In 1578 , an attempt by Portugal to conquer Morocco had been repelled by the Moroccans at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir , where a large Portuguese army was decimated . However , the amount of money spent paying for the defenses used to hold off the Portuguese was a large strain on Morocco . The nation ' s coffers were depleted , and Morocco was on the verge of bankruptcy . In search of new resources for his kingdom , Sultan Ahmad I al - Mansur Saadi turned his attention to the Songhai Empire , where he erroneously believed the gold mines from which its wealth came from , were located . Desert crossing . Though many of his advisors warned that it was illegal to wage war against another Muslim nation , he swept their objections aside . In October 1590 , he dispatched a force of 1 , 500 light cavalry and 2 , 500 infantry , many of whom were equipped with arquebus es . The command he entrusted to Judar Pasha , a Spanish eunuch who had been captured as a child . The army traveled with a transport train of 8 , 000 camels , 1 , 000 packhorses , 1 , 000 stablemen , and 600 laborers ; they also transported eight English cannon s . After a four - month journey , Judar reached Songhai territory with his forces largely intact . His forces captured , plundered , and razed the salt mines at Taghaza . The Moroccans then advanced on the Songhai capital of Gao . Battle . On 12 April 1591 , the armies met . From Taghaza , the Moroccan army marched towards Gao . The Songhai army awaited Judar ' s force near Tondibi , a cattle pasture just north of Gao . Though the Songhai had a powerful cavalry , they lacked the Moroccan ' s gunpowder weapons , which would turn the tide of the battle . The Songhai battle tactics were poorly done with the plan of sending a stampede of 1 , 000 cattle to break down the Moroccan lines and to cover their infantry who lacked the technology of gunpowder weapons . Unfortunately , the cattle charge was repelled from the noise of gunfire and the sound of cannons which caused the cattle to stampede back towards Songhai lines . The Songhai infantry continued to pursue the Moroccan army as planned but they were slaughtered by Moroccan arguebuses . The Songhai army then sent their cavalry to charge at the Moroccan lines . After an initial cavalry skirmish , Judar maneuvered his arquebusiers into place and opened fire with both arquebuses and cannons . The remaining Songhai cavalry fled the field or were massacred by Moroccan gunfire . At last only the rearguard , a unit of brave and resolute men remained , facing the Moroccans who they fought in hand to hand combat until they were killed . Consequences . Judar Pasha continued onto Gao and sacked the city , but finding little in the way of riches soon moved on to the richer trading centers of Timbuktu and Djenné . The looting of the three cities marked the end of the Songhai Empire as an effective force in the region ; however , Morocco proved likewise unable to assert a firm control over the area due to the vastness of the Songhai Empire and difficulties of communication and resupply across the Saharan trade routes , and a decade of sporadic fighting began . The area eventually splintered into dozens of smaller kingdoms , and the Songhai themselves established the Dendi Kingdom . There were also domestic troubles and when , in 1603 , the sultan died ( presumably by the plague which swept through Morocco at the time , or at the hands of one of his sons according to some ) a war of succession broke out . Soon all that was left of his legacy was Marrakesh , local warlords , the Portuguese and the Spanish having taken over the rest . Morocco : From Empire to Independence . C . R Pennell .