The kingdom of Songhay, even after ʿAlí Killun had made it independent of Melle, could not fail to remain rather weak and insignificant, as even Timbúktu, and probably a great portion of the country to the east of that town, was not comprised in its limits: nay, it even appears that the kingdom was still, at times, dependent in a certain degree upon Melle, the great kingdom on the upper course of the Niger; and it was not until almost 150 years after the time of ʿAlí Killun that the powerful king Sonni ʿAlí, the Sonni Héli of Leo Africanus, conquered Timbúktu, wresting it, with immense slaughter, A.H. 894, A.D. 1488, from the hands of the Tawárek, who had themselves conquered it from Melle. This king, although he is represented by all the learned men of Negroland as a very cruel and sanguinary prince, was no doubt a great conqueror; for although it was he who, in taking possession of this town, inflicted upon the inhabitants a most severe punishment, surpassing even the horrors which had accompanied the taking of the town by the king of Mósi, nevertheless it was he also who gave the first impulse to the great importance which Timbúktu henceforth obtained, by conquering the central seat of the old empire of Ghánata, and thus inducing the rich merchants from the north, who had formerly been trading with Bíru or Waláta, and who had even occasionally resided there, to transfer their trade to Timbúktu and Gágho. It is the same king, no doubt, that attracted the attention of the Portuguese, who, in the reigns of Joâo and Emmanuel, sent several embassies into the interior, not only to Melle[95], which at that time had already greatly declined in power and importance, but also to Timbúktu, where Sonni ʿAlí seems to have principally resided; and it was perhaps partly on account of the relations which he entertained with the Christian king (to whom he even opened a trading station as far inland as Wadán or Hóden), besides his cruelty against the chiefs of religion, that the Mohammedans were less satisfied with his government; for there is no doubt that he was not a strict Mohammedan. It was Háj Mohammed Áskia who founded the new homonymous dynasty of the Áskia, by rising against his liege lord, the son of Sonni ʿAlí, and, after a desperate struggle, usurping the royal power; and, notwithstanding the glorious career of that great conqueror, we may fancy we can see in the unfortunate circumstances of the latter part of the reign of that king, a sort of Divine punishment for the example which he had given of revolt.