The Sahel's Grand Canal: Songhai's Waterworks and a Drought

Long before the Sahel's current climate challenges, the Songhai Empire engineered an ambitious canal system to manage the Niger River's floods and combat drought. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the remains of a grand canal project initiated under Sonni Ali or Askia Muhammad, the role of the fari-mondio (royal administrator) and kore (lieutenant) in organizing labor, and how the empire's hydraulic infrastructure supported its capital, Gao. They discuss the empire's vulnerability to severe droughts that could break even the strongest administration, the decline of these waterworks after the Saadian invasion, and what archaeological evidence survives today. The conversation touches on the Sorko riverine people's expertise, the Tyeddo pastoralists' conflicts over water, and the long-term environmental impact of Songhai's interventions on the Niger floodplain. #SonghaiEmpire #NigerRiver #HydraulicEngineering #FexingoHistory #SonniAli #AskiaMuhammad #FariMondio #Sorko #Tyeddo #Sahel #Drought #Gao #Timbuktu #Kanuri #ClimateHistory #WestAfrica #Archaeology #WaterManagement Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo