ABSTRACT
With the decline of the Songhoy Empire, there was a succession of Moroccan, Fulani, Tuareg, and European invaders whose domination totally broke down the physical, social, and economic framework of the territory. The Sultan of Morocco, Moulay Ahmed, used to say that according to his divinations, the Songhoy country should no longer be dominated by Sudanese, (that is to say, Blacks) and that his army should take possession of a certain part of that region (Es Sâdi, 1900, p. 217). So the Sultan fi rst sent the Djouder expedition, which arrived in Gao and defeated the Songhoy in 1591. Then Mohamed Thaba’s expedition to Timbuktu followed. Moulay Ahmed fi nally sent two caïds (governors) to Sudan, Moustapha El Fil and Abdel El Malek. Moulay Ahmed then sent Ammar to replace Djouder and gave him the order to return immediately to Morocco. He left on March 21, 1599 after a stay of eight years in Gao.
