CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF THE HISTORY OF SONGHAY. 617 
Songhay. 
A.D. 
A.H. 
Neighbouring Kingdoms. 
Mahmud left Timbuktu with the 
whole of his army, taking the ex- 
basha Jodar with him, and in- 
stalling in the government of the 
town the kaid El Mustapha and 
the emir Ham from Wadi Dar'a. 
Having kept the great festival 
near the town in a place called 
Sihank (?), he marched against 
Ts-hak, who approached with his 
army to make a last struggle for 
his kingdom and the independence 
of his country. But although the 
A'skia seems to have been not 
totally devoid of energy, he could 
not contend against that terrible 
weapon which spread devastation 
from a great distance, for the 
Songhay do not seem to have pos- 
sessed a single musket ; and it is 
not impossible that the Moroc- 
cains had some small field pieces *, 
while the Songhay did not even 
know how to use the one small 
cannon which the Portuguese had 
once made them a present of, and 
which the Basha afterwards found 
in Gagho. The consequence was, 
that in the battle which ensued on 
Monday the 25th Dhu-el Hijje, 
I's-hak and the Songhay were 
beaten, and the king fled on the 
road to Dendi, making a short 
stay in Kira-Kurma, and leaving 
behind him some omcers, whom 
he ordered to make a stand in 
certain stations, especially the Bal- 
ma Mohammed Kagho, who had 
been wounded by a ball, and the 
Barakoy Buttu. To the latter he 
gave orders at the same time to 
make forays against the Fullan, 
a fact of the highest importance, 
and which, combined with another 
1591 
999 
* This is not certain, although further on A'hmed Baba mentions ^.jjtXo, which Mr. Ralfs translates (p. 554.) 
by " Geschutz;" but the common musket being called the Arabs in and near Timbuktu, it is not 
quite certain whether the author means field pieces or matchlocks. 
