Askia Mohammed III

Askia Muhammad al-Hajj was the ruler of the Songhai Empire from 1582 to 1586.

Rise to Power Muhammad al-Hajj was the son of Askia Daoud and named after his grandfather Askia Mohammed I. Despite his name, he never performed the hajj. Upon his father's accession to the Askiyate in 1549 he was appointed Korey-farma, meaning 'Minister of the Whites.' This position was in charge of managing the Berbers and Tuareg people of the northern parts of the Empire, as well as an increasingly large and influential community of expatriate merchants in Gao and Timbuktu.