Askia Ishaq was a ruthless and paranoid ruler, inspiring fear and anxiety among the
Songhai people. Despite being a devout Muslim, he sent agents to
Timbuktu on a regular basis to demand enormous sums of money from the merchants, which is against Islamic law. After a request from the
Moroccan sultan
Mohammed al-Shaykh, to cede the
salt mines of
Taghaza, Ishaq I sent a group of 2000 mounted men to raid a market town in the
Dara valley of southern Morocco with instructions to avoid killing anyone. This was intended as a show of strength. Askiya Ishaq I died in the town of Kukiya and was buried there. He was succeeded by his brother
Askiya Dawud. ==Notes==