untry
of God until destiny brought them to the land of Kokia. Giving a more
detailed account it says:

"Now Kokia was a town of the Songhoi people situated on the banks
of a river, and was very ancient. It existed in the time of the
Pharaohs, and it is said that one of them, during his dispute
with Moses, sent thither for the magician whom he opposed to the
Prophet.

"The two brothers reached the town in such a terrible state of
distress that their appearance was scarcely human; their skins
were cracked by the heat and dust of the desert, and they were
almost naked. The inhabitants questioned them concerning the
country of their origin, and their names have been forgotten in
the surname with which their reply provided them, 'Dia min al
Jemen'--'Come from Yemen,' And Dialliaman the elder settled in
Kokia. Now the god of the Songhoi was a fish who appeared to them
from the water at certain periods wearing a golden ring in his
nose; and the people gethered together and worshipped the fish,
receiving its commands and prohibitions and obeying its oracles.

"Perceiving their error, Dialliaman hid in his heart a resolution
to kill the false deity, and God assisted him in his design.

"One day he pierced the fish with a lance in the presence of the
people and killed it. Then the people proclaimed Dialliaman
king."[199]

Here the author has confused tradition with history.[200] The document
itself, however, substantiates the contention that there arose in this
region one of the world's greatest empires ruled by an almost unbroken
succession of kings who piloted the nation through the trials of its
incipiency, enabled it to develop a very advanced civilization, and
extended its influence over a large portion of Africa. The empire of
the Songhoi lasted about 1,000 years, during which three dynasties
ruled over these people. The kings of these lines adopted the names
Dia, Sunni, and Askia. The first included thirty kings who ruled from
700 to 1335; the second a line of eighteen kings from 1335 to 1492,
and the third and last dynasty from 1494 to 1591.

During the reign of Dia Sobi of the first dynasty the empire passed
through a crisis. Unable to conquer its enemies from without, it
finally became the vassal of the Mali empire on the west. Jenne, the
city of much wealth and culture, was then separated from the Songhoi
em