4. In the 1400s, disputes over succession weakened. Subject peoples broke away, and the empire shriveled. By the 1460s, the wealthy trading city of Gao (gow) had become the capital of the emerging West African kingdom of. The largest and greatest of the Western Sudanic civilizations was Songhai. Songhai's foundation was laid bywho came to the throne in 1464 and recaptured in 1468 from Mali, the year usually fixed as the beginning of the Songhai Empire. During the twenty eight years of his reign, he was always at war. He strengthened his through a systematic build-up of his cavalry, drafted soldiers from vassal states and built a of war boats to deploy his military force using the Niger. By the time of his death, he had consolidated and greatly expanded his empire and laid the basis for the renowned glories of Songhai.​