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.
[1]: 336 Askia Daoud had intended that al-Hajj's older brother, Kurmina-fari Muhammad Benkan, succeed him.
[1]: 356 Muhammad Benkan initially intended to oppose the succession, but was quickly abandoned by his troops and chose exile in Timbuktu before later being arrested.
Al-Hajj appointed his brother al-Hadi as the new Kurmina-fari, but in February 1584 he also rebelled, was abandoned by his co-conspirators, and was arrested.
[1]: 356 He exchanged gifts with the Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, but Moroccan forces still unsuccessfully attacked Ouadane and briefly occupied the economically vital salt mine at Taghaza.