In 1578, Morocco successfully repelled an invasion by Portugal at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, forces decimating the large Portuguese army.
[citation needed] However, the expense of the defences built to hold off the Portuguese was a large strain on Moroccan coffers, putting the kingdom on the verge of bankruptcy.
In search of new resources, Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi turned his attention to the Songhai Empire, which he erroneously believed had gold mines from which its wealth came.
[1][3] The Songhai planned to send a stampede of 1,000 cattle to break down the Moroccan lines and to cover their infantry (who lacked gunpowder weapons).
The Tarikh al-Sudan records that some Songhay soldiers sat on their shields rather than flee, and were killed in cold blood by the victorious Moroccans.
[1] Judar Pasha continued onto Gao and sacked the city, whose residents had already evacuated,[4] but finding little in the way of riches soon moved on to the richer trading centers of Timbuktu and Djenné.