Judar Pasha had reached Songhai territory after a four-month journey, with his forces largely intact.

After seizing and razing the salt mines of Taghaza, he advanced on the Songhai capital of Gao.

Songhai ruler Askia Ishaq III, in response to the Moroccan incursion, raises a large army that includes some ninety-seven hundred to thirty thousand infantry infantry and twelve thousand five hundred to eighteen thousand cavalry.

Aksia Ishaq also brings along a herd of one thousand cattle, which he plans to use as a screening force for his infantry.

The Songhai army awaits Judar's force near Tondibi, a village just north of Gao.

Though the Songhai have a powerful cavalry, they lack the Moroccans’ gunpowder weapons, which will turn the tide of the battle.

The armies meet in March of 1591.

After an initial cavalry skirmish, Judar maneuvers his arquebusiers into place and opens fire with both arquebuses and cannons.

The noise and tremendous initial damage begins a cattle stampede behind the Songhai position.

Faced with gunfire ahead and a stampede behind, the Songhai army flees, ending the battle.