Sunni Ali (died 1492) founded the Songhay empire of West Africa. Best known as a great military leader, he was called Ali Ber, or "Ali the Great." There is much controversy about his attitudes toward Islam.

Almost nothing is known about the early life of Ali (who received the title of sunni, or si, when he became king of Gao) except that he was raised among his mother's people, the Faru of Sokoto, from whom he learned the use of magical powers. When he grew older, he lived with his father, Madogo, the tenth si of Gao. Madogo was a strong military leader, and he too taught Ali the techniques of magic. Thus by the time Ali became si, he was adept in the arts of both war and magic.

In 1464, when Ali succeeded the fourteenth si, Sulaiman Dama, Gao was still a tributary province under the Mali empire...