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Agadez, formerly spelled Agadès, is the fifth largest city in Niger, with a population of 110,497 based on the 2012 census. The capital of Agadez Region, it lies in the Sahara desert, and is also the capital of Aïr, one of the traditional Tuareg–Berber federations. The historic centre of the town has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The Songhai people, Hausa : mutanen sonhay, zabarmawa, dendawa, Gaoborori, Tuareg languages : ihatan(ayneha), izabarmane, Arabic languages : zabarmawi, Mande : koroboro are ethnolinguistic group in West Africa who speak the various Songhai languages. Their history and lingua franca is linked to the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. Predominantly a Muslim community, the Songhai are found primarily throughout Niger and Mali in the Western sudanic region. The name Songhai was historically neither an ethnic nor linguistic designation, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhay Empire which are the Songhai proper of sunni and Askya dynasty found predominantly in present-Niger. However, the correct term used to refer to this group of people collectively by the natives is "Ayneha". Although some Speakers in Mali have also adopted the name Songhay as an ethnic designation, other Songhay-speaking groups identify themselves by other ethnic terms such as Zarma or Isawaghen. The dialect of Koyraboro Senni spoken in Gao is unintelligible to speakers of the Zarma dialect of Niger, according to at least one report. The Songhay languages are commonly taken to be Nilo-Saharan but this classification remains controversial. Nicolai considers the songhay languages as a afro-asiatic Berber subgroup or a new subgroup of semitic languages restructured under Mande and nilo Saharan influence, the lexicon of songhay languages includes many completes lexical fields close to Berbers languages, old and new semitic, northern songhay speakers are Berbers from Tuareg people : Dimmendaal (2008) believes that for now it is best considered an independent language family.
Askia Muhammad I, born Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Turi or Muhammad Ture, was the first ruler of the Askia dynasty of the Songhai Empire, reigning from 1493 to 1528. He is also known as Askia the Great, and his name in modern Songhai is Mamar Kassey. Askia Muhammad strengthened his empire and made it the largest empire in West Africa's history. At its peak under his reign, the Songhai Empire encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano and much of the territory that had belonged to the Songhai empire in the east. His policies resulted in a rapid expansion of trade with Europe and Asia, the creation of many schools, and the establishment of Islam as an integral part of the empire.
Say (Saayi) is a town in southwest Niger, situated on the Niger River. It is the capital of the Say Department in the Tillabéri Region. Say was a small Songhai town prior to the arrival of the Fulani marabout Alfa Mohamed Diobo in the 19th Century who converted the town to a center for Islamic learning and established the Emirate of Say. The municipality has 70,234 inhabitants, and its economy is dominated by agriculture, herding and small trade. Today, the inhabitants of Say are mostly Peulh, Songhai and Zarma.
The Zarma people are an ethnic group predominantly found in westernmost Niger. They are also found in significant numbers in the adjacent areas of Nigeria and Benin, along with smaller numbers in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Sudan. In Niger, the Zarma are often considered by outsiders to be of the same ethnicity as the neighboring Songhai proper, although the two groups claim differences, having different histories and speaking different dialects. They are sometimes lumped together as the Zarma-Songhay or Songhay-Zarma.
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Maïga is a name or title that is extensively found among the Songhai nobility, denoting descent from Askia Muhammad I and Sonni Ali Ber. The name Maiga is a commonly used surname among the Songhai people in Mali, Niger, and other West African countries with a significant Songhai population. Additionally, the name is occasionally used as a given name.
The Askiya dynasty, also known as the Askia dynasty, ruled the Songhai Empire at the height of that state's power. It was founded in 1493 by Askia Mohammad I, a general of the Songhai Empire who usurped the Sonni dynasty. The Askiya ruled from Gao over the vast Songhai Empire until its defeat by a Moroccan invasion force in 1591. After the defeat, the dynasty moved south back to its homeland and created several smaller kingdoms in what is today Songhai in south-western Niger and further south in the Dendi.
The Arma people are an ethnic group of the middle Niger River valley, descended from Moroccan invaders of the 16th century. The name, applied by other groups, derives from the word ar-rumah "fusiliers".
The 1974 Nigerien coup d'état was a largely bloodless military insurrection which overthrew the first postcolonial government of Niger. The government that followed, while plagued by coup attempts of its own, survived until 1991.
Songhoyboro Ciine or Songhay Ciiné is an upriver dialect of the southern Songhay dialect of Niger. It is spoken mostly in the northwestern corner of Niger's Tillaberi region, an area known as Songhay: from Gorouol, a border town with Mali, down to the towns of Tera, Anzourou, Namari Goungou and Say.
The Union of Nigerien Independents and Sympathisers was a political party in Niger.
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Muhammad Kanta Kotal, also known as Kanta Kotal, was a Hausa Warrior and Military General who became the first King of Kebbi, now a state in Northern Nigeria. Kanta was the chief in charge of the Province of Lekka, then under the Songhai Empire.
The Songhai is an area in the northwestern corner of Niger's Tillabéri Region populated mainly by the Songhai proper. It is considered the heartland of the Songhai people and the sanctuary of their ancient pantheon and priestly class and the place in which the original lineage of the Sonni dynasty retreated after the coup d'etat of 1493 creating a secret society of magicians, the Sohance.
The Wogo people are a small subgroup of the broader Songhai people. They are found primarily in Niger and Mali on the banks and islands of the Niger river, a territory they share with the Zarma, the Kurtey and the Songhay. The main Wogo communities are found on the islands in the Tillabery region of Niger with the largest being Ayorou in Niger and Boura in Mali. They speak the Wogo Ciine songhay dialect.
The Songhai proper are an ethnic group in the northwestern corner of Niger's Tillaberi Region, an area historically known in the country as Songhai. They are a subgroup of the broader Songhai group. Even though the Songhais have so much in common with the Zarma, to the extent that some Songhais may refer to themselves and their dialect as "Zarma," both see themselves as two distinct branches of the same ethnicity.
The Saadian invasion of the Songhai Empire began with an expedition sent in 1590 by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur of the Saadian dynasty, which ruled over present-day Morocco at the time. The Saadian army, led by Judar Pasha, arrived in the Niger valley region in 1591 and won its first and most decisive victory against the forces of Askia Ishaq II at the Battle of Tondibi and occupied the capital of Gao shortly after.
Askia Nuh was a ruler of the Dendi Kingdom, the rump state of the Songhai Empire. He was a son of Askia Dawud and established his capital at Lulami, from where Songhai resistance to the Saadi Moroccans continued.
References
- ↑ Levtzion, Nehemia (2003). "North-West Africa: from the Maghrib to the fringes of the forest". In Richard Gray (ed.). The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 4. Cambridge University. p. 165.
- ↑ Sad, Abd al-Ramn ibn Abd Allh; Houdas, Octave Victor (1900). Tarikh es-Soudan par Abderrahman ben Abdallah ben 'Imran ben 'Amir es-Sa'di : Traduit de l'arabe par O. Houdas (in French). Paris: E. Leroux. p. 400. OCLC 1085622287.
- ↑ Idrissa, Rahmane; Idrissa, Abdourahmane; Decalo, Samuel (2012), Historical Dictionary of Niger By Rahmane Idrissa, Abdourahmane Idrissa, Samuel Decalo, p. 307, ISBN 9780810860940 , retrieved 2021-04-18
- ↑ Edmond, Séré de Rivières (1965), Histoire du Niger, p. 73, retrieved 2021-04-18
- ↑ Idrissa, Abdourahmane; Decalo, Samuel (2012), Historical Dictionary of Niger by Abdourahmane Idrissa, Samuel Decalo, Page 399, ISBN 9780810870901 , retrieved 2021-03-18
- ↑ Delafosse, Maurice, Haut-Sénégal-Niger (1870-1926) (PDF), p. 170, retrieved 2021-04-20
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