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The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, they are spoken in the cities of Timbuktu, Niamey and Gao. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the era of the Songhai Empire. In Mali, the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao as the dialect to be used as a medium of primary education.
The Songhai people are an 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 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: Dimmendaal (2008) believes that for now it is best considered an independent language family.
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
The Za Dynasty or Zuwa Dynasty were rulers of a medieval kingdom based in the towns of Kukiya and Gao on the Niger River in what is today modern Mali. The Songhai people at large all descended from this kingdom. The most notable of them being the Zarma people of Niger who derive their name "Zarma " from this Dynasty, which means "the descendants of Za".
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".
Téra is a department of the Tillabéri Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Téra. As of 2011, the department had a total population of 579,658 people.
The Kurtey people are a small ethnic group found along the Niger River valley in parts of the West African nations of Niger, Benin, Mali, and Nigeria. They are also found in considerable numbers in Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.
Tondikandia is a rural commune in Filingué Department, Tillabéri Region, Niger. Its chief place and administrative center is the town of Damana.
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 Maouri people are an ethnic group in western Africa. They are one of the major ethnic groups of Niger, and are concentrated around the Dallol Maouri of the Niger River, extending from Matankari, near Niamey, to Gaya. They are a subgroup of the Hausa people, and speak both the Hausa language and the Djerma language. When using the Zarma language, they are known as the Arawa people.
Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan is a French and Nigerien anthropologist, and Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Marseilles. He is also Emeritus Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and associate professor at University Abdou Moumouni in Niamey, Niger.
Fatimata Gandigui Mariko, better known as Fati Mariko, is a Nigerien singer.
Zaley is a musical genre of the Zarma and Songhay people of Niger. Most famous during the 1940s and 1950s, it is a genre dominated by female performers, who take as the subject of their songs the virtues of men whose qualities they appreciated. The word itself comes from the Zarma language, and denotes a blend of musical instruments with female voices; it has also come to mean "amorous seeking". Some writers have described the genre's significance as being similar to that of romanticism in nineteenth-century European culture.
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 Soyankés or Sohance.
Mali Bero or Zarmakoy Sombo is a mythical legendary leader of the Zarma people of western Niger who led them in their migration from an unknown region Mali eastward to western Niger several centuries ago. The story of Mali Bero has appeared in various forms in the Zarma society from poems, songs and oral narratives by griots. No one, however, has published a linear version of the story of Mali Bero that is more than a few hundreds long. Mali Bero, however, is believed to be the son of Zabarkane, another Zarma legendary figure
The Emirate of Say was an Islamic state founded in 1825 by Alfa Mohamed Diobo, a Qadiriyya Sufi leader who came to Say from Djenné (Mali) in 1810. Though Diobo was no conqueror, his control over Say was ensured by both his clerical renown and the diplomatic protection of the Sokoto Empire, also founded by a Fulani Qadiriyya Sufi cleric, Usman Dan Fodio.
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 Songhays have so much in common with the Zarma people to the extent some Songhais may refer to themselves and their dialect as "Zarma", both see themselves as two different people.
The Songhai people of Mali, often referred to as Gao-boro, Koyraboro, Gao-gao, Gaawo-boro, Koroboro are a subgroup of the broader Songhay ethnic group. They are primarily found in the region of Gao, Timbuktu and other regions in Mali. The expression "Gao-boro" or "Koroboro" means "the people of Gao" or "the town dwellers", as opposed to nomads like the Tuareg people and other transhumant people.
Lulami was the capital of the Dendi of the Songhai Empire. It was established by Askia Nuh, son of Askia Dawud and it is from here the Songhai resistance against Morocco continued. In 1639 during the reign of Askia Ismail, the Moroccan Pasha Mesaoud sacked the town of Lulami. The location of this town is unknown but believed to be south of the Say Department in Niger
References
- ↑ Bibliothèque nationale de France , retrieved 2021-03-29
- ↑ Southern Songhay Speech Varieties In Niger:A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Zarma, Songhay, Kurtey, Wogo, and Dendi Peoples of Niger (PDF), Byron & Annette Harrison and Michael J. Rueck Summer Institute of Linguistics B.P. 10151, Niamey, Niger Republic, 1997, retrieved 2021-02-23
- ↑ Idrissa, Abdourahmane; Decalo, Samuel (2012), Historical Dictionary of Niger by Abdourahmane Idrissa, Samuel Decalo, p. 464, ISBN 9780810870901 , retrieved 2021-03-17
