The Islamic governments of the pre-colonial sub-Saharan empires of Mali and Songhai appear to have had a similar relationship with these territories, which were at once the home of undisciplined raiding tribes and the main trade route for the Saharan caravan trade.

Mali's slipping grip on its far-flung empire, thanks to the growth of the Songhai Empire, had allowed Djolof to become an empire itself.

By 1950, Rouch had made the first films set in Niger with au pays des mages noirs ( 1947 ), l ' initiation à la danse des possédés ( 1948 ) and Les magiciens de Wanzarbé ( 1949 ), all of which documented the spirit possession rituals of the Songhai, Zarma, and Sorko peoples living along the Niger river.

Its capital was the city of Gao, where a Songhai state had existed since the 11th century.

The Islamic governments of the pre-colonial sub-Saharan empires of Mali and Songhai appear to have had a similar relationship with the tribal territories, which were once the home of undisciplined raiding tribes and the main trade route for the Saharan caravan trade.

Although the city of Gao had been occupied by a Songhai dynasty prior to being conquered by Mansa Musa's forces in 1325, it was not until much later that the Songhai empire emerged.

The Songhai leadership were largely coopted by the French Colonial administration upon their arrival around 1900, while much of the Dogon community fled to nearby mountains, a process that had earlier begun to escape Moorish slave raids.

The Fulas of the region had for centuries been the vassals of larger states, including the Mali Empire ( 13th-14th centuries ), the Songhai Empire ( 15th century ), the Moroccan pashas of Tomboctou ( 16th century ), and the Bambara Empire at Ségou ( 17th century ).

ZERI Bag had a significant African component that included assisting Father Godfrey Nzamujo in the development of the Songhai Farm Integrated Farming project in Benin.

The Songhai had been the dominant force in Western Africa for more than a century, controlling the Western Sudan from the headwaters of the Senegal River to what is now Niger and Nigeria ; however, a rivalry for succession after the 1583 death of Askia Daoud left the Empire in a weakened state.

Though the Songhai had a powerful cavalry, they lacked the Moroccan's gunpowder weapons, which would turn the tide of the battle.

Local chiefs were still granted authority over their respective domains as long as they did not undermine Songhai policy.

Praise songs are accompanied by kettledrums and kalangu talking drums, along with the kakaki, a kind of long trumpet derived from that used by the Songhai cavalry.

In 1994, Tuareg, reputed to have been trained and armed by Libya, attacked Gao, which again led to major Malian Army reprisals and to the creation of the Ghanda Koi Songhai militia to combat the Tuareg.

While French has been the cross cultural language of choice since independence, there are eight other official languages spoken in Niger, which include Hausa, Zarma / Songhai, Tamajeq, Fulfulde, Kanuri, Arabic, Gurmantche, and Toubou.

There have been several Muslim empires in Western Africa which exerted considerable influence, notably the Mali Empire, which flourished for several centuries and the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Mansa Musa, Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed.

They are known as having been among the first on the continent to produce woven textiles ( by a process known as strip-weaving ), and as the founders of the Ghana Empire and Mali Empire, as well as being responsible for the expansion of the Songhai Empire across West Africa.

In 1994, Tuareg, reputed to have been trained and armed by Libya, attacked Gao, which again led to major Malian Army reprisals and to the creation of the Ghanda Koi Songhai militia to combat the Tuareg.

The Mandinka, Malinke ( also known as Mandinko or Mandingo ) are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa with an estimated population of eleven million ( the other 3 major ethnic groups in the region being the non-related Fula, Hausa and Songhai ).

The most successful of these was the Songhai Empire, expanding its power from about 1460, and eventually surpassing the Mali Empire in both territory and wealth.

Mar is often credited with wresting power away from the Mali Empire and gaining independence for the small Songhai kingdom at the time.

Judar proceeded to sack Gao, Timbuktu and Djenné, destroying the Songhai as a regional power.

According to Dr. Illiasu ( 1971 ) in his work " The Origins of the Mossi-Dagomba states ", the second period of the Mossi-Dagomba success came to an end with the restoration of Imperial Songhai power towards the close of the 15th century.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire ( from which Mali is named ), and the Songhai Empire.

Askia Muhammad made Songhai the largest empire in the history of West Africa.

Among the Tuareg, Songhai, Moors, Hausa and Fulani of West Africa, women do not traditionally wear the veil, while men do.

* Sonni Ali, first king of the West African Songhai empire

* Tuareg Berbers, and some northern Berbers, Sahrawi, Songhai, Wodaabe, Fulani, and Hausa peoples of North and West Africa wear some varieties of turbans.

In the West African Sahel region, many Islamic empires rose, such as the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire, and the Kanem Empire.

His Niger – Congo family was substantially foreshadowed by Westermann's " Western Sudanic ", but he changed the subclassification, including Fulani ( as West Atlantic ) and the newly postulated Adamawa – Eastern, excluding Songhai, and classifying Bantu as merely a subfamily of Benue – Congo ( previously termed " Semi-Bantu ").

Following the collapse of the Songhai Empire, a number of smaller states arose across West Africa, including the Bambara Empire of Ségou, the lesser Bambara kingdom of Kaarta, the Fula / Malinké kingdom of Khasso ( in present-day Mali's Kayes Region ), and the Kénédougou Empire of Sikasso.

The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa.

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Sunni Ali was the first king of the Songhai Empire, located in west Africa and the 15th ruler of the Sonni dynasty.

In addition 30 % of its population, mostly Tuareg and Songhai were displaced to North Africa during the 1990s.

Unlike most Songhai languages, Koyra Chiini has no phonemic tones, and has subject – verb – object word order rather than subject – object – verb.

In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire.

From the 8th through the 15th century, black kingdoms of the western Sudan, such as Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, brought their political culture from the south.

Following the breakup of Mali a local leader named Sonni Ali ( 1464 – 1492 ) founded the Songhai Empire in the region of middle Niger and the western Sudan and took control of the trans-Saharan trade.

Gradually they moved eastward, first into the centers of the Mali and Songhai empires and eventually into Hausaland and Borno.

Spread along the Niger River in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, throughout the historic Songhai Empire, including its former capital Gao and the well-known city of Timbuktu.

Before the arrival of European settlers, the history of the Saharan region is mainly characterized by the consolidation of settlements in large state entities – the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire.

In early Islamic states of the western Sudan, including Ghana ( 750 – 1076 ), Mali ( 1235 – 1645 ), Segou ( 1712 – 1861 ), and Songhai ( 1275 – 1591 ), about a third of the population were enslaved.

* 1462: Sonni Ali Ber, the ruler of the Songhai ( or Songhay ) Empire, along the Niger River, conquers Mali in the central Sudan by defeating the Tuareg contingent at Tombouctou ( or Timbuktu ) and capturing the city.

* March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi Dynasty led by Judar Pasha defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.

The empires of both Mali and Songhai that followed ancient Ghana in the Western Sudan adopted the religion.

The modern-day Gambia was once part of the Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires.

The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years if one traces its rulers from the first settlement in Gao to its semi-vassal status under the Mali Empire through its continuation in Niger as the Dendi Kingdom.

In 1340, the Songhai took advantage of the Mali Empire's decline and successfully asserted its independence.

With his control of critical trade routes and cities such as Timbuktu, Sonni Ali brought great wealth to the Songhai Empire, which at its height would surpass the wealth of Mali.

The Songhai are found primarily throughout Mali in the Western sudanic region ( not the country ).