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- A former West African empire on the Niger River and the name of the people and their language, which is spoken in Mali. Tradition claims that a Berber Christian, al-Yaman, founded Songhay in the 7th century ad on Kukiya Island, below Gao. The rulers became Muslim (c.1200) and transferred the capital to Gao.
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A former West African empire on the Niger River and the name of the people and their language, which is spoken in Mali. Tradition claims that a Berber Christian, al-Yaman, founded Songhay in the 7th century ad on Kukiya Island, below Gao.
- Introduction
- Location and Homeland
- Language
- Folklore
- Religion
- Major Holidays
- Rites of Passage
- Interpersonal Relations
- Living Conditions
- Family Life
The Songhay have one of the most glorious histories of any African people. Known throughout West Africa as great and fearless warriors, the Songhay established one of the three great medieval West African Empires in 1463. The first Song-hay king, Sonni AliBer, who spent much of his 30-year reign engaged in war, extended the boundaries of the Songha...
The Songhay-speaking peoples live near the Niger River in eastern Mali, western Niger, and northern Benin. Key towns in Songhay country include Gao and Timbuktu in Mali, and Ayoru, Tillaberi, Niamey, and Tera in Niger. Songhay country is situated in the semiarid Sahel, which consists of flat rocky plains broken by rocky mesas in the south, and sand...
Songhay is a language spoken by 3 million people in the Republics of Mali, Niger, and Benin. There are several dialects of Songhay. In Timbuktu, Songhay people speak kwaara cini (literally, “town talk”). The Songhay spoken between Gao and Tillaberi along the Niger River is called issa cini(literally, “river talk”). By contrast, people living in far...
Songhay trace their origins to the 8th century AD and the coming of Aliman Dia to the Niger River. Aliman Dia possessed iron weapons and with these he subdued the resident peoples, sorko (fishers) and gow(hunters). Aliaman Dia brought these peoples together and founded the first Songhay dynasty, the Dia. Descendants of Aliaman Dia governed Songhay ...
Although almost all Songhay are practicing Muslims, Islamic practices have not excluded pre-Islamic beliefs. Songhay see life as a series of paths (the life path or paths; in the Songhay language, the fonda or fondey) that constitute life in the world. Like paths in the Songhay bush, the metaphoric paths of life end when they meet two new paths tha...
Songhay people, like other groups in the Republic of Niger, celebrate Nigerien Independence Day, and other state-related holidays. They also celebrate such major Islamic holidays as Muhammad's birthday, the end of the Ramadan fast, and tabaski, which commemorates Abraham's biblical sacrifice of a ram. For tabaski,people slaughter one or two sheep a...
Like all peoples throughout the world, the Songhay perform rituals to underscore the major events of the life-cycle. Most of these rituals follow Islamic prescriptions, though some practices related to birth, puberty, marriage, divorce, and death predate Islam in sub-Saharan Africa. Birth, for example, is seen as a time of danger for both mothers a...
Generosity, grace, and modesty are key ingredients of ideal Songhay interpersonal relations. One is supposed to direct one's social energies towards the other and the group. Self-absorption is looked down upon. The Songhay are, like many peoples in the West African Sahel, known for their generosity. When strangers arrive they are housed, well fed, ...
Songhay people in rural areas live mostly in small villages, which are usually near a water source—a series of wells, a pond, or the Niger River. Families live within walled or fenced compounds, which usually consist of a main house for the husband, and smaller houses for each of his wives and their children. The houses are usually made of mud bric...
Songhay families tend to be large. In rural areas, brothers live with their father, mothers, wives, and children in large communal compounds. In some cases, more than 100 people might live in a rural compound. In urban areas, families are a bit more scattered and smaller in size. In the family, women play central roles. They fetch water, buy and pr...
Jun 29, 2008 · The Songhai people founded Gao around 800 A.D. and established it as their capital in the 11th century during the reign of Dia Kossoi. As the city and region grew in importance, the Malian Empire incorporated both as it expanded across the West African savanna.
At the 2011 National NOW Conference, the organization honored Sonia Pressman Fuentes as one of its founders. Ms. Fuentes has shared with NOW the results of her extensive research to determine exactly who the founders were so that the organization could record this key piece of NOW’s origins accurately.
Mar 23, 2024 · Founded by Sunni Ali in the late fifteenth century, Songhai reached its imperial height under the founder of the Askia dynasty, Muhammad Ture, a general and provisional governor who overthrew Sunni Ali’s legitimate successor.
Muḥammad I Askia (died March 2, 1538, Gao, Songhai empire) was a West African statesman and military leader who usurped the throne of the Songhai empire (1493) and, in a series of conquests, greatly expanded the empire and strengthened it. He was overthrown by his son, Askia Mūsā, in 1528.
Nov 24, 2009 · The 33 men who originally met and formed the National Geographic Society were a diverse group of geographers, explorers, teachers, lawyers, cartographers, military officers and financiers. All ...
