Who are the Songhai Where do they live?

Who are the Songhai Where do they live?

Songhai, also spelled Songhay or Sonrhai, ethnolinguistic group having more than three million members who inhabit the area of the great bend in the Niger River in Mali, extending from Lake Debo through Niger to the mouth of the Sokoto River in Nigeria.

What was Songhai part of?

Songhai became independent of Mali, and rivalled it as the leading power in West Africa. The Songhai had settled on both banks of the middle Niger River. They established a state in the 15th century, which unified a large part of the western Sudan and developed into a brilliant civilisation.

What was the land like in Songhai?

Part of the Empire is in the Sahel, meaning that its climate was typically hot and dry with low precipitation. It also included flat rocky plains, rock formations, and sandy dunes in the Northern part of the Empire. However, the Empire also had many diverse biomes including grasslands and rainforests.

What is the origin of the Songhai Empire?

Songhai began with the river city of Gao. Inhabitants of the city expanded their control to the area of the Niger River bend during the ninth century CE. The state of Songhai was incorporated under the Mali Empire in the 14th century but reasserted its independence as Mali weakened in the 15th century.

What is Songhai called today?

The Songhai Empire replaced Mali as the most important empire in West Africa (covering modern states of Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea, Gambia, Algeria (south), Burkina-Faso, Ivory Coast)).

What do the Songhai people eat?

millet
The Songhai Empire’s diet was very traditional. The main staple food was millet which was consumed in three ways.

What language did Songhai speak?

Zarma (Djerma), the most widely spoken Songhay language with two or three million speakers, is a major language of southwestern Niger (downriver from and south of Mali) including in the capital city, Niamey. Koyraboro Senni, with 400,000 speakers, is the language of the town of Gao, the seat of the old Songhai Empire.

Who are the Songhai?

The Songhai people (also Ayneha, Songhay or Sonrai) are an ethnic 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.

What was Songhai best known for?

Under the rule of Sonni Ali, the Songhai surpassed the Malian Empire in area, wealth, and power, absorbing vast areas of the Mali Empire and reaching its greatest extent. Following Ali’s reign, Askia the Great strengthened the Songhai Empire and made it the largest empire in West Africa’s history.

What religion was the Songhai Empire?

Islam
Songhai culture was a blend of traditional West African beliefs with the religion of Islam. Daily life was ruled by traditions and customs, but laws were based on Islam. The slave trade was important to the Songhai Empire.

What were the Songhai people known for?

The Songhai people cultivate cereals, raise small herds of cattle and fish in the Niger Bend area where they live. They have traditionally been one of the key West African ethnic groups associated with caravan trade.

How do you say hello in Songhai?

For most of these you can just respond “Baani Samay”, or “Taali si no.” Hello.

Where was the capital of the Songhai Empire?

At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its leading ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai. Sonni Ali established Gao as the capital of the empire, although a Songhai state had existed in and around Gao since the 11th century.

What did the Songhai people do with their land?

The affects of the land was that fisherman would use the nile, and the hunters and others could the rainforest in the south. In order to make life easier for themselves they diverted streams from the niger river to their crops from miles away. Present day Songhai is now Nigeria.

When did the Songhai take over the Mali Empire?

Gao would remain under Malian hegemony until the late 14th century. As the Mali Empire started to disintegrate, the Songhai reasserted control of Gao. Songhai rulers subsequently took advantage of the weakened Mali Empire to expand Songhai rule.

Are there any other kingdoms similar to Songhai?

T wo of the other kingdoms that were alive just a couple years after the begging of the Songhai kingdom which were the Mali and Ghana kingdoms had begun their empire/civilization in upper Africa just like Songhai had done, but the other kingdoms started more to the west of the Songhai kingdoms territory.