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Niger TOURISM
Niger History
First there was the Songhaï Empire, born in the Niger River region and expanding outwards towards the present-day Niger-Malian border. The town Gao, which has been mentioned in Arab chronicles since the 8th century as a center of trade between the kingdom of Ghana and Egypt, was the famous capital of this Empire. It reached the pinnacle of its glory between the 15th and 16th centuries under Sonni Ali Ber, who extended the borders as far as Oulata, and then under Askia Mohamed, who perfected its remarkable military and administrative organization.
The Kanem-Bournou Empire, one of the largest in Africa at the end of the 16th century, thanks to the leadership of Idriss Alaoma, included Kanem, extended as far as Kaouar and the Aïr and eastwards as far as Ouaddaï (Chad). After resisting Songhaï's ambitions in the 14th century, and later in the 19th century, repulsing the attacks of the Fulani settled in the north (present-day Nigeria), it finally fell in 1893, after a ten-century existence, under the onslaught of Rabah who dreamed of carving himself a kingdom between Sudan and Chad.
There were also a number of smaller Hausa kingdoms between the Songhaï and the Bornou, each independent and each forming a prosperous center of trade and learning. From the 13th century on, there were receptive to Islam and adopted Arabic writing. In spite of internal quarrels, they were all able to resist attacks by the Songhaï and Bornou, despite the latter's better military organization. They were finally unified and Islamicized in the 19th century by the Fulani, led by Ousmane Dan Fodio.
These empires have now disappeared because of the exploration and colonization of the African continent.
Niger Tourism
The Kanem-Bournou Empire, one of the largest in Africa at the end of the 16th century, thanks to the leadership of Idriss Alaoma, included Kanem, extended as far as Kaouar and the Aïr and eastwards as far as Ouaddaï (Chad). After resisting Songhaï's ambitions in the 14th century, and later in the 19th century, repulsing the attacks of the Fulani settled in the north (present-day Nigeria), it finally fell in 1893, after a ten-century existence, under the onslaught of Rabah who dreamed of carving himself a kingdom between Sudan and Chad.
There were also a number of smaller Hausa kingdoms between the Songhaï and the Bornou, each independent and each forming a prosperous center of trade and learning. From the 13th century on, there were receptive to Islam and adopted Arabic writing. In spite of internal quarrels, they were all able to resist attacks by the Songhaï and Bornou, despite the latter's better military organization. They were finally unified and Islamicized in the 19th century by the Fulani, led by Ousmane Dan Fodio.
These empires have now disappeared because of the exploration and colonization of the African continent.
