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Dendi | |||||||||||
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| Status | Province ofSonghai (1430s-1591) Sovereign State (1591-1901) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Lulami | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Dendi | ||||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Songhai Empire | ||||||||||
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| Today part of | Niger | ||||||||||
TheDendi (orDandi,Dendiganda) was a former province of theSonghai Empire. It survived the fall of the Empire as a kingdom until 1901, when it was conquered by France and incorporated intoFrench West Africa. Its centers today are the cities ofGaya inNiger, Kamba inNigeria andMalanville inBenin.
Under the Songhai empire, Dendi had been the easternmost province, governed by the prestigiousDendi-fari ("governor of the eastern front").[1] Some members of theAskia dynasty and their followers fled here after being defeated by the invadingSaadi dynasty ofMorocco at theBattle of Tondibi and at another battle seven months later. There, they resisted Moroccan Invaders and maintained the tradition of the Songhai with the same Askia rulers and their newly established capital atLulami.[2] The first ruler,Askia Ishaq II was deposed by his brotherMuhammad Gao, who was in turn murdered on the order of the Moroccanpasha. The Moroccans then appointedSulayman as puppet king ruling theNiger betweenDjenné andGao. South ofTillaberi the Songhai resistance against Morocco continued underAskia Nuh, a son ofAskia Dawud.[3] He established his capital atLulami.[4][5]
After the Moroccans had Askia Sulayman appointed as their puppet the pasha,Mahmud ibn Zarqun, attempted to conquer the remaining smaller Songhai kingdoms Which was now centred in south-western Niger. Askia Nuh resisted the invasion by a costlywarfare lasting two years. In 1594 Mahmud was forced to discontinue the war and retreated, just to be killed in the same year byDogon, with whom Nuh was probably allied. The new pasha calledMansur continued the war against the Songhai and again Nuh resorted to guerilla warfare. This situation lasted until 1599, when Nuh's followers became tired of the war and deposed him in favor of his brotherHarun.[6]In 1609, the city ofDjenné revolted against the Saadi pashas with the support of the Songhai. The Saadi were eventually able to regain the city, but with a lack of support from their homeland, they soon abandoned the area, leaving it toTuareg andFulbe nomads.
In 1612, Askia al-Amin came to power. His short reign of six years was followed by the rule of Askiya Dawud. Dawud killed many people during his reign including relatives and members of the military. His brother, Isma'il, fled toTimbuktu and sought Saadi support to overthrow al-Amin. Isma'il returned to Songhai and deposed his brother in 1639. Upon attempting to send the foreign army back, he was deposed and replaced by a ruler that the pashas felt would be easier to deal with. This ruler was eventually removed by the Songhai people.
The Dendi Kingdom lasted for the next two and a half centuries, witnessing increasingly unstable reigns, coups and counter-coups. When France entered the region, the empire was defensively unprepared. In 1901, the French deposed the last askia of Dendi, ending Songhai's control of either Mali or Niger until independence.
Askia Rulers of Dendi (18th century – early 20th century)
The main ethnic groups in Dendi are theTyenga,Zarma,Songhai proper,Hausa people,Bariba and theFulbe. In the pre-colonial era, the Songhai, who migrated from the fallen Songhai empire, held political rule while the Tyenga, who had been the older residents, mainly derived their power from their practice of Bori (a pre-Islamic traditional cult). These two ethnic groups, the Songhai and the Tyenga, mixed to form a new distinct ethnic group, theDendi people. They speak theDendiSonghai dialect.
LikeBirni-N'Konni andDogondoutchi, Dendi was a center of theBori obsession cult, which almost completely disappeared as a result of Islamization by the mid-1950s. Merchants who moved from other regions made this region in the border triangle an important trading center in the second half of the 20th century where agricultural products such as rice, millet and corn from other regions are traded.[7]
