Editing Niger (section)

==== Songhai Empire (1000s–1591) ====
[[File:SONGHAI empire map.PNG|thumb|left|Map of the Songhai Empire, overlaid over modern boundaries]]
{{Main|Songhai Empire}}
The [[Songhai Empire]] was named for its main ethnic group, the [[Songhai people|Songhai or Sonrai]], and was centred on the bend of the [[Niger River]] in [[Mali]]. Songhai began settling this region from the 7th to 9th centuries;{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} by the 11th century [[Gao]] (capital of the former [[Kingdom of Gao]]) had become the empire's capital.<ref name="boubou-hama">Boubou Hama and M Guilhem, "L’histoire du Niger, de l’Afrique et du Monde"; Edicef, ''Les royaumes Haoussa'', pp. 104–112</ref><ref name=countrystudy>{{cite book|editor1-last=Metz|editor1-first=Helen Chapin|editor1-link=Helen Chapin Metz |title=Nigeria: A Country Study|date=1991|publisher=GPO for the Library of Congress|location=Washington, DC|url=http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/9.htm|access-date=14 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103012936/http://countrystudies.us/nigeria/9.htm|archive-date=3 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1000 to 1325, the Songhai Empire managed to maintain peace with the Mali Empire, its neighbour to the west. In 1325 Songhai was conquered by Mali until regaining its independence in 1375.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} Under king [[Sonni Ali]] (r. 1464–1492) Songhai adopted an expansionist policy which reached its apogee during the reign of [[Askia Mohammad I]] (r. 1493–1528); at this point the empire had expanded from its Niger-bend heartland, including to the east where most of later western Niger fell under its rule, including [[Agadez]] which was conquered in 1496.<ref name="Bradt"/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.worldhistory.org/Songhai_Empire/|title = Songhai Empire|publisher = World History Encyclopedia|access-date = 13 November 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190729123752/https://www.worldhistory.org/Songhai_Empire/|archive-date = 29 July 2019|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.africankingdoms.com African Kingdoms] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519102901/http://www.africankingdoms.com/|date=19 May 2019}} African kingdoms – The Songhai Empire</ref> The empire was unable to withstand repeated attacks from the [[Saadi dynasty]] of [[Morocco]] and was decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Tondibi]] in 1591; it then collapsed into a number of smaller kingdoms.<ref name=countrystudy/>