Editing Niger (section)

==== Sultanate of Aïr (1400s–1906) ====
[[File:1997 277-9A Agadez mosque cropped.jpg|thumb|right|[[Agadez Mosque|The Grand Mosque of Agadez]]]]
{{Main|Sultanate of Aïr}}
In {{circa|1449}} in the north of what is now Niger, the [[Sultanate of Aïr]] was founded by Sultan Ilisawan, based in [[Agadez]].<ref name="Bradt"/> Formerly a trading post inhabited by a mixture of Hausa and Tuaregs, it grew as a strategic position on the Trans-Saharan trade routes. In 1515, Aïr was conquered by Songhai, remaining a part of that empire until its collapse in 1591.<ref name="Bradt"/><ref name="H-Dictionary"/> In the following centuries, it "seems that the sultanate entered a decline" marked by internecine wars and clan conflicts.<ref name="H-Dictionary"/> When Europeans began exploring the region in the 19th century, most of Agadez lay in ruins and was taken over by the French (''see below'').<ref name="Bradt"/><ref name="H-Dictionary"/>