Dosso Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The Dosso Kingdom is a precolonial state in what is now southwest Niger
which has survived in a ceremonial role to the modern day.
people of Niger are believed to have migrated from what is now the Fula
region around Lac Debo, Mali
during the Songhai Empire
, and settled first in Anzourou and Zarmaganda in the 16th century. In the 18th century, many Djerma resettled south to the Niger River
valley, the Fakara plateau and Zigui in what is now Southwest Niger near Niamey
. Forming a number of small communities, each led by a Djermakoy
, these polities soon found themselves pressured from the north by the Tuareg and the Fula
from the southeast, as well as other ethnic groups in the area. While Djermakoy Aboubacar founded the Dosso state from his own Taguru clan around 1750, it remained a small collection of villages in the Dallol Bosso
valley until the 1820s, when it led much of the resistance to the Sokoto Caliphate. While Dosso fell under the control of the Amir of Gando
(a sub division of Sokoto) between 1849 and 1856, they retained their Djermakoy and the nominal rule of a much larger Djerma territory, and were converted to Islam
. Under Djermakoy Kossom (r. 1856-65), Dosso united all of the eastern Djerma, and left a small state stretching from Tibbo and Beri
in the north, to Gafiadey in the south, and to Bankadey and Tombokware in the east.
against other Djerma states, the Dendi
, the Gourounsi (in modern Burkina Faso
) the Hausa states to the east (in what is now southern Niger), and still struggling to retake the territory it held in 1865.
Zarmakoy Attikou (r.1897-1902) took the military help offered by the French forces based in Karimama (now Benin
), but found that after the military conquest of his enemies in 1898, the French forces were stationed in Dosso, where they would stay for the next 60 years. Attikou had delegated the negotiations to his prince Awta, and this future Zarmakoy hitched his star to French power. Despite tensions, the French found one of their few allies in the region, and this alliance of necessity came to benefit Dosso as much as it hurt them. With French aid, Zarmakoy Awta (r.1902-13) retained all of what is the modern Dosso Department
, and with his help, the French put down revolts led by a charismatic Marabout
in the Dosso region in 1906. The Zarmakoy of Dosso was integrated into the French Colonial system through a type of Indirect Rule
rare in its scale and continuity in French West Africa
. In most places the French established rulers at village level (the Chef du Canton) who were promoted by the French over traditional rulers, and thus were entirely dependent upon the French. At Dosso, the French allowed the Zarmakoy to not only retain but expand his territory and to choose his own successors, keeping continuity with the pre-colonial state, and standing above his own Chefs du Canton at the local level. The French so depended upon the Zarmakoy of Dosso, that in 1923 they moved the capital of the then Military Territory of Niger from Zinder
, the home of the powerful pre-colonial Sultanate of Damagaram
to a village in Dosso territory which was to become Niamey
.
without a growing political class. The Zarmakoy of Dosso, as patron of the Djerma region, became a powerful political king maker for the coming order. Political parties vied for the support of the Zarmakoy and the powerful Hausa leaders in the east and the then Zarmakoy, Issoufou Seydou, played a leading role in Nigerien politics at the time of independence. Zarmakoy Seydou was a founder of the PPN, and later the UNIS parties, and was Vice-President and Minister of Justice from December 1958-October 1959. Today the Dosso aristocracy continue to hold influential positions throughout Nigerien government, with a majority of post independence leaders having been drawn from the Djerma.
The city of Dosso
also retains an important place, with a large population of aristocratic class Djerma who rely on the patronage of the Zarmakoy, as the more traditional ruling class reject modern careers.
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
which has survived in a ceremonial role to the modern day.
Early history
The DjermaDjerma
The Zarma people , are a people of westernmost Niger and adjacent areas of Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana and Nigeria. The Zarma language is one of the Songhai languages, a branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family...
people of Niger are believed to have migrated from what is now the Fula
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
region around Lac Debo, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
during the Songhai Empire
Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city...
, and settled first in Anzourou and Zarmaganda in the 16th century. In the 18th century, many Djerma resettled south to the Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
valley, the Fakara plateau and Zigui in what is now Southwest Niger near Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
. Forming a number of small communities, each led by a Djermakoy
Djermakoy
The Djermakoy is the title given to rulers of the Djerma/Zarma states in what is now southwest Niger...
, these polities soon found themselves pressured from the north by the Tuareg and the Fula
Fula people
Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...
from the southeast, as well as other ethnic groups in the area. While Djermakoy Aboubacar founded the Dosso state from his own Taguru clan around 1750, it remained a small collection of villages in the Dallol Bosso
Dallol Bosso
The Dallol Bosso is one of two major seasonal river valleys in southwest Niger. The Dallol Bosso valley runs from the Azaouad area in the Sahara west and south through the Dosso Region where it reaches the Niger River valley.-Human habitation:...
valley until the 1820s, when it led much of the resistance to the Sokoto Caliphate. While Dosso fell under the control of the Amir of Gando
Gando
Jiandao, also known in Korean as Gando, refers to a small piece of marsh land between the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Helong in Jilin, Northeast China. The original Chinese name of Jiandao is Jiajiang....
(a sub division of Sokoto) between 1849 and 1856, they retained their Djermakoy and the nominal rule of a much larger Djerma territory, and were converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Under Djermakoy Kossom (r. 1856-65), Dosso united all of the eastern Djerma, and left a small state stretching from Tibbo and Beri
Beri
Beri is a town and a municipal committee in Jhajjar district in the state of Haryana in northern India. Beri is located 65 km northwest of Delhi and is a trading center. The first Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, was from Beri....
in the north, to Gafiadey in the south, and to Bankadey and Tombokware in the east.
French colonialism
French colonial forces first entered the area in the 1890s and found Dosso allied with local Fula communities and small states like KebbiKebbi Emirate
The Kebbi Emirate, also known as the Argungu Emirate is a traditional state based on the town of Argungu in Kebbi State, Nigeria. It is the successor to the ancient Hausa kingdom of Kebbi....
against other Djerma states, the Dendi
Dendi
Dendi is the name of several African-related subjects:* Dendi Kingdom* Dendi is a district or woreda in Ethiopia;* Mount Dendi, also in Ethiopia;* Dendi people is one of the ethnic groups living in Benin and Niger;...
, the Gourounsi (in modern Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
) the Hausa states to the east (in what is now southern Niger), and still struggling to retake the territory it held in 1865.
Zarmakoy Attikou (r.1897-1902) took the military help offered by the French forces based in Karimama (now Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
), but found that after the military conquest of his enemies in 1898, the French forces were stationed in Dosso, where they would stay for the next 60 years. Attikou had delegated the negotiations to his prince Awta, and this future Zarmakoy hitched his star to French power. Despite tensions, the French found one of their few allies in the region, and this alliance of necessity came to benefit Dosso as much as it hurt them. With French aid, Zarmakoy Awta (r.1902-13) retained all of what is the modern Dosso Department
Dosso Department
Dosso is a department of the Dosso Region in Niger. Its capital lies at the city of Dosso....
, and with his help, the French put down revolts led by a charismatic Marabout
Marabout
A marabout is a Muslim religious leader and teacher in West Africa, and in the Maghreb. The marabout is often a scholar of the Qur'an, or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms, Sufi Murshids , or leaders of religious communities...
in the Dosso region in 1906. The Zarmakoy of Dosso was integrated into the French Colonial system through a type of Indirect Rule
Indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of government that was developed in certain British colonial dependencies...
rare in its scale and continuity in French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
. In most places the French established rulers at village level (the Chef du Canton) who were promoted by the French over traditional rulers, and thus were entirely dependent upon the French. At Dosso, the French allowed the Zarmakoy to not only retain but expand his territory and to choose his own successors, keeping continuity with the pre-colonial state, and standing above his own Chefs du Canton at the local level. The French so depended upon the Zarmakoy of Dosso, that in 1923 they moved the capital of the then Military Territory of Niger from Zinder
Zinder
Zinder is the second largest city in Niger, with a population of 170,574 by 2005 was estimated to be over 200,000...
, the home of the powerful pre-colonial Sultanate of Damagaram
Sultanate of Damagaram
The Sultanate of Damagaram was a powerful pre-colonial state in what is now southeastern Niger, centered on the city of Zinder.- Rise :The Sultanate of Damagaram was founded in 1731 by Muslim Kanouri aristocrats, led by Mallam...
to a village in Dosso territory which was to become Niamey
Niamey
-Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...
.
Independence
As independence approached in the 1950s, Niger was one of the few areas of French West AfricaFrench West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
without a growing political class. The Zarmakoy of Dosso, as patron of the Djerma region, became a powerful political king maker for the coming order. Political parties vied for the support of the Zarmakoy and the powerful Hausa leaders in the east and the then Zarmakoy, Issoufou Seydou, played a leading role in Nigerien politics at the time of independence. Zarmakoy Seydou was a founder of the PPN, and later the UNIS parties, and was Vice-President and Minister of Justice from December 1958-October 1959. Today the Dosso aristocracy continue to hold influential positions throughout Nigerien government, with a majority of post independence leaders having been drawn from the Djerma.
The city of Dosso
Dosso
Dosso might refer to either:*Dosso in Niger:**Dosso Region, a region in Niger**Dosso , a département in Niger**Dosso, Niger, a town, capital of the Dosso département**Dosso Kingdom, the pre-colonial and modern ceremonial power in Dosso....
also retains an important place, with a large population of aristocratic class Djerma who rely on the patronage of the Zarmakoy, as the more traditional ruling class reject modern careers.
Rulers chronology
- c.1750- ?; Zarmakoy Aboubacar
- ? - ? ; Zarmakoy Laouzo
- ? - ? ; Zarmakoy Gounabi
- ? - ? ; Zarmakoy Amirou
- 1856 - 1865; Zarmakoy Kassam/Kossom Baboukabiya
- 1865 - 1890; Zarmakoy Abdou Kyantou Baba
- 1890 - 1897; Zarmakoy Alfa Atta
- 1897 - 1902; Zarmakoy Attikou
- 1902 - 1913; Zarmakoy Aoûta/Awta
- 1913 - 1924; Zarmakoy Moussa
- 1924 - 1938; Zarmakoy Saidou
- 1938 - 1953; Zarmakoy Moumouni
- 1953 - 1962; Zarmakoy Hamani
- 1962 - 1998; Zarmakoy Abdou
- 1998 - 2000; Zarmakoy Issoufou
- 2000 - current; Zarmakoy Maidanda