Say is a
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of the
Tillabéri Region
Tillabéri (var. ''Tillabéry'') is one of the eight Regions of Niger; the capital of the Region is Tillabéri. Tillabéri Region was created in 1992, when Niamey Region was split, with Niamey and its immediate hinterland becoming a new ''capital ...
in
Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languages[Say
Say may refer to:
Music
*''Say'' (album), 2008 album by J-pop singer Misono
* "Say" (John Mayer song), 2007
*"Say (All I Need)", 2007 song by American pop rock band OneRepublic
* "Say" (Method Man song), 2006 single by rapper Method Man
* "Say" ( ...](_blank)
, and includes the towns of
Guéladjo,
Tamou
Tamou is a village and "Rural Communes of Niger, commune" in Niger. The town is capital of its Rural Commune in the Say Department of Tillabéri Region, in the far southwest of the nation. It is southwest of Niamey, on the right (western) bank of ...
, and
Torodi
Torodi is a small town and a rural Communes of Niger, commune in Niger. As a rural center, Torodi hosts a large weekly market and the seat of local tribal authority (canton). Torodi is in the Say Department of the Tillaberi Region, which surrounds ...
. It abuts the urban Region of Niamey, and lies across the
Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
to the southwest of the capital. It extends to the
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
border over 60 km to the west, and the northernmost border with
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
in the south. The Say area is today divided between the riverine valley in the east of the Department, and the more sparsely populated areas to the west, which are intercut with a series of eastward flowing tributaries.
The Niger river, a broad shallow channel at Niamey and at Say, passes through a series of gorges and cataracts, called the "W" bend for the shape the river takes, in the south of the Say Department. To the west of these rapids lies what is now the
W Regional Park, a sparsely populated area historically plagued by insect borne diseases of both humans and cattle. Now a park and tourist attraction, its history as a "no mans land" has made it a refuge for remaining wild animals, as well as several undisturbed archeological sites. From at least the 16th century CE, the
Songhai proper
The Songhai proper (Songhay, Sangwai or Sonrai) are an ethnic group in the northwestern corner of Niger's Tillaberi Region, an area historically known in the country as '' Songhai''. They are a subgroup of the broader Songhai group. Even thoug ...
moved south into this area from the north around what is now
Tera
TERA is a shielded twisted pair connector for use with Category 7 twisted-pair data cables, developed by The Siemon Company and standardised in 2003 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) with the reference IEC 61076-3-104.
The ...
. The inhabitants at the time were related to the
Gourma people
Gurma (also called Gourma or Gourmantché) is an ethnic group living mainly in northeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, around Fada N'Gourma, and also in northern areas of Togo and Benin, as well as southwestern Niger. They number approximately 1,750 ...
, who form most of the population of the northwestern part of the Department today. In the 18th and 19th century, the town of Say was founded by
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
migrants from the
Gao
Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an impor ...
region of modern
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
, with others expanding from what is now northeast Burkina Faso. Between 1810 and the arrival of European writer
Heinrich Barth
Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.
Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...
in 1854, Fulani
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s led by
Alfa Mohamed Diobo of
Djenné
Djenné ( Bambara: ߘߖߋߣߣߋ tr. Djenne; also known as Djénné, Jenné and Jenne) is a Songhai people town and an urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, on ...
had established the
Emirate of Say
The Emirate of Say was an Islamic state founded in 1825 by Alfa Mohamed Diobo, a Qadiriyya Sufi leader who came to Say from Djenné (Mali) in 1810. Though Diobo was no conqueror, his control over Say was ensured by both his clerical renown and the ...
. The reputation for piety and learning of Mohamed Diobo and his followers helped turn Say from a small river village into a town of 30,000, famed across West Africa as a center of learning.
Say was important during the colonial period, as it formed the point of access for French forces, via
Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a region ...
Colony, to the lower Niger and their attempt to cut off British expansion to the north. This would provide French colonial conquest of regions they hoped would connect their Atlantic colonies with the upper
Nile River
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
and
French Somaliland
French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Ter ...
.
As of 2011, the department had a total population of 316,439 people.
References
*
passim: much of the book deals with the conflict between 18th &19th century "newcomers" and the older 16th century Zarma residents. For Say Emirate see pp. 281–206, 230-267.
*Portions of this article were translated from the French language Wikipedia articles
:fr:Tillabéri (région), 2008-06-19.
Further reading
. GIRAUT F., 1994, La petite ville, un milieu adapté aux paradoxes de l'Afrique de l'Ouest : étude sur le semis, et comparaison du système spatial et social de sept localités : Badou et Anié (Togo) ; Jasikan et Kadjebi (Ghana) ; Torodi, Tamaské et Keïta (Niger), PHD Thesis in geography,
Paris I La SorbonneArchive
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Departments of Niger
Tillabéri Region