Arma people facts for kids

The Arma people are an ethnic group living in the middle Niger River valley. They are descendants of soldiers from Morocco who invaded the area in the 1500s. The name "Arma" comes from an Arabic word, ar-rumah, which means "fusiliers" or "soldiers with guns."

It's important not to confuse the Arma people with the Zarma people. The Zarma are a much larger group of about 3.6 million people in western Niger. They lived in the region long before the Moroccan invasion. The Zarma speak the Zarma language, which is also part of the Songhay languages family.

As of 1986, there were about 20,000 Arma people. Most of them lived in Mali, especially around Timbuktu. They also lived in the middle bend of the Niger River and its inner delta.

The Moroccan Expedition and the Arma People

The ancestors of the Arma people arrived in West Africa in 1590. They were part of an army sent by the Saadi dynasty of Morocco. Their goal was to take control of the important trade routes of the Songhai Empire.

This army had about four thousand soldiers. They came from Morocco, and some were European fighters. They were armed with early types of guns called arquebuses. In 1591, they defeated the Songhai Empire.

After their victory, the Moroccan soldiers settled in major cities. These included Djenné, Gao, and Timbuktu along the Niger River. However, they could not control areas far from their forts. After about ten years, the Moroccan government stopped supporting them.

These soldiers then married local Songhai people. They became independent rulers in their own small areas. Over time, their descendants formed their own local ruling families. By the late 1600s, other powerful groups rose up. These included the Bambara people, Tuareg people, and Fula people. They took control of empires and city-states in the region. This left the Arma people as just one of many ethnic groups.

See also

In Spanish: Pueblos arma para niños