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18-665: The region of Dosso is the historic centre of the Dosso Kingdom , which had its capital at Dosso . Today the palace of the Sultanate of Dosso remains as a symbol of the aristocratic ruling class of the kingdom. The region was traditionally populated by Zarma people who are believed to have migrated from the Lake Débo area of what is now Mali during the time of the Songhai Empire . Dosso borders Tahoua Region to

36-708: 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,

54-621: A number of local names, including Dallol Boboy near its mouth and Dallol Azawak in its northern sections. The valley spreads out as the Azawagh depression on the western shadow of the Aïr Mountains , contracting and feeding a handful of valleys which once carried ancient tributaries of the Niger. Dallol Bosso runs some 300 kilometres (190 mi), ranging between 5–15 kilometres (3.1–9.3 mi) across. Its western escarpment runs along

72-520: A village in Dosso territory which was to become Niamey . As independence approached in the 1950s, Niger was one of the few areas of French West Africa 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

90-629: Is the regional capital; other major settlements include Birni N'Gaouré , Dioundiou , Dogondoutchi , Falmey , Gaya , Loga and Tibiri (Doutchi) . Dosso was divided into 5 Departments ( Boboye Department , Dogondoutchi Department , Dosso Department , Gaya Department and Loga Department ), but the number of departments was increased to 8 with the new departments being Dioundiou Department , Falmey Department , and Tibiri Department . The division into 5 urban administrative divisions (communes urbaines) and 38 rural administrative divisions (communes rurales), 1 province, 15 cantons and 3 nomadic grouping

108-591: The Maouri , a Hausa sub-group who have retained their traditional animist belief. Dosso Kingdom The Dosso Kingdom is a precolonial state in what is now southwest Niger which has survived in a ceremonial role to the modern day. The Djerma 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 Zarmaganda in

126-783: The Sahara west and south through the Dosso Region where it reaches the Niger River valley. Dallol is the Djerma language equivalent of the Arabic Wadi or the Hausa Kori : an ancient river valley which carries surface water in the rainy season, but maintains subsurface water at other times, making it a magnet for human habitation. It has historically been a center of the Djerma people of Niger. Its sections are known by

144-535: 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

162-463: 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. Dallol Bosso The Dallol Bosso ( Zarma : Boboye ) is one of two major seasonal river valleys in southwest Niger . The Dallol Bosso valley runs from the Azawagh area in

180-665: 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

198-430: 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

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216-459: 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

234-575: 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. French colonial forces first entered the area in the 1890s and found Dosso allied with local Fula communities and small states like Kebbi against other Djerma states, the Dendi , the Gourounsi (in modern Burkina Faso ) the Hausa states to

252-401: 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

270-500: The northeast, Nigeria to the southeast (specifically Sokoto State and Kebbi State ), Benin ( Alibori Department ) to the southwest, and Tillabéri Region to the northwest. The region's border with Benin is formed by the river Niger . Part of the Dallol Bosso valley runs through the region; part of this area is protected as the Dosso Reserve , and contain some of the last remaining herds of West African giraffe . Dosso

288-581: 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

306-460: The third highest population density (61.4 inhabitants/km), below that of Niamey and Maradi regions. Most people live in rural areas, with only 10.4% of the population residing in urban areas. Other demographic statistics are similar to the national averages. The main ethnolinguistic groups are the Fulani , Hausa , Tuareg and Zarma (also referred to as 'Djerma'). The region is also a major centre of

324-602: Was left unchanged. The temperature ranges from 18 °C (64 °F) to 41 °C (106 °F) during the scorching, partly cloudy dry season and a scorching, partly cloudy wet season. Climate change is causing a warmer, drier climate in the Dosso Region, with temperature trends showing positive signs of warming. Like most regions of Niger, the population of the region of Dosso has rapidly grown since independence. From 693,207 in 1977, its population increased to 1,018,895 by 1988, and to 1,479,095 by 2001. Dosso region has

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