History of Niger 21374 222669756 2008-06-30T15:06:52Z Darwinek 107928 updating link using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] [[Image:Un-niger.png|thumb|right|300px|Modern Niger.]] [[Image:1997 278-10 Sahara glyph.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Ancient rock engraving showing herds of girafe, ibex, and other animals in the southern Sahara near [[Tiguidit]], Niger.]] [[Image:Niger saharan medieval trade routes.PNG|thumb|right|300px|]] [[Image:SONGHAI empire map.PNG|thumb|right|300px|The [[Songhai Empire]] at its greatest extent, c. 1500.]] [[Image:Djado-nah.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ruins of the trade oasis of [[Djado]] in northeast Niger.]] [[Image:French West Africa 1913 map.png|thumb|right|300px|French colonial West Africa, c. 1918.]] [[Image:1997 277-31A Tuareg.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Tuareg men in Niger, 1997.]] This is the '''history of Niger'''. See also the [[history of Africa]] and the [[history of West Africa]]. ==Pre-Historic Niger== Humans have lived in what is now Niger from the earliest times. 3 to 3.5 Million year old [[Australopithecus bahrelghazali]] remains have been found in neighboring [[Chad]]. Considerable evidence indicates that about 60,000 years ago, humans inhabited what has since become the desolate [[Sahara]] of northern [[Niger]]. Later, on what was then huge fertile grasslands, from at least 7,000 BCE there was pastoralism, herding of sheep and goats, large settlements and pottery. Cattle were introduced to the Central Sahara ([[Ahaggar]]) from 4,000 to 3,500 BCE. Remarkable rock paintings, many found in the [[Aïr Mountains]], dated 3,500 to 2,500 BCE, portray vegetation and animal presence rather different from modern expectations.<ref name="Shillington">Shillington, Kevin (1989, 1995). ''History of Africa, Second Edition''. St. Martin's Press, New York. Page 32.</ref> As the Sahara dried after 2000 BCE, the north of Niger became the desert it is today, with settlements and trade routes clinging to the Air in the north, the [[Kaouar]] and shore of [[Lake Chad]] in the west, and (apart for a scattering of oases) most people living along what is now the southern border with Nigeria and the southwest of the country. A 2002 UNESCO published study suggests that iron [[smelting]] at Termit, in eastern Niger may have begun as early as 1500 BC.<ref>[http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=3432&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html Iron in Africa: Revisiting the History] - Unesco (2002)</ref> ==Early history== By at least the fifth century BCE, [[Carthage]] and [[Egypt]] became terminals for West African gold, ivory, and [[Slavery|slaves]] trading salt, cloth, beads, and metal goods. With this trade, Niger was on the route between the empires of the [[Sahel]] and the empires of the [[Mediterranean basin]]. <!-- The growth of the city of [[Aoudaghost]], founded in the fifth century BCE, was stimulated by its position at the southern end of a trans Saharan trade route.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} Trade continued into Roman times. Although there are Classical references to direct travel from the Mediterranean to West Africa (Daniels, p. 22f), most of this trade was conducted through middlemen, inhabiting the area and aware of passages through the drying lands.<ref>Daniels, Charles (1970). ''The Garamantes of Southern Libya''. Oleander, North Harrow, Middlesex. Page 22.</ref> == Introduction of the Camel == [[Herodotus]] had spoken of the [[Garamantes]] hunting the Ethiopian Troglodytes with their chariots; this account was associated with depictions of [[horse]]s drawing [[chariot]]s in contemporary [[cave art]] in southern [[Morocco]] and the [[Fezzan]], giving origin to a theory that the Garamantes, or some other Saran people, had created chariot routes to provide Rome and Carthage with gold and ivory. However, it has been argued that no horse skeletons have been found dating from this early period in the region, and chariots would have been unlikely vehicles for trading purposes due to their small capacity.<ref name=Masonen> Masonen, P: "[http://www.hf-fak.uib.no/institutter/smi/paj/Masonen.html Trans-Saharan Trade and the West African Discovery of the Mediterranean World.]"</ref> The earliest evidence for domesticated camels in the region dates from the [[third century]]. Used by the [[Berber people|Berber]] people, they enabled more regular contact across the entire width of the Sahara, but regular trade routes did not develop until the beginnings of the [[Islamic]] conversion of West Africa in the [[seventh century|seventh]] and [[eighth century|eighth centuries]].<ref name=Masonen/> Two main trade routes developed. The first ran through the western desert from modern Morocco to the [[Niger river|Niger Bend]], the second from modern [[Tunisia]] to the [[Lake Chad]] area. These stretches were relatively short and had the essential network of occasional oases that established the routing as inexorably as pins in a map. Further east of the Fezzan with its trade route through the valley of Kaouar to Lake Chad, Libya was impassable due to its lack of oases and fierce sandstorms.<ref>Lewicki, T. (1994). "The Role of the Sahara and Saharians in Relationships between North and South". In ''UNESCO General History of Africa: Volume 3.'' University of California Press, ISBN 92-3-601709-6.</ref> A route from the Niger Bend to [[Egypt]] was abandoned in the [[tenth century]] due to its dangers.{{Fact|date=April 2007}} --> ==Medieval Niger== Long before the arrival of French influence and control in the area, Niger was an important economic crossroads, and the empires of [[Songhai Empire|Songhai]], [[Mali Empire|Mali]], the [[Dendi Kingdom]], [[Gao]], and [[Kanem Empire|Kanem-Bornu]], as well as a number of [[Hausa people|Hausa]] states, claimed control over portions of the area. During recent centuries, the nomadic [[Tuareg]] formed large confederations, pushed southward, and, siding with various [[Hausa people|Hausa]] states, clashed with the [[Fulani Empire of Sokoto]], which had gained control of much of the Hausa territory in the late 18th century. ==Colonization== In the [[19th century]], contact with [[the West]] began when the first European explorers--notably [[Mungo Park (explorer)|Mungo Park]] (British) and [[Heinrich Barth]] (German)--explored the area searching for the mouth of the [[Niger River]]. Although French efforts at pacification began before 1900, dissident ethnic groups, especially the desert Tuareg, were not subdued until 1922, when Niger became a [[French colony]]. Niger's colonial history and development parallel that of other [[French West Africa]]n territories. France administered her West African colonies through a governor general at [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]], and governors in the individual territories, including Niger. In addition to conferring French citizenship on the inhabitants of the territories, the 1946 French constitution provided for decentralization of power and limited participation in political life for local advisory assemblies. A further revision in the organization of overseas territories occurred with the passage of the [[Overseas Reform Act]] ([[Loi Cadre]]) of [[July 23]], [[1956]], followed by reorganizational measures enacted by the French Parliament early in 1957. In addition to removing voting inequalities, these laws provided for creation of governmental organs, assuring individual territories a large measure of self-government. After the establishment of the [[Fifth French Republic]], Niger became an autonomous state within the [[French Community]] on [[December 4]], [[1958]]. Following full independence on [[August 3]], [[1960]], however, membership was allowed to lapse. ==1960s to 1980s== For its first 14 years as an independent state, Niger was run by a single-party civilian regime under the presidency of [[Hamani Diori]]. In [[1974]], a combination of devastating [[Sahel drought|drought]] and accusations of rampant corruption resulted in a military coup which overthrew the Diori regime. Col. [[Seyni Kountché]] and a small group of military ruled the country until Kountche's death in [[1987]]. He was succeeded by his Chief of Staff and cousin, Col. [[Ali Saibou]], who released political prisoners, liberalized some of Niger's laws and policies, and promulgated a new constitution. However, President Saibou's efforts to control political reforms failed in the face of union and student demands to institute a multi-party democratic system. The Saibou regime acquiesced to these demands by the end of 1990. New political parties and civic associations sprang up, and a National Conference was convened in July 1991 to prepare the way for the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of free and fair elections. The debate was often contentious and accusatory, but under the leadership of Prof. André Salifou, the conference developed consensus on the modalities of a transition government. Niger sent hundreds of troops to the Coalition forces in the [[Gulf War]] in 1991. ==1990s== {{Main|1990s in Niger}} A transition government was installed in November 1991 to manage the affairs of state until the institutions of the Third Republic were put in place in April 1993. While the economy deteriorated over the course of the transition, certain accomplishments stand out, including the successful conduct of a constitutional referendum; the adoption of key legislation such as the electoral and rural codes; and the holding of several free, fair, and nonviolent nationwide elections. Freedom of the press flourished with the appearance of several new independent newspapers. A coalition of parties in 1993 won the Presidential election for [[Mahamane Ousmane]] the CDS party candidate. The agreement between the parties fell apart in 1994 leading to governmental paralysis as the CDS on its own no longer had a majority in the assembly. Ousmane dissolved the legislature and called new legislative elections, but the MNSD party won the largest group of seats, so Ousmane was compelled to appoint [[Hama Amadou]] of the MNSD as prime minister. As the culmination of an initiative started in 1991, the government signed peace accords in April 1995 with all Tuareg and Toubou groups that had been leading the [[Tuareg Rebellion]] since 1990 claiming they lacked attention and resources from the central government. The government agreed to absorb some former rebels in the military and, with French assistance, help others return to a productive civilian life. The paralysis of government between the President and the Prime Minister who no longer agreed gave Col. [[Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara]] a rationale to overthrow the Third Republic and depose the first democratically elected president of Niger, on [[January 27]], [[1996]]. While leading a military authority that ran the government ([[Conseil de Salut National]]) during a 6-month transition period, Baré enlisted specialists to draft a new constitution for a Fourth Republic announced in May 1996. Baré organized a Presidential election in June 1996. He ran against four other candidates, including Ousmane. Before voting had finished, Baré dissolved the national electoral committee and appointed another, which announced him the winner with over 50% of the votes cast. When his efforts to justify his coup and subsequent questionable election failed to convince donors to restore multilateral and bilateral economic assistance, a desperate Baré ignored the international embargo on Libya seeking funds for Niger's economy. In repeated violations of basic [[civil liberties]] by the regime, opposition leaders were imprisoned; journalists often arrested, beaten, and deported by an unofficial militia composed of police and military; and independent media offices were looted and burned with impunity. In April 1999, Baré was assassinated in a coup led by Maj. [[Daouda Malam Wanké]] who established a transitional [[National Reconciliation Council]] to oversee the drafting of a constitution for a Fifth Republic with a French style semi-presidential system. In votes that international observers found to be generally free and fair, the Nigerien electorate approved the new constitution in July 1999 and held legislative and presidential elections in October and November 1999. Heading a MNSD/CDS coalition, [[Tandja Mamadou]] won the presidency. The council transitioned to civilian rule in December 1999. ==2000s== {{Main|2000s in Niger}} The [[Second Tuareg insurgency in Niger]] began in 2007. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5474.htm Background Note: Niger] *[http://www.historyofnations.net/africa/niger.html History of Niger] {{Niger topics footer}} {{History of Africa}} {{Former French colonies}} [[Category:History of Niger| ]] [[Category:French West Africa|Niger (colonial)]] [[Category:National histories|Niger]] [[de:Geschichte Nigers]] [[es:Historia de Níger]] [[fr:Histoire du Niger]] [[lt:Nigerio istorija]] [[pt:História do Níger]] [[vec:Storia del Niger]]