| Total population |
|---|
| Approximately 20,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Middle Niger River Valley of Mali, Niger. |
| Languages |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
|
Songhai, Mandé, Moroccan, small numbers of Spanish, Irish and French[1] |
The Arma people are an ethnic group of the middle Niger River valley, descended in part from Moroccan invaders of the 16th century. The name, applied by other groups, derives from the Arabic word arrimah, « fusiliers ».
Contents |
The 1590 expedition sent to conquer the Songhai Empire trade routes by the Moroccan Saadi Dynasty was made up of four thousand Spanish and other European converts. Converted to Islam, they were either hired as mercenaries or captured as slaves by the Moroccans. After the destruction of the Songhai in 1591, the Moroccan forces settled into Djenné, Gao, Timbuktu and the larger towns of the Niger River bend. Never able to exert control outside their large fortifications, within a decade the expedition's leaders were abandoned by Morocco. In cities like Timbuktu, the men of the 1591 expedition intermarried with the Songhai, became small scale independent rulers, and some of their descendants came to be identified as minor dynasties of their own right. By the end of the 17th century, Bambara, Tuareg, Fula, and other forces came to control empires and city-states in the region, leaving the Arma as a mere ethnicity.
As of 1986, there were some 20,000 self-identified Arma in Mali, mostly around Timbuktu, the middle Niger bend, and the Inner Niger Delta.
The Arma ethnicity is distinct from (but sometimes confused with) the 20 million Djerma (or Zarma, Zerma) peoples of Western Niger, who predate the Moroccan invasion, and speak the Zarma language, also a sub category of Songhai.
Famous modern Arma people include the late Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.