Torodi is a small town and a rural commune in

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. As of 2012, it had a population of 109,342. 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 the national capital,

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

. Say Department, with its capital at the large

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 Mali, Nige ...

town of Say, abuts Niamey to the southwest and across the river to the west. The town of Torodi lies about 60 km due west of the city of Say and 50 km east of the border with Burkina Faso. Torodi itself lies on a tributary of the Niger, the Gourbi river. Torodi has historically been a crossroads of Zarma and Songhay people form the north, and the

Gourma people Gurma (also called Gourma or Gourmantché) is an ethnic group living mainly in northeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, around Fada N'gourma, Fada N'Gourma, and also in northern areas of Togo and Benin, as well as southwestern Niger. They might incl ...

, who dominated most of the area that is now Say Department until the 18th century CE. The 18th century saw expansion of

Fulani people The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...

, south along the Niger from

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 imp ...

and the

Inland Niger Delta The Inner Niger Delta, also known as the Macina or Masina, is the inland river delta of the Niger River. It is an area of fluvial wetlands, lakes and floodplains in the semi-arid Sahel area of central Mali, just south of the Sahara Desert. L ...

, as well as east from what is now northeast Burkina Faso. While the dominant Fulani Muslim Emirates of this period were based in

Liptako Liptako is an historic region of West Africa. It today falls in eastern Burkina Faso, southwestern Niger and a small portion of southeast central Mali. A hilly region beginning on the right back of the Niger river, Liptako is usually associated wi ...

to the north and Say to the east, Torodi itself was capital of a smaller Fulani state, which persisted into the colonial period. Torodi rural commune includes several villages, supported by seasonal millet agriculture, pastoral cattle raising, and the collection of firewood to be sold in Niamey.Niger : le puits pastoral de Diankoundi
audio report (2'22") and written summary. Radio France International, broadcast 10 July 2011. The report focuses on the Torodi commune village of Diankoundi.

References

*pp. 11, 36-48, 59-61, 119, 239.

See also

References

Further reading