Tags: Ethnic Group.
The Songhai (also Songhay or Sonrai) are west Africans who speak Songhai languages the lingua franca of the Songhai Empire which dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. The Songhai are found primarily throughout Mali in the Western sudanic region (not the country). The name Songhai is historically neither an ethnic nor a linguistic designation but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhay Empire.
