The Arma people are an ethnic group of the middle Niger River valley, decended in part from Moroccan - Spanish invaders of the 16th century CE. The name, applied by other groups, derives from the Spanish word for firearms, which they introduced into the region. The Songhai expedition and aftermath The 1590 expedition sent to conquer the Songhai Empire trade routes by the Moroccan Saadi Dynasty was led and populated by 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, Timbuctu 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 Timbuctu, the men of the 1591 expedition intermarried with the Songhai, became s

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