Songhai

[ song-gahy ]
/ sɒŋˈgaɪ /

noun, plural Son·ghais, (especially collectively) Son·ghai for 1.

a member of a group of peoples living along the Niger River in the area of Timbuktu and Gao in Mali and in adjacent areas of Niger and Burkina Faso.
a West African empire dominated by the Songhai that flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries.
the Nilo-Saharan language of the Songhai.

British Dictionary definitions for songhai

Songhai
/ (sɒŋˈɡaɪ) /

noun

plural -ghai or -ghais a member of a Nilotic people of W Africa, living chiefly in Mali and Niger in the central Niger valley
the language or group of dialects spoken by this people, now generally regarded as forming a branch of the Nilo-Saharan family