Dah was the seat of a kingdom, a subdivision of the historical province of
Bendugu. According to local legend, it was founded by a devout member of the
Traore family who, after making the
hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca, left the
Mali emperor's pagan court. Cadet branches of the local
Traore dynasty were installed in Woron and Siella/Shyela on the north bank of the
Bani River, as well as in Tara,
N'Goa and Masadugu to the south.
San was also a part of the kingdom. In 1572
Askia Daoud, leader of the
Songhai Empire, sent the
Kurmina-fari to ransack Daa, perhaps in response of an internal succession dispute and reversion to overtly pagan religious practices. The royal family were captured, but later freed after the intervention of their close relative, the king of N'goa. After the collapse of the Songhai, Daa joined in
Djenne's rebellion against the
Pashalik of Timbuktu in 1632. ==References==