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Contents
Contents ................................................................................................................................. 1
History of Africa ........................................................................................................................ 3
History in Africa .................................................................................................................... 4
Early prehistory...................................................................................................................... 4
4th millennium BC – 6th century AD: Ancient Africa .......................................................... 8
North-East Africa and the Horn of Africa ......................................................................... 8
North-West Africa ........................................................................................................... 11
West Africa ...................................................................................................................... 12
Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa ............................................................................. 13
c. 7th century–1250: Postclassical Africa ............................................................................ 15
North Africa ..................................................................................................................... 15
East Africa ....................................................................................................................... 19
West Africa ...................................................................................................................... 22
Central Africa................................................................................................................... 25
Southern Africa ................................................................................................................ 25
c. 1250–1800: Medieval Africa ........................................................................................... 26
North Africa ..................................................................................................................... 26
East Africa ....................................................................................................................... 27
West Africa ...................................................................................................................... 28
Central Africa................................................................................................................... 29
Southern Africa ................................................................................................................ 31
c. 1800-early 20th century: Resistance, conquest, and colonisation.................................... 31
c. 1870–1935: Africa under colonial domination ................................................................ 31
Africa since 1935 ................................................................................................................. 32
Historiography ..................................................................................................................... 33
Colonial historiography ................................................................................................... 33
Postcolonial historiography ............................................................................................. 34
Contemporary historiography .......................................................................................... 34
Notes .................................................................................................................................... 34
References ............................................................................................................................ 35
Sources ................................................................................................................................. 47
Further reading..................................................................................................................... 48
Atlases .............................................................................................................................. 48
Historiography ................................................................................................................. 48
History of Africa
Archaic humans emerged out of Africa between 0.5 and 1.8 million years ago. This was
followed by the emergence of modern humans (Homo sapiens) in East Africa around
300,000–250,000 years ago. In the 4th millennium BC written history arose in Ancient
Egypt,[1] and later in Nubia's Kush, the Horn of Africa's Dʿmt, and Ifrikiya's Carthage.[2]
Between around 3000 BC and 1000 AD, the Bantu expansion swept from north-western
Central Africa (modern day Cameroon) across much of sub-Saharan Africa, laying the
foundations for states in Central, Eastern, and Southern regions.[3] In most African societies
the oral word is revered, and as such they have generally recorded their history orally. This
has led anthropologists to term them oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations
which pride the written word.[a][5]:142–143 Oral tradition often remained the preferred method of
recordation in cases when a writing system was adapted or developed; for example the oral
recordation of the Kouroukan Fouga in the Mali Empire while having adapted the Arabic
script to be used in scholarly pursuits.[6][7]

Many kingdoms and empires came and went in all regions of the continent. Most states were
created through conquest or the borrowing and assimilation of ideas and institutions, while
some developed through internal, largely isolated development.[8] Some African empires and
hegemonic kingdoms include Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Ife, Oyo, Bamana/Ségou, Asante,
Massina, Sokoto, and the Toucouleur in West Africa; Ancient Egypt, Kush, Carthage, the
Fatimids, Almoravids, Almohads, Ayyubids, and Mamluks in North Africa; Aksum,
Ethiopia, Adal, Kitara, Kilwa, and Imerina in East Africa; Kanem-Bornu, Kongo, Mwene
Muji, Luba, Lunda, and Utetera in Central Africa; and Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe,
Mutapa, Rozvi, Maravi, Mthwakazi, and Zulu in Southern Africa. Some societies are
heterarchical and egalitarian, while others remained organised into chiefdoms.[9] The
continent has between 1250 and 2000 languages,[10] and at its peak it is estimated that Africa
had around 10,000 polities, with most following traditional religions.[11]

From the 7th century CE, Islam spread west amid the Arab conquest of North Africa, and by
proselytization to the Horn of Africa. It later spread southwards to the Swahili coast assisted
by Muslim dominance of the Indian Ocean trade, and from the Maghreb traversing the Sahara
into the western Sahel and Sudan, catalysed by the Fula jihads in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Systems of servitude and slavery were historically widespread and commonplace in parts of
Africa, as they were in much of the ancient and medieval world.[12] When the trans-Saharan,
Red Sea, Indian Ocean and Atlantic slave trades began, many of the pre-existing local slave
systems started supplying captives for slave markets outside Africa, creating various
diasporas, especially in the Americas.[13][14]

From 1870 to 1914, driven by the great force and hunger of the Second Industrial Revolution,
European colonisation of Africa developed rapidly, as the major European powers partitioned
the continent in the 1884 Berlin Conference, from one-tenth of the continent being under
European imperial control to over nine-tenths in the Scramble for Africa.[15][16] European
colonialism had significant impacts on Africa's societies, and the suppression of communal
autonomy disrupted local customary practices and caused the transformation of Africa's
socioeconomic systems.[17] Colonies were maintained for the purpose of economic
exploitation and extraction of natural resources. Colonial histories were written under the
pretence of white supremacism, with Africans considered racially inferior and their viewpoint
ignored. Oral sources were deprecated and dismissed by most historians, giving them the
impression that Africa had no history. Pre-colonial Christian states include Ethiopia,
Makuria, and Kongo. Widespread conversion to Christianity occurred under European rule in
southern West Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa due to efficacious missions, with
peoples syncretising Christianity with their local beliefs.[18]

The rise of nationalism facilitated struggles for independence in many parts of the continent,
and, with a weakened Europe after the Second World War, waves of decolonisation took
place. This culminated in the 1960 Year of Africa and the establishment of the Organisation
of African Unity in 1963 (the predecessor to the African Union), with countries deciding to
keep their colonial borders.[19] Traditional power structures, which had been incorporated into
the colonial regimes, remained partly in place in many parts of Africa, and their roles,
powers, and influence vary greatly. Many countries have undergone the triumph and defeat of
nationalistic fervour, and continue to face challenges such as internal conflict,
neocolonialism, and climate change.

African historiography became organized at the academic level in the mid-20th century, and
saw a movement towards utilising the oral sources in a multidisciplinary approach.[20] This
culminated in UNESCO publishing the General History of Africa from 1981, edited by
specialists from across the continent. The community are still tasked with building the
institutional frameworks, incorporating African epistemologies, establishing a continental
periodisation, and representing an African perspective.[21]

History in Africa
In African societies, the historical process is largely a communal one, with eyewitness
accounts, hearsay, reminiscences, and occasionally visions, dreams, and hallucinations
crafted into narrative oral traditions which are performed and transmitted through
generations.[22]:12 [23]:48 Time is sometimes mythical and social,[b] and truth generally viewed as
relativist.[24][23]:43–53 In African epistemology, the epistemic subject "experiences the epistemic
object in a sensuous, emotive, intuitive, abstractive understanding, rather than through
abstraction alone, as is the case in Western epistemology" to arrive at a "complete
knowledge", and as such oral traditions, music, proverbs, and the like were used in the
preservation and transmission of knowledge.[25] Oral tradition can be exoteric or esoteric. It
speaks to people according to their understanding, unveiling itself in accordance with their
aptitudes.[26]:168 In studying traditions, historians consider the role the mind and memory has in
shaping a tradition. The concrete, rather than the abstract, is often remembered as events are
crystallised into clichés over time.[27]:11

Early prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric Africa
Further information: Prehistoric North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa § Prehistory, Prehistoric
West Africa, Prehistoric Central Africa, Prehistoric East Africa, Horn of Africa § Prehistory,
Prehistoric Southern Africa, and African archaeology
 Side view of cast of "Lucy" in the Naturmuseum
Senckenberg

The first known hominids evolved in Africa. According to paleontology, the early hominids'
skull anatomy was similar to that of the gorilla and the chimpanzee, great apes that also
evolved in Africa, but the hominids had adopted a bipedal locomotion which freed their
hands. This gave them a crucial advantage, enabling them to live in both forested areas and
on the open savanna at a time when Africa was drying up and the savanna was encroaching
on forested areas. This would have occurred 10 to 5 million years ago, but these claims are
controversial because biologists and genetics have humans appearing around the last 70
thousand to 200 thousand years.[28]

The fossil record shows Homo sapiens (also known as "modern humans" or "anatomically
modern humans") living in Africa by about 350,000–260,000 years ago. The earliest known
Homo sapiens fossils include the Jebel Irhoud remains from Morocco (c. 315,000 years
ago),[29] the Florisbad Skull from South Africa (c. 259,000 years ago), and the Omo remains
from Ethiopia (c. 233,000 years ago).[30][31][32][33][34] Scientists have suggested that Homo sapiens
may have arisen between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in
East Africa and South Africa.[35][36]

Evidence of a variety of behaviors indicative of Behavioral modernity date to the African

Middle Stone Age, associated with early Homo sapiens and their emergence. Abstract
imagery, widened subsistence strategies, and other "modern" behaviors have been discovered
from that period in Africa, especially South, North, and East Africa.

The Blombos Cave site in South Africa, for example, is famous for rectangular slabs of ochre
engraved with geometric designs. Using multiple dating techniques, the site was confirmed to
be around 77,000 and 100–75,000 years old.[37][38] Ostrich egg shell containers engraved with
geometric designs dating to 60,000 years ago were found at Diepkloof, South Africa.[39] Beads
and other personal ornamentation have been found from Morocco which might be as much as
130,000 years old; as well, the Cave of Hearths in South Africa has yielded a number of
beads dating from significantly prior to 50,000 years ago,[40] and shell beads dating to about
75,000 years ago have been found at Blombos Cave, South Africa.[41][42][43]
Around 65–50,000 years ago, the species' expansion out of Africa launched the colonization
of the planet by modern human beings.[44][45][46][47] By 10,000 BC, Homo sapiens had spread to
most corners of Afro-Eurasia. Their dispersals are traced by linguistic, cultural and genetic
evidence.[48][49][50] Eurasian back-migrations, specifically West-Eurasian backflow, started in
the early Holocene or already earlier in the Paleolithic period, sometimes between 30 and
15,000 years ago, followed by pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration waves from the Middle
East, mostly affecting Northern Africa, the Horn of Africa, and wider regions of the Sahel
zone and East Africa.[51]

Pre-Neolithic and Neolithic migration events in Africa.[51]

Affad 23 is an archaeological site located in the Affad region of southern Dongola Reach in
northern Sudan,[52] which hosts "the well-preserved remains of prehistoric camps (relics of the
oldest open-air hut in the world) and diverse hunting and gathering loci some 50,000 years
old".[53][54][55]

Around 16,000 BC, from the Red Sea Hills to the northern Ethiopian Highlands, nuts, grasses
and tubers were being collected for food. By 13,000 to 11,000 BC, people began collecting
wild grains. This spread to Western Asia, which domesticated its wild grains, wheat and
barley. Between 10,000 and 8000 BC, Northeast Africa was cultivating wheat and barley and
raising sheep and cattle from Southwest Asia.

A wet climatic phase in Africa turned the Ethiopian Highlands into a mountain forest. Omotic
speakers domesticated enset around 6500–5500 BC. Around 7000 BC, the settlers of the
Ethiopian highlands domesticated donkeys, and by 4000 BC domesticated donkeys had
spread to Southwest Asia. Cushitic speakers, partially turning away from cattle herding,
domesticated teff and finger millet between 5500 and 3500 BC.[56]

During the 11th millennium BP, pottery was independently invented in Africa, with the
earliest pottery there dating to about 9,400 BC from central Mali.[57] It soon spread throughout
the southern Sahara and Sahel.[58] In the steppes and savannahs of the Sahara and Sahel in
Northern West Africa, the Nilo-Saharan speakers and Mandé peoples started to collect and
domesticate wild millet, African rice and sorghum between 8000 and 6000 BC. Later, gourds,
watermelons, castor beans, and cotton were also collected and domesticated. The people
started capturing wild cattle and holding them in circular thorn hedges, resulting in
domestication.[59]

They also started making pottery and built stone settlements (e.g., Tichitt, Oualata). Fishing,
using bone-tipped harpoons, became a major activity in the numerous streams and lakes
formed from the increased rains.[60] Mande peoples have been credited with the independent
development of agriculture about 4000–3000 BC.[61]
 9th-century bronze staff head in form of a coiled snake, Igbo-
Ukwu, Nigeria

Evidence of the early smelting of metals – lead, copper, and bronze – dates from the fourth
millennium BC.[62]

Egyptians smelted copper during the predynastic period, and bronze came into use after 3,000
BC at the latest[63] in Egypt and Nubia. Nubia became a major source of copper as well as of
gold.[64] The use of gold and silver in Egypt dates back to the predynastic period.[65][66]

In the Aïr Mountains of present-day Niger people smelted copper independently of

developments in the Nile valley between 3,000 and 2,500 BC. They used a process unique to
the region, suggesting that the technology was not brought in from outside; it became more
mature by about 1,500 BC.[66]

By the 1st millennium BC iron working had reached Northwestern Africa, Egypt, and
Nubia.[67] Zangato and Holl document evidence of iron-smelting in the Central African
Republic and Cameroon that may date back to 3,000 to 2,500 BC.[68] Assyrians using iron
weapons pushed Nubians out of Egypt in 670 BC, after which the use of iron became
widespread in the Nile valley.[69]

The theory that iron spread to Sub-Saharan Africa via the Nubian city of Meroe[70] is no
longer widely accepted, and some researchers believe that sub-Saharan Africans invented
iron metallurgy independently. Metalworking in West Africa has been dated as early as 2,500
BC at Egaro west of the Termit in Niger, and iron working was practiced there by 1,500
BC.[71] Iron smelting has been dated to 2,000 BC in southeast Nigeria.[72] Central Africa
provides possible evidence of iron working as early as the 3rd millennium BC.[73] Iron
smelting developed in the area between Lake Chad and the African Great Lakes between
1,000 and 600 BC, and in West Africa around 2,000 BC, long before the technology reached
Egypt. Before 500 BC, the Nok culture in the Jos Plateau was already smelting
iron.[74][75][76][77][78][79] Archaeological sites containing iron-smelting furnaces and slag have been
excavated at sites in the Nsukka region of southeast Nigeria in Igboland: dating to 2,000 BC
at the site of Lejja (Eze-Uzomaka 2009)[72][80] and to 750 BC and at the site of Opi (Holl
2009).[80] The site of Gbabiri (in the Central African Republic) has also yielded evidence of
iron metallurgy, from a reduction furnace and blacksmith workshop; with earliest dates of
896–773 BC and 907–796 BC respectively.[79]
4th millennium BC – 6th century AD: Ancient Africa
Main article: Ancient Africa
Further information: History of North Africa § Classical period, History of West Africa
§ Iron Age, History of Central Africa § Ancient history, History of East Africa § Ancient
history, and History of Southern Africa § Ancient history

North-East Africa and the Horn of Africa

North-East Africa

Main articles: History of North Africa and Ancient Egypt

Map of ancient Egypt, showing major cities and sites of the

Dynastic period (c. 3150 BC to 30 BC)

The ancient history of North Africa is inextricably linked to that of the Ancient Near East and
Europe. This is particularly true of the various cultures and dynasties of Ancient Egypt and of
Nubia. From around 3500 BC, a coalition of Horus-worshipping nomes in the western Nile
Delta conquered the Andjety-worshipping nomes of the east to form Lower Egypt, whilst Set-
worshipping nomes in the south coalesced to form Upper Egypt.[81]:62–63 Egypt was first united
when Narmer of Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt, giving rise to the 1st and 2nd
dynasties of Egypt whose efforts presumably consisted of conquest and consolidation, with
unification completed by the 3rd dynasty to form the Old Kingdom of Egypt in 2686 BC.[81]:63
The Kingdom of Kerma emerged around this time to become the dominant force in Nubia,
controlling an area as large as Egypt between the 1st and 4th cataracts of the Nile, with
Egyptian records speaking of its rich and populous agricultural regions.[82][83] The height of the
Old Kingdom came under the 4th dynasty who constructed numerous great pyramids,
however under the 6th dynasty of Egypt power began to decentralise to the nomarchs,
culminating in anarchy exacerbated by drought and famine in 2200 BC, and the onset of the
First Intermediate Period in which numerous nomarchs ruled simultaneously. Throughout this
time, power bases were built and destroyed in Memphis, and in Heracleopolis, when
Mentuhotep II of Thebes and the 11th dynasty conquered all of Egypt to form the Middle
Kingdom in 2055 BC. The 12th dynasty oversaw advancements in irrigation and economic
expansion in the Faiyum Oasis, as well as expansion into Lower Nubia at the expense of
Kerma. In 1700 BC, Egypt fractured in two, ushering in the Second Intermediate Period.[81]:68–
71

The Hyksos, a militaristic people from Palestine, capitalised on this fragmentation and
conquered Lower Egypt, establishing the 15th dynasty of Egypt, whilst Kerma coordinated
invasions deep into Egypt to reach its greatest extent, looting royal statues and monuments.[84]
A rival power base developed in Thebes with Ahmose I of the 18th dynasty eventually
expelling the Hyksos from Egypt, forming the New Kingdom in 1550 BC. Utilising the
military technology the Hyksos had brought, they conducted numerous campaigns to conquer
the Levant from the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, and Mitanni, and extinguish Kerma,
incorporating Nubia into the empire, sending the Egyptian empire into its golden age.[81]:73
Internal struggles, drought and famine, and invasions by a confederation of seafaring peoples,
contributed to the New Kingdom's collapse in 1069 BC, ushering in the Third Intermediate
Period which saw Egypt fractured into many pieces amid widespread turmoil.[81]:76–77 Egypt's
disintegration liberated the more Egyptianized Kingdom of Kush in Nubia, and later in the
8th century BC the Kushite king Kashta would expand his power and influence by
manoeuvring his daughter into a position of power in Upper Egypt, paving the way for his
successor Piye to conquer Lower Egypt and form the Kushite Empire. The Kushites
assimilated further into Egyptian society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions,
and culture, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture and overseeing a
revival in pyramid-building. After a century of rule they were forcibly driven out of Egypt by
the Assyrians as reprisal for the Kushites agitating peoples within the Assyrian Empire in an
attempt to gain a foothold in the region.[85] The Assyrians installed a puppet dynasty which
later gained independence and once more unified Egypt, with Upper Egypt becoming a rich
agricultural region whose produce Lower Egypt then sold and traded.[81]:77

In 525 BC Egypt was conquered by the expansive Achaemenids, however later regained
independence in 404 BC until 343 BC when it was re-annexed by the Achaemenid Empire.
Persian rule in Egypt ended with the defeat of the Achaemenids by Alexander the Great in
332 BC, marking the beginning of Hellenistic rule by the Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty in
Egypt. The Hellenistic rulers, seeking legitimacy from their Egyptian subjects, gradually
Egyptianized and participated in Egyptian religious life.[86]:119 Following the Syrian Wars with
the Seleucid Empire, the Ptolemaic Kingdom lost its holdings outside Africa, but expanded
its territory by conquering Cyrenaica from its respective tribes, and subjugated Kush.
Beginning in the mid second century BC, dynastic strife and a series of foreign wars
weakened the kingdom, and it became increasingly reliant on the Roman Republic. Under
Cleopatra VII, who sought to restore Ptolemaic power, Egypt became entangled in a Roman
civil war, which ultimately led to its conquest by Rome in 30 BC. The Crisis of the Third
Century in the Roman Empire freed the Levantine city state of Palmyra who conquered
Egypt, however their rule lasted only a few years before Egypt was reintegrated into the
Roman Empire. In the midst of this, Kush regained total independence from Egypt, and they
would persist as a major regional power until, having been weakened from internal rebellion
amid worsening climatic conditions, invasions by both the Aksumites and the Noba caused
their disintegration into Makuria, Alodia, and Nobatia in the 5th century AD. The Romans
managed to hold on to Egypt for the rest of the ancient period.

Horn of Africa

Main article: History of East Africa

The Kingdom of Aksum in the 6th century AD.

In the Horn of Africa there was the Land of Punt, a kingdom on the Red Sea, likely located in
modern-day Eritrea or northern Somaliland.[87] The Ancient Egyptians initially traded via
middle-men with Punt until in 2350 BC when they established direct relations. They would
become close trading partners for over a millennium, with Punt exchanging gold, aromatic
resins, blackwood, ebony, ivory and wild animals. Towards the end of the ancient period,
northern Ethiopia and Eritrea bore the Kingdom of D'mt beginning in 980 BC, whose people
developed irrigation schemes, used ploughs, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons.
In modern-day Somalia and Djibouti there was the Macrobian Kingdom, with archaeological
discoveries indicating the possibility of other unknown sophisticated civilisations at this
time.[88][89] After D'mt's fall in the 5th century BC the Ethiopian Plateau came to be ruled by
numerous smaller unknown kingdoms who experienced strong south Arabian influence, until
the growth and expansion of Aksum in the 1st century BC.[90] Along the Horn's coast there
were many ancient Somali city-states which thrived off of the wider Red Sea trade and
transported their cargo via beden, exporting myrrh, frankincense, spices, gum, incense, and
ivory, with freedom from Roman interference causing Indians to give the cities a lucrative
monopoly on cinnamon from ancient India.[91]

The Kingdom of Aksum grew from a principality into a major power on the trade route
between Rome and India through conquering its unfortunately unknown neighbours, gaining
a monopoly on Indian Ocean trade in the region. Aksum's rise had them rule over much of
the regions from the Lake Tana to the valley of the Nile, and they further conquered parts of
the ailing Kingdom of Kush, led campaigns against the Noba and Beja peoples, and expanded
into South Arabia.[92][93][94] This led the Persian prophet Mani to consider Aksum as one of the
four great powers of the 3rd century alongside Persia, Rome, and China.[95] In the 4th century
AD Aksum's king converted to Christianity and Aksum's population, who had followed
syncretic mixes of local beliefs, slowly followed. In the early 6th century AD, Cosmas
Indicopleustes later described his visit to the city of Aksum, mentioning rows of throne
monuments, some made out of "excellent white marble" and "entirely...hewn out of a single
block of stone", with large inscriptions attributed to various kings, likely serving as victory
monuments documenting the wars waged. The turn of the 6th century saw Aksum balanced
against the Himyarite Kingdom in southwestern Arabia, as part of the wider Byzantine-
Sassanian conflict. In 518, Aksum invaded Himyar against the persecution of the Christian
community by Dhu Nuwas, the Jewish Himyarite king. Following the capture of Najran, the
Aksumites implanted a puppet on the Himyarite throne, however a coup d'état in 522 brought
Dhu Nuwas back to power who again began persecuting Christians. The Aksumites invaded
again in 525, and with Byzantine aid conquered the kingdom, incorporating it as a vassal
state after some minor internal conflict. In the late 6th century the Aksumites were driven out
of Yemen by the Himyarite king with the aid of the Sassanids.

North-West Africa

Main article: History of North Africa

Carthaginian Empire in 323 BC

Further north-west, the Maghreb and Ifriqiya were mostly cut off from the cradle of
civilisation in Egypt by the Libyan desert, exacerbated by Egyptian boats being tailored to the
Nile and not coping well in the open Mediterranean Sea. This caused its societies to develop
contiguous to those of Southern Europe, until Phoenician settlements came to dominate the
most lucrative trading locations in the Gulf of Tunis, initially searching for sources of
metal.[96]:247 Phoenician settlements subsequently grew into Ancient Carthage after gaining
independence from Phoenicia in the 6th century BC, and they would build an extensive
empire, countering Greek influence in the Mediterranean, as well as a strict mercantile
network reaching as far as west Asia and northern Europe, distributing an array of
commodities from all over the ancient world along with locally produced goods, all secured
by one of the largest and most powerful navies in the ancient Mediterranean. Carthage's
political institutions received rare praise from both Greeks and Romans, with its constitution
and aristocratic council providing stability, with birth and wealth paramount for election.[96]:251–
253 In 264 BC the First Punic War began when Carthage came into conflict with the

expansionary Roman Republic on the island of Sicily, leading to what has been described as
the greatest naval war of antiquity, causing heavy casualties on both sides, but ending in
Carthage's eventual defeat and loss of Sicily.[96]:255–256 The Second Punic War broke out when
the Romans opportunistically took Sardinia and Corsica whilst the Carthaginians were
putting down a ferocious Libyan revolt, with Carthage initially experiencing considerable
success following Hannibal's infamous crossing of the alps into northern Italy. In a 14 year
long campaign Hannibal's forces conquered much of mainland Italy, only being recalled after
the Romans conducted a bold naval invasion of the Carthaginian homeland and then defeated
him in climactic battle in 202 BC.[96]:256–257
 Romanised-Berber kingdoms: Altava, Ouarsenis, Hodna,
Aures, Nemencha, Capsus, Dorsale, Cabaon.

Carthage was forced to give up their fleet, and the subsequent collapse of their empire would
produce two further polities in the Maghreb; Numidia, a polity made up of two Numidian
tribal federations until the Massylii conquered the Masaesyli, and assisted the Romans in the
Second Punic War; Mauretania, a Mauri tribal kingdom, home of the legendary King Atlas;
and various tribes such as Garamantes, Musulamii, and Bavares. The Third Punic War would
result in Carthage's total defeat in 146 BC and the Romans established the province of Africa,
with Numidia assuming control of many of Carthage's African ports. Towards the end of the
2nd century BC Mauretania fought alongside Numidia's Jugurtha in the Jugurthine War
against the Romans after he had usurped the Numidian throne from a Roman ally. Together
they inflicted heavy casualties that quaked the Roman Senate, with the war only ending
inconclusively when Mauretania's Bocchus I sold out the Jugurtha to the Romans.[96]:258 At the
turn of the millennium they both would face the same fate as Carthage and be conquered by
the Romans who established Mauretania and Numidia as provinces of their empire, whilst
Musulamii, led by Tacfarinas, and Garamantes were eventually defeated in war in the 1st
century AD however weren't conquered.[97]:261–262 In the 5th century AD the Vandals conquered
north Africa precipitating the fall of Rome. Swathes of indigenous peoples would regain self-
governance in the Mauro-Roman Kingdom and its numerous successor polities in the
Maghreb, namely the kingdoms of Ouarsenis, Aurès, and Altava. The Vandals ruled Ifriqiya
for a century until Byzantine reconquest in the early 6th century AD. The Byzantines and the
Berber kingdoms fought minor inconsequential conflicts, such as in the case of Garmul,
however largely coexisted.[97]:284 Further inland to the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa were the
Sanhaja in modern-day Algeria, a broad grouping of three groupings of tribal confederations,
one of which is the Masmuda grouping in modern-day Morocco, along with the nomadic
Zenata; their composite tribes would later go onto shape much of North African history.

West Africa

Main articles: History of West Africa and History of the Soninke people

Nok sculpture
In the western Sahel the rise of settled communities occurred largely as a result of the
domestication of millet and of sorghum. Archaeology points to sizable urban populations in
West Africa beginning in the 4th millennium BC, which had crucially developed iron
metallurgy by 1200 BC, in both smelting and forging for tools and weapons.[98] Extensive
east-west belts of deserts, grasslands, and forests from north to south were crucial in the
moulding of their respective societies and meant that prior to the accession of trans-Saharan
trade routes, symbiotic trade relations developed in response to the opportunities afforded by
north–south diversity in ecosystems,[99]:79–80 trading meats, copper, iron, salt, and gold. Various
civilisations prospered in this period. From 4000 BC, the Tichitt culture in modern-day
Mauritania and Mali was the oldest known complexly organised society in West Africa, with
a four tiered hierarchical social structure.[100] Other civilisations include the Kintampo culture
from 2500 BC in modern-day Ghana,[101] the Nok culture from 1500 BC in modern-day
Nigeria,[102] the Daima culture around Lake Chad from 550 BC, and Djenné-Djenno from 250
BC in modern-day Mali.

Towards the end of the 3rd century AD, a wet period in the Sahel opened areas for human
habitation and exploitation which had not been habitable for the better part of a millennium.
Based on large tumuli scattered across West Africa dating to this period, it has been proposed
that there were several contemporaneous kingdoms which have unfortunately been lost to
history.[103][100] Some important polities likely founded in the early-to-middle 1st millennium
who did make it into the historical record include Mema, Takrur, Silla, and Wagadu
(commonly called the Ghana Empire).

Soninke traditions mention four previous foundings of Wagadu, and hold that the final
founding of Wagadu occurred after their first king did a deal with Bida, a serpent deity who
was guarding a well, to sacrifice one maiden a year in exchange for assurance regarding
plenty of rainfall and gold supply.[104] Soninke tradition portrays early Ghana as warlike, with
horse-mounted warriors key to increasing its territory and population, although details of
their expansion are extremely scarce.[105]

Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa

Main article: Bantu expansion

1 = 2000–1500 BC origin

2 = c. 1500 BC first dispersal

2.a = Eastern Bantu
2.b = Western Bantu

3 = 1000–500 BC Urewe nucleus of Eastern Bantu

4–7 = southward advance

9 = 500–1 BC Congo nucleus

10 = AD 1–1000 last phase[106][107][108]

At the 4th millennium BC the Congo Basin was inhabited by the Bambenga, Bayaka,
Bakoya, and Babongo in the west, the Bambuti in the east, and the Batwa who were widely
scattered and also present in the Great Lakes region; together they are grouped as Pygmies.[109]
On the later-named Swahili coast there were Cushitic-speaking peoples, and the Khoisan (a
neologism for the Khoekhoe and San) in the continent's south. Early San society left a rich
legacy of cave paintings across Southern Africa.[110]:11–12

The Bantu expansion constituted a major series of migrations of Bantu-speaking peoples

from Central Africa to Eastern and Southern Africa and was substantial in the settling of the
continent.[111] Commencing in the 2nd millennium BC, the Bantu began to migrate from
Cameroon to the Congo Basin, and eastward to the Great Lakes region to form the Urewe
culture from the 5th century BC.[112][113] In the 7th century AD, Bantu spread to the Upemba
Depression, forming the Upemba culture [es].[114] During the 1st millennium BC the Bantu
spread further from the Great Lakes to Southern and East Africa. One early movement
headed south to the upper Zambezi basin in the 2nd century BC. The Bantu then split
westward to the savannahs of present-day Angola and eastward into Malawi, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe in the 1st century AD, forming the Gokomere culture in the 5th century AD.[115]
The second thrust from the Great Lakes was eastward, also in the 1st century AD, expanding
to Kenya, Tanzania, and the Swahili coast.

Prior to this migration, the northern part of the Swahili coast was home to the elusive Azania,
most likely a Southern Cushitic polity, extending southwards to modern-day Tanzania.[116] The
Bantu populations crowded out Azania, with Rhapta being its last stronghold by the 1st
century AD,[117] and traded via the Indian Ocean trade[118] Madagascar was possibly first settled
by Austronesians from 350 BC-550 AD, termed the Vazimba in Malagasy oral traditions,
although there is considerable academic debate.[119][120] The eastern Bantu group would
eventually meet with the southern migrants from the Great Lakes in Malawi, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe and both groups continued southward, with eastern groups continuing to
Mozambique and reaching Maputo in the 2nd century AD. Further to the south, settlements
of Bantu peoples who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen were well established
south of the Limpopo River by the 4th century AD, displacing and assimilating the Khoisan.

By the Chari River south of Lake Chad the Sao civilisation flourished for over a millennium
beginning in the 6th century BC, in territory that later became part of present-day Cameroon
and Chad. Sao artifacts show that they were skilled workers in bronze, copper, and iron,[121]:19
with finds including bronze sculptures, terracotta statues of human and animal figures, coins,
funerary urns, household utensils, jewellery, highly decorated pottery, and spears.[121]:19 [122]:1051
Nearby, around Lake Ejagham in south-west Cameroon, the Ekoi civilisation rose circa 2nd
century AD, and are most notable for constructing the Ikom monoliths and developing the
Nsibidi script.[123]

c. 7th century–1250: Postclassical Africa

Main article: Medieval and early modern Africa
Further information: History of North Africa § Arrival of Islam, History of West Africa
§ Sahelian kingdoms, History of Central Africa § Post-classical history, History of East
Africa § Post-classical history, and History of Southern Africa § Post-classical history

North Africa

Main articles: History of North Africa and Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

Northern Africa

The turn of the 7th century saw much of North Africa controlled by the Byzantine Empire.
Christianity was the state religion of the empire, and Semitic and Coptic subjects in Roman
Egypt faced persecution due to their 'heretical' Miaphysite churches, paying a heavy tax. The
Exarchate of Africa covered much of Ifriqiya and the eastern Maghreb, surrounded by
numerous Berber kingdoms that followed Christianity heavily syncretised with traditional
Berber religion. The interior was dominated by various groupings of tribal confederations,
namely the nomadic Zenata, the Masmuda of Sanhaja in modern-day Morocco, and the other
two Sanhaja in the Sahara in modern-day Algeria, who all mainly followed traditional Berber
religion. In 618 the Sassanids conquered Egypt during the Byzantine-Sasanian War, however
the province was reconquered three years later.

The Umayyad Caliphate at its greatest extent, under Caliph

Umar II, c. 720

The early 7th century saw the inception of Islam and the beginning of the Arab conquests
intent on converting peoples to Islam and monotheism.[124]:56 The nascent Rashidun Caliphate
won a series of crucial victories and expanded rapidly, forcing the Byzantines to evacuate
Syria. With Byzantine regional presence shattered, Egypt was quickly conquered by 642,
with the Egyptian Copts odious of Byzantine rule generally putting up little resistance. The
Muslims' attention then turned west to the Maghreb where the Exarchate of Africa had
declared independence from Constantinople under Gregory the Patrician. The Muslims
conquered Ifriqiya and in 647 defeated and killed Gregory and his army decisively in battle.
The Berbers of the Maghreb proposed payment of annual tribute, which the Muslims, not
wishing to annex the territory, accepted. After a brief civil war in the Muslim empire, the
Rashidun were supplanted by the Umayyad dynasty in 661 and the capital moved from
Medina to Damascus. With intentions to expand further in all directions, the Muslims
returned to the Maghreb to find the Byzantines had reinforced the Exarchate and allied with
the Berber Kingdom of Altava under Kusaila, who was approached prior to battle and
convinced to convert to Islam. Initially having become neutral, Kusaila objected to
integration into the empire and in 683 destroyed the poorly supplied Arab army and
conquered the newly-found Kairouan, causing an epiphany among the Berber that this
conflict was not just against the Byzantines. The Arabs returned and defeated Kusaila and
Altava in 690, and, after a set-back, expelled the Byzantines from North Africa. To the west,
Kahina of the Kingdom of the Aurès declared opposition to the Arab invasion and repelled
their armies, securing her position as the uncontested ruler of the Maghreb for five years. The
Arabs received reinforcements and in 701 Kahina was killed and the kingdom defeated. They
completed their conquest of the rest of the Maghreb, with large swathes of Berbers embracing
Islam, and the combined Arab and Berber armies would use this territory as a springboard
into Iberia to expand the Muslim empire further.[125]:47–48

Large numbers of Berber and Coptic people willingly converted to Islam, and followers of
Abrahamic religions ("People of the Book") constituting the Dhimmi class were permitted to
practice their religion and exempted from military service in exchange for a tax, which was
improperly extended to include converts.[126]:247 Followers of traditional Berber religion, which
were mostly those of tribal confederations in the interior, were violently oppressed and often
given the ultimatum to convert to Islam or face captivity or enslavement.[125]:46 Converted
natives were permitted to participate in the governing of the Muslim empire in order to quell
the enormous administrative problems owing to the Arabs' lack of experience governing and
rapid expansion.[125]:49 Unorthodox sects such as the Kharijite, Ibadi, Isma'ili, Nukkarite and
Sufrite found fertile soil among many Berbers dissatisfied with the oppressive Umayyad
regime, with religion being utilised as a political tool to foster organisation.[124]:64 In the 740s
the Berber Revolt rocked the caliphate and the Berbers took control over the Maghreb, whilst
revolts in Ifriqiya were suppressed. The Abbasid dynasty came to power via revolution in 750
and attempted to reconfigure the caliphate to be multi-ethnic rather than Arab exclusive,
however this wasn't enough to prevent gradual disintegration on its peripheries. Various
short-lived native dynasties would form states such as the Barghawata of Masmuda, the
Ifranid dynasty, and the Midrarid dynasty, both from the Zenata. The Idrisid dynasty would
come to rule most of modern-day Morocco with the support of the Masmuda, whilst the
growing Ibadi movement among the Zenata culminated in the Rustamid Imamate, centred on
Tahert, modern-day Algeria.[126]:254 At the turn of the 9th century the Abbasids' sphere of
influence would degrade further with the Aghlabids controlling Ifriqiya under only nominal
Abbasid rule and in 868 when the Tulunids wrestled the independence of Egypt for four
decades before again coming under Abbasid control.[127]:172, 260 Late in the 9th century, a revolt
by East African slaves in the Abbasid's homeland of Iraq diverted its resources away from its
other territories, devastating important ports in the Persian Gulf, and was eventually put down
after decades of violence, resulting in between 300,000 and 2,500,000 dead.[128][129]:714

Evolution of the Fatimid Caliphate The

Almoravid empire in the 12th century.

This gradual bubbling of disintegration of the caliphate boiled over when the Fatimid dynasty
rose out of the Bavares tribal confederation and in 909 conquered the Aghlabids to gain
control over all of Ifriqiya. Proclaiming Isma'ilism, they established a caliphate rivalling the
Abbasids, who followed Sunni Islam.[130]:320 The nascent caliphate quickly conquered the
ailing Rustamid Imamate and fought a proxy war against the remnants of the Umayyad
dynasty centred in Cordoba, resulting the eastern Maghreb coming under the control of the
vassalized Zirid dynasty, who hailed from the Sanhaja.[130]:323 In 969 the Fatimids finally
conquered Egypt against a weakened Abbasid Caliphate after decades of attempts, moving
their capital to Cairo and deferring Ifriqiya to the Zirids. From there they conquered up to
modern-day Syria and Hejaz, securing the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Fatimids
became absorbed by the eastern realms of their empire, and in 972, after encouragement from
faqirs, the Zirids changed their allegiance to recognise the Abbasid Caliphate. In retaliation
the Fatimids commissioned an invasion by nomadic Arab tribes to punish them, leading to
their disintegration with the Khurasanid dynasty and Arab tribes ruling Ifriqiya, to be later
displaced by the Norman Kingdom of Africa.[130]:329 In the late 10th and early 11th centuries
the Fatimids would lose the Maghreb to the Hammadids in modern-day Algeria and the
Maghrawa in modern-day Morocco, both from Zenata. In 1053 the Saharan Sanhaja, spurred
on by puritanical Sunni Islam, conquered Sijilmasa and captured Aoudaghost from the Ghana
Empire to control the affluent trans-Saharan trade routes in the Western Sahara, forming the
Almoravid empire before conquering Maghrawa and intervening in the reconquest of Iberia
by the Christian powers on the side of the endangered Muslim taifas, which were produced
from the fall of the remnant Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba. The Almoravids incorporated
the taifas into their empire, enjoying initial success, until a devastating ambush crippled their
military leadership, and throughout the 12th century they gradually lost territory to the
Christians.[131]:351–354 To the east, the Fatimids saw their empire start to collapse in 1061,
beginning with the loss of the holy cities to the Sharifate of Mecca and exacerbated by
rebellion in Cairo. The Seljuk Turks, who saw themselves as the guardian of the Abbasid
Caliphate, capitalised and conquered much of their territories in the east, however the
Fatimids repelled them from encroaching on Egypt. Amid the Christians' First Crusade
against the Seljuks, the Fatimids opportunistically took back Jerusalem, but then lost it again
to the Christians in decisive defeat. The Fatimids' authority collapsed due to intense internal
struggle in political rivalries and religious divisions, amid Christian invasions of Egypt,
creating a power vacuum in North Africa. The Zengid dynasty, nominally under Seljuk
suzerainty, invaded on the pretext of defending Egypt from the Christians, and usurped the
position of vizier in the caliphate.[132]:186–189

The Marinids, Zayyanids, and Hafsids c. 1360

Following the assassination of the previous holder, the position of vizier passed onto Salah
ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (commonly referred to as Saladin). After a joint Zengid-Fatimid
effort repelled the Christians and after he had put down a revolt from the Fatimid army,
Saladin eventually deposed the Fatimid caliph in 1171 and established the Ayyubid dynasty
in its place, choosing to recognise the Abbasid Caliphate. From there the Ayyubids captured
Cyrenaica, and went on a prolific campaign to conquer Arabia from the Zengids and the
Yemeni Hamdanids, Palestine from the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem, and Syria and
Upper Mesopotamia from other Seljuk successor states.[133]:148–150 To the west, there was a new
domestic threat to Almoravid rule; a religious movement headed by Ibn Tumart from the
Masmuda tribal grouping, who was considered by his followers to be the true Mahdi. Initially
fighting a guerilla war from the Atlas Mountains, they descended from the mountains in 1130
but were crushed in battle, with Ibn Tumart dying shortly after. The movement consolidated
under the leadership of self-proclaimed caliph Abd al-Mu'min and, after gaining the support
of the Zenata, swept through the Maghreb, conquering the Hammadids, the Hilalian Arab
tribes, and the Norman Kingdom of Africa, before gradually conquering the Almoravid
remnant in Al-Andalus, proclaiming the Almohad Caliphate and extending their rule from the
western Sahara and Iberia to Ifriqiya by the turn of the 13th century. Later, the Christians
capitalised on internal conflict within the Almohads in 1225 and conquered Iberia by 1228,
with the Emirate of Granada assuming control in the south. Following this, the embattled
Almohads faced invasions from an Almoravid remnant in the Balearics and gradually lost
territory to the Marinids in modern-day Morocco, the Zayyanids in modern-day Algeria, both
of Zenata, and the Hafsids of Masmuda in modern-day Tunisia, before finally being
extinguished in 1269.[134]:8–23 Meanwhile, after defeating the Christians' Fifth Crusade in 1221,
internal divisions involving Saladin's descendants appeared within the Ayyubid dynasty,
crippling the empire's unity. In the face of Mongol expansion, the Ayyubids became
increasingly reliant on Mamluk generals.

Nubia

Main articles: Makuria, Alodia, Nobatia, Kingdom of Fazughli, Funj Sultanate, Banu Kanz,
and Kingdom of al-Abwab

East Africa

Horn of Africa

Main articles: History of East Africa, History of Ethiopia, and History of Somalia

At the end of the 6th century, the Kingdom of Aksum ruled over much of modern-day
Ethiopia and Eritrea, with the Harla Kingdom to its east, while ancient Somali city-states
such as Mosylon, Opone, Sarapion, Avalites, and Aromata on the Somali Peninsula continued
to thrive off of the lucrative Indian Ocean trade and their preferential relations with India.

Following the birth of Islam in the early 7th century, the north-central Harar Plateau was
settled by early Muslims fleeing persecution, intermingling with the Somali who became
some of the first non-Arabs to convert to Islam.[135] Muslim-Aksumite relations were initially
positive with Aksum giving refuge to early Muslims in 613, however relations soured after
Aksum made incursions along the Arab coast and Muslims settled the Dahlak
archipelago.[136]:560 Despite having ancient roots, the Red Sea slave trade expanded and
flourished following the Muslim conquests with Bejas, Nubians, and Ethiopians exported to
Hejaz.[137] Aksum gradually lost their control of the Red Sea, and the expulsion of the
Byzantines from the region isolated them, causing their society to become introspective,
drawing inspiration from biblical traditions of the Old Testament.[138]:108 Meanwhile during the
7th, 8th, and 9th centuries Islam spread through the Somali Peninsula, largely via da'wah.
The Harla Kingdom of Hubat also converted to Islam circa 700. The Somalis were organised
into various clans, and relations with Arabs led tradition to hold their lineages to Samaale,
Daarood or Sheikh Ishaaq, traditionally descendants of Muhammad's cousins. To the west
from the 7th to 15th century, Arab tribes migrated into the Sudan, during which time the Beja
Islamised and adopted Arab customs. In the 8th century, Beja nomads invaded Aksum's
northern territories and occupied the Eritrean Highlands, leading punitive raids into Aksum,
with the Beja establishing various kingdoms. The Aksumite population migrated further
inland into the Ethiopian Highlands, moving their capital from Aksum to Kubar, and later in
the 9th century expanded southwards.[136]:563–564 [139] The history becomes murky, however
tradition holds that Aksum's expansion brought it into conflict in 960 with the Jewish
Kingdom of Beta Israel, led by queen Gudit and located in the Simien Mountains.
Accordingly, Gudit defeated and killed Aksum's king, and burnt their churches.[139] It's
possible that Gudit was a pagan queen who led resistance to Aksum's southward
expansion.[138]:108 To the east in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Somali clans such as the Dir
and other groups formed states in the Harar Plateau, including Fatagar, Dawaro, Bale,
Hadiya, Hargaya, Mora, Kwelgora, and Adal, with the latter centred on the port city of Zeila
(previously Avalites).[140] They neighboured the Sultanate of Shewa to their south, who's
dynasty hailed from the Meccan Banu Makhzum. On the Horn's southeast coast the Tunni
clan established the Tunni Sultanate, and the clans of Sarapion formed the Sultanate of
Mogadishu.
Traditionally, Gudit's dynasty reigned until 1137 when they were overthrown or conquered
by Mara Takla Haymanot, with traditions differing on whether he was an Aksumite general
or relative of Gudit, who established the Zagwe dynasty. In Ethiopia tradition holds that prior
to his accession to the throne, Gebre Meskel Lalibela was guided by Christ on a tour of
Jerusalem, and instructed to build a second Jerusalem in Ethiopia.[138]:115 Accordingly this led
to the commissioning of eleven rock-hewn churches outside the capital in Roha, which was
renamed Lalibela in his honour, and quickly became a holy city in Ethiopian Christianity.
According to oral traditions, Motolomi Sato of the Wolaita-Mala dynasty established the
Kingdom of Damot in the 13th century, locally known as the Kingdom of Wolaita, which
followed a traditional religion.[141] The history continues to be murky, however regional
hegemony was contested between the Kingdom of Damot, the Zagwe, and the Sultanate of
Shewa.[142]:431 Damot likely drew its economic power from gold production, which was
exported to Zeila.[143] The Zagwe and Shewa were forced into a conditional alliance to counter
Damot, with Shewa at times forced to pay tribute to the pagans.[144] In the 13th century the
Ajuran clan established the Ajuran Sultanate on the eastern coast of the Horn and expanded,
conquering the Tunni and vassalising Mogadishu, coming to dominate the Indian Ocean
trade, while the Warsangali clan formed the Warsangali Sultanate on the Horn's north-eastern
coast.

Swahili coast, Madagascar, and the Comoro Islands

Main articles: History of East Africa, History of Madagascar, and History of the Comoros

The turn of the 7th century saw the Swahili coast continue to be inhabited by the Swahili
civilisation, whose economies were primarily based on agriculture, however they traded via
the Indian Ocean trade and later developed local industries, with their iconic stone
architecture.[145]:587, 607–608 [146] Forested river estuaries created natural harbours whilst the yearly
monsoon winds assisted trade,[147][148] and the Swahili civilisation consisted of hundreds of
settlements and linked the societies and kingdoms of the interior, such as those of the
Zambezi basin and the Great Lakes, to the wider Indian Ocean trade.[145]:614–615 There is much
debate around the chronology of the settlement of Madagascar, although most scholars agree
that the island was further settled by Austronesian peoples from the 5th or 7th centuries AD
who had proceeded through or around the Indian Ocean by outrigger boats, to also settle the
Comoros.[149][150] This second wave possibly found the island of Madagascar sparsely
populated by descendants of the first wave a few centuries earlier, with the Vazimba of the
interior's highlands being revered and featuring prominently in Malagasy oral traditions.
 The Kilwa Sultanate in 1310

The wider region underwent a trade expansion from the 7th century, as the Swahili engaged
in the flourishing Indian Ocean trade following the early Muslim conquests.[145]:612–615
Settlements further centralised and some major states included Gedi, Ungwana [de], Pate,
Malindi, Mombasa, and Tanga in the north, Unguja Ukuu on Zanzibar, Kaole, Dar es Salaam,
Kilwa, Kiswere [de], Monapo, Mozambique, and Angoche in the middle, and Quelimane,
Sofala, Chibuene, and Inhambane in the south.[146] Via mtumbwi [uk], mtepe and later ngalawa
they exported gold, iron, copper, ivory, slaves, pottery, cotton cloth, wood, grain, and rice,
and imported silk, glassware, jewellery, Islamic pottery, and Chinese porcelain.[151] Relations
between the states fluctuated and varied, with Mombasa, Pate, and Kilwa emerging as the
strongest. This prosperity led some Arab and Persian merchants to settle and assimilate into
the various societies, and from the 8th to the 14th century the region gradually Islamised due
to the increased trading opportunities it brought, with some oral traditions having rulers of
Arab or Persian descent.[145]:605–607 The Kilwa Chronicle, supposedly based on oral tradition,
holds that a Persian prince from Shiraz arrived and acquired the island of Kilwa from the
local inhabitants, before quarrel with the Bantu king led to the severing Kilwa's land bridge to
the mainland. Settlements in northern Madagascar such as Mahilaka [de], Irodo, and Iharana
also engaged in the trade, attracting Arab immigration.[146] Bantu migrated to Madagascar and
the Comoros from the 9th century, when zebu were first brought. From the 10th century
Kilwa expanded its influence, coming to challenge the dominance of Somalian Mogadishu
located to its north, however details of Kilwa's rise remain scarce. In the late 12th century
Kilwa wrestled control of Sofala in the south, a key trading city linking to Great Zimbabwe in
the interior and famous for its Zimbabwean gold, which was substantial in the usurpation of
Mogadishu's hegemony, while also conquering Pemba and Zanzibar. Kilwa's administration
consisted of representatives who ranged from governing their assigned cities to fulfilling the
role of ambassador in the more powerful ones. Meanwhile the Pate Chronicle [fr] has Pate
conquering Shanga, Faza, and prosperous Manda, and was at one time led by the popular
Fumo Liyongo.[152] The islands of Pemba, Zanzibar, Lamu, Mafia and the Comoros were
further settled by Shirazi and grew in importance due to their geographical positions for
trade.
By 1100, all regions of Madagascar were inhabited, although the total population remained
small.[153]:48 Societies organised at the behest of hasina, which later evolved to embody
kingship, and competed with one another over the island's estuaries, with oral histories
describing bloody clashes and earlier settlers often pushed along the coast or inland.[153]:43, 52–53
An Arab geographer wrote in 1224 that the island consisted of a great many towns and
kingdoms, with kings making war on each other.[153]:51–52 Assisted by climate change, the
peoples gradually transformed the island from dense forest to grassland for cultivation and
zebu pastoralism. Oral traditions of the central highlands describe encountering an earlier
population called the Vazimba, thought to have been the first settlers of Madagsacar,
represented as primitive dwarfs.[153]:71 From the 13th century Muslim settlers arrived,
integrating into the respective societies, and held high status owing to Islamic trading
networks.

Northern Great Lakes

Main articles: Urewe, Empire of Kitara, Luo peoples § Uganda, Buganda, Nkore, Rwanda,
Busoga, and Bunyoro

West Africa

The western Sahel and Sudan

Main articles: History of West Africa and Sahelian kingdoms

The Ghana Empire at its greatest extent

The 7th to 13th centuries in West Africa were a period of relatively abundant rainfall that saw
the explosive growth of trade, particularly across the Sahara desert, and the flourishing of
numerous important states.[154] The introduction of the camel to the western Sahel was a
watershed moment, allowing more merchandise to move more easily.[105] These desert-side
states are the first to appear in the written record, with Arab and Berber merchants from
North Africa leaving descriptions of their power and wealth.[155] Nevertheless, there remain
massive gaps in the historical record, and many details are speculative and/or based on much
later traditions.

One of the most powerful and well known of these states was Wagadu, commonly called the
Ghana Empire, likely the dominant player in the western Sahel from the 6th century
onwards.[156] Wagadu was the most powerful of a constellation of states stretching from
Takrur on the Senegal river valley to Mema in the Niger valley, all of whom were subservient
to Ghana at least some of the time.[157] Like Wagadu, the Gao Empire which rose in the 7th
century had at least seven kingdoms accepting their suzerainty. Both Gao and Kumbi Saleh
(capital of Wagadu) grew fabulously rich through the trans-Saharan trade routes linking these
cities with Tadmekka, Kairouan, and Sijilmassa in North Africa along which flowed trade in
salt, gold, slaves, and more.[158][159][157][105]

Map of the western Sahel and Sudan (northern West

Africa) c. 1200. (Songhai is Gao)
Kingdoms in this era were centred around cities and cores, with variations of influence
radiating out from these points, borders here are estimates.

The arrival of Islam in West Africa had seismic consequences for the history of the entire
region. By the 10th century, the king of Gao had converted, possibly to Ibadi Islam.[160] In
1035 king War Jabi of Takrur became the first ruler to adopt Sunni Islam.[161] The rise of the
Almoravid Sanhaja in the 1050's, perhaps inspired and supported by Muslims in Takrur,
pushed the leaders of Sahelian states to institutionalize Islam in the subsequent decades.[162]
Historians debate whether the Almoravids conquered Wagadu or merely dominated them
politically but not militarily. In any case the period saw significant upheaval and a shift in
trade patterns as previously important cities like Awdaghost and Tadmekka fell victim to the
Almoravids and their allies.[c][164] In the confusion, some vassals achieved independence such
as Mema, Sosso, and Diarra/Diafunu, with the last two being especially powerful.[156] Despite
Wagadu's regaining full independence and power throughout the 12th century, this could not
counteract the worsening climate and shifts in trade. Around the turn of the 13th century, the
Sosso Empire united the region and conquered a weakened Ghana from its south, spurring
large-scale Soninke out-migration.[165]

Sosso's Soumaoro Kante conquered Diarra, Gajaaga, and the Manding region.[166] According
to the oral Epic of Sundiata, Sundiata Keita, a Mandinka prince in exile, returned to Manden
to save his people of the tyrannical Sosso king. Sundiata unified the Mandinka clans, allied
with Mema, and defeated Soumaoro Kante at the Battle of Kirina in the early 13th century.
He then proclaimed the Kouroukan Fouga of the nascent Mali Empire.[167] Allied kingdoms,
including Mema and Wagadu, retained leadership of their province, while conquered leaders
were assigned a farin subordinate to the mansa (emperor), with provinces retaining a great
deal of autonomy.[168]
 The Mali Empire in 1337 CE, with major gold fields, of
Bambuk, Bure, Lobi (tended by the Gan and later Lobi people), and Akan, and trade routes,
outlined. The desert should extend further south to Koumbi. The Mossi Kingdoms are located
north of Lobi.

In addition to campaigns in the north to subdue Diafunu, Mali established suzerainty over the
highlands of Fouta Djallon.[169] After being insulted by the Wolof king of Kita, Sundiata sent
Tiramakhan Traore west at the head of a large army, ultimately bringing most of Senegambia
under the empire's control and, after defeating the Bainuk king, established dozens of
Mandinka vassal kingdoms in the Gambia and Casamance basins, a region known as
Kaabu.[170]

Within the Niger bend and the forest region

Main articles: History of West Africa, Kingdom of Nri, Ife Empire, Oyo Empire, Bonoman,
Kingdom of Dagbon, Benin Empire, and Denkyira

While the precise timeline is unknown, archaeological evidence points to settlements in Ile-
Ife being one of the earliest south of the Niger river, dating back as early as the 10th to 6th
century BCE. The city gradually transitioned into a more urban center around the 4th to 7th
centuries CE. By the 8th century, a powerful city-state had formed,[171] laying the foundation
for the eventual rise of the Ife Empire (circa 1200–1420). [172] Under figures like the now
defied figures such as Oduduwa, revered as the first divine king of the Yoruba, the Ife Empire
grew. Ile-Ife, its capital, rose to prominence, its influence extending across a vast swathe of
what is now southwestern Nigeria.

The period between 1200 and 1400 is often referred to as the "golden age" of Ile-Ife, marked
by exceptional artistic production, economic prosperity, and urban development. The city's
artisans excelled in crafting exquisite sculptures from bronze, terracotta, and stone. These
works, renowned for their naturalism and technical mastery, were not only objects of
aesthetic appreciation but also likely held religious significance, potentially reflecting the
cosmology and belief systems of the Ife people.[173]

This artistic tradition coincided with Ile-Ife's role as a major commercial hub. The Ife
Empire's strategic location facilitated its participation in extensive trade networks that
spanned West Africa. Of note is the evidence of a thriving glass bead industry in Ile-Ife.
Archaeological excavations have unearthed numerous glass beads, indicating local
production and pointing to the existence of specialized knowledge and technology. These
beads, particularly the dichroic beads known for their iridescent qualities, were highly
sought-after trade items, found as far afield as the Sahel region, demonstrating the far-
reaching commercial connections of the Ife Empire.[172]
Central Africa

The central Sahel and Cameroon

Main articles: Kanem Empire, Bilala people § History, Wadai Empire, Sao civilisation, Tikar
people § History, and Bamileke people § History

In northern modern-day Nigeria, Hausa tradition holds that Bayajidda came to Daura in the
9th century, and his descendants founded the kingdoms of Daura, Kano, Rano, Katsina,
Gobir, Zazzau, and Biram in the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries, with his bastard descendants
founding various others.[174] While the historical validity of these legends is unknowable, the
Arab geographer al-Yaqubi, writing in 872/873 CE (AH 259), describes a kingdom called
"HBShH" with a city named "ThBYR" located between the Niger and the Kanem–Bornu
Empire which may refer to Hausa.[175]

The Congo Basin

See also: History of Central Africa

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2024)

Following the Bantu migrations, a period of state and class formation began circa 700 with
four centres; one in the west around Pool Malebo, one south around the highlands of Angola,
a third north-central around Lake Mai-Ndombe, and a fourth in the far southeast in the
Upemba Depression.[176]:17–18

In the Upemba Depression social stratification and governance began to form after the 10th
century based on villages.[176]:18–19

Southern Africa

Southern Great Lakes and the Zambezi Basin

Main articles: Leopard's Kopje, Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Mutapa Empire,

Kingdom of Butua, and Maravi

By the 4th century, Bantu peoples had established farming villages south of the Zambezi
River. The San, having inhabited the region for around 100,000 years,[d] were driven off their
ancestral lands or incorporated by Bantu speaking groups.[110]:11–12 The Zambezi Plateau came
to be dotted with the agricultural chiefdoms of the Zhizo people and Leopard's Kopje people,
in which cattle was the primary identifier of wealth. External trade began around the 7th
century, primarily exporting gold and ivory.[110]:14 Around 900, motivated by the ivory trade,
some Zhizo moved south to settle the Limpopo-Shashe Basin. Their capital and most
populated settlement was Schroda, and via the coastal Swahili city-state Chibuene they
engaged in the Indian Ocean trade.[178]:10-14

The 10th century saw increased global demand for gold as various Muslim, European, and
Indian states began issuing gold coinage.[179] Around 1000, some Leopard's Kopje people
moved south to settle Bambandyanalo (known as K2), as the Zhizo moved west to settle
Toutswe in modern day Botswana. Some scholars believe their relations to have been hostile,
however others insist they were more complex, both socially and politically.[180] The San, who
were believed to have closer connections to the old spirits of the land, were often turned to by
other societies for rainmaking. The community at K2 chose the San rather than the Zhizo,
their political rivals, because the San did not believe in ancestors, and by not acknowledging
the Zhizo's ancestors they would not be held to ransom by them.[179] Northwest, the
community at Mapela Hill had possibly developed sacral kingship by the 11th century.[181][182]
To the east, an early settlement was Gumanye.[183] Great Zimbabwe was founded around 1000
AD,[184] and from the 12th century wrestled with other settlements, such as Chivowa, for
economic and political dominance in the Southern Zambezi Escarpment.[185] Further south by
1200, K2 had a population of 1500.[178]:26–29 The large wealth generated by the Indian Ocean
trade created unprecedented inequalities, evolving over time from a society based on social
ranking to one based on social classes. K2's spatial arrangement became unsuited to this
development.[178]:30

Amid a harsh drought which likely troubled the society,[179] royal elites moved the capital to
Mapungubwe Hill and settled its flat-topped summit around 1220, while most people settled
below. Mapungubwe Hill became the sole rainmaking hill, and its habitation by the leader
emphasised a link between himself and rainmaking, which was substantial in the
development of sacral kingship.[178]:32–34 The first king had their palace on the western part of
the hill. His entourage included soldiers and praise singers, along with musicians who played
mbiras and xylophones. They traded locally with Toutswe and Eiland among others. High
global demand saw gold and ivory exported to the Indian Ocean trade via Sofala.[179][178]:38–51

South of the Zambezi Basin

Main articles: History of Southern Africa, Mpondo people § History, Tswana people
§ History, and Xhosa people § History

c. 1250–1800: Medieval Africa

Main article: Medieval and early modern Africa
Further information: History of West Africa § Sahelian kingdoms, History of Central Africa
§ Post-classical history, History of East Africa § Post-classical history, and History of
Southern Africa § Post-classical history

North Africa

Northern Africa

c. 1250–1500
 Extent of the Mamluk Sultanate under Sultan Al-Nasir
Muhammad

The Ayyubids were in a precarious position. In 1248, the Christians began the Seventh
Crusade with intent to conquer Egypt, but were decisively defeated by the embattled
Ayyubids who had relied on Mamluk generals. The Ayyubid sultan attempted to alienate the
victorious Mamluks, who revolted, killing him and seizing power in Egypt, with rule given to
a military caste of Mamluks headed by the Bahri dynasty, whilst the remaining Ayyubid
empire was destroyed in the Mongol invasions of the Levant. Following the Mongol Siege of
Baghdad in 1258, the Mamluks re-established the Abbasid Caliphate in Cairo, and over the
next few decades conquered the Crusader states and, assisted by civil war in the Mongol
Empire, defeated the Mongols, before consolidating their rule over the Levant and
Syria.[133]:150–158 To the west, the three dynasties vied for supremacy and control of the trans-
Saharan trade. Following the collapse of the Abbasids, the Hafsids were briefly recognised as
caliphs by the sharifs of Mecca and the Mamluks. Throughout the 14th century, the Marinids
intermittently occupied the Zayyanids several times, and devastated the Hafsids in 1347 and
1357. The Marinids then succumbed to internal division, exacerbated by plague and financial
crisis, culminating in the rise of the Wattasid dynasty from Zenata in 1472, with the Hafsids
becoming the dominant power.[186]:34–43 Throughout the 15th century, the Spanish colonised the
Canary Isles in the first example of modern settler colonialism, causing the genocide of the
native Berber population in the process. To the east, the turn of the 15th century saw the
Mamluks oppose the expansionist Ottomans and Timurids in the Middle East, with plague
and famine eroding Mamlukian authority, until internal conflict was reconciled. The
following decades saw the Mamluks reach their greatest extent with efficacious economic
reforms, however the threat of the growing Ottomans and Portuguese trading practices in the
Indian Ocean posed great challenges to the empire at the turn of the 16th century.

East Africa

Horn of Africa

c. 1250–1500

The 13th century saw power balanced between the Zagwe dynasty, Sultanate of Shewa, and
Kingdom of Damot, with the Ajuran Sultanate on the Horn's eastern coast.

In 1270, supported by the Kebra Nagast painting the Zagwe as illegitimate usurpers, Yekuno
Amlak rebelled with assistance from Shewa and defeated the Zagwe king in battle,
establishing the Solomonic dynasty of the nascent Ethiopian Empire.[138]:131 In accordance with
the Kebra Negast, they claimed their descent from the last king of Aksum, and ultimately
from Aksumite queen Makeda and the Israelite king Solomon. Fifteen years later, in the
Sultanate of Shewa, which was exhausted following wars with Damot and suffering internal
strife, was conquered by Umar Walasma of the Walashma dynasty, who established the
Sultanate of Ifat.[138]:143 Over the following decades Ifat incorporated the polities of Adal,
Gidaya, Bale, Mora, Hargaya, Hubat, and Fatagar among others.[187][188] In the 13th century the
Afar founded the Dankali Sultanate north of Ethiopia. In Ethiopia Amda Seyon I came to the
throne in 1314 and conquered Harla, Gojjam, Hadiya, and crucially Damot, with Ennarea
splitting from the latter.[189][190] He also campaigned in the north where Beta Israel had been
gaining prominence, and reconquered the Tigrayan Enderta Province.[191] In 1321, a religious
dispute between Amda Seyon and the Mamluk sultan which involved threats to tamper with
the Nile gave Ifat's Haqq ad-Din I pretext to invade and execute an Ethiopian envoy. Seven
years later, Amda Seyon's forces overwhelmed Ifat's outposts, defeated Ifat's armies and
killed Haqq ad-Din, with lack of unity among the Muslims proving fatal. The Ethiopian
emperor raided the Muslim states and made them tributaries.[192] Following this, sultan Sabr
ad-Din I led a rebellion and jihad in 1332 seeking to restore prestige and rule a Muslim
Ethiopia, garnering widespread support in the early stages from the Muslim states and even
from nomads.[138]:145 They were defeated by Amda Seyon, ushering in a golden age for the
Ethiopian Empire.[193] Ethiopia incorporated Ifat, Hadiya, Dawaro, Fatagar, and Shewa as one
vassal headed by the Walashma dynasty.[192] The Ethiopian emperor ruled the Muslim states
by divide and rule, and had the final say on succession, with various sultans and sheikhs
drawn to his court.[138]:148 Successive sultans rebelled and struggled to shake off Ethiopian
vassalage, moving Ifat's capital to Adal in an attempt to escape Ethiopia's sphere of control.
To the south-west according to oral traditions, Amda Seyon expanded into the Gurage.[191]:75–76
According to oral traditions, the Kingdom of Kaffa was established in 1390 after "ousting a
dynasty of 32 kings".[194] In the late 14th century the sultans began to expand eastwards into
the decentralised Somali interior. Sa'ad ad-Din II propagated insecurity on Ethiopia's eastern
frontier, however was defeated by Dawit I. The sultan was repeatedly pursued by the
Ethiopian emperor to Zeila on the coast and killed in 1415, leaving the former Sultanate of
Ifat fully occupied.[138]:150–154

In 1415 Sabr ad-Din III of the Walashma dynasty returned to the region from exile to
establish the Adal Sultanate. The Ethiopian armies were defeated, and he and his successors
expanded to regain the territory of the former sultanate. Jamal ad-Din II's reign saw a sharp
rise in the slave trade, with India, Arabia, Hormuz, Hejaz, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Iraq, and
Persia reportedly becoming "full of Abyssinian slaves".[191]:59 In 1445 Badlay attempted an
invasion into the Ethiopian Highlands, supported by Mogadishu, however he was defeated by
Zara Yaqob, with the successor sultan securing peace between the two states.[138]:154–156 In the
1440s Ethiopia conquered much of the Tigray, placing the land under a vassal ruled by the
Bahr Negus.[139]:71 Baeda Maryam I campaigned against the Dobe'a with the support of
Dankalia, resulting in their defeat and incorporation into the empire.[191]:106–111 In 1471, a Harari
emir leading a militant faction seized power in Adal with the sultan retaining a ceremonious
role. His successor raided the Ethiopian frontier against the sultan's wishes, and was defeated
by the emperors in 1507 and finally in 1517.[138]:166–167 For the Ethiopians, the end of the 15th
century saw a period of conquest and expansion come to close, and one of defence begin.

West Africa

The western Sahel and Sudan

c.1250–1500
Mali continued its expansion after the death of Sundiata. His son conquered Gajaaga and
Takrur, and brought the key Saharan trading centres under his rule. The cessation of his reign
culminated in a destructive civil war, only reconciled with a militaristic coup, after which
Gao was conquered and the Tuareg subdued, cementing Mali's dominance over the trans-
Saharan trade.[167]:126–147 In the 13th century Al-Hajj Salim Suwari, a Soninke Islamic scholar,
pioneered the Suwarian tradition which sought to tolerate traditional religions, gaining
popularity among West African Muslims. In 1312 Mansa Musa came to power in Mali after
his predecessor had set out on an Atlantic voyage. Musa supposedly spent much of his early
campaign preparing for his infamous hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. Between 1324 and 1325
his entourage of over 10,000, and hundreds of camels, all carrying around 12 tonnes of gold
in total,[195][196] travelled 2700 miles, giving gifts to the poor along the way, and fostered good
relations with the Mamluk sultan, garnering widespread attention in the Muslim world. On
Musa's return, his general reasserted dominance over Gao and he commissioned a large
construction program, building mosques and madrasas, with Timbuktu becoming a centre for
trade and Islamic scholarship, however Musa features comparatively less than his
predecessors in Mandinka oral traditions than in modern histories.[167]:147–152 Despite Mali's
fame being attributed to its riches in gold, its prosperous economy was based on arable and
pastoral farming, as well as crafts, and they traded commonly with the Akan, Dyula, and with
Benin, Ife, and Nri in the forest regions.[167]:164–171

Amid a Malian mansa's attempt to coerce the empire back into financial shape after the
lacklustre premiership of his predecessor, Mali's northwestern-most province broke away to
form the Jolof Empire and the Serer kingdoms. Wolof tradition holds that the empire was
founded by the wise Ndiadiane Ndiaye, and it later absorbed neighbouring kingdoms to form
a confederacy of the Wolof kingdoms of Jolof, Cayor, Baol, and Waalo, and the Serer
kingdoms of Sine and Saloum. In Mali after the death of Musa II in 1387, vicious conflict
ensued within the Keita dynasty. In the 1390s Yatenga sacked and raided the southern trading
city of Macina in Mali. The internal conflict weakened Mali's central authority. This provided
an opportunity for the previously subdued Tuareg tribal confederations in the Sahara to rebel.
Over the next few decades they captured the main trading cities of Timbuktu, Oualata, Nema,
and possibly Gao, with some tribes forming the northeastern Sultanate of Agadez, and with
them all usurping Mali's dominance over the trans-Saharan trade.[197]:174 In the 15th century,
the Portuguese, following the development of the caravel, set up trading posts along the
Atlantic coast, with Mali establishing formal commercial relations, and the Spanish soon
following. In the early 15th century Diarra escaped Malian rule.[198]:130 Previously under
Malian suzerainty and under pressure from the expansionist Jolof Empire, a Fula chief
migrated to Futa Toro, founding Futa Kingui in the lands of Diarra circa 1450. Yatenga
capitalised on Mali's decline and conquered Macina, and the old province of Wagadu.
Meanwhile Gao, ruled by the Sonni dynasty, expanded, conquering Mema from Mali, in a
struggle over the crumbling empire.

Central Africa

West Congo Basin

c. 1250–1500

By the 13th century there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo
Basin around Pool Malebo. The Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza, considered to be the
oldest and most powerful, likely included Nsundi, Mbata, Mpangu, and possibly Kundi and
Okanga. South of these was Mpemba which stretched from its capital in northern Angola
200km north to the Congo River. It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi, its
northernmost and remotest component, and Vunda. To its west across the Congo River was a
confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo, and Ngoyo.[176]:24–25

The formation of the Kingdom of Kongo began in the late 13th century. Kongo oral traditions
hold that Ntinu Wene (lit. "King of the Kingdom") crossed the Congo River from Vungu to
conquer Mpemba Kasi, known as the "Mother of Kongo".[e] The first kings ruled from Nsi a
Kwilu, a valley and old religious centre, which produced iron and steel, and linked the copper
and textile-producing north to the south.[176]:25–26 Around the 1350s Nimi Nzima established an
alliance with the rulers of Mbata, who were looking to break away from the Seven
Kingdoms, and agreed to secure each other's dynasties, making them known as the
"Grandfather of Kongo". Tradition holds that Nimi Nzima's son, Lukeni lua Nimi, wishing to
aggrandise himself, built a fortress and blocked and taxed commerce. One day his pregnant
aunt refused to pay the toll, and in a rage he killed her. While reprehensible, it displayed his
determination and valour. This won him followers and allowed him to embark on conquests.
To the south the market town of Mpangala, itself a sub unit of Vunda, was absorbed, with
Vunda also styled as a Grandfather. This weakening of Mpemba precipitated its conquest and
integration into the Kingdom of Kongo.[176]:27–29 Lukeni lua Nimi also conquered Kabunga in
the west, whose leaders were regional religious leaders, not dissimilar from popes. From
there Soyo and Mbamba were conquered. The power and resources gained from these
conquests allowed Kongo to expand north into Nsundi, which had multiple sub-units.
Traditionally, a governor on Nsundi's western border forbode entry until they had fought a
symbolic battle. Kongo conquered Nsundi and delegated it to a royal governor, who greatly
expanded the territory, conquering Nsanga and Masinga.[176]:29–30 Northeast, Teke oral tradition
holds that Mabiala Mantsi united the Bateke tribes, centralised his governance, and expanded
using militaristic and diplomatic skill.[199] Kongo's conquests eastward brought it into conflict
with the formidable Teke Kingdom which halted their expansion. This expansion had
primarily been done by allying and co-opting polities. By the late 15th century, Kongo had
developed a new administrative system which would increase its centralisation, and after
integrating Vunda, they set about conquering these polities and converting them into royal
provinces.[176]:30

Small confederations, like Kisama, often put up spirited and successful resistance to either
internal consolidation by aggressive components, or external conquest and integration.[176]:23
To the south around the highlands of Angola the Ambundu kingdoms of Ndongo and
Matamba formed. The Dembos confederation sat between them and Kongo. Ndongo had
come under tributary status to Kongo by the 16th century, and oral traditions collected in the
17th century hold their founder, Ngola Mussuri or Bumbambula, to be a blacksmith who
came there from Kongo, and was elected king (Ngola) due to his benevolence.[200]:57

To its east around Lake Mai-Ndombe, there emerged Mwene Muji, likely around 1400. Their
'empire' status is pending on further archaeological research. With a powerful riverine navy,
they expanded along the Kasai, Lukenie, Kamtsha, Kwilu, and Wamba rivers, without
venturing much into the interior, coming to dominate trade.[201]

In the late 15th century, Kongo came into contact with the Portuguese. A Kongo delegation
was invited to Lisbon in 1487, and relations were initially warm. A Portuguese priest
mastered Kikongo and his input led to the baptism of Kongo's king and royal court.[176]:37–39 At
the same time commercial relations developed. Trade in slaves was the most lucrative.[176]:52
East Congo Basin

c. 1250–1500

Further southeast in the Upemba Depression, "Lords of the land" held priestly roles due to
their special relationship with the spirits of the land and were widely recognised, holding
sway over multiple villages and essentially ruling embryonic kingdoms. As lineages grew in
size, authority was opportunistically incorporated diplomatically or by force, leading to the
formation of states.[202]:557–558 Some of those of the southern savanna, such as the Luba-Katanga
and Songye, had transitioned from being matrilineal to patrilineal by 1500, while others such
as the Luba-Hemba and Chokwe remained so, making up the matrilineal belt. An early state
formed between the Lualaba and Lomami rivers among the Luba-Katanga, around the 15th
century, known as the Kingdom of Luba.[203] Their oral traditions account their people's
history and hold their first founder, Nkongolo, as a conqueror.[204][205]

The central Sahel

c. 1250-1500

In northern Nigeria, the Kano king converted to Islam in 1349 after da'wah (invitation) from
some Soninke Wangara, and later absorbed Rano.[167]:171

Southern Africa

c. 1800-early 20th century: Resistance, conquest, and

colonisation
Main article: Colonisation of Africa

c. 1870–1935: Africa under colonial domination

Main article: Colonial Africa
Further information: History of West Africa § Slave trade, History of Central Africa § Slave
trade, History of East Africa § Slave trade, History of Southern Africa § Slave trade, History
of North Africa § European colonial period, History of West Africa § Colonial period,
History of Central Africa § Colonial period, History of East Africa § Colonial period, and
History of Southern Africa § Colonial period

Between 1878 and 1898, European states partitioned and conquered most of Africa. For 400
years, European nations had mainly limited their involvement to trading stations on the
African coast, with few daring to venture inland. The Industrial Revolution in Europe
produced several technological innovations which assisted them in overcoming this 400-year
pattern. One was the development of repeating rifles, which were easier and quicker to load
than muskets. Artillery was being used increasingly. In 1885, Hiram S. Maxim developed the
maxim gun, the model of the modern-day machine gun. European states kept these weapons
largely among themselves by refusing to sell these weapons to African leaders.[99]:268–269

African germs took numerous European lives and deterred permanent settlements. Diseases
such as yellow fever, sleeping sickness, yaws, and leprosy made Africa a very inhospitable
place for Europeans. The deadliest disease was malaria, endemic throughout Tropical Africa.
In 1854, the discovery of quinine and other medical innovations helped to make conquest and
colonization in Africa possible.[99]:269

There were strong motives for conquest of Africa. Raw materials were needed for European
factories. Prestige and imperial rivalries were at play. Acquiring African colonies would
show rivals that a nation was powerful and significant. These contextual factors forged the
Scramble for Africa.[99]:265

In the 1880s the European powers had carved up almost all of Africa (only Ethiopia and
Liberia were independent). The Europeans were captivated by the philosophies of eugenics
and Social Darwinism, and some attempted to justify all this by branding it civilising
missions. Traditional leaders were incorporated into the colonial regimes as a form of indirect
rule to extract human and natural resources and curb organized resistance.[206]

Areas controlled by European powers in 1939.

British (red) and Belgian (marroon) colonies fought with the Allies. Italian (light green) with
the Axis. French colonies (dark blue) fought alongside the Allies until the Fall of France in
June 1940. Vichy was in control until the Free French prevailed in late 1942. Portuguese
(dark green) and Spanish (yellow) colonies remained neutral.

Africa since 1935

Main article: Postcolonial Africa
Further information: History of North Africa § Post-colonial period, History of West Africa
§ Post-colonial period, History of Central Africa § Post-colonial period, History of East
Africa § Post-colonial period, and History of Southern Africa § Post-colonial period
See also: Decolonisation of Africa, Neocolonialism, CFA franc, Status of forces agreement,
and Historical African place names
 Order of independence of African nations, 1950–
2011

Imperialism ruled until after World War II when forces of African nationalism grew stronger.
In the 1950s and 1960s the colonial holdings became independent states. The process was
usually peaceful but there were several long bitter bloody civil wars, as in Algeria,[207]
Kenya,[208] and elsewhere. Across Africa the powerful new force of nationalism drew upon the
advanced militaristic skills that natives learned during the world wars serving in the British,
French, and other armies. It led to organizations that were not controlled by or endorsed by
either the colonial powers nor the traditional local power structures who were viewed as
collaborators. Nationalistic organizations began to challenge both the traditional and the new
colonial structures, and finally displaced them. Leaders of nationalist movements took control
when the European authorities evacuated; many ruled for decades or until they died. In recent
decades, many African countries have undergone the triumph and defeat of nationalistic
fervour, changing in the process the loci of the centralizing state power and patrimonial
state.[209][210][211]

The wave of decolonization of Africa started with Libya in 1951, although Liberia, South
Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia were already independent. Many countries followed in the 1950s
and 1960s, with a peak in 1960 with the Year of Africa, which saw 17 African nations
declare independence, including a large part of French West Africa. Most of the remaining
countries gained independence throughout the 1960s, although some colonizers (Portugal in
particular) were reluctant to relinquish sovereignty, resulting in bitter wars of independence
which lasted for a decade or more. The last African countries to gain formal independence
were Guinea-Bissau (1974), Mozambique (1975) and Angola (1975) from Portugal; Djibouti
from France in 1977; Zimbabwe from the United Kingdom in 1980; and Namibia from South
Africa in 1990. Eritrea later split off from Ethiopia in 1993.[212] The nascent countries decided
to keep their colonial borders in the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) conference of 1964
due to fears of civil wars and regional instability, and placed emphasis on Pan-Africanism,
with the OAU later developing into the African Union.[213] During the 1990s and early 2000s
there were the First and Second Congo Wars, often termed the African World Wars.[214][215]

Historiography
Main article: African historiography

Colonial historiography
Most African societies used oral tradition to record their history, meaning there was little
written history. Colonial histories focussed on the exploits of soldiers, colonial
administrators, and "colonial figures", using limited sources and written from an entirely
European perspective, ignoring the viewpoint of the colonised under the pretence of white
supremacism.[216] Africans were considered racially inferior, supporting their "civilising
mission".[217] Oral sources were deprecated and dismissed by most historians, giving them the
impression Africa had no history and little desire to create it.[218] Some colonisers took interest
in the other viewpoint and attempted to produce a more detailed history of Africa using oral
sources and archaeology, however they received little recognition at the time.[219]

Postcolonial historiography

Post-colonialist historiography studies the relationship between European colonialism and

domination in Africa and the construction of African history and representation. It has roots
in Orientalism, the construction of cultures from the Asian, Arabian and North African world
in a patronizing manner stemming from a sense of Western superiority, first theorized by
Edward Said.[220] A general perception of Western superiority throughout European academics
and historians prominent during the height of colonialism led to the defining traits of colonial
historical works, which post-colonialists have sought to analyse and criticize.

African historiography became organized at the academic level in the mid-20th century.[20]
Members of the Ibadan School, such as Kenneth Dike and Saburi Biobaku, pioneered a new
methodology of reconstructing African history using the oral traditions, alongside evidence
from European-style histories and other historical sciences.[221][222]:212 This movement towards
utilising oral sources in a multi-disciplinary approach culminated in UNESCO
commissioning the General History of Africa, edited by specialists drawn from across the
African continent, publishing from 1981 to 2024.[221][222][223]

Contemporary historiography

There is no agreed upon periodisation for Africa history, with the difference in temporal
stages of state formation between parts of the continent providing disagreement.[224][225] Oliver
and Atmore proposed Medieval Africa as from 1250 to 1800,[225] however the European terms
"ancient", "medieval", and "modern" have been criticised as failing to represent African
realities and capture its complexity.[226]:25 Contemporary historians are still tasked with
building the institutional frameworks, incorporating African epistemologies, and representing
an African perspective.[21]

Notes
1. ^ This characterisation has come under criticism by some African scholars, as it
implies conflict between the oral and written. They instead contend that in reality, the
characterisation is defined by the interaction between three ways of expression and
diffusion: the oral, the written, and the printed word.[4]
2. ^ In these cases, time's duration is not as it affects the fate of the individual, but the
pulse of the social group. It is not a river flowing in one direction from a known
source to a known outlet. Generally, traditional African time involves eternity in both
directions, unlike Christians who consider eternity to operate in one direction. In
African animism, time is an arena where both the group and the individual struggle
 for their vitality. The goal is to improve their situation, thus being dynamic. Bygone
generations remain contemporary, and as influential as they were during their
lifetime, if not more so. In these circumstances causality operates in a forward
direction from past to present and from present to future, however direct intervention
can operate in any direction.[23]:44, 49
3. ^ Soninke oral traditions hold that, intent on invading Ghana, the Almoravid army
found the king respectful of Islam, and that he willingly adopted Islam with the
exchange of gold for an imam relocating to Koumbi Saleh.[163]:23–24
4. ^ Some scholars contest that cultures and identities can't be considered fixed or
invariable, especially over such a long time period.[177]
5. ^ The choice of a title over a personal name indicates that this is more representative
of symbolic relationships and rights of rulership rather than real events.

References
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Retrieved 2020-05-27.
4. ^ Mouralis, Bernard (2022). "Orality". Encyclopedia of African Religions and
Philosophy. Springer. pp. 537–539. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-2068-5_296. ISBN 978-
94-024-2066-1.
5. ^ Vansina, Jan (1981). "Oral tradition and its methodology". General History of
Africa: Volume 1. UNESCO Publishing.
6. ^ Sall, Mamadou Youry (2020). Abidogun, Jamaine M.; Falola, Toyin (eds.). "African
Ajami: The Case of Senegal". The Palgrave Handbook of African Education and
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Further reading
Atlases

• Ajayi, A.J.F. and Michael Crowder. Historical Atlas of Africa (1985); 300 color maps.
• Fage, J.D. Atlas of African History (1978)
• Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P. The New Atlas of African History (1991).
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• McEvedy, Colin. The Penguin Atlas of African History (2nd ed. 1996). excerpt

Historiography

• Fage, John D. "The development of African historiography." General history of

Africa 1 (1981): 25–42. online
• Lonsdale, John. "States and social processes in Africa: a historiographical survey."
African studies review 24.2–3 (1981): 139–226. online
• Manning, Patrick (2013). "African and World Historiography" (PDF). The Journal of
African History. 54 (3): 319–330. doi:10.1017/S0021853713000753.
S2CID 33615987.
• Manning, Patrick (2016). "Locating Africans on the World Stage: A Problem in
World History". Journal of World History. 27 (3): 605–637.
• Philips, John Edward, ed. Writing African History (2005)
• Whitehead, Clive. "The historiography of British Imperial education policy, Part II:
Africa and the rest of the colonial empire." History of Education 34.4 (2005): 441–
454. online
• Zimmerman, Andrew. "Africa in Imperial and Transnational History: multi-sited
historiography and the necessity of theory." Journal of African History 54.3 (2013):
331–340. online