Africa is full of surprises. Most people visit Africa for safari parks and taking pictures of lovely animals from Range Rovers. But what if you could take a trip into the mind like inception – a journey through time and space. What if you could journey into your imagination and visit a sophisticated African state with no king, no concerns of external threats, a self-sufficient domestic economy, no economy dependent on slavery? Such a state existed.
Some civilisations sacrificed a work-life balance, art and architectural brilliance to focus on winning wars. One African dynasty found time to fight the Mongol empire and build insane works of beautiful architecture at the same time. “Mamluk” comes from the Arabic “owned” or slave. The Mamluk sultanate was created by slave soldiers and administrators that took over Egypt from the Ayyubid dynasty.
A fallacy about African history is often repeated that the continent has no history. With one empire, we demonstrate that African stories are available to turn into entertainment and education material from the chronicle of the Kilwa Sultanate, translated into Portuguese by Joao de Barros, and the Zanibar Chronicle.
Over the span of thirty years, an empire emerged and grew supporting the rising religion at the time, Islam. This period witnessed a spectacular expansion of territory and religion during the Rashidun Caliphate which translates to “The Rightly-Guided Successors” under the leadership of four caliphs covering an area of 6,400,000 km2 and including a population of 21,400,000.
The Kingdom of Kerma was an ancient civilization that existed between 2500 BC and 1500 BC, with its capital at the city of Kerma. It was located in the heart of Sudanese Nubia and is the first provable sub Saharan kingdom to have existed. The Kingdom of Kerma is thought to have existed without a …
THE HAUSA ETHNICITY The Hausa people are one of the largest ethnic group in Africa. The old Hausa ethnic locations before the Fulani jihad were known collectively as Hausa Bakwai and Hausa Banza, where “Bakwai” was a term used for the original seven Legitimate(Bakwai) Hausa states: Biram, Daura, Gobir, Rano, Katsina, Zaria (Zazzau), and Kano. …
The Fatimid caliphate was an Islamic kingdom that stretched over North Africa from 909 AD to 1171 AD. The caliphate promulgated the Seveners (or Ismāʿīlism) branch of Shia Islam and its geography spread from the Red Sea (to the East) to the Atlantic Ocean (to the West). It covered a total area of 4,100,000 square …
The Fatimid Caliphate: Contributions to Arts and Sciences Read More »
“Bantu” is the academic category name for people of West Africa that initially lived between the regions of Cameroon and Nigeria. The name is a ‘broad brush’ grouping. Some theories propose that some migrants of this grouping traversed in groups and waves into the Congo and other basins. The Bantu migration took them far to …
The Bantu Migration: the irony of “them” and “us” thinking Read More »
The start of the Transatlantic slave trade was during the 15th century when the Portuguese began kidnapping people from Africa’s west coast and transported them to America and Europe. For almost a century, Portugal was rising and growing as an empire, an empire that was built on the use of slaves captured from Africa …
The Kingdom of Medri Bahri was a semi unified state situated in the Horn of Africa (modern day Eritrea). It was established in the early 12th century and rose to prominence in the 13th century, through trade and its impressive defensive army. It survived multiple serious invasion attempts by formidable enemies, including the powerful Ottomans, …
Kingdom of Medri Bahri: 400 years of David v. Goliaths victories against Ottomans Read More »
The Abbasid Caliphate came after the Umayyad caliphate, in 750 CE, lasted 5 centuries and was one of the largest Empires in the world at its peak.
The word Kilwa translates loosely to Island. The full name of Kilwa Kisiwani, translates in Tanzanian to Isle of the Fish. The Kingdom of Kilwa is known as one of the great African empires in history. It existed from 960-1513 CE, and was based in Tanzania. In its heyday, its wealth and trading prowess was …
Kilwa Sultanate: a state based in Tanzania which traded as far as Australia Read More »
Makuria was successor state to the Nubian kingdom. The kingdom of Makuria comprised of a region along the Nile River; encompassing the area between today’s Aswan in southern Egypt and Khartoum in central Sudan. The kingdom existed between 500 AD to the middle of the 14th century and had its capital as Dongola which was …
Makuria: Humanity’s Longest Observed Peace Treaty, The Baqt Read More »
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was a pre-colonial state in Southern Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. Its name, translated roughly from the Shona language, means “Hill of the Jackal”. It flourished from the end of the 9th century to the beginning of the 14th century. It …
The First Kingdom in Southern Africa: Mapungubwe Read More »
Annual Elected Heads of state: Carthage (814 BC–146 BC) The Ancient Republic of Carthage which survived from 814 till about 146 BC was founded by sailors and settlers from Phoenicia (a Civilisation that existed from 2500 BC to 539BC). Phoenicians may not have viewed themselves as a nation, but the label is the term we …
Elections in 9th Century BCE Africa: Carthage, Prior to Athenian Democracy Read More »
If a person wanted to hold (or retain) a political role and wanted the masses to hold a particular point of view, how would they go about spreading their message and proving that they are qualified for such a role? Surely, they would want to appear at their best, bringing out all their finest qualities …
The Birth of Propaganda: King Den’s Sandal Label Read More »
The kingdom of Punt is described in great detail in ancient Egyptian texts as the “Land of the Gods” – Ta Netjer. The history of Punt is connected intimately with the ancient Egyptian kingdoms and was a valuable trading partner of the kingdoms. In pre-dynastic era (c6000 – 3150 BC) signs of trade had already …
Kingdom of Punt: When Ancient Egypt Envied Somalia Read More »
Universities today invoke a certain image. They are considered institutions of higher education, helping students develop mastery in any one of many diverse fields of liberal arts, science, engineering and medicine. Typically, it tends to be the alumni of prestigious universities that become the administrators and leaders of government bodies, political parties, not-for-profit organizations, the military, …
The oldest university in the world is not Bologna! Read More »
Papyrus, from which the English word “paper” is derived, is the writing material of ancient times. The name comes from the aquatic plant Cyperus papyrus, also known as paper plant. This plant was indigenous of the Nile delta region in Egypt and it was collected mainly for its stalks. The central pith of those stalks …
Chafariz D’El Rey, which translates into the King’s Fountain, is an oil painting from the 16th century. It was painted by a Flemish painter.
