The Kingdom of Luba was a large powerful kingdom which held the major power in Central Africa from the 15th century to the late 19th century (1585-1889). It was established in the 15th century, though the region of Upemba depression had been inhabited for almost 1000 years prior by fishing villages on the lake and …
The word Zimbabwe loosely translated to ‘House of Rock’. It is a severely anglicized version of the Shona words dzimba dza mabwe, meaning great stone houses or dzimba woye, meaning esteemed houses. The Shona people were the original inhabitants of the Zimbabwe plateau. These people settled in this area and slowly developed a society of …
Ruins of Gedi Although certain African kingdoms like Axum, north of the Swahili city states, already had evidence of trading relationships with the Eastern Roman Empire, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India and Sri Lanka during 100 AD through to 900 AD, other African port cities would later develop evidence of trading with India, Sri …
THE GEDI RUINS – RuNNing Water in the 14th Century – Gedi, Kenya Read More »
The Kingdom of Dahomey, also called the Fon kingdom of Dahomey, was a small kingdom in western Africa (now in the southern region of Benin). It was developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by conquering key cities on the Atlantic coast. …
The kingdom of Songhai existed from 1375 to 1591. It was ruled by the Za dynasty, Sunni dynasty and Askia dynasty of kings. The Songhai kingdom occupied the banks of the river Niger and stretched over the regions of Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, the borders of the Sahara and to the Atlantic Ocean coast. The kingdom …
The Kingdom of Congo was a medieval state in west-central Africa, located south of the Congo River, that came into existence of 1375.
The Kanem-Bornu empire spanned 12 centuries. It was a monarchy, had its capital in Njimi (later Gazargamo), and stretched Chad and Nigeria border. This article charts the rise and fall of the Kanem-Bornu empire.
About the Mali Empire, the powerful West African state which existed from 1235 to 1670 CE, founded by Sundiata Keita. (In Manding: also known as Niani, after its capital)
Aksum is also spelt legitimately as Axum. The Kingdom of Aksum is a state that existed from 100 AD to 940 AD. Its capital was the city of Aksum although it controlled parts of the Arabian Peninsula (modern day Yemen after conquering the Himyarite Kingdom and modern day Saudi Arabia), the region of Nubia, Kush, …
Overview Nok civilisation existed from 1500 BC to 200 AD. It may have been ruled by a monarchy or existed as a confederacy. We know from other African societies within close proximity that centralized states could break up into decentralized chiefdoms or vice versa. Evidence from the consistency of terracotta art over a one-thousand-year period …
