The Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the Trans-Sahara slave trade were the horrific human trafficking of Africans as slaves by slave traders to Europe, America, North Africa and the Middle East. Despite the prices that could be earned, there were many African nations which did not take part in the slave trade and resisted these abhorrent …
10 nations that didn’t take part in the slave trade Read More »
The Almoravid dynasty was a Berber Muslim dynasty, based around central Morocco. While it came from humble beginnings, established in the 11th century, eventually this empire would come to control large swaths of the western Maghreb (Northern Africa) and Al-Andalus (Southern Spain and Portugal). It was founded by Abdallah ibn Yasin, a charismatic leader, who …
The Almohad Empire was a Berber Muslim empire, founded in Northern Africa in the 12th century AD. At the peak of its power, it controlled most of North Africa (presently the Maghreb area) and the Iberian Peninsula (presently Spain and Portugal). The Almohad were a people that believed in the doctrine of Ibn Tumart. This …
The kingdom of Oyo, also known as the Oyo Empire, is a West African monarchy, that at its peak, covered 270,000 square kilometres (1). It stretched from parts of the Republic of Benin in the west to the southwest of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the east. To the north, it bordered the Nupe …
Queen Aissa Koli Ngirmaramma served her seven years term as a queen, and when her term was up, she transferred power to a successor. Something, some African heads of state of today would not do willingly.
The Fulani people, numbering about 38 million, are found mostly in the western part of Africa. They are also known as the Fulbe or Peuls and in the Middle Ages (covering the 5th to the 15th century of the Common Era) were very reliant on cattle herding. The Fulani people trace their origin far back …
The Kingdom of Altava was a Berber Kingdom, with the city of Altava as its capital. It existed from the year 578 AD to 708 AD. It was located in Northern Africa, in present-day Algeria. It was called a Berber kingdom as its majority population belonged to the Berber ethnicity, which is an ethnic group …
The Christian Kingdom of Altava (578 AD – 708 AD), Algeria Read More »
There are a few myths about African history and a few reasons why some European writers – not all – felt the need to malign brown-skinned people and claim Africans came from a continent without history. It probably gave them moral peace of mind to believe that they were not committing physical, mental and moral …
Specialists in Egyptian History have divided the time period of Ancient Egypt, covering 4,500 BCE to 664 BCE, into eight periods: Naqada (prewriting), Old kingdom, First Intermediate kingdom, Middle kingdom, Second Intermediate Period, New kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period. In this article we look at the key events of the New Kingdom. The “New …
Ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom (key events from 1550 BCE to 1075 BCE) Read More »
The Kingdom of Luba is an ancient African Kingdom which was based in current day Democratic Republic of Congo. It was founded in the Upemba depression, which is a large area of marshes, and comprises of over 50 lakes. The Kingdom was founded by King Kongolo (also called Nkongolo) in 1585 and would last over …
Tools of African History: the Lukasa Memory Board of the Luba Kingdom Read More »
Ancient Egypt is known for many things: its monuments, its inventions, and its extensive historical records. Its historical records are among the oldest top 2 in the world. MONUMENTS Five of the most visited monuments in Egypt are: The Great Sphinx The great sphinx is carved out of limestone, believed to be built over 4,000 …
History of Ancient Egypt (4,500 BCE to 664 BCE in 10 mins) Read More »
African political systems In the time before the 19th century from 4,000 BCE to 1800 CE, African societies developed no fewer than fifteen unique political systems of government and property rights. In this article we look at what those systems were, examples of states that used them and over what length of time. Fundamentally political …
Myths about Africa: the hunter gatherers were not smart Travellers, anthropologists and historians from 1500 CE to 1800 CE that wrote about Africa sometimes recounted that some African people lived as hunter gatherers, when Europeans came across them. It must be remembered that not all Africans lived this way; based on the eye-witness accounts of …
Myths about Africa: the hunter gatherers were not smart (200 BCE – 1950 CE) Read More »
Democracy literally means Rule by the people and is seen as a relatively recent Western phenomenon. However, democracy has been practiced in parts of Africa for many millenia. One such example is the Oromo Gada system practiced by the Oromo people in Ethiopia. It is an ancient system that is democratic in nature. Oromo Nation …
African Pre-Colonial Democracies: The Gada System of the Oromo Read More »
700 miles south from the Mediterranean coast, there, stretches a sub-beaten arid African desert, with temperatures that can rise up to 55 ºC in the summer, an average annual rainfall that is less than half an inch, and sometimes even it doesn’t see rain for years. One would never imagine that a lost 3,000-year-old-African civilization …
The Garamantes: The Civilisation that mined Fossil Water from the Sahara for 1,000 Years Read More »
The Zulu kingdom of the 19th Century was ruled by a monarchy and extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north. It had an estimated population of 250,000. It covered 30,000 square kilometres (11,500 square miles). Its main currency was cattle. The …
Africa and India have had a long history and relationship together in areas like trade, religion, music, arts, and architecture, dating far back as the 1st century, but their historical link is rarely discussed.
BEFORE THE FASIL GHEBBI Up until the 17th century, notably between the 13th and 17th century, Ethiopian emperors did not have any permanent location or structure within their territory in which they resided. They were always on the move with their royal camps referred to as “Katama[1]” Living off the proceeds of their subjects where …
(Architecture Series) Fasil Ghebbi: the 20-palace complex of 17th Century Ethiopia Read More »
Granite statue of Queen Hatshepsut It is common knowledge that Pharaohs of ancient Egypt excelled in building incredible monuments and temples both for the gods they worshipped and for themselves as a display of power and to ensure that they would be remembered forever throughout the Egyptian Pharaonic Empire. Today, tourists from all parts of …
Maravi was a kingdom, situated in the present-day outskirts of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, in the sixteenth century. The present-day name “Maláŵi” is said come from the Chichewa word “malaŵí”, which signifies “flames”. “Maravi”, thus, is a general name of the people groups of Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and the eastern Zimbabwe. What did their unspoilt …
