On the eastern bank of the Nile River, about 200 km north-east of Khartoum, Sudan, resides the archeological site that contains remnants of a once flourishing civilization that left behind remains of royal palaces, temples, residential areas, manufacturing areas and even impressive pyramid fields. This archeological site unravels the mysteries of the ancient city of […]
KINGDOM OF MEROE: Modern approach by “Ancient” AFRICANS Read More »
The kingdom of Nri, in the Igbo language called Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì is a medieval Igbo[1] kingdom that originated around AD900 and presently still in existence, although its influence and territory have significantly waned. It is among the oldest existing monarchy in Nigeria[2] and had its capital at Igbo-Ukwu. Nri is an ancient Igbo town in
The Nri Kingdom (900AD – Present): Rule by theocracy Read More »
Religion formed a vital part of the ancient Egyptian society and temples were thus, an important part in the daily life of Egyptians. The ancient Egyptians believed that the temples were homes of the gods and goddesses. Every temple was dedicated to a specific god or a goddess, and he or she
The role of temples in Ancient Egyptian cities Read More »
Omo River The land inhabited by the Somali people is situated in the Horn of Africa, sticking out into the India Ocean to form the Somali Peninsula. The Horn of the African region is believed to be one of the few areas in the world considered the cradle of humanity, as archaeological discoveries of 1967
Six landmarks in Somalia (195,000 BC – 3,000 BC) Read More »
There was a time when lies had not been invented yet that Europeans are a different race to Africans; and Africans married Europeans without thinking about “How will our descendants be treated by ‘some’ Europeans?” So today, these descendants of an Afro-Portuguese lineage can be classed as “Sub-Sahara”, “black”, because of “looks” and ignoring “biology”. In this article, we introduce the Itsekiri Kingdom and its Afro-European monarchy.
The Itsekiri Kingdom (1480 AD – Present): the Afro-Europeans of the Niger Delta Read More »
The word “Warsangali,” in the Somali language, means “bringer of good news.” The Warsangali kingdom (Arabic: سلطنة الورسنجلي, Somali: Saldanadda Warsangeli) was a mighty kingdom in the North-Eastern and South-Eastern regions of Somalia including Kismayo. The kingdom was founded in northern Somalia, in 1218, by a group of Somalis from the Warsangali branch of the
Kingdom of Warsangali (1218-1886AD) : spotlight on Middle Ages African global trade hub Read More »
As of 2018, by some, the continent of Africa is seen as lagging behind, trying to catch up and full of poor countries. In 1895 BC, this wasn’t the case. In 1,895 BC, towns and cities could be built up at will and infrastructural projects fully funded. The city of Kahun (a town by modern-day standards) was built overnight and in a planned format 4,000 years ago. It even had a vet. What did it look like?
Construction Of Kahun: A look at a planned city in 1895 BC Africa Read More »
When his nephew Emperor of the Ming dynasty Zhu Yunwen started eliminating rivals and demoting his uncles, Zhu Di, was “forced”, provided wonderful pretext, to rebel and depose his nephew and become the emperor himself. To add legitimacy to his rule, he did something very unusual and had one his best fleet admirals sail to the East Coast of Africa to get Giraffes. These were labelled the first re-appearance of one of the 4 benevolent animals in Chinese mythology, the Qilin. Where did they go to? What was the role of the Sultanate of Mogadishu, present-day Somalia, in the medieval world?
During 3,000 BC – 525 BC, there was a medical school in Egypt that trained both male and female physicians. The leading physicians of this institution, the Temple of Sais, were sometimes special advisers to the House of Pharoah. Discover the story of Pesehet, Lady Overseer of Female Physicians 2,500 BCE, and the function of the Temple of Sais.
Temple of Sais: African medical school 3000 – 525 BCE Read More »
The evidence of civilisation around the Great Lakes of East Africa dates back 5,500 years, but if we want to name names, monarchs tend to keep better records because their right to rule depends on it. So, we know that the kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara existed from the 11th century to today, surviving an attempt by
1,000 year kings’ list of Bunyoro-Kitara, Uganda (including the first ruler, a woman) Read More »
The Madagascan Kingdom of Imerina was a sizable African Kingdom that spanned from the 16th century to the 19th century. It is named so, as it had control over the majority of what is now modern-day Madagascar. It started from Imerina and spread outwards. It had two capitals, one spiritual at Ambohimanga and one political at Antananarivo, which is also the capital of modern day Madagascar as well. The architecture of Kingdom of Imerina is evidence that African achievements are poorly understood and incorrectly portrayed.
Kingdom of Imerina: Images you haven’t seen from Africa Read More »
Although, the civilisation of Rwanda dates back to 2020 BC, the earliest date for the start of centralisation under one monarch is between the 10th and 11th century. Rwanda was a landlocked kingdom situated in east-central Africa, on the south of the equator, with Nyanza as its capital. The development of the society may be
The Rwandan Civilization (2000 BC – 1960 AD): Iron and Soundwave Technology Read More »
Strengths of oral tradition The received value system from European historians is that written history is superior and more civilised than unwritten oral history. To make true, non-Christian symbols & writings, non-Islamic symbols & writings or non-white symbols & writings were destroyed at various points: for instance the ancient Palace of the Asantehene in Ghana
Role of Oral Tradition in Africa: Survival & Knowledge Transfer Read More »
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION The Great precolonial Benin kingdom is one of the oldest West African civilisations in continuous existence that commands respect; having existed from 355 BC to Present. Well known for its brilliant bronze, ivory, iron artefacts and military prowess. This kingdom although annexed is still present-day Benin city in southwestern Nigeria. It is
The Kingdom of Benin: 1,660 Years from 355 AD to Present Read More »
The Kingdom of Dahomey or 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. It
Kingdom of Dahomey: Could an all female army defeat men? Read More »
The word “polyglot” comes from Greek. “Poly” means “many” and “glot” means tongue. Greek was the first European language to use vowels. It is an Afroasiatic language written right to left originally like Hebrew. Almost every word that starts “ph” in English comes from Greek, along with 12% of all English words – 150,000 words. There are 600,000 words in English, 120,000 words in Yoruba, and no-one has ever counted the number of words in Latin or Greek. Within six years of banning the slave trade, a former slave had the opportunity to produce a bible fully translated into Yoruba, a guide to grammar for Nupe, Igbo and Yoruba, a Yoruba version of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, receive a Doctor of Divinity from Oxford between 1861 and 1881, to become a polyglot, and become the first Anglican African bishop.
Samuel Ajayi Crowther: from slave to Polyglot & first African Anglican Bishop Read More »
The ancient indigenous people of North Africa, West of Egypt were of many tribes, and they were commonly referred to as the Berbers. Their lands were invaded several times, yet they managed to maintain their languages and their culture along with considerable military power. Among the invaders and conquerors of North Africa were the Phoenicians,
Dihya, Queen of the Berbers: the Wars against the Rashidun caliphate Read More »
“I’m always ready for a war again
Go down that road again
It’s all the same” The Weeknd. Seems like hardly the lyrics for a Queen Mother. But when the Asante People were humiliated and their Golden Stool demeaned by a British civil servant, guess what happened?
Yaa Asanteewaa: Queen Mother, Grandmother, Sixty, Goes Toe-to-Toe with Britain Read More »
A fallacy about African history is often repeated that political institutions were introduced by either Europeans or Arabs. With one 1,000 year old kingdom still in existence, we demonstrate that African stories are available to turn into documentaries, education and entertainment material from the Kingdom of Buganda.
Kingdom of Buganda: Uganda’s 1000 year old Kingdom Read More »
“In 1914, the Germans and their allies went to war not just with Britain, but with the whole of the British Empire. Over 3 million soldiers and labourers from across the Empire and Commonwealth served alongside the British Army in the First World War. ” National Army Museum. How did the Force Publique help the Allies?
Have you watched “Madagascar”, the cartoon? Seen the inhabitants? Seen it as the island of Lemurs? Have you ever bit the bullet and spent £3,000 for white beaches, fresh fish from the Indian Ocean and a private villa with concierge? When you think Madagascar, do you think “luxury holiday”, think “lemurs” or think Gisèle Rabesahala? Who is Gisèle Rabesahala?
Gisèle Rabesahala: Visionary and A Human Rights Lawyer Read More »
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.
Federation of Kwararafa (13th – 18th Century) Read More »
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.
Should Afro-Europeans wear the poppy? This question used to challenge me. Learning GCSE History (a UK secondary school grade), I heard about what sparked World War 1 and the lessons the government wanted the next generation to learn. “Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it” George Santayana (16 December 1863 in Madrid, Spain – 26 September 1952 in Rome, Italy). And there! my interest in the past was sparked. I read. Interested in movies, along the way, I watched various films like Sergeant York, Dam Busters, Where Eagles Dare and sat through Lawrence of Arabia twice. In all this I grew to respect the past generation of Brits for their grit and sacrifice but I was never made to feel that “people who look like me” contributed anything to Britain’s survival or prosperity. Now, I know otherwise. Now, I know that it was a World War in the first place because Africa didn’t have self-rule on both sides of the war.
Imagine seeing vividly lush forests and fields of green being brought down for the sake of erecting buildings that would take the money from the community’s pockets and put it into the investors and businessmen’s bulking wallets. That would make you feel outrageous wouldn’t it? That’s not the real question though, the question is; will
Wangari Maathai: A Professor, An Environmentalist and An Inspiration Read More »
All through the First and Second World Wars, multitudes of African fighters battled with regards to European interests, while being consigned to frontier status and gaining almost no ground toward picking up freedom of their own. The Senegalese Tirailleurs are among the numerous indigenous people groups who served in the French armed forces amid the World Wars. By 1918, France had enrolled somewhere in the range of 192,000 Tirailleurs Sénégalais all through French West Africa and 134,000 of them got involved in combat roles – some in the European theatre.
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 Rashidun Caliphate: international spread of Islam Read More »
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 Kingdom of Kerma (2500-1500 BC) Read More »
The King’s African Rifles, abbreviated as KAR, was a Colonial Regiment of Britain which served from 1902 to 1960s. It was a multi-battalion regiment which worked in East Africa for a more extended period. Britain had without any doubt many possessions in East Africa, and till the independence of British East African colonies, the King’s African Rifles worked up to the mark.
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 Hausa States: The Pre-Islamic Confederacy Read More »
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 »
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 Abbasid Caliphate: The Golden Age of the Islamic Civilization 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 »
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 »
Peter Adeniyi Thomas, WW2 Flight Lieutenant, b. Lagos Nigeria 1915, died age 30. Volunteered in gratitude for Great-grandfather rescued by the Royal Navy.
World War 2 Flight Lieutenant Peter Adeniyi Thomas 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 »
West African history The Songhai Kingdom: Facts, History, Trade and Power The Songhai Kingdom existed from 1375 to 1591 and became one of the largest and most powerful states in West African history. At its peak, the Songhai Kingdom stretched along the Niger, ruled vast territory, expanded trade, reformed government, and helped make cities such
Kingdom of Songhai Read More »
