The list below gives all the countries on the continent, alphabetically, and in this order: COUNTRY → INDEPENDENCE DAY → COLONIAL RULERS
Algeria, July 5 1962, France
World Hourglass link here
Angola, November 11 1975,
Portugal World Hourglass link here
Benin, August 1 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Botswana
(Bechuanaland), September 30 1966, Britain World Hourglass link here
Burkina Faso, August 5 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Burundi, July 1 1962, Belgium World Hourglass link here
Cameroon January 1 1960, French-administered UN trusteeship World Hourglass link here
Cape Verde, July 5 1975, Portugal World Hourglass link here
Central African
Republic, August 13 1960, France World Hourglass
link here
Chad, August 11 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Comoros, July 6 1975, France World Hourglass link here
Congo, August 15 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Congo DR, June 30 1960, Belgium World Hourglass link here
Cote d'Ivoire, August 7 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Djibouti, June 27 1977, France World Hourglass link here
Egypt, February 28 1922,
Britain World Hourglass link here
Equitoreal
Guinea, October 12 1968, Spain World Hourglass
link here
Eritrea, May 24 1993, Ethiopia World Hourglass link here
Ethiopia, never colonised,
formerly Kingdom of Aksum World Hourglass link here
Gabon, August 17 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Gambia, February 18 1965,
Britain World Hourglass link here
Ghana (Gold
Coast), 6 March 1957, Britain World Hourglass link here
Guinea, October 2 1958, France World Hourglass link here
Guinea Bissau, 24 September
1973/10 September 1974, Portugal World Hourglass link here
Kenya, December 12 1963,
Britain World Hourglass link here
Lesotho, October 4 1966, Britain World Hourglass link here
Liberia, July 26 1847, American
colonization Society World Hourglass link here
Libya, December 24 1951,
Italy World Hourglass link here
Madagascar, June 26 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Malawi, July 6 1964, Britain World Hourglass link here
Mali, September 22
1960, France World Hourglass link here
Mauritania, November 28 1960,
France World Hourglass link here
Mauritius, March 12 1968, Britain World Hourglass link here
Morocco, March 2 1956, France World Hourglass link here
Mozambique, June 25 1975, Portugal World Hourglass link here
Namibia, March 21 1990, South
African mandate World Hourglass link here
Niger, August 3 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Nigeria, October 1 1960, Britain World Hourglass link here
Rwanda, July 1 1962, Belgium
administered UN trusteeship World Hourglass
link here
SaoTomePrincipe,
July 12 1975, Portugal World Hourglass
link here
Senegal, April 4 1960, France World Hourglass link here
Seychelles, June 29 1976, Britain World Hourglass link here
Sierra Leone, April 27 1961, Britain World Hourglass link here
Somalia, July 1 1960,
divided into British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland World Hourglass link here
South Africa, December 11 1931
(April 1994 for the end of apartheid), Britain World Hourglass link here
Sudan, January 1 1956, Egypt
& Britain World Hourglass link here
Swaziland, September 6 1968,
Britain World Hourglass link here
Tanzania
(Tanganiyka and Zanzibar), April 26 1964, Britain World Hourglass link here
Togo, April 27 1960, French
administered UN trusteeship World Hourglass
link here
Tunisia, March 20 1956, France World Hourglass link here
Uganda, October 9 1962, Britain World Hourglass link here
Zambia, October 24 1964,
Britain World Hourglass link here
Zimbabwe, April 18 1980, Britain World Hourglass link here
A Personal Preface:
The Book of Days is not a historical encyclopedia in
the general, universal sense that a Wikipedia or a Britannica or an
Encyclopedia.com is trying to be. I am interested in history, but unless the events are of such
significance that they simply have to be included, my choices are personal: I
research and write about the people and places and events that interest me,
generally because some incident in my life prompted it.
So what brings me with such fascination to Africa? It
began with North Africa, and particularly Egypt, because I am Jewish and it is
part of my history; but also because of Alexandria, which is a lighthouse, two
Shakespeare plays, a quartet by Lawrence Durrell that I read and re-read in my
late teens, and especially the Ptolemaic Library. But there was then a holiday
in Tunisia, which provided inspiration for the middle section of my novel “The
Persian Fire”, his time in Keirouan and especially his journey across north
Africa, to Alexandria. Then there were ibn-Battuta and Benjamin of Tudela,
whose journeys in China drew me to them, but who came from, and travelled
extensively across, North Africa. And the Moors of Spain, where I took many holidays
over many years, and their impact on European culture through the Troubadours
and the Trobairitz, not to mention Othello and so many Jewish poets and
scholars as well.
All that is North Africa. In 1978 I travelled to
South Africa, because it was the only way in to my real destination, Botswana,
where one of my closest friends had gone to work as an economist for the
government. Twelve days in the former, three months in the latter, crossing the
Kalahari to Maun and the Okavango Delta, hoping to get to the Victoria Falls
but prevented by Rhodesian soldiers who had illegally crossed into Botswana
near Machudi and ... but I have told that story elsewhere.
Three years before that visit, my
not-yet-wife took a two-year teaching post in Kano, which inspired a life-long
passion for Africa that she worked out in the years that followed by Chairing
the Labour Party’s Aid & Development Committee, and was probably why, when
the Eritrean famine was first reported in the autumn of 1984, I went down the
next morning to War On Want and asked if they needed volunteers for their
fund-raising: I stayed four months. And all that while one that close friend
had moved on to UNESCO, providing for the refugee camps in Mozambique, while my
younger daughter, four decades later, is still following her late mother’s dreams
and hopes, doing the legal work to install solar heating panels in adobe houses
in Rwanda, and establish wind-farms far beyond the electricity grids of
Ethiopia. So Africa is in my blood, and needs to be in my blog as well.
I have identified three general timelines of African history that seem to me to merit the perusal; at some later date I shall endeavour to go through them, as I have done with China, and merge them to complete this Africa page. In the meanwhile [with any comments by me square-bracketed and in purple]:
First the British Museum, which I am simply cutting and pasting (in blue for future merging); it is excellent on the very ancient, but only really gives the basics of kingdoms in more modern times, and
no more detail; some fantastic illustrations though, like the Mansa Masa world map, above
The British Museum is at https://www.britishmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2024-04/African_Kingdoms_Timeline.pdf
African kingdoms
1 Naqada culture
c. 4000–3000 BC: The early farming villages of the Nile Valley
develop into towns and cities united under local rulers. Skilled craftspeople
produce decorated ceramics and metalwork.
c. 3400 BC: The region now known as the Sahara gradually changes from a landscape of lakes and grasslands to a vast desert, and by around 3400 BC, it is almost as dry as it is today. Rock art, beginning around 10,000 BC, provides an insight into the different cultures and environments of this changing landscape.
c. 3100 BC: Narmer becomes one of the frst pharaohs – perhaps the frst – to rule over a united country comprising both Upper and Lower Egypt.
2 Kerma culture
c. 2500–1500 BC: The city-state of Kerma, located in present-day Sudan, rules a large area in the Nile Valley. It engages in both war and trade with the neighbouring kingdom of Egypt to the north.
1799– 1795 BC: Queen Neferusobek is possibly the first female pharaoh of Egypt. She is probably buried south of Cairo, but her tomb has not been identifed with any certainty yet.
3 Kingdom of Kush
c. 1070 BC–AD 350: The Kushites lived in presentday Sudan. They experience 500 years of Egyptian rule but later become an independent kingdom and, around 750 BC, even conquer Egypt. They speak their own language and develop their own script (Meroitic). Their architecture includes pyramid tombs
c. 900–800 BC: The city of Carthage, in present-day Tunisia, is founded by the Phoenicians. It becomes a major centre of trade in the Mediterranean before being conquered by the Romans in 146 BC.
22 BC: Queen Amanirenas defends the kingdom of Kush against the Romans. Her army launch raids into Egypt. Among its plunder is a head torn off a statue of the Roman emperor Augustus. Brought back to the city of Meroe, it is buried under a temple doorway.
4 Garamantian kingdom
500 BC–AD 650: The Garamantian kingdom develops, in the area of the present-day Libyan Sahara. Its capital city, known as Garama (present-day Jarma) becomes a major trading centre, including trade with Rome. Camels, introduced from Arabia, contribute to an expansion of trade across the Sahara
5 Kingdom of Aksum
c. AD 50–900: The kingdom of Aksum, which at its largest extent includes areas
of present-day northern Ethiopia, Eritrea, eastern Sudan and south-east Yemen, develops widespread trade links and exports precious metals
and ivory to the Roman empire and Arabia. Aksum was one of the first Christian kingdoms
in the world, adopting Christianity around AD 350.
c. AD 350: Ezana, king of Aksum conquers the kingdom of Kush.
6 Kanem empire
c. AD 700– 1400: The Kanem empire, in present-day Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria, grows strong and wealthy, including through control of Saharan trade routes. The empire maintains diplomatic relationships with North African rulers and during the 1200s the ruler of Kanem sends a giraffe across the Sahara as a gift to the Hafsid sultan of Tunis.
7 Igbo Ukwu
c. AD 900: The people of Igbo Ukwu, in the area of present-day Nigeria, produce sophisticated bronze sculptures and other objects using the lost wax casting process. An elaborate burial excavated at Igbo Ukwu features a range of burial goods, including more than 100,000 beads, both locally produced and imported from across the Sahara
8 Kingdom of Ife
c. 1000– 1400: The Kingdom of Ife, in the area of present-day Nigeria, was ruled by a king called the Ooni who lived in the city of Ife. Produced around 1200–1400, a fourishing period in the kingdom’s bronze casting tradition, a series of life-sized head statues are among the most impressive art works from Ife. The Kingdom continues today as a traditional state in Nigeria.
9 Almoravid dynasty
c. 1050– 1150: Berber Muslim rulers, from present-day Mauritania, develop a trans-Saharan trading empire. Around 1060, Yusuf Ibn Tashfn founds Marrakesh as the capital city of this powerful imperial dynasty. By around 1100, the Almoravid empire controls territory in West and North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
10 Great Zimbabwe
c. 1100–1450: The Shona people build an impressive city with monumental stone walls. Known as Great Zimbabwe, it is one of the most important urban centres in southern Africa, with trade links to the Indian Ocean and beyond, including imports from China and Persia.
11 Empire of Mali
c. 1230– 1450: Beginning as a small kingdom, Mali expands its territory to rule a vast empire from the West African forest zone to the edges of the Sahara. An important part of the empire’s power and wealth comes from trading gold and salt, including through the city of Timbuktu.
c. 1312– 1337: Reign of Mansa Musa, emperor of Mali. The town of Timbuktu develops further during his reign, with the historic Djinguereber mosque said to date from his rule. Mansa Musa has become one of the most famous international emblems of early African kingdoms.
12 Kingdom of Kongo
c. 1300–1665: Located in the area of present-day Angola, parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo – and situated at the centre of a large trade network – the powerful kingdom of Kongo trades natural resources together with goods produced by specialist craftworkers including metalwork, raffa cloth and ceramics
13 Empire of Songhai
c. 1460–1592: Following the foundation of the empire by Sonni Ali, the empire is initially ruled by the Sonni Dynasty. From the 1490s, expansion of the empire continues under the Askia Dynasty. The powerful and wealthy Songhai empire take over territory which had been part of the Mali empire.
1700– 1750: The ‘Akan drum’ [see below] is made in the region of present-day Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire where this type of drum has historically been played during religious and social occasions in Akan culture. It possibly travelled on board a ship transporting enslaved people from West Africa to America, where it was collected in the present-day state of Virginia, USA.
14 Kingdom of Asante
1700– 1900: Osei Tutu I founds the kingdom of Asante, succeeding the powerful kingdom of Denkyira. Asante’s wealth is closely connected to its trade in gold from the royal mines. Today, Osei Tutu II is the 16th Asantehene, the monarch of the Asante people, and the most important traditional ruler in Ghana
1896: The Ethiopian empire, under the rule of Emperor Menelik II and Empress Taitu, fights and defeats an invading Italian army at the Battle of Adwa
1900: Yaa Asantewaa, the Queen Mother and regent of Ejisu, a province in the Asante confederacy, leads a war of resistance against British imperial power.
A
rather strange timeline, geographically speaking; but this is the British
Museum, and every para comes with an illustration, and every illustration is an
artefect in the possession of the museum, and only what has been collected by
them is therefore available for recounting here. So British archeology in
Africa has been mostly Egypt, and Egypt therefore dominates the earliest times.
So British rule in Africa was restricted to certain regions, and these, rather
than the French or Belgian or Portuguese, are represented. Very incomplete, but
still extremely useful as a gateway. Let us see if the next door takes us deeper.
World History is at https://www.worldhistory.org/timeline/africa/
but it only goes as far as 1600 CE, and is even scanter, though it does cover some regions not in the British Museum page (and in red for future merging):
Timeline
5000 BCE: Organised farming begins in Egypt.
c. 3500 BCE: The Sahara desert begins to spread in Africa due to climate change.
2000 BCE: Speakers of the Bantu language begin migrating southward.
c. 2000 BCE: Farmers and herders travel south from Ethiopia and settle in Kenya.
c. 2000 BCE - c. 1500 CE: The Bantu Migration occurs in Africa starting from southern West Africa and slowly spreading southwards to finally reach South Africa.
1700 BCE: The Kingdom of Kush is formed to the south of Egypt.
c. 814 BCE: Traditional founding date for the Phoenician colony of Carthage by Tyre.
650 BCE: Iron working spreads to North Africa.
631 BCE: Greek colonists from the island of Thera found the city of Cyrene in North Africa.
c. 500 BCE - c. 200 CE: The Nok Culture flourishes in West Africa.
341 BCE: The Persians complete conquest of Egypt.
331 BCE: Egypt is conquered by Alexander the Great without resistance.
250 BCE - 1100 CE: The city of Djenne-Djenno flourishes in West Africa.
204 BCE: Scipio Africanus sails to North Africa in the Second Punic War.
146 BCE: End of the Third Punic War. Carthage is destroyed and its lands become the Roman province Africa.
429 CE: Vandals cross Spain to the Maghreb.
c. 500 CE - 1240 CE: The Ghana Empire dominates West Africa.
c. 500 CE - c. 1365 CE: The Nubian kingdom of Dongola flourishes in the Sudan.
534 CE: Justinian of the Byzantine Empire conquers the Vandal kingdom in Africa.
c. 750 CE: Muslim traders from Arabia begin to settle on the Swahili Coast.
c. 900 CE - c. 1390 CE: The Kingdom of Kanem flourishes near Lake Chad, Africa.
c. 1050 CE - c. 1450 CE: The kingdom of Ife flourishes in West Africa.
c. 1070 CE - c. 1300 CE: Mapungubwe flourishes in southern Africa.
c. 1100 CE - c. 1550 CE: Continuous habitation of Great Zimbabwe.
c. 1100 CE - c. 1500 CE: The trading city-states of Africa's Swahili Coast flourish.
c. 1100 CE - 1897 CE: The Kingdom of Benin rules in southern West Africa.
1240 CE - 1645 CE: The Mali Empire rules in West Africa.
1270 CE: Foundation of the medieval kingdom of Abyssinia, aka the Ethiopian
Empire.
c. 1300 CE - c. 1450 CE: Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa flourishes.
c. 1400 CE - c. 1804 CE: Hausaland flourishes in Africa.
c. 1400 CE - c. 1885 CE: The Kingdom of Luba thrives in central Africa.
c. 1400 CE - c. 1700 CE: The Kingdom of Kongo flourishes in west-central Africa.
c. 1450 CE - c. 1633 CE: The kingdom of Mutapa flourishes in southern Africa.
c. 1460 CE - c. 1591 CE: The Songhai Empire dominates the West African savannah.
c. 1471 CE: Portuguese ships arrive off the coast of southern West Africa.
8 Jul 1497 CE - Aug 1499 CE: The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good
Hope and on to India and back.
c. 1600 CE: The Kikuyu people are identifiable as a distinct ethnic group in the
centre of modern-day Kenya.
And now "Black Past", which I shall leave in the colour given to these word-pages by natural default. The site is beautifully set up; at the top of the home page you can pdf or Excel it, or simply copy-and-paste the entire document. I have done the latter, because I want to add comments, but also to remove surplus data as I go along (links to elsewhere on their site for example; but mostly historical data which relates to Black Past outside Africa (all of it fascinating, and likely to lead to any number of additional posts on this blog; but not the subject of my page);
for you who wish to read the original , "Black Past" can be found at https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history-timeline/
Global
African History Timeline
5-2.5
million BCE: Skeletal remains uncovered suggest the Rift Valley in
East Africa is home to the earliest human ancestors [see my essay "Ancestry of the Patriarch" in TheBibleNet for a more universal account of these earliest millennia].
4-2.7
million BCE: Hominid species Australopithicus afarensis lived in the
Hadar region of Ethiopia, including "Lucy," the famous skeletal
remains found in 1974.
600,000
to 200,000 BCE: Period of migration across the African continent and out of
Africa to Asia and Europe. Fire is first used during this period.
6000-4000
BCE: Spread of agriculture across Africa. River societies emerge along the
Nile, Niger, and Congo Rivers.
5000
BCE: Egyptian agriculturalists develop irrigation and animal husbandry to
transform the lower Nile Valley [see my account of early Egypt in TheBibleNet here]. The rise in the food supply generates a
rapidly increasing population. Agricultural surpluses and growing wealth allow
specialization including glass making, pottery, metallurgy, weaving,
woodworking, leather making, and masonry.
4500 BCE: Egyptians begin using burial texts to accompany their dead into the
afterlife. This is the first evidence of written texts anywhere in the world.
4000
BCE: Egypt emerges as a centralized state and flourishing civilization.
2700-1087 BCE: Period of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom of
Ancient Egypt and Northeastern Africa.
2500
BCE: Other civilizations emerge in Mesopotamia, northern China [see my China page], Northeastern
India [see my account of early India in TheBiblenet, here].
2500
BCE: Nubian state with its capital at Kerma emerges as a rival to Egypt.
1500 BCE: Egyptian New Kingdom unites the Nile Valley including Nubia.
1069
BCE: Nubia briefly regains its independence from Egypt.
1000-800
BCE: Bantu migration out of present-day eastern Nigeria spreads across
Sub-Saharan Africa.
750-664 BCE: Nubian Pharaohs rule the entire Nile Valley during
the 25th Dynasty.
500
BCE: Bantu-speakers arrive in what is now South Africa with iron and
domesticated cattle.
500
BCE: Beginning of the trans-Saharan salt and gold trade in West Africa.
500
BCE: Axum emerges in Northeastern Africa. Axum eventually becomes the
nation of Ethiopia.
500 BCE: Ancient Nok culture emerges in what is now Nigeria.
332
BCE: Egypt is conquered by Alexander the Great [Alexander of
Macedon: see the Index]. Ptolemy [Ptolemy 1 Soter: see Oct 1] becomes the first ruler
of a dynasty that will control Egypt until 283 BCE [most historians place it a year earlier, in 331; see Oct 1 on the blog]
300
BCE: Rulers of Nubia establish a new kingdom at Meroe. The Kingdom,
which will be called Kush [BibleNet page here], will last there for more than nine centuries.
247-183
BCE: Hannibal rules Carthage. During his reign, Roman Italy is invaded.
200
BCE: Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea is the scientific capital of the
Hellenistic world, famous for its museum, university, and library
200
BCE: The State of Ghana begins to evolve in the West African Sudan.
It is located in what is now Burkina Faso.
200
BCE: Settlement is established at Jenne on the Niger River in West Africa.
146
BCE: Rome conquers Carthage and establishes its first significant presence on
the African continent.
160
BCE: Terence Afer (the African) is considered one of the Roman Empire's finest
Latin translators and poets.
50
BCE-476 CE: Slavery is a major feature of the Roman Empire for several hundred
years. Over two million slaves from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are in
Roman Italy at the end of the Republic.
47-30
BCE: Cleopatra VIII Rules Egypt [see Aug 29]
23
BCE: Romans invade Kush, sack the capital at Napata.
333
CE: Ezana, the ruler of Axum (Ethiopia) converts to Christianity
350
CE: Ezana destroys Meroe, the capital of Kush.
420: Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo in
North Africa [Hippo Regius, where Augustine was the bishop, was in modern-day Annaba, Algeria] argues for the equality of all human beings. [I have moved
this as it was out of chronology on the website; see the Index for the two Augustines]
500-1400:
An extensive slave trade develops in Medieval Europe. The vast majority of the
slaves originate in what is now Russia and eastern Europe but slaves come from
every society on the continent. By 1300 a small number of slaves are of African
origin.
540: Ethiopian monks begin to translate the Bible
into their own language.
569:
Nubia is converted to Christianity. A cathedral is established at Faras to
establish the Christian era in Nubia.
570: Kingdom of Kanem-Bornu begins to
emerge around Lake Chad in West Africa.
570-632:
Life and Era of the Prophet Muhammad, beginnings of Islam [which happened
in Arabia, not Africa; but it merits mentioning because Abu Bakr and a number
of early Moslems took refuge in Abyssinia, before returning at the time of the
conquest of Mecca; as below; see my novel "My Friend The Prophet"]
615:
Muslim refugees from Arabia given refuge in Axum (Ethiopia)
620:
Beginning of trans-Indian trade as reflected by Chinese coins from the period
found on the East Coast of Africa.
642:
Egypt is conquered and converted to Islam. New Islamic capital of Cairo is
established [Cairo was built on the edge of On, which the Greeks called Heliopolis; click here for TheBibleNet page]
678:
Muslim Arab armies reach the Atlantic coast of North Africa
690:
Sudanic city state of Gao is founded on the Niger River in West
Africa.
694-95:
African slaves near Basra (in modern Iraq) under Rabah Shir Zanji (the
"Lion of the Zanj") rise in rebellion against their owners [the first of sadly not that many slave rebellions over the next few hundred years; I am looking for a date that can be used to mark the transition, and clearly it is not this, nor the abolition of slavery at home: by England in 1200, nor the status-changes for slaves, such as Spain in 1260... indeed, we only see the first real sign of change when Portugal begins the process in 1761, though why, and why the British followed so quickly, is not obvious]
700:
Arabs initiate a slave trade that sends sub-Saharan Africans to both Europe and
Asia. An estimated 14 million Africans are sold between 700 and 1910.
740:
Muslims from Arabia and Persia are trading on the East African coast.
740:
Islamized Africans (Moors) invade Spain and rule it until 1492.
745:
Christian Nubians and Ethiopians invade and temporarily occupy Muslim
Egypt.
750:
Islam is introduced into West Africa, reaching what is now the nation of Chad.
800:
Evidence suggests that African travelers may have come to the Americas before
Europeans. One indication is the great stone carvings of the Olmec era in
Mexico, bearing African facial features.
850:
Beginning of the construction of the Citadel of Great Zimbabwe.
869-83:
Thousands of black slaves in what is now southern Iraq will take up arms
against their masters in the Zanj Rebellion and declare their
independence from the Abbasid Caliphate. They will control the region and
operate as an independent state for fourteen years until troops from Baghdad
finally conquer the region. [not in Africa]
880:
Beta Israel (Falashas) settle in Ethiopia [except that calling them "Falashas", especially on a site like this one, is no different from calling black people by the "N" word; and in fact the original name for the Palestinians - Pelishtim - had exactly the same meaning, as do Habiru/Hebrew for the Jews and Wal-es for the Cymry: they all mean "foreigner", with the unstated insinuation of "unwanted and unwelcome"; for an account of who the Beta Israel are, click here]
890:
Beginning of the Kingdom of Songhai.
908:
Permanent Arab trading settlements established in Somalia.
945:
Malayo-Indonesian raid from Madagascar is launched on East African coastal city
of Sofala.
975:
The Christian Kingdom of Axum is overrun by Muslims.
992:
The Empire of Ghana captures Berber city of Awdaghost and gains
control over trans-Saharan trade.
1055:
Awdaghost is overrun by the Almoravids.
1076:
Ghanaian Empire falls to the Almoravids; Ghana's political leaders convert
to Islam.
1100:
Stone-built Great Zimbabwe is the capital of the surrounding state of
Zimbabwe.
1100:
Hausa city-states emerge in what is now Northern Nigeria.
1150:
Tsaraki dan Gimimasu, the ruler of Kano, completes the wall around the
city. Kano will become the largest and most significant of the Hausa
city-states.
1150:
Beginning of the Zagwe Dynasty in Ethiopia.
1200:
King Lalibela of Ethiopia begins construction of rock-cut churches.
1200:
Slavery ends in England but continues in Ireland. Slavery flourishes among the
European nations along the Mediterranean as well as all of North Africa.
1230:
The Empire of Mali emerges in West Africa under Sundiata.
1250:
Emergence of the Empire of Benin in present-day Nigeria. Benin is the
first major centralized state in the West African Rain Forest.
1260:
Spanish slavery code prevents married couples from being separated, provides
legal protection against mistreatment, and allows slaves to inherit property [not in Africa, but
it impacts on Africa, so I am leaving it in].
1260:
By this date the city of Timbuktu is the religious, commercial, and
political center of the Empire of Mali.
1260:
Mansa Ule makes the first pilgrimage of a Mali ruler to Mecca.
1270:
Beginning of the Solomonid Dynasty in Ethiopia.
1300:
Muslim Merchants mainly of Arabic origin establish the Kingdom of Ifat in the
Ethiopian highlands.
1324:
Pilgrimage of Mansa Musa, the most prominent ruler of Mali, to Mecca.
1340:
Building of the Great Mosque at Jenne in the Mali Empire.
1364:
Norman navigators reach the mouth of the Senegal River. First known presence of
Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa.
1390:
Kingdom of the Kongo emerges in central Africa.
1400:
Africans in Christian religious iconography proliferate across Europe,
including Balthazar and the Saints, Maurice and Gregory [not in Africa]
1400:
By this date a flourishing slave trade exists in the Mediterranean World. Most
of the slaving countries are Italian principalities such as Florence and
Venice. Most of those enslaved are Greeks and Eastern Europeans. Between 1414
and 1423, ten thousand Eastern European slaves are sold in Venice alone. [not in Africa (yet!)]
1400:
Songhai breaks free of the Mali Empire.
1400:
Gold trade flourishes in the Zambezi River Valley and its Indian Ocean
port, Sofala.
1400:
Beginning of the production of bronze statues in the Empire of Benin.
1410:
Kano is the leading Hausa city-state. It has developed an Army which
includes cavalry equipped with iron weaponry and armor.
1415:
An ambassador from Malindi, a leading East African city-state, is sent to
the royal court of the Chinese Emperor.
1427:
The Ethiopian emperor, Yeshaq, sends an envoy to the King of Aragon (Spain) to
forge an alliance against the Muslims.
1431:
Ming admiral Zheng He reaches Malindi on the East African coast, initiates a
period of regular commerce between the Swahili city-states on the
east African coast and China.
1433:
Taureg raiders conquer Timbuktu and briefly gain control over the
western trans-Saharan trade routes.
1434:
The Portuguese establish trading outposts along the West African coast.
1441 Antam Goncalvez of Portugal captures Africans
in what is now Senegal and transports them to Lisbon, initiating direct
European involvement in the African slave trade.
1441:
Act of Union signed in Rome between the Church of Ethiopia and the Church of
Rome.
1450:
Approximately 1,000 slaves per year are transported to Europe.
1450:
Monomutapa Empire emerges in Southern Africa, breaks from and then absorbs
the declining Zimbabwe Empire.
1450:
Sankore University and Mosque are founded at Timbuktu in
the Songhai Empire.
1453:
The Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople and thus divert the trade in Eastern
European slaves away from the Mediterranean to Islamic markets. The Italians
increasingly look to North Africa as their source for slaves.
1460:
The Sultan of Bengal acquires 500 African slaves, dramatically
increasing the slave trade on the Indian subcontinent.
1460:
Approximately 1,000 sub-Saharan African slaves are brought directly to Europe
each year.
1462:
Pope Pious II signs a papal bull which forbids enslavement of Africans recently
converted to Christianity.
1468:
Empire of Songhai under Sunni Ali conquers Mali and becomes the
largest state in West Africa.
1470:
By this point small vineyards and sugar plantations have emerged around Naples
and on the island of Sicily with Africans as the primary enslaved people
providing the labour on these estates. [not in Africa]
1470:
The Portuguese begin trading along the Gold Coast of West Africa.
1474:
Ferdinand and Isabella, the rulers of Aragon and Castile (Modern Spain) create
the office of Mayor of the Africans in Seville [not in Africa]
1482:
The Portuguese build Fort Sao Jorge da Mina (El Mina) on the Gold
Coast. The fort was the first permanent structure built by Europeans in sub-Saharan
Africa.
1486:
African slaves rebel in Bengal (India) and install their own leader, Firuz
Shah as sultan. He rules for three years, 1487-1490. [not in Africa]
1490:
Small populations of free and enslaved Africans extend from Sicily to Portugal.
1491:
The Portuguese King establishes diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Kongo
and sends Catholic missionaries to the African ruler's court.
1491:
Portuguese envoy Pero da Coviha reaches Sofala on the Indian Ocean.
By 1500 the Portuguese will establish trading posts along the East African
coast.
1492:
Christopher Columbus makes his first voyage to the New World opening a vast new
empire for plantation slavery [not itself in Africa but the impact obviously is; for Columbus see the Index].
1494:
The first Africans arrive in Hispaniola with Christopher Columbus. They are
free persons [and he and most of the rest of his crew were Jews forced to convert to Xtianity! see Feb 1 and Nov 2].
1494:
Columbus claims Jamaica for the Spanish.[not itself in Africa but the impact
obviously is].
1500:
Many sub-Saharan slaves are brought to Portugal, Spain, Italy and Sicily for
Christianization before they are transported to the Americas.
1501:
The Spanish king allows the introduction of enslaved Africans into Spain's
American colonies. [not itself in Africa but the impact obviously is: the
diminution of population within Africa now becomes central to its history, so
I shall continue to keep references to the “emigrés”, but not to events that
effect or involve them once they have arrived].
1506:
Nzinga Mbemba, King of the Kongo, is baptized by Portuguese officials and
becomes Afonso I, the first Catholic king of the Kongo (modern day Congo and
Angola).
1511:
The first enslaved Africans arrive in Hispaniola.
1513:
Thirty Africans accompany Vasco Nunez de Balboa on his trip to the Pacific
Ocean.
1517:
Bishop Bartolome de Las Casas petitions Spain to allow the importation of
twelve enslaved Africans for each household immigrating to America's Spanish
colonies. De Las Casas later regrets his actions and becomes an opponent of
slavery.
1518:
King Charles I of Spain grants the first licenses to import enslaved Africans
to the Americas.
1518:
The first shipload of enslaved Africans directly from Africa arrives in the
West Indies. Prior to this time, Africans were brought first to Europe.
1519:
Hernan Cortez begins his conquest of the Aztec Empire. Black Spaniards,
including Juan Garrido are among the Conquistadors.
1520:
“The Marriage of St. Ursula to Prince Conan”, a painting in a Lisbon monastery,
depicts several African musicians performing for royalty. [not Africa;
simply European culture being impacted by its involvement in Africa]
1520:
Enslaved Africans are used as labourers in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico. [not in Africa].
1521:
Santo Domingo Slave Revolt is the first black servile insurrection in the New
World. [not
in Africa]
1524:
Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro overruns Ecuador and Peru. Among his
conquering forces are free and enslaved Africans serving as sailors, soldiers,
and laborers. [not in Africa]
1526:
Spanish colonists led by Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon build the community of San
Miguel de Guadape in what is now Georgia. They bring along enslaved Africans,
considered to be the first in the present-day United States. These Africans
flee the colony, however, and make their homes with local Indians. After
Ayllon's death, the remaining Spaniards relocate to Hispaniola. [not in Africa]
1527-1539:
Esteban, a Moroccan-born Muslim slave, explores what is now the Southwestern
United States. [not in Africa]
1529:
Pope Clement VII choses nineteen-year-old Alessandro de' Medici, the son
of Lorenzo de' Medici, and a former African slave named Simonetta, to become
the first Duke of Florence. [what is the ideological point the website is trying to make
here? see 1536, 1537, et al for more of the same]
1536:
Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires. Among his party are a number of
enslaved and free Africans. [not in Africa]
1536:
Alessandro de' Medici, the Duke of Florence, weds Margaret of Habsburg, the
daughter of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and at the time the most powerful
monarch in Europe. [see my note to 1529]
1537:
Alessandro de' Medici, the first Duke of Florence, is assassinated by his
cousin, Lorenzino, who then flees to Venice. [see my note to 1529]
1538:
Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada founds Bogota. His party includes enslaved and free
Africans. [and is the idological point at 1536 the same as the one here: black
involvement in key points of eurohistory, and not just as slaves?]
1540:
An African from Hernando de Soto's Expedition decides to remain behind to make
his home among the Native Americans there. [not in Africa]
1540:
Africans serve in the New Mexico Expeditions of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
and Hernando de Alarcon. [not in Africa]
1540:
Juan Valiente, former slave and Indian fighter, receives a large estate near
Santiago as a reward for his participation in campaigns against the Incas. [not in Africa]
1542:
The Spanish Crown abolishes Indian slavery in its colonial possessions. [not in Africa] [a further stage towards the post-slavery world, but we are not there yet, and it only applies to whatever is meant by "Indians"]
1542:
By this date over thirty thousand Africans are in Hispaniola with 10% living in
Maroon colonies in the interior of the island. [not in Africa]
1543:
A Spanish royal decree prohibits the enslavement of Muslims in the West Indies
who have converted to Christianity. [not in Africa]
1548:
Large numbers of African slaves are working in the sliver mines of Zacatecas. [not in Africa]
1548:
Free and enslaved black artisans in Peru manufacture swords, lances, and
rosaries for the Spanish army. [not in Africa]
1549:
Father Manuel de Nobrega arrives in Bahia from Lisbon and soon afterwards protests
the enslavement of Africans. [not in Africa]
1549:
Tome de Souza founds Sao Salvador in Bahia, Brazil. He is accompanied by a
number of African slaves. [not in Africa]
1550:
The first slaves directly from Africa arrive in the Brazilian city of Salvador.
[not in
Africa]
1550:
By this date enslaved people have replaced gold as the principal object of
European trade with Africa [what an extraordinary statement about human beings! and immediately after it, the next several items, and no doubt condemned by their owners as "terrorists", "criminals"...]
1550:
The first slave insurrection is recorded in Nicaragua. [not in Africa]
1550:
The first slave insurrection is recorded in Peru. [not in Africa]
1552:
Venezuela records its first slave insurrection. [not in Africa]
1552:
Panama experiences its first slave insurrection. The resistance led by Bayano
(or Vaino) leads to the founding of a maroon colony in eastern Panama. In 1570
the colonists establish the town of Santiago del Principe. [not in Africa; and still a long way from post-slavery; but at least things appear to be moving in that direction]
1560:
Africans outnumber Europeans 15 to 1 on the island of Hispaniola. [not in Africa]
1562:
Englishman John Hawkins begins trading slaves across the Atlantic when he
leaves what is now Sierra Leone with a shipment of 300 enslaved people bound
for Hispaniola. This is the first major example of English participation in the
slave trade.
1565:
African farmers and artisans accompany Pedro Menendez de Aviles on the
expedition that establishes the community of San Agustin (St. Augustine,
Florida). [this is on the blog already, Sept 8] [not in Africa]
1565:
Afro-Spanish scholar Juan Latino is appointed the grammar chairman at
Cathedral School of Granada. [not in Africa, and this is post-Moorish Spain]
1565:
Portuguese settlers, including African slaves, found Rio de Janeiro. [see Jan 1] [not in Africa]
1568:
Spanish trade between Mexico and the Philippines introduces enslaved Africans
to the Philippines.
1570:
Gaspar Yanga, Known as the Primer Libertador de America or the first liberator
of the Americas, led colonial Mexico's first successful slave uprising and
later established one of the New World's first black settlements. [not in Africa]
1570:
Afro-Spanish scholar Juan Latino publishes the first of three books
of poetry. [not in Africa]
1573:
Professor Bartolome de Albornoz of the University of Mexico writes against the
enslavement and sale of Africans. [not in Africa]
1590:
A Moroccan army invades Songhai and captures Timbuktu the following
year
1590:
The Portuguese are defeated by the combined African armies of Matamba and
Ndongo.
1591:
Martin de Porres, a Roman Catholic priest, begins his missionary and medical
work among the poor in Lima, Peru. On January 10, 1945, Fray Martin de Porres
was officially named patron saint of social justice in Peru by Pope Pius XII,
becoming the Americas first cannonized black clergy. [not in Africa]
1592:
Portuguese forces are defeated by the Zimba in the Zambezi Valley.
1598:
Isabel de Olvera, a free mulatto, accompanies the Juan Guerra de Resa
Expedition which colonizes what is now New Mexico. [not in Africa]
1600:
The Buganda Kingdom emerges along the shore of Lake Victoria. Its
principal rival is the neighbouring state of Bunyoro.
1602:
Ethiopian-born Malik Ambar seizes a vast area in the Deccan (the
Indian interior). He founds the city of Khadki which will become his new
capital, and rules this region until his death in 1626. [not in Africa]
1609: Fugitive
slaves in Mexico, led by Yanga, sign a truce with Spanish colonial
authorities and obtain their freedom and a town of their own. [not in Africa]
1610:
Dahomey emerges as the first of a series of slave-trading states along the West
African coast.
1615:
The Portuguese are exporting approximately 10,000 enslaved people per year to
its Brazilian colony.
1617: The town of San Lorenzo de los Negros receives a charter from
Spanish colonial officials in Mexico and becomes the first officially
recognized free settlement for blacks in the New World [not in Africa]
1617:
The Dutch purchase Goree Island (Senegal) to establish their presence
in the commerce of enslaved people.
1620:
Black Catholic clergyman Martin de Porres founds an orphanage and
foundling hospital in Lima Peru [not in Africa]
1627:
Nzinga, Queen of Mbundu, is victorious in a war with Portugal.
1630:
Fugitive slaves under Zumbi create the independent state
of Palmares in the interior of Portuguese Brazil. [not in Africa; and for a moment it looked like, maybe, a genuine success in breaking free of slavery; but the entry is then completed] Palmares continues until 1695 when the Portuguese regain control of the region.
1634:
The French establish St. Louis, their first settlement in what is now
Senegal.
1635:
Enslaved Africans brought in by Puritan settlers become the first blacks to
reside in Bluefields, Nicaragua. Eventually Bluefields will become the
largest settlement of persons of African ancestry in Central America. [not in Africa]
1636:
Ethiopian Emperor Fasiladas establishes a new capital at Gondar.
1638:
France's North American colonies open to trade in enslaved Africans.
1644:
Queen Nzinga, supported by Dutch allies, captures Luanda from the Portuguese.
1645:
The Portuguese take enslaved people from Mozambique to Brazil for the first
time.
1650:
The Sultan of Oman ends Portuguese control over the East African
city-states.
1650:
The French take control of the island of Grenada. [not in Africa]
1651:
The Swedes capture Carolusberg castle on the Gold Coast from the Dutch and
establish their first slave trading center on the West African coast.
1652:
The Dutch establish a naval supply station at the Cape of Good Hope. This
supply station will become the first permanent white colony in Southern Africa.
1657:
The Danes drive out the Swedes from Carolusberg castle and take control over
the trade in enslaved people along that coastal area of West Africa.
1660:
The Dutch defeat the Khoisan people and claim the right of conquest as boers
(farmers) expand their control beyond the Cape peninsula.
1660:
The British take control of Jamaica. [not in Africa]
1661:
The British establish their first permanent settlement in Africa when they
build Fort James at the mouth of the Gambia River.
1662:
The Portuguese defeat the Kingdom of the Kongo at the Battle of Ambuila.
1667:
A treaty between Great Britain and Holland gives Surinam to the Dutch in
exchange for New York which is given to the British. [not in Africa]
1670:
A French royal decree brings French shippers into the slave trade, with the
rationale that the labour of enslaved Africans helps the growth of France's
island colonies.
1670:
The French establish a trading station at Offa on the Dahomey coast.
1672:
King Charles II of England charters the Royal African Company, which
dominates the slave trade to North America for the next half century.
1675:
An estimated 100,000 Africans are enslaved in the British West Indies and
another 5,000 are in British North America.
1680:
The Ashanti Empire emerges in West Africa.
1681:
The Changamire Empire emerges in southern Africa.
1684:
Changamire defeats a Portuguese army at the Battle of Maungwe. The battle
initiates a military campaign between the Changamire Empire and
Portugal which will continue until 1917.
1693: All fugitive Africans who have escaped
slavery in the British colonies and fled to Florida are granted their freedom
by the Spanish monarchy. [not in Africa; and is this perhaps the moment of transition? though it must be said the Spanish were never as committed to the slave trade as were the British and the Portuguese, so probably not yet]
1697:
The island of Hispaniola is divided between France which takes the western
third, and Spain which retains the eastern two thirds. [not in Africa]
1698:
The Omani Arabs take control of Mombasa in East Africa and the island
of Zanzibar the following year.
1724:
The Black Code is enacted in New Orleans, French Territory, to
control blacks and banish Jews. [not in Africa]
1730:
Little George Slave Revolt was one of the most significant uprisings of
captured Africans on the high seas [near Guinea; click here for the full tale]
1731:
Dahomey is conquered by Oyo, a rising West African state.
1734:
The Sultan of Bornu [is that Chad?] takes control of the neighbouring
state of Kanem, creating the Kanem-Bornu Empire in the Central Sudan
region.
1734:
African-born scholar Anton Wilhelm Amo receives a doctorate degree
from the University of Wittenberg in Germany where he defended his
dissertation. After he is awarded his doctorate he lectures at the University
of Halle in Germany. Amo is the first African to receive a doctorate and to
teach at a university. [not in Africa]
1740:
The Lunda Kingdom emerges in central Africa.
1747:
Oyo is the major military power along the West African coast from Dahomey
to the Niger Delta.
1750:
The British take control of Grenada and introduce an economy dominated by slave
labour.
1750:
The French take control of the Seychelles Islands.
1750:
Escaped slaves from other Caribbean islands settle on St. Vincent, intermarry
with the indigenous Caribs and become the Garifuna (Black Caribs).
The island is officially controlled by French settlers. [not in Africa]
1752:
The Sultanate of Darfur extends from Kanem Bornu in the west to the
Nile Valley.
1759:
Great Britain gains control over the Caribbean island of Dominica [not in Africa]
1760:
Abram Petrovich Hannibal,a former slave who later becomes the godson of Peter
the Great, is appointed a general in the Russian Army. A trained engineer he
oversaw various projects such as the construction of the Ladoga Canal and a
number of Russian fortresses. [not in Africa]
1760:
Boers cross the Orange River to begin settlement in the interior of South
Africa.
1761: Portugal abolishes slavery in mainland Portugal and its possessions in India
And based on my note at 694-95, I am going to end the page here, though I confess now that I will not be offering any explanation of why the change took place, on page 2 of this account (why not? because I don't have one; no one does). Click here to continue reading.
But before you go, long before I started adding this Africa page, the blog already included many entries on the subject of slavery: Jan 31 has its abolition in the USA in 1865, with links to Aug 1, March 1 and June 23; Frederick Douglass appears with P.L Dunbar on Feb 9, and on his own on Feb 14; William Wilberforce is there fictitiously on Jan 8 and actually on Aug 24; John Brown can be found on Dec 2There is allso a link back to Jan 31 on March 6 for “affirmative action”... and many more, which I shall note on these African pages as they arise
You can find David Prashker at:
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