African empires

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (January 2011)

Diachronic map of pre-colonial African kingdoms.

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with pre-colonial African kingdoms. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2011.

African empires is an umbrella term sometimes used in "Africana studies" to refer to a number of pre-colonial African kingdoms argued to include multinational structures incorporating various populations and polities into a single entity, usually through conquest.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The term "African empires" is used in the 19th century by David Livingstone and others in reference to the West African Sahelian kingdoms. In 20th-century Pan-Africanism, the term came to be extended to include any super-regional kingdom during the entire pre-colonial history of the entire continent, sometimes only to the exclusion of European colonialism, but to the inclusion of the Islamic caliphates. W.E.B. Du Bois in his 1967 The gift of Black folk: the Negroes in the making of America notably linked Ancient Egypt, the medieval West African kingdoms and the African diaspora.^[8] Joan Joseph in 1974 published Black African Empires: A First Book as a history book for schools.

Comparison

Vansina (1962) discusses the classification of Sub-Saharan African kingdoms ,mostly of Central, South and East Africa, with some additional data on West African (Sahelian) kingdoms distinguishing five types, by decreasing centralization of power:

1. despotic kingdoms: kingdoms where the king controls the internal and external affairs directly. Examples are Ruanda, Nkore, Soga and Kongo in the 16th century
2. regal kingdoms: kingdoms where the king controls the external affairs directly, and the internal affairs via a system of overseers. The king and his chiefs belong to the same clans or lineages.
3. incorporative kingdoms: kingdoms where the king only controls only the external affairs with no permanent administrative links between him and the chiefs of the provinces. The hereditary chiefdoms of the provinces were left undisturbed after conquest. Examples are the Bamileke, Lunda, Luba, Lozi.
4. aristocratic kingdoms: the only link between central authority and the provinces is payment of tribute. These kingdoms are morphologically intermediate between regal kingdoms and federations. This type is rather common in Africa, examples including the Kongo of the 17th century, the Cazembe, Luapula, Kuba, Ngonde, Mlanje, Ha, Zinza and Chagga states of the 18th century
5. federations such as the Ashanti Union. kingdoms where the external affairs are regulated by a council of elders headed by the king, who is simply primus inter pares.

List of African kingdoms

Listed below are known pre-Colonial empires with their capital cities on the African continent.

North Africa

Ancient North Africa

The Aksumite Empire circa 350 AD

Pre-Islamic empires of North Africa.

• Egyptian Empire (3100 BC – 870 BC)
• Kushite Empire (760 BC–656 BC)
• Ancient Carthage (575 BC - 146 BC)

Islamic empires

Fatimid Empire at its Greatest Extent

All of North Africa fell under the rule of successive Islamic empires following the Islamic conquests of the 8th century.

• Idrisid dynasty (789 AD - 974 AD)
• Fatimid Caliphate (910 AD - 1171 AD)
• Maghrawa dynasty (987 AD - 1070 AD)
• Almoravid Caliphate (1061 AD - 1147 AD)
• Almohad Caliphate (1121 AD - 1269 AD)
• Ayyubid Sultanate (1171–1254)
• Marinid Morocco (1195 AD - 1465 AD)
• Mamluk Sultanate (1250 AD - 1517 AD)
• Wattasid dynasty (1420 AD – 1554 AD)
• Saadi dynasty (1554 AD – 1659 AD)
• Alaouite dynasty (1666 AD - current)

North East Africa

• Kushite Empire (780 BC – 656 BC)
• Aksumite Empire (50 AD - 937 AD)
• Zagwe dynasty (1137 AD - 1270 AD)
• Ifat Sultanate (1285 AD - 1415 AD)
• Warsangali Sultanate (1298 AD - present)
• Ajuuraan Empire (1300s AD - 1600s AD]
• Adal Sultanate (1415 AD - 1555 AD)
• Kingdom of Gomma (early 1800s AD – 1886 AD)
• Kingdom of Jimma (1830 AD – 1932 AD)
• Kingdom of Gumma (1840 AD – 1902 AD)
• Sultanate of Hobyo (1880s AD - 1920s AD)
• Dervish State (1896 AD – 1920 AD)
• The Sennar Sultanate (1502 AD - 1821 AD) was a sultanate in the north of Sudan, named Funj after the ethnic group of its dynasty or Sinnar (or Sennar) after its capital, which ruled a substantial area of northeast Africa.

Sahelian kingdoms

Mali Empire circa 1350

The Sahelian kingdoms were a series of medieval empires centred on the sahel, the area of grasslands south of the Sahara.

• The Nok Civilization is considered to be one of the most advanced ancient sub-Saharan civilizations in African history. Beginning some time around 500 BCE, it was largely concentrated in what is now Nigeria but produced some of the first sub-Saharan iron smelting and terracotta architecture. Mysteriously died out around 200 CE.
• The first major state to rise in this region was the Kingdom of Ghana. Centered in what is today Senegal and Mauritania, it was the first to benefit from the introduction of pack animals by Arab traders. Ghana dominated the region between about 750 and 1078. Smaller states in the region at this time included Takrur to the west, the Malinke kingdom of Mali to the south, and the Songhai Empire centred around Gao to the east.
• When Ghana collapsed in the face of invasion from the Almoravids, a series of brief kingdoms followed, notably that of the Sosso; after 1235, the Mali Empire rose to dominate the region. Located on the Niger River to the west of Ghana in what is today Niger and Mali, it reached its peak in the 1350s, but had lost control of a number of vassal states by 1400.
• The most powerful of these states was the Songhai Empire, which expanded rapidly beginning with king Sonni Ali in the 1460s. By 1500, it had risen to stretch from Cameroon to the Maghreb, the largest state in African history. It too was quite short-lived and collapsed in 1591 as a result of Moroccan musketry.
• Far to the east, on Lake Chad, the state of Kanem-Bornu, founded as Kanem in the 9th century, now rose to greater preeminence in the central Sahel region. To their west, the loosely united Hausa city-states became dominant. These two states coexisted uneasily, but were quite stable.
• In 1810 the Fulani Empire rose and conquered the Hausa, creating a more centralized state. It and Kanem-Bornu would continue to exist until the arrival of Europeans, when both states would fall and the region would be divided between France and Great Britain.
• Wolof Empire (1350 AD - 1889 AD)

Ajuuraan Empire

Established in the 14th century, the Ajuuraan Empire or Ajuuraan Sultanate^[9] (Somali: Saldanadda Ajuuraan, Arabic: اٍمارة أجوران‎) was a Somali Muslim empire^[10][11][12] that ruled over large parts of East Africa in the Middle Ages. The Ajuuraan State slowly declined in power at the end of the 17th century, which paved the way for the ascendance of new Somali powers. The most prominent setbacks against the state were the dethronement of the Muzzaffar clients in Mogadishu and other coastal cities by the Hawiye Hiraab King,^[13] and the defeat of the Silcis Kingdom by a former Ajuuraan general, Ibrahim Adeer, in the interior of the state who then established the Gobroon Dynasty. Taxation and the practice of primae noctis were the main catalysts for the revolts against Ajuuraan rulers. The loss of port cities and fertile farms meant that much needed sources of revenue were lost to the rebels.

Ethiopian Empire

Ethiopian Empire circa 1900

The Ethiopian Empire existed from approximately 1270 (beginning of Solomonid Dynasty) until 1974 when the monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'etat.It was the only native African nation to successfully resist the Scramble for Africa by the colonial powers during the 19th century.

Empires of 15th-19th Century Africa

From the 15th century until the final Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, a number of empires emerge also south of the Sahel, especially in West Africa.

West Africa

• The Kingdom of Nri (1043 - 1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri-Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over much of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and was the possessor of divine authority in religious matters.
• The Oyo Empire (1400 AD - 1895 AD) was a West African empire of what is today western Nigeria. The empire was established by the Yoruba in the 15th century and grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose to preeminence through wealth gained from trade and its possession of a powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over other Yoruba states, but also over the Fon kingdom of Dahomey (located in the state now known as the Republic of Benin).
• Benin Empire (1440 AD - 1897 AD), a large pre-colonial African state of modern Nigeria.
• Kaabu Empire (1537 AD - 1867 AD), a Mandinka Kingdom of Senegambia (centered on modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau but extending into Casamance, Senegal) that rose to prominence in the region thanks to its origins as a former province of the Mali Empire. After the decline of the Mali Empire, Kaabu became an independent kingdom.
• Aro Confederacy (1690 AD - 1902 AD), a slave trading political union orchestrated by the Igbo subgroup, the Aro people, centered in Arochukwu in present day Southeastern Nigeria.
• Bonoman (11th Century- 19th Century) - Earliest known Akan state. Gold trading and Kola nut trading with Northern Neighbors brought wealth and prosperity to Akan creators of this state.. Culture influenced much of modern Akan culture.

• Asante Union (1701 AD - 1894 AD), a pre-colonial Akan West African state of what is now the Ashanti Region in Ghana. The empire stretched from central Ghana to present day Togo and Côte d'Ivoire, bordered by the Dagomba kingdom to the north and Dahomey to the east. Today, the Ashanti monarchy continues as one of the constitutionally protected, sub-national traditional states within the Republic of Ghana.
• Various states by Akan people (11th Century -19th Century)
• Kong Empire (1710 AD - 1894 AD) centered in north eastern Côte d'Ivoire that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso.
• Bamana Empire (1712 AD - 1896 AD) based at Ségou, now in Mali. It was ruled by the Kulubali or Coulibaly dynasty established circa 1640 by Fa Sine also known as Biton-si-u. The empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 to the 1861 invasion of Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall.
• Sokoto Caliphate (1804 AD - 1903 AD), an Islamic empire in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. Founded during the Fulani Jihad in the early 19th century, it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization. The caliphate remained extant through the colonial period and afterwards, though with reduced power.

Republic of Liberia

• Liberian Republic (1847 AD - 1980 AD)
  • The Republic of Liberia was established as a republic under the model of the US; it fully fits the model of empire in its conquest of other polities of different ethnic groups.
• Wassoulou Empire (1878 AD - 1898 AD), a short-lived empire of built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Ture and destroyed by the French colonial army.

East Africa

• An Empire of Kitara in the area of the Great Lakes of Africa has long been treated as a historical entity, but is now mostly considered an unhistorical narrative created as a response to the dawn of rule under the Lwo empire, the sole historical record of an organized Nilotic migration into the area.^[14]

• The Buganda (1300 AD - present), home of the Buganda people of Uganda

Kongo

• The Kongo Kingdom (1400 AD - 1888 AD) was a quasi-imperial state as is evident by the number of peoples and kingdoms that paid it tribute. If not for the large amount of text written by the EssiKongo that repeatedly called themselves a kingdom, they would be listed as the "Kongo Empire".
• The Luba Empire (1585 AD - 1885 AD) arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Lunda Empire (1660 AD - 1887 AD) in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, north-eastern Angola and northwestern Zambia. Its central state was in Katanga.

Southern Africa

The Mutapa Empire or Empire of Great Zimbabwe (1450 AD - 1629 AD) was a medieval kingdom located between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers of Southern Africa in the modern states of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Remnants of the historical capitol are found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.

Sources

• Hunwick, John O. (2003). Timbuktu and the Songahy Empire: Al-Sa’di’s Ta’rikh Al-sudan Down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 488 Pages. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/90-04-12822-4|90-04-12822-4]]. 
• J. Vansina, A Comparison of African Kingdoms, Africa: Journal of the International African Institute (1962), pp. 324–335.
• Turchin, Peter and Jonathan M. Adams and Thomas D. Hall: "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires and Modern States", Journal of World-Systems Research, Vol. XII, No. II, 2006

See also

• History of Africa

References

Literature

• Gates, Henry Louis & Kwame Anthony Appiah (1999). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. New York City: Basic Civitas Books. pp. 2095 Pages. ISBN 0-465-00071-1. 
• Hempstone, Smith (2007). Africa, Angry Young Giant. Whitefish: Kessinger Publishing, LLC. pp. 664 pages. ISBN 0-548-44300-9. 
• Mwakikagile, Godfrey (2000). Africa and the West. Hauppauge: Nova Publishers. pp. 243 Pages. ISBN 1-56072-840-X. 
• Oliver, Roland (1975). The Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20981-1. 
• Oliver, Roland & Anthony Atmore (2001). Medieval Africa 1250-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 251 Pages. ISBN 0-521-79372-6. 
• Shillington, Kevin (2005). Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1 A-G. New York: Routledge. pp. 1912 pages. ISBN 1-57958-245-1. 

External links

• African Kingdoms
• Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology