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| Map of Africa, c. 1812. |
A
BRIEF TIMELINE
OF
THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF AFRICA
TO
THE “SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA”
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c.
3150 B.C.
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Ancient
tradition states that the first pharaoh (king) of Kemet (kmt,
translation: “black land”, nka Ancient Egypt) was Pharaoh
Menes, honored with having unified Upper and Lower Kemet into a
single kingdom. The pharaoh of Dynasty I would begin a series of
dynasties that ruled Kemet for the next three millennium. In
Pliny's account, Menes was credited with being the inventor of
writing in Kemet.
The
New Kingdom of Kemet (c. 1550-1070 B.C.) began with the Eighteenth
Dynasty, marking the rise of Egypt as an international power that
expanded during its greatest extension to an empire into the
southern, northern and western regions of continental Africa and
as far east as the region now called India. Notable Pharaohs of
this era include Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten and his wife
Nefertiti, Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. The last native ruled
dynasty is said to have been the Thirtieth Dynasty, after which
the kingdom fell into the hands of Persian rulers c. 343 B.C.,
defeating Pharaoh Nectanebo II. Later the Ottomans, of Arab descent, came to rule this part of the Nile Valley.
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c.
1200 B.C.
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Kingdom
of Kush was an ancient African dynasty situated on the confluences
of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara in what is now the
Republic of Sudan. Established after the Bronze Age collapse (c.
1206 to 1150), it was centered at Napata in its early phase. After
king Kashta ("the Kushite") invaded Egypt in the 8th
century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as Pharaohs of the
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt for a century, until they were
expelled by Psamtik I in 656 BC. In early Greek geography, the
Meroitic kingdom, with its imperial capital at Meroe, was known as
Ethiopia. The Kushite kingdom with its capital at Meroe persisted
until the 4th century C.E., when it weakened and disintegrated due
to internal rebellion. The Kushite capital was eventually captured
and destroyed by the kingdom of Axum.
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c. 100 C.E. |
Kingdom
of Aksum (aka as the Axum, Aksumite Kingdom, Abyssinia and Ethiopia),
encompassed the national regions now known as Ethiopia and
Eritrea. Its dominion included rule over the declining Kingdom of
Kush and over the Kingdom of Himyarite in the region now known as
Yemen, which then included Saba (Sheba) from c. 25 B.C., Qataban
from c. 200 C.E., and Hadramaut from c. 300 C.E. The kingdom
existed from approximately 100 C.E. to 940 C.E. Great traders, the
Aksumites minted their own currency and was named by Mani (216–276
C.E.) as one of the four great powers of his time along with
Persia, Rome, and China. Aksum became the first major empire to
convert to Christianity.
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c.
400 C.E.
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The
name Nubia is derived from the Noba people, nomads who settled in
the Nile valley region in the 4th century, after the collapse of
the Kingdom of Kush. In the ancient commentary, however, Nubia,
Kush and Ethiopia (Greek: Aithiopia) are frequently used to
describe the same people. For example, while Kemet conquered
Nubian lands during various times in history, the Nubians are also
noted as having conquered Kemet under its 25th Dynasty.
The
ancient Nubian language in written form uses a modified Coptic
script that was mostly used in religious texts dating from the 8th
and 15th centuries C.E.. It is now preserved in at least a hundred
pages of ancient documents, including the famous The Martyrdom
of Saint Menas.
There
were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages,
the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided
between The Arab Republic of Egypt and the Sennar sultanate
resulting in the Arabization of much of the Nubian population.
Nubia was again brought under Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century,
and within Anglo-Egyptian Sudan from 1899 to 1956.
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c.
400 C.E.
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Kingdom
of Ghana, also called the Wagadou, founded in western region of
Africa. The wealth of the kingdom includes commentaries of
domesticated animals adorned with gold collars and included the
domestication of camels before the Arabs.
The old kingdom is not
located in the same region as the current Ghana nation. It
included the western region of the current nation of Mali and the
southeastern section of the current nation of Mauritania and
emcompassed Mande-speaking people. Gold, ivory, and salt were
traded to Europe and the Middle East. Abū ʿAbdallāh Muḥammad
ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Arabic: عَبْدَالله
مُحَمَّد بِن مُوسَى اَلْخْوَارِزْمِي),
the Persian mathematician, astronomer and geographer writing from
Baghdad c. 800 C.E. documented the legend of the Ghana dynasties.
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c.
600 C.E.
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The
Great Zimbabwe complex was built in stone in the Kingdom of
Zimbabwe, marking the rise of the Shona (Translation: dzimba dza
mabwe or "great stone houses") civilization and
evidencing the great Bantu expansion. The archaeological ruins
known as "Great Zimbabwe" have been radiocarbon dated to
approximately 600 C.E. The Kingdom of Zimbabwe controlled the
ivory and gold trade from the interior to the southeastern coast
of Africa. Asian and Arabic goods could be found in abundance in
the kingdom.
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c.
1230 C.E.
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The
Mali Empire (aka Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufaba) major tribal
group was the Mandinka and was founded by Sundiata Keita and
gained international fame from its ruler Mansa Musa I. The empire
formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power
in the 14th century with the center of its scholarship and trade
in the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu.
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c.
1402 C.E.
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Ethiopian
embassy was established in Venice.
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c.
1460
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The
Songhai (aka Songhay) are thought to have settled at Gao as early
as 800 C.E., but did not establish it as the capital until the
11th century, during the reign of Dia Kossoi. Sulaiman-Mar gained
independence and hegemony over Gao c. 1340, and became the forbear
of Sunni Ali, the first emperor of Songhai, reigning from c.
1464-1493. Sulaiman-Mar is often credited with wresting power away
from the Mali Empire at a time of internal succession disputes. The Songhai Empire would eventually supplanted the Mali
Empire. The Songhai Empire would collapse in 1591 in great part
due to what is described as the Moroccan invasion.
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1497
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Vasco
da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope
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1505-1821
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The
Funj empire in Sudan.
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1517
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Ottomans
take Cairo
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1626
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First
French settle in Senegal and Madagascar
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1628-29
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War
between Mozambique and Portugal, with Mozambique becoming a
Portuguese protectorate
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1820
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Egypt
conquers Sudan. British settlers arrive in Cape Colony.
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1822
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Liberia
is established by freed Africans from America.
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1824-31
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First
Anglo-Ashanti War.
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1830-47
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French
conquest of Algeria.
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1834-35
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British
defeat the Xhosa.
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1849
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Livingstone's
first journey in Africa
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1850-78
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Nine
Xhosa wars in South Africa.
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1868
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British
annexes Lesotho
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1869
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Suez
Canal opens
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1879
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Ango-Zulu
War
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c.
1880
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“Scramble
for Africa” begins
Note:
There were many great kingdoms and empires that rose on the African continent, such as the great civilizations developed by the Moor and the Berber, the Ndongo Kingdom in the central west Africa; the absence on this time-line is a product of the need for
brevity only.
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