(Redirected from African empires)

A kingdom is a state with a king or queen as its head.[1] An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate peripheries".[2]

There were many kingdoms and empires in all regions of the continent of Africa throughout history. States emerged in a process covering many generations and centuries. Most states were created through conquest or the borrowing and assimilation of ideas and institutions, while some developed through internal, largely isolated development.[3] Economic development "gave rise to a perceived need for centralized institutions and ‘territorial’ leadership that transcended older bonds of kinship and community". Kings and queens used both "instrumental power", the employment of direct influence to achieve a desired outcome, and "creative power", the use of ritual and mythology.[a][5]: 21–23 

Despite this, popular understanding often claims that the continent lacked large states or meaningful complex political organisation. Whether rooted in ignorance, Eurocentrism, or racism, famous historians such as Hugh Trevor-Roper have argued that African history is not characterised by state formation or hierarchical structures. In fact, the nature of political organisation varied greatly across the continent, from the expansive West Sudanic empires, to the sacral Congolese empires akin to confederations or commonwealths, and the immensely hierarchical kingdoms of the Great Lakes.[6]

The vast majority of states included in this list existed prior to the Scramble for Africa (c. 1880–1914) when, driven by the Second Industrial Revolution, European powers rapidly colonised Africa. While most states were conquered and dissolved, some kings and elites negotiated the terms of colonial rule,[5]: 15  and traditional power structures were incorporated into the colonial regimes as a form of indirect rule.[7]

In the mid-late 20th century decolonisation saw Africans inherit the former colonies,[8] and many kingdoms still exist today as non–sovereign monarchies. The roles, powers, and influence of non–sovereign monarchs throughout Africa vary greatly depending on the state. In some states, such as Angola, the local monarch may play an integral role in the local governing council of a region.[9] On the flipside their powers may be curtailed, as happened in 2022 with Wadai in Chad,[10] or their positions abolished, as happened in Tanzania in 1962,[11] and in 1966 in Uganda with Buganda, which was later restored in 1993.[12] In this list they are labelled (NSM).

There are only three current sovereign monarchies in Africa;[13] two of which (Lesotho and Morocco) are constitutional monarchies where the rulers are bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers, while one (Eswatini) is an absolute monarchy where the monarch rules without bounds. Sovereign monarchies are labelled (SM).

There have been a number of autocrats in Africa who invoked hereditary succession in order to preserve their regimes,[14] such as the Bongos of Gabon,[15] Gnassingbés of Togo,[16] or AptidonGuelleh of Djibouti,[17] generating the term monarchical republic.[15] These have been tentatively included due to their similarities to, and possibly even taking inspiration from, the institution of monarchy and are labelled (MR).

Criteria

Only kingdoms and tribal kingdoms as per Elman Service's classifications that were once independent are included, excluding bands, tribes, and most chiefdoms. The intercontinental Islamic empires that covered parts of North and Northeast Africa are not included, and should be discussed as part of the Muslim world, however the residual fragments that had their capital on the continent of Africa are.

Oral traditions rarely incorporate chronological devices,[18]: 29  and dates in this list are often estimates. Dates have [one date for loss of independence] / [one date for loss of nominal rule]. Additional information such as notable articles may accompany entries.

Comparison between kingdoms

Historian Jan 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:[19]

  1. Despotic Kingdoms (D): Kingdoms where the king controlled the internal and external affairs directly and personally appointed overseers. The king kept a monopoly on the use of force. Examples include Rwanda, Nkore/Ankole, and Kongo of the 16th century.
  2. Regal Kingdoms (R): Kingdoms where the king controlled the external affairs directly, and the internal affairs via a system of overseers where most local chiefs kept their positions but not their autonomy after conquest. The king and most of his administration belonged to the same religion, group and/or family.
  3. Incorporative Kingdoms (I): Kingdoms where the king only controlled the external affairs and the nucleus with no permanent administrative links between him and the chiefs of the provinces. The local chiefs of the provinces were left largely undisturbed after conquest. Examples are the Bamileke, Luba and the Lozi.
  4. Aristocratic Kingdoms (A): The only link between central authority and the provinces was payment of tribute which symbolised subordination. These kingdoms were kept together by the superior military strength of the nucleus. This type is rather common in Africa, examples include Kongo of the 17th century, Kazembe, Kuba, the Ha, and Chagga states of the 18th century.
  5. Federations (F): Kingdoms where the external affairs were regulated by a council of elders headed by the king, who is simply primus inter pares, such as in the Ashanti Union. (Confederations are not included; see "List of confederations").

Classifications not given as examples by Vansina are open to scrutiny (here). Ones where two classifications are given and joined by an "and" mean that the kingdom had elements from both present; [a] refers to the king's place and power, particularly in the nucleus, whilst [b] refers to the relationship between king and administration.

List of African kingdoms

A list of known kingdoms and empires on the African continent that we have record of.

North Africa

4th millennium BCE – 6th century CE

 
Old and Middle Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt

7th century – 12th century CE

 
Almoravid Empire
 
Fatimid Caliphate

13th century – 18th century CE

 
Senussi Order including sphere of influence circa 1880

19th century CE – present

 
Domains of the Aksumite Empire and the Adal Sultanate.

East Africa

4th millennium BCE – 6th century CE

7th century – 12th century CE

 
Sultanate of Kilwa 1310 CE

13th century – 18th century CE

 
African Great Lakes Kingdoms, c.1880
 
Horn Of Africa 1915

19th century CE – present

 
13th–century Africa – Map of the main trade routes and states, kingdoms and empires.

West Africa

4th millennium BCE – 6th century CE

7th century – 12th century CE

13th century – 18th century CE

 
West Africa in 1625 CE
 
West Africa circa 1875
 
Fula jihad circa 1830
 
Sokoto Caliphate 19th century

19th century CE – present

Central Africa

 
Central East Africa circa 1750 CE
 
UN Macroregion of Central Africa

4th millennium BCE – 6th century CE

7th century – 12th century CE

13th century – 18th century CE

 
Kingdoms in Angola circa 1760 CE

19th century CE – present

Southern Africa

7th century – 12th century CE

13th century – 18th century CE

19th century CE – present

Unplaced or undated kingdoms/sultanates

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Origin myths serve multiple purposes, helping to define a group's identity and forge sociocultural alliances, and provide the wikt:fulcrum on which a group's religious ideology rests.[4]: xix  Dynastic oral traditions often have the king as a stranger, situated above or beyond society. They are considered "a source of order, fertility and well-being", but also "volatile, capricious and potentially dangerous."

Further reading

References

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Wikipedia

 

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

Listed below are known African empires and their respective capital cities.

The Wabongo kingdom, with its capital in Bokanga, in the Lobaye region (South West Central African Republic)

Historical developmentEdit

Sahelian kingdomsEdit

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 first major state to rise in this region was the Ghana Empire (Wagadu). The name Ghana, often used by historians, was the regnal title given to the ruler of the Wagadu empire.[8] Centered in what is today Senegal and Mauritania, it was the first to benefit from the introduction of gold mining. 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 on 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 (Susu); 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 Sokoto Caliphate 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.
  • The Jolof Empire ruled parts of Senegal from 1350 to 1549. After 1549, its vassal states were fully or de facto independent; in this period it is known as the Jolof Kingdom. It was largely conquered by the imamate of Futa Jallon in 1875 and its territories fully incorporated into French West Africa by 1890.

Empires of 15th–19th century AfricaEdit

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

West AfricaEdit

The West African empires of this period peaked in power in the late 18th century, paralleling the peak of the Atlantic slave trade. These empires implemented a culture of permanent warfare in order to generate the required numbers of captives required to satisfy the demand for slaves by the European colonies. With the gradual abolition of slavery in the European colonial empires during the 19th century, slave trade again became less lucrative and the West African empires entered a period of decline, and mostly collapsed by the end of the 19th century.[9]

  • The Kingdom of Dagbon was founded by the Red Hunter Tohazee circa 11th Century. The Kingdom is one of the largest and oldest in modern Ghana.
  • 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 priestking 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 (1400–1895) 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 prominence 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 (1240–1897), a pre-colonial African empire of modern Nigeria. The empire once stretched to present day Ghana ruled by sky kings ( OGISO ) in the first dynasty and by OBAS in the second dynasty. It was the first kingdom to come in contact with the Europeans.
  • Kaabu Empire (1537–1867), a Mandinka Kingdom of Senegambia (centered on modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau but extending into CasamanceSenegal) 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 (1690–1902), a trading 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.
  • Gbokpoe Dynasty was founded in 1700. This dynasty ruled DjanglanmeyGrand-popo. In the region this clan was the famous slave trader.
  • The Kingdom of Wémè was founded during the height of the slave trade in the late 17th century. Nowadays it is centred in modern-day Benin, ruled by its own traditional legitimate monarch in the Ouémé Valley.
  • Ashanti Empire (1701–1894), 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 (1710–1898) centered in north eastern Côte d’Ivoire that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso.
  • Bamana Empire (1712–1896), based at Ségou, now in Mali. It was ruled by the Kulubali or Coulibaly dynasty established c. 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 (1804–1903), an Islamic empire in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of SokotoSa’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.
  • Wassoulou Empire (1878–1898), a short-lived empire built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Ture and destroyed by the French colonial army.
  • Akwa Akpa Duke Town, originally known as Atakpa is an Efik city-state that flourished in the 19th century in what is now southern Nigeria. The City State extended from now Calabar to Bakassi in the east and Oron to the west.
  • Ife Empire (1200 – 1420) The Ife Empire was the first empire in Yoruba history. It was founded in what is now southwestern Nigeria and eastern Benin today. The Ife Empire lasted from 1200 to 1420. Its capital city, Ilé-Ife, was one of the largest urban centers, the biggest emporium, and the wealthiest polity south of the Niger River during the mid-14th-century.

Central AfricaEdit

Southern AfricaEdit

The Mutapa Empire or Empire of Great Zimbabwe (1450–1629) 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 capital are found in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.

East AfricaEdit

Horn of AfricaEdit

Domains of the Aksumite Empire and the later Adal Sultanate

North AfricaEdit

Ancient North African empiresEdit

Ancient Carthage and its dependencies in 264 BC

Pre-Islamic empires of North Africa:

Islamic North African empiresEdit

 

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