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500
Hausa
Located in Northern Nigeria, Northwestern Niger. Hausa claim that their founder, Bayajidda, came from the east in an effort to escape his father. There was an Islamic presence in Hausaland as early as the 11th century. Gained territory in the north-west Nigeria range since the 10th century and founded numerous city states like Birum,Daura,Zaria, Kano,Rano and Gobir. They also accepted Islam which was introduced in the late 14th century however the high class citizens believed differently and the -
Period: 500 to
African timeline
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Apr 2, 1100
Great Zimbabwe
In the 1800’s the European travelers and english colonizers were by the Great Zimbabwe’s large structures and their great advancements their advanced workmanship and foreign powers. Zimbabwe also had many great works of art the ave eight carved birds of soapstone that were found in it’s ruins they are about one yard tall and average around sixteen feet tall some people think that they symbolize royalty and excavated at the turn of the century. -
Apr 2, 1230
Mali
The Mali Empire was founded in the 1230s by Sundiata Keita and became famous because of its strategic rules and its wealth. The empire spread its language, laws and customs along the Niger River. The Mali empire now makes up a central chunk of Western Africa. Was agriculturally rich interior plain of the Niger River with its numerous gold mines they also had many other things like salt, lumber and silver. With all of the trading and wealth that was being developed it erupted into some ar -
Apr 2, 1301
Mutapa
The kingdom of mutapa existed from the 14th century to the 17th century and their domian was often called the empire of It was stretched between Zambezi and Limpopo rivers and was located in the present day states of Zimbabwe and Mozambique the empire ended when invaders from Portugal arrived and took over the empire. This empire actually has rich gold deposits however there is barely any resources on the high plateau area. When the Portuguese arrived they ended up colonizing the area -
Apr 2, 1340
Songhai
The Songhai Empire has no designated founder but greatly contributed to the Islamic culture. The Songhai empire had a very strong country because it was located at the bend in the Niger River. Their empire was very successful due to their capital, Gao, where a Songhai state had existed since the 11th century. The Songhai empire now makes up modern day Niger and Burkina Faso. They accepted Islam in the late 11th century and they dominated smaller adjacent states while in turn being contro -
Apr 2, 1400
Yoruba (Oyo)
The empire was established by the Yoruba in the 14th century and grew to become one of the largest West African states encountered by pre colonial explorers. It rose to preeminence through the outstanding organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade and its possession of a powerful cavalry. A powerful state of the coast of Guinea cost of the region of west Africa resulted in many exchanges that were economic,cultural and artistic. They had many ancient languages that were spoken -
Apr 2, 1440
Benin
A pre-colonial African nation now located in modern Nigeria. This should not be confused with modern day Benin, a current country formerly called Dahomey. Benin's main language was Edo.This Empire was a simple city state till a man named Oba Ewuare came to power. -
Kilwa
Kiliwa was founded in the 10th century by Ali ibn al- HAssan Shirazi a Persian prince of Shiraz the exact years are around 960 AD and ended around the late 15th century when a war broke out by another kingdom and many lives were lost it wasn’t just the war that tore them down there were many other things leading up to it that really began to break down the empire. Kilwa is one of the most powerful trade centers in central africa and is mentioned in the bible for its great wealth -
Ghana
The Ghana Empire was founded in 830 by Al-Kwarizmi. The empire was very successful because of their location, close to the oceans, and their abundant natural resources, such as gold, ivory and salt. The Ghana empire now makes up southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. Ghana is the earliest known empire of western Sudan which is a very large place to inhabit, although we know they did not inhabit it entirely they were stretched out quite a long way. They had very large gold mines and gained a l
