Here are the ten African Kingdoms nobody talks about. But they should.
10. Empire of Bornu (1380–1893)
In what is now northeastern Nigeria, there was a state known as the Bornu Empire, one of the great African Kingdoms.
It was a continuation of the enormous Kanem Empire that the Sayfawa Dynasty had established centuries earlier. It would eventually grow to be much bigger than Kanem, encompassing regions that are currently a part of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.
9. Civilization of Sao (sixth century B.C. to late 16th century A.D.)
From roughly the sixth century B.C. to as late as the sixteenth century A.D., the African Kingdom Sao civilization thrived in middle Africa. In a region that later belonged to both Cameroon and Chad, the Sao dwelt by the Chari River south of Lake Chad.
Sao artifacts demonstrate that they were expert bronze, copper, and iron smiths.
8. The Empire of Kanem (circa 700–1376)
At its height, the African Kingdom Kanem Empire covered a large portion of Chad as well as portions of eastern Niger, northeastern Nigeria, southern Libya (Fezzan), and northern Cameroon. According to reports, the empire could field 40,000 cavalry.
Humai (Hummay) ibn Salamna established the Islamic Sayfawa (Saifawa) dynasty around the end of the 11th century. One of the longest-lasting dynasties in human history, the Sayfawa Dynasty ruled for 771 years.
7. Kingdom of Shilluk
From the fifteenth century, the Shilluk Kingdom was based in South Sudan, along a stretch of land on the western bank of the White Nile. Despite their diversity, the Shilluk people appeared to come together as a nation in 1650, which coincided with a strengthening of the royal power.
A highly centralized government and the monarch, known as the Reth, imposed a monopoly on trade and economic resources.
6. Baguirmi Empire
In the 16th and 17th centuries, southeast of Lake Chad, in what is now Chad, the kingdom of Baguirmi existed as a sovereign nation. To the southeast of the Kanem-Bornu Empire, Baguirmi appeared. Mbang Birni Besse served as the first monarch of the realm. When the sultanate was powerful, it developed an imperialistic mindset. It formed relationships with neighbouring nomadic groups and took control of tiny feudal kingdoms in its periphery.
5. Kingdom of Wadai (1635–1912)
East of Lake Chad, in what is now the Central African Republic and Chad, was the Wadai Empire or Sultanate, an ancient empire. Due to its advantageous strategic location atop the trans-Saharan trade routes, the sultanate greatly increased its authority.
Prior to being defeated on June 6, 1909, the militant Wadai resisted French rule.
Till 1912, there was still resistance.
4. Imperial Luba (1585-1889)
Around 1585, in what is now the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s marshy grasslands known as the Upemba Depression, King Kongolo Maniema established the kingdom of Luba, also known as the Luba Empire.
Kalala Ilunga, Maniema’s nephew and direct successor, grew the empire over the areas along the upper left bank of the Lualaba River. Approximately a million people were paying homage to the state’s king at its height.
Also Read: Farmers, Traders, and the Emergence of Akan States in Akan and Asante
3. Empire of Lunda (circa 1665–1887)
In what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, northeastern Angola, and northern Zambia, there was a pre-colonial African confederation of states known as the kingdom of Lunda. By 1680, the Lunda Kingdom had a population of 175,000 and ruled an area of around 150,000 square kilometers, but by the 19th century, the state had doubled in size.
2. Kingdom Of Ajuran (13th Century To Late 14th Century)
In the Middle Ages, a Somali Muslim state known as the Ajuran Sultanate held sway over a sizable portion of the Horn of Africa. As one of the principal medieval Somali powers active in castle and fortress construction, the empire left behind a significant architectural legacy.
The engineers of the Ajuran Sultanate are responsible for many of the abandoned fortifications that dot southern Somalia’s landscapes today.
1. Mapungubwe Kingdom (1075-1220)
South of Great Zimbabwe, at the junction of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, the Kingdom of Mapungubwe was a precolonial state in southern Africa. A development that culminated in the founding of the kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century and with connections to the gold-trading communities of Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the east coast of Africa was started by the kingdom, which erected stone walls to identify significant locations.
About 70 years were spent in the Mapungubwe Kingdom. There were roughly 5,000 individuals living there at its peak.
