Middle Ages
Kingdom of Kongo: Founding of a Central African State (c. 1390)
A centralised kingdom emerged south of the lower Congo River and became one of the largest states of Central Africa.
Region
Africa
Middle Ages
Zheng He's Treasure Voyages (1405–1433): Ming China at Sea
Seven state-sponsored expeditions spread Ming prestige and the tribute system across the Indian Ocean, then ended abruptly after 1433 and were never repeated.
Middle Ages
The Tribute Giraffe of 1414: An African Animal at the Ming Court
The giraffe was celebrated at court as a qilin, an auspicious sign of good rule, and further giraffes from East Africa followed in later years.
Middle Ages
Adal Sultanate (c. 1415): Muslim Rival of Medieval Ethiopia
Adal became the leading Muslim power of the Horn of Africa and the main rival of Christian Ethiopia until its decline in the late 16th century.
Middle Ages
Mutapa Empire: Founding of the Kingdom of Mwene Mutapa
A Shona state centred on the northern Zimbabwe plateau took over much of the region's gold trade and became the main African power met by the Portuguese in south-east Africa.
Middle Ages
Zara Yaqob (1434-1468): Ethiopian Emperor and Church Reformer
Zara Yaqob strengthened the Solomonic monarchy and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, ended the Sabbath dispute and defeated Adal, but ruled harshly and left a tense court to his son Baeda Maryam.
Middle Ages
Oba Ewuare the Great and the Rise of the Kingdom of Benin
Ewuare rebuilt Benin City, reorganised the palace and town chiefs and launched the conquests that made Benin a regional empire.
Middle Ages
Ngazargamu (c. 1460): Walled Capital of the Bornu Kingdom
Ngazargamu gave the Sayfawa dynasty a fixed, fortified capital in Bornu and became the centre of a powerful Sahelian state until Fulani forces sacked it in 1808.
Middle Ages
Kano under Muhammad Rumfa (1463-1499): Hausa City Reforms
Rumfa turned Kano into a walled Islamic commercial capital with a new palace, a central market and royal institutions that lasted for centuries.
Middle Ages
Sunni Ali Seizes Timbuktu (1468): Rise of the Songhai Empire
Sunni Ali drove the Tuareg from Timbuktu, went on to take Djenne and turned the kingdom of Gao into the Songhai Empire, the largest state in West African history.
Middle Ages
Elmina Castle (1482): Portugal's First Fort in West Africa
Portugal built the first European fortress in sub-Saharan Africa, secured a near-monopoly of the Gold Coast gold trade for over a century and created a base later used in the Atlantic slave trade.
Middle Ages
Askia Muhammad (1493-1528): The Songhai Empire at Its Height
Askia Muhammad founded the Askia dynasty, reorganised Songhai's government on Islamic lines and expanded it into the largest empire in West African history.