AD 1 |
17 - 24 | Revolt of Tacfarinas, Numidian leader, against Roman government in North Africa |
40 | Mauretania (now northern Morocco and northwestern Algeria) annexed by Rome |
61 - 63 | Roman force explores up the Nile Valley into Sudan |
|
AD 100 |
c. 100 | Aksum becomes capital of major state in Eritrea, northern Ethiopia |
115 | Revolt of Jewish community in Cyrenaica (northeastern Libya) against Roman administration |
193 - 211 | Libyan Septimius Severus is emperor of Rome |
|
AD 200 |
c. 200 | Roman emperor Septimius Severus strengthens frontier defences in North Africa with chain of forts and long ditches |
238 | Revolt in Africa against Roman rule begins half-century of unrest |
295 - 300 | Emperor Diocletian reorganizes local government in North Africa |
|
AD 300 |
c. 300 - 400 | Bantu cereal cultivators in southeast Africa begin to herd cattle |
c. 330 - 40 | Beginning of conversion of kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia-Eritrea to Christianity, by Bishop Frumentius |
c. 350 | End of Kushite civilization at Meroe; it is possibly brought down by invasion from kingdom of Aksum |
c. 397 | Berber prince Gildo begins a major rebellion against Roman emperor Honorius |
|
AD 400 |
RELIGIOUS WORLDS |
c. 400 | Use of iron spreads through eastern Africa |
400s | Christianity in the Aksum empire in northeastern Africa becomes more widespread |
|
AD 500 |
c. 500 | The Ghanaian empire becomes the most important power in West Africa |
525 | King Kaleb of Aksum conquers Yemen in southern Arabia; he builds many churches |
c. 550 - 600 | Nubians in Sudan, northeastern Africa, become Christian |
|
AD 600 |
640 - 41 | Caliph Omar, a successor to Mohammed as Islamic leader, conquers Egypt |
c. 640 - 711 | Arabs, carrying the Muslim faith, expand across northern Africa |
642 | Arabs erect first mosque in al-Fustat, new capital of Muslim Egypt |
652 | Christian Nubians and Arabs in Egypt agree that Aswan on Nile should mark southern limit of Arab expansion |
697 - 98 | Arabs destroy Byzantine city at Carthage in North Africa; new city of Tunis built nearby |
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AD 700 |
c. 788 | Idris, Arab chief, becomes ruler in Morocco |
|
AD 800 |
NEW NATIONS |
800 - 909 | Aghlabid dynasty rules in Tunis on the coast of North Africa; the rulers set up a colony in Sicily (827 - 902) and invade southern Italy |
c. 800 - c. 950 | Christian empire in Ethiopia continues after the decline of Aksum |
800s | Arabs and Persians explore East African coast and set up trading stations at Malindi, Mombasa, Kilwa, and Mogadishu |
868 | Ahmad ibn-Tulun, Egyptian noble of Turkish descent, breaks away from Abbasid caliphate and sets up Tulunid dynasty in Egypt |
|
AD 900 |
c. 900 | Kasar Hausa (Hausaland), a fertile region on the lower Niger river in West Africa, prospers due to increasing trade and industry |
c. 950 - 1050 | Igbo-Ukwu culture thrives in eastern Nigeria |
969 | Fatimid dynasty expands from Tunis and conquers Egypt from Tulunid dynasty; Fatimids build Cairo which becomes Egyptian capital |
970s | Fatimids built al-Azhar University in Cairo, one of the world's first universities; it still exists today |
|
AD 1000 |
MONKS AND INVADERS |
1000s | Bantu-speaking peoples set up kingdoms in southern Africa |
1000s | Kingdoms of Takrur and Gao flourish in West Africa due to gold trade |
1021 - 35 | Reign of Fatimid caliph al-Zahir marks start of decline of Fatimid power |
c. 1050s | Culture of Yoruba people of Ife flourishes in Nigeria in West Africa; it survives until |
1050s - 1146 | Almoravids, Berber Muslims from western Sahara, take over Morocco, Algeria, and part of Muslim Spain; they invade Ghana in 1076, and establish power there |
1062 | Almoravids found capital at Marrakech |
|
AD 1100 |
c. 1100 | Ghana empire in West Africa declines |
c. 1100 | Katanga in Zaire central Africa probably founded |
1147 | Almohads, Berber Muslims opposed to Almoravids, seize Marrakech and go on to conquer Almoravid Spain, Algeria, and Tripoli |
1150s | Zagwe dynasty rules in Ethiopian highlands |
1171 | Saladin, Muslim warrior and commander in Egyptian army, overthrows Fatimid dynasty |
1173 | Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt |
|
AD 1200 |
CONQUEST AND PLAGUE |
C. 1200 - 30 | King Lalibela of Ethiopia responsible for churches cut from rock |
1218 | Ayyubid empire breaks up but Ayyubids rule Egypt to 1250 |
c. 1220 | City state of Kilwa in Tanzania increases in prosperity |
c. 1230 | Hafsid monarchy takes over from Almohads in Tunisia and acquires much trade across the Sahara desert |
c. 1235 | Great warrior leader Sun Diata founds Mali empire in West Africa; it expands under his rule |
c. 1250 | Kanem kingdom in Lake Chad region begins to break up into rival factions |
1250 | Last Ayyubid ruler in Egypt murdered; Mamluks, soldiers from central Asia employed by Ayyubids, seize power and found military state |
1260 - 77 | Mamluk commander Baybars takes over as sultan of Egypt |
|
AD 1300 |
1300 | Ife culture of West Africa produces famous brasses |
1324 | Emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Arabia |
1348 | Egypt devastated by plague, called Black Death |
1352 - 53 | Ibn Battuta, Berber scholar, travels across Africa and writes an account of all he sees |
c. 1380s | Foundation of Kongo kingdom in Congo river-mouth region of Zaire, central Africa |
|
AD 1400 |
THE EXPANSION OF KNOWLEDGE |
c. 1400 | Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa thrives on gold trade |
1400s | Gold from mines in Zimbabwe is exported to Asia via Sofala on the east coast |
c. 1400 | Engaruka community farms land in Tanzania |
c. 1420 | Portuguese sailors begin to explore west coast of Africa |
1420s | Songhai people in Gao region, West Africa, begin raids on Mali empire |
c. 1430 | Sultans of Kilwa on east African coast begin grand building programme |
1434 - 68 | Reign of Christian emperor Zera Yacub in Ethiopia; he expands church and promotes great monasteries |
c. 1450 | Building at Great Zimbabwe, southern Africa, at its height |
1462 | Sonni Ali becomes ruler of the Songhai and goes on to build an empire |
1482 | Portuguese explore Congo river estuary |
1491 | Ruler of Congo kingdom baptized as Christian by Portuguese |
|
AD 1500 |
THE GREAT RULERS |
1500s | Songhai empire in West Africa enters period of greatest expansion and power under Askia Mohammed Turré |
1500s | Trade encourages growth of Hausa states in West Africa |
1505-07 | Portuguese capture Sofala on east coast and found Mozambique; they begin to trade with Africans |
1507 | Nzinga Mbemba, Christian and Portuguese ally, becomes king of Kongo kingdom in central Africa |
1517 | Ottomans defeat Mamluks and conquer Egypt |
1529 | Muslims defeat Christian Ethiopian forces at the Battle of Shimbra Kure and overrun the kingdom until 1543, when Portuguese troops help to defeat them |
c. 1530 | Beginning of trans-Atlantic slave trade organized by Portuguese |
1560s | First Portuguese embassies in Timbuktu, West Africa |
1562 | Sir John Hawkins starts English slave trade, taking cargoes of slaves from West Africa to the Americas |
c. 1570 - c. 1610 | Kanem-Bornu kingdom in western Central Africa at its most powerful; alliance with the Ottomans brings it firearms, military training, and Arab camel troops |
c. 1575 | Portuguese begin to colonize Angola; more than a century of warfare follows |
1590-91 | Songhai empire overthrown by Moroccan army |
c. 1598 | First Dutch trade posts set up on Guinea coast, West Africa |
|
AD 1600 |
COMMERCE AND COLONIES |
1600s | Kalonga kingdom, north of Zambezi river, becomes rich through ivory trade |
1600s | Hausaland dominates trade routes to Sahara |
1600s | Great Zimbabwe replaced by several regional capitals in Transvaal, Botswana, and Zimbabwe |
1620s | Queen Nzinga of Ndongo fights Portuguese in Angola |
1650s | Portuguese clash with Muslims in Zambezi region |
c. 1650 | Ethiopia expels Portuguese missionaries and diplomats |
1652 | Dutch found Cape Town in South Africa |
1660s | Mawlay-al-Rashid restores sultanate of Morocco |
1670s | French settle in Senegal |
1670s | Fulani pastoralist people gain control of Bondu in southern Senegal |
1680s | Rise of Asante kingdom in West Africa |
1680s | Butua kingdom flourishes in Zimbabwe plains; Portuguese are driven into Zambezi valley, and also eastwards |
1686 | Louis XIV of France officially annexes Madagascar |
1698 | Portuguese expelled from Mombasa on eastern coast |
|
AD 1700 |
THE AGE OF ENQUIRY |
1701 | Osei Tutu creates free Asante nation in West Africa |
c. 1705 | Bey (army commander) Husain ibn Ali founds dynasty at Tunis in North Africa |
c. 1705 | Kongo prophetess, Dona Beatrice, founds new religious cult and helps to end civil war |
1710 | Dey (military leader) becomes pasha in Algiers, controlling northern Algeria |
1714 | France captures the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean |
1720s | Yoruba state of Oyo still dominates region west of the Niger river in West Africa |
1722 -23 | Asante conquer kingdom of Bono-Mansu north of the forest area of Akan region of West Africa |
1724-34 | King Agaja of Dahomey in West Africa temporarily disrupts slave trade; it is reintroduced in the 1740s |
c. 1725 | Fulani Muslim cleric Alfa Ibrahim appointed ³Commander of the Faithful² in Futa Jalon in West Africa |
1727 | Death of Mulai Ismail followed by 30 years of anarchy in Morocco |
1740s | The Lunda create prosperous new kingdom |
1746 | Mazrui dynasty in Mombasa, East Africa, becomes independent from Oman |
1755 | The first outbreak of smallpox, brought by sailors, in Cape Town, South Africa, spreads rapidly inland; it kills many Khoisan hunters and herders |
1764-77 | Reign of Osei Kwadwo, Asante ruler, in West Africa |
1768-73 | Scottish explorer James Bruce travels in Ethiopia |
1768 | Ali Bey, a Mamluk army officer, makes himself ruler of Egypt |
1770s | Tukolor kingdom gains power in former Songhai region of West Africa |
1773 | Ali Bey dies a week after being wounded in a battle with rebels led by Abu'l-Dhahab |
1777 | Sidi Mohammed, ruler of Morocco (1757-90), abolishes Christian slavery |
1779 | Dutch farmers in Cape Colony clash with organized Xhosa resistance |
1781 | Militant Tijaniyya Islamic order set up in Algeria |
1785 | Omani rulers reassert influence in Zanzibar |
1787 | Tuaregs, nomads in Sahara, abolish Moroccan pashalik of Timbuktu |
c. 1788 | Usuman dan Fodio, a Fulani cleric, stirs holy war against a Hausa king |
1788 | African Association founded in England to explore interior of Africa |
1795 | British seize Cape Colony from Dutch for the first time |
1795-96 | Scottish explorer Mungo Park travels through Gambia and reaches Niger |
|
AD 1800 |
INDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY |
1804 | Fulani begin jihad (holy war) in northern Nigeria |
1805-06 | Mungo Park explores Niger river, West Africa |
1805-48 | Mohammed Ali rules Egypt; Egypt breaks away from Ottoman empire |
1807 | Asante invade Fante confederacy of states |
1808 | Fulani invade Bornu near Lake Chad |
1814 | Cape Colony in south Africa formally ceded to Britain by Netherlands |
c. 1816-28 | Career of Zulu ruler Shaka in South Africa |
c. 1820 | Fulani emirate founded in Adamawa, West Africa |
1820-64 | Fulani in Mali, West Africa, found and rule Hamdallahi caliphate |
1822 | Liberia founded in West Africa as home for freed slaves |
1825 | Egyptians found the city of Khartoum in Sudan |
1828 | Basel mission to Ghana (then called Gold Coast), West Africa |
1828 | Shaka, Zulu ruler, assassinated by his half-brother Dingane who takes over as ruler of Zulu nation |
1830 | French invade Algeria; they gradually occupy the country |
1832-47 | Abd-al-Kadir leads Arab resistance to France in Algeria |
1836-37 | The Great Trek of Boers (Dutch farmers) away from British in South Africa; they fond the Republic of Natal in 1838 and the Orange Free State in 1854 |
1840 | Imam Sayyid Said, ruler of Oman (1806-56), makes Zanzibar, a small island off the east African coast, his capital |
1843 | Britain takes over Natal from the Boers as a British colony |
1852 | Tukolor leader al-Hajj 'Umar launches jihad along Senegal and upper Niger rivers to establish Islamic state |
1852 | In South Africa, Britain recognizes Transvaal's independence |
1853-56 | Dr David Livingstone crosses Africa; follows course of Zambezi river, reaches Victoria Falls |
1855-68 | Reign of Emperor Theodore of Ethiopia |
1863 | Al-Hajj 'Umar takes Timbuktu |
1865-68 | Wars between Orange Free State and Moshweshwe's Basuto people, in South Africa |
1867 | Diamonds discovered at Kimberley at South Africa |
1869 | Suez Canal opened |
1872 | Cape Colony in South Africa granted self-government by Britain |
1873-74 | War between Asante kingdom and Britain |
1874 | Beginnings of Mande state in old Mali under Samori Turé |
1879 | Zulu war with British; British defeated at Isandlwana but victorious at Ulundi |
c. 1880 | Beginning of the European ³Scramble for Africa² |
1880-81 | First Boer War, Transvaal defeats Britain |
1885 | Conference in Berlin on Scramble for Africa |
1885 | in Sudan, Muslim leader, the Mahdi, takes Khartoum from Egypt; General Gordon killed |
1886 | Gold found in Transvaal |
1894 | French set up protectorate in Dahomey (Benin), West Africa |
1895-96 | Jameson Raid into Transvaal |
1896 | France takes Madagascar |
1896 | Ethiopian ruler Menelik crushes Italian army at Adowa |
1897 | Slavery banned in Zanzibar |
1899-1902 | Second Boer War in South Africa |
|
AD 1900 |
THE WORLD GOES TO WAR |
1900 | Buganda, East Africa, is ruled by the kabaka, or king, with British advice |
1900-01 | Rising in Asante, West Africa; Britain annexes Asante |
1902 | Treaty of Verceniging ends second Boer War in South Africa; defeated Boers remain bitter and determined to regain power |
1903 | Sokoto caliphate in Hausaland taken over by Britain |
1904 | French create federation of French West Africa |
1905 | Kaiser William II of Germany visits Tangier and provokes crisis with France |
1905 | Maji-Maji rebellion begins in Tanzania (German East Africa) |
1906 | Tripartite pact (Britain, France, Italy)seeks to preserve integrity of Ethiopia |
1907 | Government of Mozambique organized |
1908 | Belgium takes over Congo Free State |
1909 | Franco-German agreement reached on Morocco |
1909 | Liberia calls on United States for financial assistance |
1910 | Union of South Africa |
1912 | New loans to Liberia coupled with US control over customs revenue |
1912 | French make Morocco a protectorate at Treaty of Fez |
1913 | South African government introduces laws to reserve 87 per cent of land for whites |
1914 | Britain and France occupy German colonies in West Africa |
1916 | Boer leader Jan Smuts leads an anti-German drive from Kenya into Tanzania (German East Africa) |
1916 | British and Belgian troops take Yaounde, the capital of the German Cameroons |
1917 | Ras Tafari (later, Haile Selassie) becomes regent of Ethiopia |
1917 | German forces in German East Africa withstand British and Portuguese at Mahiwa; Germans withdraw into Mozambique |
1919 | ANC demonstrates against pass laws in Transvaal |
1920s | More British and Indians settle Kenya |
1921-26 | Abd-el-Krim leads Berbers and Arabs against Europeans in North Africa |
1922 | Egypt becomes independent from Britain under King Fuad |
1923 | Ethiopia admitted to League of Nations |
1930 | White women given the vote in South Africa |
1930 | Ras Tafari crowned emperor of Ethiopia, and takes name Haile Selassie |
1931 | First trans-African railway completed, from Angola to Mozambique |
1934-36 | British colonial government of Ghana suppresses radical African critics |
1936 | Representation of Natives Act denies black South Africans any chance of political equality |
1935-36 | Italians under Mussolini invade and annex Ethiopia |
1939 | South Africa declares war on Germany at start of World War II |
1941 | German army under Rommel attacks British in North Africa |
1941 | Ethiopia liberated from Italians by Ethiopians and British, and recognized as independent |
1942 | British defeat German army at Battle of El Alamein in Egypt |
1943 | Germans and Italians driven from North Africa |
1948 | Afrikaner National Party wins power in South Africa |
1951 | Libya gains independence |
1952-59 | Mau-Mau guerrilla war against British in Kenya |
1954-62 | War for independence in Algeria; freedom won in 1962 |
1954-70 | Colonel Nasser rules Egypt; revolutionary changes |
1956 | Suez crisis; Britain and France attempt to regain control of Suez canal from Egypt, but fail |
1956 | Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan gain their independence |
1957 | Ghana is first country in sub-Saharan Africa to become independent |
1958-60 | Independence for Zaire, Nigeria, Somalia, and 12 of France's 13 sub-Saharan colonies |
1960s | Civil war in south Sudan |
1960-65 | Civil war in Zaire, formerly Belgian Congo |
1961-67 | Independence for Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana, Gambia, and Swaziland |
1963 | Organization of African Unity founded |
1965 | White regime in Zimbabwe declares independence |
1967-70 | Biafran War, Nigeria |
1970s | Severe droughts in northeastern Africa and the lands on the southern edge of the Sahara |
1974 | Nigeria becomes leading oil producer in Africa |
1974-91 | Revolutionary regime in Ethiopia; civil war spreads |
1974-75 | Portuguese colonies gain independence after long struggle |
1976 | African schoolchildren spark uprisings in Soweto in South Africa |
1980 | Zimbabwe gains independence after guerrilla war |
1983- | Conflict in Sudan; more than 1.5 million people die |
1983- | African countries adopt IMF (International Monetary Fund) plans for managing their economies |
1989- | Zambia and other countries see changes of government by democratic election |
1990 | Namibia gets independence |
1990 | Nelson Mandela freed in South Africa; process of dismantling apartheid begins |
1993 | Eritrea (in north Ethiopia) breaks from Ethiopia; first successful secession in post-colonial Africa |
1994 | African National Congress (ANC) wins first multi-racial election ever held in South Africa |