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1464
Beginning of Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire first came into power under the leadership of Sunni Ali. Sunni Ali was a prince of the Songhai. He was being held as a political prisoner by the leader of the Mali Empire who ruled over the Songhai. In 1464, Sunni Ali escaped to the city of Gao and took control of the city. From the city of Gao, he established the Songhai Empire and began to conquer nearby regions including the important trading cities of Timbuktu and Djenne. -
1468
Songhai Empire Conquers Timbuktu
In 1468, King Sunni Ali changed the traditional Songhai tactic of small and sporadic raids on its enemies to a more sustained campaign of permanent territorial expansion. With an army equipped with armored cavalry and the only naval fleet in North Africa, which he deployed on the Niger River, Sunni Ali was able to conquer Timbuktu. This was the downfall of the Mali Empire. -
1482
Portuguese Erect Elmina Castle
It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence south of the Sahara. First established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade. -
1483
Portuguese explorers make contact with the west African kingdom of Kongo
In 1483, the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão sailed up the uncharted Congo River, finding Kongo villages and becoming the first European to encounter the Kongo kingdom. Cão left men in Kongo and took Kongo nobles to Portugal. -
1490
Nzinga Nkuwu, king of Kongo, converts to Christianity
Cao returned with the Kongo nobles in 1485. At that point the ruling king, Nzinga a Nkuwu, converted to Christianity. Cão returned to the kingdom with Roman Catholic priests and soldiers in 1491, baptizing Nzinga a Nkuwu as well as his principal nobles, starting with the ruler of Soyo, the coastal province. At the same time a literate Kongo citizen returning from Portugal opened the first school. Nzinga a Nkuwu took the Christian name of João I in honor of Portugal's king at the time, João II. -
1493
Muhammad Askia becomes emperor of Songhai
In 1493, Askia Muhammad became the leader of the Songhai. He brought the Songhai Empire to its height of power and founded the Askia Dynasty. Askia Muhammad was a devout Muslim. Under his rule, Islam became an important part of the empire. He conquered much of the surrounding lands and took control of the gold and salt trade from the Mali Empire. -
1500
Portuguese begin to hire African artists
Although Africans were viewed as slaves, the Portuguese came to admire the artwork created by them. They hired artists from various regions from Benin, Sierra Leone, and Kongo. These objects of arts created by them ended up in collections of nobles and kings in Europe. -
1506
In return for slaves, African states begin receiving rifles to agree with terms.
West African rulers were instrumental in the slave trade. They exchanged their prisoners of war (rarely their own people) for firearms manufactured in Birmingham and elsewhere in Britain. With their newly acquired weapons, kings and chiefs were able to expand their territories. The slave trade had a profound effect on the economy and politics of West Africa, leading, in many cases, to an increase in tension and violence. -
1529
Battle of Shimbra Kure
Fought in March 1529 between the forces of Adal led by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, and the Ethiopian army, under Dawit II (Lebna Dengel). The army of Imam Ahmad prevailed, and were in control of the field at the end of the battle. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. -
Period: 1529 to 1543
Abyssinian–Adal war
The Abyssinian–Adal war is a military conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and the Adal Sultanate. Between 1529 and 1543, the Somali military leader Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi defeats several Ethiopian emperors and embarks on a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash, which brings three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the power of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal. With an army mainly composed of Somalis, Al-Ghazi's forces and their Ottoman allies come close to extinguishing the a -
1531
Battle of Antukyah
Fought in 1531 between Adal Sultanate forces under Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi and the Abyssinian army under Eslamu. Huntingford has located Antukyah about 89 kilometres south of Lake Hayq, at the edge of the Ethiopian highlands.
Despite the care Eslamu took in deploying his men, and the number of them, the Ethiopian army panicked and fled when the Imam's cannons cut down thousands of them. The Futuh al-Habasha compared the number of dead and wounded to the previous Battle of Shimbra Kure. -
1570
Portuguese establish Luanda colony in Angola
Luanda, being the basis for the first Portuguese colony in Angola, allowed the Portuguese to exert their power and show that they were going to stay. This motive was primarily commercial and military, although missionary efforts were on the side. -
Fall of Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire began to weaken due to internal strife and civil war. In 1591, the Moroccan army invaded and captured the cities of Timbuktu and Gao. The empire collapsed and was divided up into a number of separate smaller states. -
Period: to
Dutch–Portuguese War
The Dutch–Portuguese War was an armed conflict involving Dutch forces, in the form of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, against the Portuguese Empire. Beginning in 1602, the conflict primarily involved the Dutch companies invading Portuguese colonies in the Americas, Africa, India and the Far East. The war can be thought of as an extension of the Eighty Years' War being fought in Europe at the time between Spain and the Netherlands, as Portugal was in a dynastic -
Dutch becomes a major competitor in slave trade
The Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637, after an unsuccessful attempt to the same extent in 1596, and took over all of the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1642. The slave trade continued under the Dutch until 1814. In 1872, the Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort, became a possession of the British Empire. -
Dutch establish a colony at Cape of Good Hope
Due to the Dutch's success in gaining some control in Africa, they were able to create a colony to provide for slave trade for their country. -
Period: to
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo-Dutch wars were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England. They predominantly occurred in the second half of the 17th century over trade and overseas colonies; overall the Dutch were victorious. Almost all the battles were fought at sea. There were further battles in the 18th and 19th centuries, which were victories for the British and are often considered to be separate conflicts. -
Period: to
Kongo Civil War
The Kongo Civil War was an internal conflict between rival houses of the Kingdom of Kongo. The war waged throughout the middle of the 17th and 18th centuries pitting partisans of the House of Kinlaza against the House of Kimpanzu. Numerous other factions entered the fray claiming descent from one or both of the main parties such as the Água Rosada of Kibangu and the da Silva of Soyo. By the end of the war, Kongo's vaunted capital had been destroyed and many Bakongo were sold into the Trans-Atlan -
Osei Tutu unifies the important kingdom of Asante
Osei Tutu created the title of "asantehene", which designated the religious and supreme civil leader. This role was the symbol of the Asante union as multiple Akan clans reported under the asantehene. The Dutch noticed this power change in political structure and decided to confront with it directly, causing the Asante empire to depend on slave trade for 2/3 of their economic state. -
The Kingdom of Dahomey Seizes Port of Whydah
The kingdom of Dahomey seized the port of Whydah in 1727 and shifted towards the coast. This area had attracted many European traders. This kingdom increasingly became dependent on firearms and slaves and maintained an autonomy.