TimeMaps

Africa
2500BC

Northern Africa has continued to get dryer, and the Sahara desert has reached roughly its present size. Farming communities now fringe its northern flank, and in the valley of the Nile, the great civilization of Ancient Egypt has emerged. To its south farming has also spread to Nubia, reaching the southern limits for agriculture based on wheat and barley.

To the south of the Sahara, the cattle-herding populations are now ranged over a vast swathe of territory, stretching from modern-day Sudan into West Africa. In the rest of the continent live hunter-gatherer peoples and fishermen, mostly related to today’s Pygmies or San Bushmen.

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Africa
1500BC

In the valley of the Nile, Egypt’s New Kingdom is one of the leading powers in the Middle East.

To the south, in a vast area stretching from the present-day Sudan into West Africa and down into East Africa, semi-nomadic populations of cattle herders occupy the land. Probably by this date, however, a crucial breakthrough has been made. Somewhere within this huge territory the domestication of sorghum and millet has occurred. These cereals, much more difficult to domesticate than the wheat and barley which originated in western Asia, are suitable for tropical rainfall areas and will become the staple crops throughout most of Africa. For now, however, populations of hunter-gatherers live throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa.

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Africa
1000BC

In the north east, the kingdom of Egypt is in decline, although its ancient civilization will retain its power for many centuries. The rising Greek civilization will come under its spell, and its art and architecture will be heavily influenced by Egyptian examples.

Nubia remains firmly within Egypt's cultural and political orbit, whilst to the south, cattle-herding and farming are gradually spreading throughout western and central Africa, having probably reached the Great Lakes region by now. Also, around this date, some peoples in West Africa, living on the fringes of the rain forests, are making the difficult transition to forest farming. This agriculture is based on a quite different set of crops to savannah agriculture, with cultivated fruits and roots such as plantains and yams as the staples.

Throughout the greater part of central and southern Africa, people remain hunter-gatherers and fishermen.

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Africa
500BC

In North Africa, the Phoenician colony of Carthage has become the centre of a powerful maritime empire which dominates the western Mediterranean.

In the Nile valley, Egypt is coming more and more under the domination of foreign powers. To its south, however, the civilization of Nubia continues to develop, becoming less “Egyptian” in its inspiration, and more “African”.

In West Africa, farming has taken root amongst the Bantu peoples of the rain forest region. This transition has given them the edge over their hunter-gatherer neighbours, and, starting from present-day Nigeria and Cameroon, they are expanding outwards. One branch is moving into the northern Congo region, while another is skirting the rain forests and heading towards the Great Lakes. These are stone-using peoples; but to the north, in present-day central Nigeria, an iron-using society, known to modern scholars as the Nok culture, has appeared. Already their art is highly developed, showing clear affinities with the later artistic traditions in the region.

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Africa
200BC

Egypt is now ruled by Greek-speaking rulers, the Ptolemy dynasty, in the wake of Alexander the Great's conquests. To its south, the civilization of Nubia continues to develop in its own distinctive way.

In North Africa, the great city of Carthage has been defeated in two great wars with the Romans, but remains a thriving commercial centre. Indeed, its commercial position is being boosted by the new trade routes across the western Sahara desert being pioneered by local Berber tribes.

By this date Bantu tribes occupy a huge stretch of territory, from the west African and Congo rain forests and the grasslands to their north, right across to the Great Lakes region. The Bantu have mastered both savannah and forest agriculture, and keep sheep, goats and possibly cattle. This mix of food producing capabilities gives them a distinct advantage over the other peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, and the spreading use of iron gives them a further superiority. Their population is beginning to grow rapidly, and continues to push further south.

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Africa
30BC

By now the southward movement of the Bantu peoples has reached full momentum. This expansion seems to have followed two lines of movement, one to the west, through the Congo forests and down into the grasslands of Namibia, the other through East Africa and now approaching southern Africa. The hunter-gatherers they encounter are either eliminated or pushed into the denser forests or the more arid areas. The speed of the Bantu movement is startling. In the forefront there are probably mobile bands of colonists seeking out the best land, farming it for a few years, and then move on to fresh land.

Meanwhile, the north coast of Africa has passed into the Roman sphere, either as provinces governed directly from Rome, as in the case of Egypt and the old territory of Carthage, or as client tribes, like the Mauritanians to the west.

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Africa
200AD

All of North Africa is now firmly under Roman rule. This territory includes some of the most flourishing and Romanized provinces within the empire. In fact, the emperor at this time is Septimius Severus, whose family originated in North Africa. Egypt, meanwhile, has become the breadbasket on which the capital city of Rome depends for its grain.

A major new state has recently appeared in Ethiopia. This is the kingdom of Axum. The rulers of this kingdom trace their origins back to migrants from southern Arabia, and links between Axum and Arabia remain strong. The Ethiopian script is derived from an Arabian one.

In West Africa, Berber tribes are pioneering long-distance trade routes across the Sahara, aided by the use of camels, introduced into this region around this time. The traders are in search of salt, ivory, gold, exotic animals for the Roman circus, and slaves.

The Bantu iron-age migration continues, confining the San hunter-gatherer peoples ever further south.

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Africa
500AD

The Roman provinces of North Africa have shared in the troubles of the declining Roman empire. By this date the western portions of North Africa have fallen away from the empire, and are being occupied by Berber nomads from beyond the old imperial frontiers, as well as by a German tribe which has crossed over from Europe, the Vandals.

Egypt remains an important part of the Eastern Roman Empire. To its south, the centuries-old kingdom of Nubia has been shattered by a strong invasion from the Axumite kingdom of Ethiopia; it has fragmented into three smaller kingdoms. Meanwhile, Axum has become a powerful Christian state, converted by monks from the Byzantine empire. Axum, and its port Adulis, on the Red Sea coast, are flourishing centres of trade, and at this time seem to have controlled the maritime trade coming up the Red Sea from India and the East.

In West Africa, this period sees the rise of large chiefdoms on the southern fringes of the Sahara. This is probably the result of efforts by some chiefs to control the southern end of the trans-Saharan trade. Importing horses from the north allows some chiefs to form cavalry forces and, so, to dominate surrounding villages more easily. Kingdoms are in the making.

By the time the Bantu migration has reached South Africa. At this latitude, the Bantu farmers reach the limits of tropical crops, and therefore can go no further.

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Africa
750AD

North Africa, including Egypt, has been conquered by Arab armies and is now part of the vast Islamic caliphate. Meanwhile the Nubian kingdoms in the upper Nile valley have become home to a vibrant Christian culture.

In West Africa, the powerful and wealthy kingdom of Ghana has appeared, built on the proceeds of the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in salt, gold and slaves.

By this date, a flourishing Indian Ocean trade has been established between the east coast of Africa, India and the Middle East. Arab Merchants and sailors visit coastal settlements in search of gold, ivory and slaves, and have set up a string of trading posts there.

In southern Africa the economy shows a shift away from the mixed farming, which the Bantu brought with them, towards an increasely herding way of life. The herding of cattle is better suited to the extensive plains and grasslands of the region.

In Madagascar, one of the most remarkable migrations in world history has been completed with the arrival of boat-borne colonists from South East Asia. At around the same time, groups of Bantu make the crossing from East Africa to northern Madagascar.

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Africa
979AD

In North Africa, the Islamic religion has taken root, and a Shi-ite movement called the Fatimids, now rules most of that region from Egypt. Islam is also now spreading across the Sahara desert into West Africa, carried by merchants and missionaries, although at his date the great bulk of the population remain pagans. West African civilization continues to advance, and other kingdoms have appeared beside Ghana, notably Songhai and Mali. Further east, the development of a more easterly trade route across the Sahara has led to the rise of the kingdom of Kanem, on the shores of Lake Chad.

The Christian civilization of the Nubian kingdoms in the Nile Valley continues to flourish, while the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia is under fierce pressure from surrounding pagan tribes.

The maritime trade between the east coast of Africa, Arabia and India is expanding, and is leading to the rise of a coastal society, predominantly black by race and Muslim by culture, which will later be given the name "Swahili". There is evidence for the beginnings of urbanization in this period along the coast.

In southern Africa, the Bantu herding cultures are thriving, pushing the pre-Bantu hunter-gatherer peoples further and further into inhospitable desert areas.

 

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Africa
1215AD

In North Africa, a series of Islamic movements, the Almoravids and the Almohads have conquered large areas, at one point even stretching into West Africa. This has given the Islamic religion a huge boost in the West African kingdoms, and by this date their ruling classes are mostly Muslim, at least nominally. By the period, also, extensive trade networks criss-cross the region. Several large trading cities, such as Timbuktu and Jenne, flourish, and to the east of the Niger, the Hausa people have founded their own powerful city states. Trade routes are also penetrating into the southern rainforest region, leading to the rise of the first kingdoms there, especially the Yoruba kingdom of Oyo.

Trade is also playing a decisive role in East Africa. Here, the Indian Ocean trade between Africa, Arabia and India has resulted in the rise of coastal city-states. Trade routes have spread inland, leading to the appearance of the wealthy and powerful Shona kingdom, centred on the famous urban centre of Great Zimbabwe.

Ethiopia also now experiencing something of a Golden Age. Powerful and prosperous, its Christian culture, though isolated, is flourishing and giving rise to the great rock-cut churches of king Lalibela.

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Africa
1453AD

The Africa coasts have been visited by the ships of two alien powers. At the beginning of the 15th century, a large Chinese fleet visited some of the Swahili ports on the Indian Ocean coast. In the mid-century, the first Portuguese ships arrived off the coast of West Africa. Whereas Chinese ships have not returned since, the Portuguese ships, although appearing in far smaller numbers (and are themselves far smaller in size than the great Chinese vessels), have started trading in the area. They are mainly interested in buying gold from local chiefs, but they soon get involved in the slave trade of the region. Shortly slaves are being shipped back to Europe in Portuguese holds, mainly for work on the sugar plantations of Portugal and Madeira.

The West African kingdoms have continued to flourish and to grow, and the trade network has continued to expand. This has led to the rise of more kingdoms in the forest regions, near the coast. Elsewhere in Africa, other kingdoms are also emerging. In the south and east, this is probably related to the penetration of trade routes further and further inland from the Indian Ocean. Here, the maritime trade with Arabia and India has been expanding, and the Swahili city-states have been flourishing. Arab and Swahili traders have planted more ports southwards along the coast.

« Africa 1215AD