Brief History of Africa. Geography of Africa
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“Don’t go, children, to walk in Africa,” Barmaley sang in the cartoon “Doctor Aibolit”. In many ways, Africa still seems to us just like that - full of motley tribes and unsafe, and this has little to do with reality.
website collected and debunked the most popular myths about the Black Continent.
Myth 1: There is no technological progress in Africa
From school days we remember that Africa consists of developing countries. But this does not mean that the Black Continent lives in the Middle Ages - 90% of Africans have mobile phones, there are programmers who create their own applications and gadgets. For example, local developers have created a service for farmers with livestock advice and information about natural disasters. In addition, manufacturing is developed in Africa, and large equipment, such as cars, is also produced in some countries.
Myth 2: Africa is a hot desert
We say "Africa" - we think about the Sahara. In fact, on the continent, in addition to the desert, there is a huge, largest area of tropical forests, Mount Kilimanjaro and other snowy peaks and savannah. All climatic zones are represented within the same Africa, and the average annual temperature, even in the equatorial part of the continent, does not exceed 27 ° C.
Myth 3: Only blacks live in Africa
We used to think that Africa is inhabited exclusively by black people. In fact, more than a billion people live on the continent and the variety of skin colors here can amaze - from blue-black to very pale. Such a palette was formed from a variety of skin tones of the original population and a large number of immigrants from Europe and Asia who remained in Africa since the time of the colonies or fled to African countries from political persecution.
Myth 4: Africa is inhabited by wild animals
Popular science programs and cartoons told us about Africa, inhabited by wild animals that roam freely in nature and can even attack people. In fact, most safaris take place during the winter months when potentially dangerous snakes and insects are hibernating. As for wild animals, most of them now live in national parks. Cases of attacks on humans are extremely rare and almost always occur only from violation of the rules of the park, when tourists, instead of watching animals, tried to chase them or come into contact with predators.
Myth 5: Africa has a very high crime rate
There is an opinion that in Africa tourists are in constant danger due to the high level of crime. In fact, tourism on the continent is highly developed: only in South Africa there are up to 1.5 million tourists a year, and African countries are becoming a fashionable and popular tourism destination among Western travelers. At the same time, the level of service on the continent is rising, the conditions for tourism are getting better, but at the same time, a feeling of closeness to nature and exoticism is preserved.
Myth 6: Africa has no cultural heritage
Thinking about Africa, we often imagine a primitive society without a developed culture and even history. Africa is deservedly called the cradle of civilization - on the continent there are many different ancient buildings and other cultural monuments that are carefully protected. There are more than 200 architectural monuments in Kenya alone. In addition, in many countries there are interesting museums, carefully maintained by the government.
Myth 7: Africa lives below the poverty line
Going to Africa, we imagine an ascetic journey with accommodation in tents and prepare to see poverty around. In fact, there are countries on the continent that live below the poverty line, but there are far fewer of them than it seems. In general, the economic level of African states differs little from other developing countries - the middle class is only developing. At the same time, states are investing in tourism with might and main, comfortable hotels and recreation areas are being built.
Myth 8: Epidemics of dangerous diseases are raging in Africa
The media periodically tells us about another outbreak of terrible diseases in Africa, and we are used to thinking that there are a lot of deadly diseases on the continent. In fact, the sensational Ebola fever did not cover the entire continent, but only the country of Sierra Leone and its environs. The second disease that most often comes to mind when talking about Africa is malaria. Of course, malarial mosquitoes exist, but if safety precautions are observed, you can not be afraid of infection. Precautions include repellents, mosquito nets and preventive medicines.
Myth 9: Africans live in huts
Often photographs of Africans show wild tribes living in huts. In fact, the development of large cities in Africa differs little from other megacities - there are high-rise residential buildings, skyscrapers, and business centers. Developed architecture and infrastructure make African cities very progressive. Of course, there are still those who really live in huts, such as the Bushmen, on the territory of the continent, but they are very few.
Myth 10: An African language is spoken in Africa
The African language does not exist, even more than that - and the unique local languages \u200b\u200bof the tribes are gradually disappearing. The population of Africa during the period of colonization absorbed European languages - English, French, German and Portuguese, which spread more with television and the Internet. In general, hundreds of different languages are spoken on the continent, Africa is a godsend for linguists: Namibia alone has 20 official languages.
Myth 11: Africa is torn apart by political conflicts
American films often show us local wars or political strife in African countries. Indeed, in the 1990s, the continent was bursting with local conflicts, more than a dozen wars could go on at the same time. These wars were a legacy of the colonial era, when the borders of countries were established based on the interests of the colonialists and took little account of the real cultural and historical isolation of the country. To date, the territories of the countries have been determined and the wars over borders have ended.
Myth 12: Africa is food insecure
Documentary photos and films show us starving people in Africa, and we begin to think that this problem has swept the entire continent. Hunger in African countries does exist, but not in all. Here, about a quarter of the world's fertile soil, and not all of it is used in agriculture. In tourist areas, there are no problems with food, and McDonald's restaurants are common in South Africa and Egypt.
Myth 13: Whites are hated in Africa
This myth appeared after the era of slavery and colonization, when the liberated Africa expelled the Europeans and regained its sovereignty. To this day, the division into whites and blacks exists, but light skin color is common among the local population and does not cause aggression. In countries with developed tourism, they are accustomed to travelers of all stripes and treat them quite calmly. To avoid even potential problems, it is worth limiting yourself to tourist areas and not provoking the local population - as in Latin America or Mexico.
OK, 4 million years ago - 1 million years ago
Australopithecus (Australopithecus) appear in Africa - anthropoid primates - remains in Ethiopia, Olduvai (Northern Tanzania in East Africa), near Lake. Chad, in Ubeidia, Kenya
2 million years ago-800 thousand years ago
Olduvai era of the ancient Stone Age (Paleolithic).
OK. 1.7 million years ago
The appearance of a "handy man" - the remains in Olduvai (N. Tanzania)
1.2 million years ago
Appearance of Pithecanthropus - remains in Olduvai (Tanzania), Ternifin, Sidi Abdurrahman (North Africa)
OK. 800-60 thousand years ago
Acheulian era of the ancient Stone Age - improvement of stone tool processing techniques
OK. 100-40 thousand years ago
Paleolithic Sango culture in Central Africa
OK. 60-30 thousand years ago
Middle Paleolithic - Ater culture in North Africa. Neanderthal man in Africa
39 thousand years ago-14th thousand BC
The oldest Upper Paleolithic culture in Africa, Dabba (Cyrenaica)
OK. 35 thousand years ago
Formation of a modern type of person
OK. 13th millennium-10th millennium BC
Oran (Ibero-Moorish) culture of the late Upper Paleolithic in North Africa
10th millennium-2nd millennium BC
Capsian culture in North Africa (Mesolithic - Middle Stone Age)
6th millennium BC
The advent of pottery and domesticated animals. Beginning of the Neolithic in North Africa
5th millennium BC
Cattle breeding and agriculture in Egypt, Sahara, Sudan
First half of the 4th millennium BC
The beginning of the decomposition of tribal relations in Egypt. First predynastic period. Irrigation farming in the Nile Valley
XXXI-XXIX centuries BC.
Early kingdom (1st-11th dynasty)
OK. 3000 BC
Pharaoh Menes unites Upper and Lower Egypt, founds the capital in Memphis and the I dynasty
28th century BC.
III dynasty. Construction of the first pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser in Giza
XXVII centuries. BC.
IV dynasty. The construction of the largest pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren) and Menkaure (Mykerin)
Mid XXIII-mid XXI century. BC.
Transition period (VII-X dynasties).
The collapse of Egypt into separate nomes and the struggle of Heracleopolis and Thebes for hegemony
Mid 21st century 18th century BC.
Middle Kingdom (XI-XIII dynasties)
21st century BC.
The unification of Egypt by the founder of the XI Dynasty Pharaoh Mentuhotep
XX-XVIII centuries BC.
The reign of the XII dynasty, founded by Pharaoh Amenemhat. Rise of Egypt under Senusret III and Amenemhat III
Late 18th-17th century BC.
I Transition period. Popular uprisings and the conquest of Egypt by the Hyksos. XV-XVI (Hyksos dynasties)
1680-1580 BC.
XVII Dynasty in Egypt.
OK. 1580 BC
Expulsion of the Hyksos by Pharaoh Thmose I, founder of the 18th Dynasty
1580-1070 BC.
New kingdom (XVIII-XX dynasties)
1580 - MIDDLE XIV CENTURY BC
XVIII Dynasty in Egypt 1450s BC.
Conquests of Pharaoh Thutmose III in Nubia, Syria and Palestine
1372-1354 BC.
The reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)
354-1345 BC.
The reign of Pharaoh Tutankhaton (Tutankhamun)
The middle of the XIV century - the end of the XIII century. BC.
19th dynasty reign
301-1235 BC.
Reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II. The rise of the Egyptian state and culture. Hiking in the East
Mediterranean. Creation of the Egyptian Empire
235-1215 BC.
The reign of pharaoh Merneptah. Exodus of Jews from Egypt
XIII V.-BEGINNING. XII C. BC
The invasion of Egypt by the Libyans of the "peoples of the sea" (Aegeids)
3rd-13th centuries BC.
Formation of state entities in Libya
198-1166 BC.
Reign of Pharaoh Ramesses III (XX Dynasty)
XII C. BC
Liberation of Phenicia from Egyptian rule
2nd century BC.
Establishment of trading colonies by the Phoenicians in North Africa
XI CENTURY BC - MIDDLE X CENTURIES BC.
Transition period (XXI dynasty). The disintegration of Egypt into Lower and Upper. Capture of the Nile Delta by the Libyans
2nd THOUSAND BC.
State of Kush in Nubia with its capital in Napata (modern Sudan)
1050-950 BC.
Late Kingdom (Libyan-Sais and Persian period)
OK. 950-730 BC.
XXII-XXIII (Libyan) dynasties
OK. 950-930 BC.
The reign of Pharaoh Sheshenq I (Susakim). Sheshonk's campaign in Judea, the capture and sack of Jerusalem
Mid ninth century BC.
The disintegration of Egypt into destinies
825 or 814 BC
Founding of Carthage by the Phoenicians from Tyre
715 BC
Ethiopian conquest of Egypt
715-664 BC.
Unification of Egypt and Kush into one state
674 and 671 BC.
Campaigns of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon in Egypt, the conquest of Egypt by the Assyrians
667-665 BC.
Liberation of Egypt
663-525 BC.
XXVI (Sais) dynasty, founded by Pharaoh Psammetich I. Revival of Egypt
610-595 BC.
Reign of Pharaoh Necho II. Construction of a canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas
OK. 600 BC
Expedition of Phoenician sailors around Africa
525 BC
Persian conquest of Egypt. XXVII (Persian) dynasty, founded by the Persian king Cambyses
525-404 BC.
Rebellion against Persian rule
The liberation of Egypt from the Persians
404-341 BC.
XXVI11-XXX dynasties in Egypt founded by local leaders
OK. 400 BC
Start of migration from west to east and south of the Bantu tribes, who had the skills of metallurgy
343 BC
Second Persian conquest of Egypt, founding of the XXXI (Persian) dynasty
332 BC
Conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. Founding of Alexandria
305-283 BC.
The reign of Ptolemy I in Egypt. The formation of the Ptolemaic state! *
Kon. IV.- beg. Ill. BC.
Transfer of the capital of Ethiopia from Napata to Meroe. State of Meroe
3rd century BC.
The emergence of state formations in Numidia and Mauretania
274-217 AD BC.
Wars between Egypt and the Persian power of the Seleucids for control of Palestine
264-241 BC.
The Punic War between Rome and Carthage
256-250 AD BC.
The Roman invasion of North Africa, and their defeat by the Carthaginians
218-201 BC.
II Punic war between Rome and Carthage
202 BC
The Roman commander Scipio Africanus defeats the Carthaginian commander Hannibal at the Battle of Zama, the end of the Second Punic War
149-146 BC.
III Punic War
146 BC
Capture and destruction of Carthage by the Romans. Formation of the Roman province of Africa
111-105 AD BC.
Jugurtine war between Rome and Numidia, which ended with the defeat of the Numidians and the dismemberment of Numidia
OK. 100 BC
Formation of the Kingdom of Aksum (on the territory of modern Eritrea and Ethiopia)
48 BC
The flight of the Roman commander and politician Pompey to Egypt after his defeat by Julius Caesar. The assassination of Pompey by order of Ptolemy XIII. Caesar in Egypt. Exile of Cleopatra VII to Syria
32 BC
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian's break with Mark Antony. The war of Rome against Egypt, where Antony and Cleopatra VII were in power
31 BC
The defeat of Antony's fleet at Cape Actium, the flight of Antony and Cleopatra to Alexandria
30 BC
Suicide of Antony and Cleopatra. Egypt becomes a Roman province
OK. 25 BC
The Kushites from Meroe invade Egypt, the capture and sack of Napata by the Romans
The capture of Mauretania by the Roman emperor Caligula (modern Algeria and the eastern regions of Morocco)
Decline of the Kingdom of Meroe
Unrest in North Africa and Egypt against Roman rule
Egyptian missionaries convert King Ezan of Aksum
Ezan conquers the realm of Meroe
St. Augustine Aurelius (354-430) - theologian, father of the Church, bishop in Hippo (North Africa)
Sea Peoples from Indonesia begin resettlement to Madagascar
Vandal invasion of North Africa, their capture of Carthage and the formation of the Vandal Kingdom
533-534 Byzantine armies under the command of Belisarius conquer northern Africa from the Vandals
7th/8th-16th centuries
State of Aloa (in the southern part of modern Sudan)
Conquest of Egypt by the Sasanian king Khosrow II
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius I restores Byzantine rule over Egypt
Arab conquest of Egypt
Arab invasion of Tunisia
Arab troops destroy the Byzantine city of Carthage. Arab occupation of North Africa
The uprising of the Berbers against the Umayyads (Arab caliphs) and the creation of an independent state by them in the north of the Sahara
Aghlabid state in Tunisia and Algeria
On the western shore of Lake Chad, the kingdom of Kanem is formed.
Tulunid dynasty in Egypt
Ixhidid dynasty in Egypt
Fatimid Caliphate in the Maghreb (Tunisia, Algeria)
Conquest of Egypt by the Fatimids
Almoravid rule in the Maghreb
Rule of the Barbary Almohad dynasty in northwestern Africa
Overthrow of the Almoravids by the Almohads
The Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt, founded by the famous Turkic sultan Salah ad-Din
The legendary state of Kitara in Central Africa
The capture of the Damietta fortress in the Nile Delta by the crusaders during the 5th crusade
7th Crusade led by King Louis IX, defeat of the crusaders by the Egyptians, captivity of the king
In Egypt, the Mamluks (slaves-guards) seize power, the beginning of the dynasty of the Mamluk sultans (until 1517)
8th crusade. Death of Louis IX from a fever in Tunisia. End of the Crusades
On the west coast of Africa, the state of Benin arises
Plague epidemic ("black death") in Egypt
Crusaders led by the King of Cyprus capture and plunder Alexandria, Egypt
The Kingdom of Songhai secedes from the Empire of Mali
Portuguese expeditions to Africa to search for the "Land of Ophir"
First batch of African slaves delivered to Lisbon
Portuguese navigators reach the Cape Verde Islands in West Africa
Wattasid dynasty in Morocco
Songhai Empire conquers Timbuktu
The Spanish-Portuguese Treaty of Toledo grants Portugal exclusive rights in Africa
Congo ruler converts to Christianity
Expedition of Vascode Gama around Africa to India
Muslim conquest of the Christian state of Soba in Nubia
Ottoman Turks under Sultan Selim conquer Egypt, end of the Mamluk dynasty
Start of the African slave trade in the Americas
Ottoman Turks conquer Algeria
Saadian dynasty in Morocco
Portuguese expedition to the Zambezi River
Portuguese attempts to conquer the kingdom of Mwenemutapa
Morocco expands its territory to the south and west of the Sahara and conquers the city of Tuat
The victory of the Portuguese over the Turks near the city of Mambasa in East Africa
The Moroccans invade Songhai, inflict a crushing defeat on the military forces of the empire at the Battle of Tondibi, and destroy the city of Gao. End of the Songhai Empire
The Dutch seize for the slave trade two islands off the west coast of Africa that belonged to the Portuguese
France annexes Madagascar
Huguenots, refugees from France, arrive in southern Africa
Completion of the conquest of Senegal by the French
The Dutch move east through the Hottentot Dutch Mountains
France takes the island of Mauritius from the Dutch
The Dutch begin to import slaves into the Cape Colony in southern Africa
Mazrui, governor of Mombasa, declares his independence from the Sultan of Oman
In western Africa, Ashanti warriors defeat Dagomba warriors.
Mohammed XVI becomes ruler of Morocco
The British take Senegal from the French
In South Africa, Dutch farmers move north and cross the Orange River
Proclamation by the Mamluk ruler Ali Bey of the independence of Egypt from the Ottoman Empire
Restoration of Turkish rule over Egypt
The first "inspection" war in South Africa between local Xhosa tribes and Dutch farmers (Boers)
Creation of the British Society for the Prohibition of the African Slave Trade
The second "inspection" war between the Boers and the Xhosa people for lands in South Africa
Egyptian campaign of Napoleon Bonaparte
Turkish governor Muhammad Ali seizes power in Egypt
Prohibition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire
Boer uprising in South Africa crushed by British troops
Prohibition of the slave trade in France
The beginning of the Mfecan wars in southern Africa, associated with the expansion of the Zulu people
Accession of Sierra Leona, the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and the Gambia to British West Africa
British war against the Ashanti people in West Africa
Expulsion of the French from Madagascar
British withdraw from Mombasa
French invasion of Algiers, occupation of the cities of Algiers and Oran
Mfecan wars spread to northern Zimbabwe
The Great Migration of the Boers in South Africa to the north, caused by persecution by the British
Mfecan wars spread to northern Zambia and Malawi
The Turks overthrow the local dynasty in Tripoli and establish direct rule
Boers in Natal defeat the Zulu people
Anti-colonial Zulu rebellion
Liberia becomes an independent republic
In Gabon, the French found the city of Libreville as a refuge for escaped slaves.
The Boers create an independent republic of the Transvaal
Recognition by Britain of the Orange State created by the Boers
D. Livingston makes the first European expedition that crossed Africa from east to west. Discovery of Victoria Falls
The Transvaal becomes the Republic of South Africa with Pretoria as its capital.
The French founded the city of Dakar in Senegal
Conflict over the enclaves of Ceuta and Melila leads to Portuguese invasion of Morocco
Start of construction of the Suez Canal
Rule in Egypt by Ismail Pasha, expansion of the autonomy of Egypt, reforms
Opening of the Suez Canal
Expedition to Central Africa by American journalist Henry Stanley, his meeting with Livingston, who was considered missing
Zulu war against the British in South Africa
Boer uprising in the Transvaal against the British, proclamation of a republic
Journey of the Russian geographer V.V. Juncker, his description of the river basin. Uele and revealing the part
Nile-Congo watershed
French conquest of Tunisia
Liberation movement in Egypt under the leadership of Arab Pasha. Occupation of Egypt by England
Mohammed Ahmed declares himself Mahdi (messiah) and raises an uprising in Sudan.
French colonial war in Madagascar
Beginning of German colonial conquests in Africa
Expulsion of Anglo-Egyptian troops from Sudan. Formation of the Mahdist government
"Uchchiali" Italo-Ethiopian treaty. Italian annexation of part of Somalia
The French defeat the Zulu people in West Africa
France captures Timbuktu and pushes out the Tuareg
French occupation of Madagascar
Italo-Ethiopian War. Peace treaty in Addis Ababa guaranteeing Ethiopian independence
Anglo-French Convention on the Division of Colonial Possessions in Africa
Boer War
France seizes major oases in the Sahara south of Morocco and Algeria
France and Italy make a secret agreement whereby France gains control
over Morocco, and Italy - over Libya
French troops defeat the African leader Rabeh Zabeir in the Lake Chad region
End of the Anglo-Boer War. Loss of independence by the Boers
Suppression of the rebellion of the Herero people in German South-West Africa, extreme cruelty of the massacre
Congo annexed by Belgium
The French completed the conquest of Mauritania
Britain gives the Union of South Africa dominion status
Occupation by French troops of the Moroccan capital Fez. German military pressure forces France to cede part of the Congo, for which the French get freedom of action in Morocco
Britain bombards Dar es Salaam, the capital of German East Africa. The defeat of the British troops at Tang (in Tanganyika)
Britain declares its protectorate over Egypt
South African and Portuguese troops capture Dar es Salaam
German troops invade Portuguese East Africa
German troops invade Rhodesia
Britain receives Tanganyika from Germany and shares Cameroon and Togo with France
Under an international agreement in Africa, the sale of alcohol and weapons is limited
The French create a colony in Upper Volta (modern Burkina Faso)
Egypt becomes a self-governing monarchy
Ethiopia abolished slavery
International convention places responsibility for the abolition of slavery on the League of Nations
The adoption by the British Parliament of the Statute of Westminster, which gave the dominions sovereign rights in the field of foreign and domestic policy. Transformation of the British Empire into the British Commonwealth of Nations
B. Mussolini proclaims the transformation of Libya into an Italian colony
Constitution in Egypt
Italian annexation of Ethiopia
Anglo-Egyptian treaty of alliance, retention of British occupying forces in Egypt
New electoral law in the Union of South Africa disenfranchising indigenous people
Union of South Africa declaration of war on Germany
The British defeat the Italian troops and capture Torbrook and Benghazi in Libya. German troops enter North Africa and besiege the British at Thorbrook
British and American troops land in Morocco and Algiers. British offensive in Egypt
German troops capture Thorbrook. The British units, having won the battle of El Alamein, stop the German attack on Cairo
American troops link up with British troops in Tunisia. German surrender in North Africa
Establishment of the apartheid regime in the Union of South Africa
British troops occupy the Suez Canal zone
Libyan independence
Beginning of the revolution in Egypt
Formation of a national government in the British colony of the Gold Coast
The secret society "Mau Mau" organizes terrorist attacks against British settlers in Kenya
Eritrea becomes part of Ethiopia
Proclamation of the Egyptian Republic (under President 1956 Gamal Abdel Nasser)
Nigeria becomes a self-governing federation
Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Sudan.
Nationalization of the Suez Canal. Egypt's repulse of the aggression of England, France and Israel caused by this act
Independence of Sudan and Morocco
Formation of the General Union of the Workers of Black Africa
Declaration of Independence of Ghana (unification of the former colonies of the Gold Coast and Togoland)
Independence of the Republic of Guinea
Independence of Algeria, creation of the FLN - a united government
Niger, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Senegal, Mauritania, Congo and Gabon
receive limited independence from France
"Year of Africa" - liberation from the colonial dependence of Eastern Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Dahomey, the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Niger, the Republic of Upper Volta,
Republic of Chad, Republic of Ivory Coast, Republic of Togo, Gabonese Republic,
Nigeria, the Republic of Mali, the Central African Republic, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Republic of Somalia and the Republic of Madagascar.
Rebellion and Belgian occupation in the Congo, removal from office of Prime Minister P. Lumumba
(killed in 1961) and the transfer of power to the dictator General J. Mobutu
The revolt of the French settlers against the plans for the independence of Algeria
South African troops shoot demonstrators in Sharpeville
Military coup in the Congo (Zaire). Renaming the Union of South Africa to the Republic of South Africa and its withdrawal from the British Commonwealth
Unification of Eastern and Southern Cameroon, formation of the Federal Republic of Cameroon 1961-1968
Declaration of Independence of Tanganyika, Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar, Zambia, Botswana, Madagascar and Mauritius
End of the Algerian War. Algeria achieves independence
Proclamation of Nigeria as a federal republic
African National Congress (ANC) leader N. Mandela sentenced to life in South Africa
Establishment of the apartheid regime in Southern Rhodesia
The coup in Algeria, the coming to power in Algeria of H. Boumediene
Independence of the Republic of the Gambia
Establishment of a military dictatorship in Ghana. Military coup in Burkina Faso
Military coups and separatist insurgency in Nigeria
Bechuanaland becomes an independent state - Botswana
Basutoland becomes the independent state of Lesotho
Abolition of the monarchy in Uganda
The state of Biafra declares itself independent from Nigeria. The civil war begins
Military coup in Mali
Swaziland becomes an independent kingdom
Equatorial Guinea gains independence from Spain
Military coup in Somalia. The head of the regime, S. Barre, is heading towards building a Greater Somalia at the expense of the territories of neighboring states
Military coup in Sudan
The overthrow of the monarchy in Libya. Transfer of power in the country to the leader of the Revolutionary Command Council M. Gaddafi
Constitution in Morocco, restoration of parliament
Rhodesia becomes a republic
Military coup in Uganda. Come to power Sergeant Idi Amin - "Black Hitler of Africa"
Egypt, Libya and Syria form the Federation of Arab Republics
Military coups in Ghana and Madagascar
Military coups in Burkina Faso and Niger
Revolution in Ethiopia, the deposition of the emperor and the proclamation of the republic. Beginning of the civil war
The third stage of the decolonization of Africa. Declaration of independence of Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde Islands, Comoros, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and Western Sahara, Zimbabwe
The beginning of the civil war in Angola, which took on the character of an international conflict
Military coup in Nigeria
Transformation of the Central African Republic into the Central African Empire. President J. Bokassa is crowned with the imperial crown
The head of Ethiopia, M. Haile Mariam, is heading towards building a Marxist-socialist model of the economy in the country
Proclamation of Libya by the Jamahiriya
War between Ethiopia and Somalia over the Ogaden. Defeat Somalia
Military coups in Mauritania and the Seychelles
Military coups in Guinea and the Seychelles
Nigerian military hands over power to civilian government
London Accords Establishing the Multiracial State of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
Military coups in Burkina Faso and Liberia
Libya occupies the Republic of Chad
Zone coup in the Central African Empire. Restoration of the Republic
The assassination in Egypt of President A. Sadat; Hosni Mubarak becomes president
Military coup in Nigeria
Restoration of a presidential republic in Guinea
Establishment of a military dictatorship in Guinea
South African President P. Botha grants limited political rights to "Asians and people of color"
Military coups in Nigeria, Uganda and Sudan
US and EU impose economic sanctions against South Africa
Military coup in Burkina Faso
The troops of the Republic of Chad, with the help of the French foreign legion, are expelled from the northern regions of the Libyans
Withdrawal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola
Ethnic conflict in Rwanda involving Uganda, Burundi, Zaire
Release of N. Mandela from prison in South Africa
The collapse of the regimes of M. Haile Mariam in Ethiopia and S. Barre in Somalia
The victory of Islamic fundamentalists in the elections in Algeria. Government eliminates election results and sets course to accelerate market reforms
Adoption of international sanctions against Libya in connection with the participation of its citizens in terrorist acts
Military coup in Sierra Leone. Beginning of the civil war in Somalia
Islamic extremist killed Algerian President M. Boudiaf
Proclamation of Independence for the Province of Eritrea! from Ethiopia
The presidents of Burundi and Rwanda die in an air crash. Tribal conflict erupts in Rwanda and civil war breaks out
In Khartoum (Sudan), the terrorist "Carlos" was arrested and taken to France, where there should be a trial
In South Africa, the African National Congress wins the election. N. Mandela becomes president.
Cameroon and Mozambique join the British Commonwealth
In Zaire, rebel forces led by L. Kabila are forcing President J. Mobutu to leave the country and go into exile
Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Annan becomes UN Secretary General
Military conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia
M. Gaddafi extradites Libyan terrorists to the international community. Easing international sanctions against Libya
The history of Africa is a history of mysteries.
Modern African states appeared on the political map of Mary mainly after 1959, many of them were colonies of England and France, Portugal. The colonial period left a strong imprint on African historical science. The colonialists considered themselves carriers of civilization in the "wild" African countries. Many ancient historical monuments were destroyed. Therefore, modern African historical science starts from scratch (with the exception of Egypt and Ethiopia). Was it really so that before the appearance of the British, Portuguese and French, there were only wild tribes in Africa. (by the way, Western scientists are constantly trying to convince the Russians that the history of ancient Russia began with the advent of the Varangians (Normans, Anglo-Saxons from Scandinavia, and before their appearance, the Russians did not have any civilization and state).
Whether this was so, I will briefly describe in this article. I'll start with some obscure facts.
Iron metallurgy appeared in Africa much earlier than in Europe. In Africa, iron was smelted as early as the 1st millennium BC. The ancient states of the East brought iron from Africa and this iron was of much higher quality than in the countries of the Ancient East (Egypt, Palestine, Babylonia and India). Even the Roman Empire brought iron and gold from West Africa (these countries were called the countries of the Gold Coast). And the ancient Egyptians called the countries of Africa the country of Ophir, from where many rare goods were brought.
In Africa, there were many ancient states that are very poorly understood due to the activities of the colonial countries.
And now I will tell you my point of view on the ancient history of Africa (which will fundamentally not coincide with official historical science).
17 million years ago there was no mainland Africa, in place of Africa there were small islands (especially in its eastern part). The largest continent on Earth was Lemuria and its first people inhabited it (they can be called Lemurians or asuras) and they had a very developed civilization.
4 million years ago - at that time the mainland of Lemuria began to sink to the bottom of the Indian Ocean, and the mainland of Africa (its eastern part) began to rise above the waters of the World Ocean. Part of the asuras from Lemuria began to move from Lemuria to East Africa. They later became Pygmies, Bushmen, Hottentots, Hadza, Sandawe.
1 million years ago - from the mainland of Lemuria there was one island - Magadascar. The African continent rose even more strongly above sea level.
Approximately 800 thousand years ago, the mainland of Lemuria completely disappeared at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, and a large mainland of Atlantis and the Atlantean civilization appeared in the Atlantic. Who was the first to use the natural resources of Africa (iron, non-ferrous metals, gold and silver) is unknown. They could be the descendants of the Asuras, but they could also be the Atlanteans. Their civilization also needed a lot of iron, non-ferrous metals and gold. After all, it was the civilization of the Atlanteans that began to lead all of humanity onto the wrong path of development (the path of enrichment, the path of conquest). It was the Atlanteans who invented a new status for subordinate people - slavery. It was at this time that man began to worship a new fetish (god) - money, luxury, gold.
Approximately 79 thousand years ago. the mainland Atlantis suffered the fate of ancient Lemuria - the mainland went under the waters of the Atlantic, only the island of Poseidonis remained from it, where the late Atlanteans lived. Part of the Atlanteans also began to move to Africa. The mainland of Africa basically acquired a modern look, but the territory of the Sahara was still under water.
Around 9500 BC, the island of Poseidonis completely disappeared into the waters of the Atlantic. Part of the descendants of the Atlanteans settled in northern Africa (tribes of the Oran and Sebilko archaeological culture). The rest of the territory was inhabited by tribes of pygmies and Khoisans (these are the descendants of the degraded asuras). It is likely that in these times the civilization of African metallurgists in South Africa (the territory of Zambia and Zimbabwe) continued to exist, because iron and gold were required by the new civilizations of the Ancient East (Egypt and Palestine, the Jericho state).
By about 9000 BC, Africa was the same as it is now, only the Sahara was not a desert, humid subtropics and the descendants of the Atlanteans (tribes of the Orange and Sebil culture) lived there. South of the Sahara (at the junction of the northern tribes and the southern tribes of the Pygmies and Khoisans), Negroid peoples begin to take shape.
By about 5700 BC, a new group of peoples formed in northern Africa - the Saharan peoples (these are the tribes of the Capsian archaeological culture). It is possible that the metallurgy of iron and other metals continued to exist in southern Africa at that time. After all, the new states of the Middle East continued to develop. It is also possible that on the basis of the African metallurgy of the Asuras (not those who degraded, but those who continued to develop towards the conquest of space - they lived in Tibet, the mainland of Mu) and Atlanteans (who also aspired to space) the first spaceships were built.
By the end of 4000 BC, the Sahara is becoming an increasingly arid region, the Saharan peoples are increasingly moving south of the Sahara, their place is taken by the Libyan tribes (future Berbers). Due to the pressure of the Sahats, the Negroid peoples also begin to move south and begin to push the pygmies of the center of Africa. I think that during this period the metallurgy of southern Africa also developed for the late Asuras and late Atlanteans (for space exploration), as well as for the rapidly growing states of the Ancient East (Egypt, the Middle East, Sumer, North India). At this time, small states begin to appear in Europe (Crete, Greece).
By 1100 AD, a new group of peoples had formed in Africa - the Bantu, they first lived on the territory of modern Cameroon and Nigeria, from this territory they began an active movement to southern Africa, displacing and destroying the Pygmies and Khoisans. At the same time, a new people appeared on the northern coast of Africa - the Garamants (these are the former inhabitants of Ancient Greece, ousted from there by the Dorian Greeks). In my opinion, at that time, iron metallurgy in southern Africa began to develop weaker, since the asuras had already been able to conquer space by that time and no longer needed the products of African metallurgists, the Atlanteans may also have begun to take less iron and non-ferrous metals, since in the countries of the Ancient East iron metallurgy was mastered.
By the beginning of our era, the Bantu peoples had already reached the territory of Zambia, where metallurgy by that time had fallen into decay, the civilization of metallurgists had almost disappeared, and the Bantu did not master this craft. At the same time, many new deposits of iron, non-ferrous metals and gold were discovered in East Africa, and metallurgy began to develop there. Perhaps this development was due to the appearance of Garamantes there (after all, they were well versed in the skills of metallurgists). It was from that time that Roman merchants (through the Sahara) began to visit West Africa and buy iron, non-ferrous metals and gold there.
The question of the appearance of the earliest states in Africa (not counting Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and the Mediterranean coast) is the most obscure in the study of African history. There could not be a developed microtallurgy without civilization (without a state). But it is also possible that the metallurgists of southern Africa existed as part of the civilization of the late Asuras and Atlanteans. And after the services of metallurgists became unnecessary for the Asuras and Atlanteans (they had already become space civilizations), the metallurgy of southern Africa ceased to exist, although there was a Mopomotale state there at the end of the 17th century, which disappeared at the end of the 17th century due to the appearance of new tribes there, those who do not know metallurgy (it was the development tribes that destroyed this state).
According to modern historical science, the first state (south of the Sahara) appeared on the territory of Mali in the 3rd century - it was the state of Ghana. Ancient Ghana traded gold and metals even with the Roman Empire and Byzantium. Perhaps this state arose much earlier, but during the existence of the colonial authorities of England and France there, all information about Ghana disappeared (the colonialists did not want to admit that Ghana is much older than England and France). Under the influence of Ghana, other states later appeared in West Africa - Mali, Songhai, Kanem, Tekrur, Hausa, Ife, Kano and other states of West Africa.
Another hotbed of the emergence of states in Africa is the vicinity of Lake Victoria (the territory of modern Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi). The first state appeared there around the 11th century - it was the state of Kitara. In my opinion, the state of Kitara was created by settlers from the territory of modern Sudan - Nilotic tribes, who were driven out of their territory by Arab settlers. Later, other states appeared there - Buganda, Rwanda, Ankole.
Around the same time (according to scientific history) - in the 11th century, the state of Mopomotale appeared in southern Africa, which will disappear at the end of the 17th century (it will be destroyed by wild tribes). I believe that Mopomotale began to exist much earlier, and the inhabitants of this state are the descendants of the most ancient metallurgists of the world, who had connections with the Asuras and Atlanteans.
Around the middle of the 12th century, the first state appeared in the center of Africa - Ndongo (this is a territory in the north of modern Angola). Later, other states appeared in the center of Africa - Congo, Matamba, Mwata and Baluba. Since the 15th century, the colonial states of Europe - Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, France and Germany - began to interfere in the process of statehood development in Africa. If at first they were interested in gold, silver and precious stones, then later slaves became the main commodity (and these countries were engaged in countries that officially rejected the existence of slavery). Slaves were exported by the thousands to the plantations of America. Only much later, at the end of the 19th century, the colonialists began to attract natural resources in Africa. And it is for this reason that vast colonial territories appeared in Africa. The colonies in Africa interrupted the development of the peoples of Africa and distorted its entire history. Until now, significant archaeological research has not been carried out in Africa (the African countries themselves are poor, and England and France do not need a true history of Africa, just like in Russia, Russia also does not conduct good research on the ancient history of Russia, money is spent on buying castles and yachts in Europe, total corruption deprives science of real research).
The ancient history of Africa (and Russia) is still fraught with many mysteries.
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History of Africa since ancient times Büttner Thea
CHAPTER I IS AFRICA THE CRADE OF HUMANITY? DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN ANCIENT AND ANCIENT HISTORY
Chapter I
IS AFRICA THE CRADE OF HUMANITY?
DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN ANCIENT AND ANCIENT HISTORY
Apparently, the first people on earth appeared on the African continent, so it occupies a very special place in the study of the entire history of mankind, and the history of the most ancient and ancient periods of our civilization in particular. The discoveries of recent years in South and Southeast Africa (Sterkfontein Taung, Broken Hill, Florisbad, Cape Flats, etc.), in the Sahara, especially in East Africa, have shown that the past of mankind is estimated in millions of years. In 1924, R. A. Dart found in South Africa the remains of australopithecines (human apes), whose age is about a million years. But prof. L. Leakey, later his son and wife after long and difficult excavations in Kenya and Tanzania - in the Olduvai Gorge south of Lake Victoria, and in the area of Koobi-Fora and Ileret (1968), as well as the Laetvlil burial in the Serengeti (1976) - found bone remains, whose age is estimated already from 1.8 to 2.6 million, and in Laetvil - even at 3.7 million years.
It has been established that bone remains representing all stages of human development were found only on the African continent, which obviously confirms Darwin’s evolutionary doctrine based on the latest anthropological and paleontological data, who considered Africa the “ancestral home of mankind”. In the Olduvai Gorge in East Africa, we find the remains of representatives of all stages of evolution that preceded the emergence of Hoto sapiens. They evolved (partly in parallel and not always getting further development) from Australopithecus to Noto habilis, and then to the last link in the evolutionary chain - neoanthropus. The example of East Africa proves that the formation of Hoto sapiens could occur in a variety of ways and that not all of them have been studied.
The climatic changes that occurred in the Quaternary and lasted more than a million years, especially the three great pluvial (wet) periods, had a great impact on Africa and turned the areas that are now deserts into savannahs, where prehistoric people hunted with success. Pluvial-related displacements and changes in water level can be used, among other methods, to date primitive finds. Already among the archaeological materials relating to the first pluvial periods, along with the bone remains of the pre-human, the first stone, or rather, pebble tools, were found. On the territory of Europe, similar products appeared much later - only during the interglacial periods.
Finds of the oldest pebble and stone tools of the Olduvai and Stellenbosch cultures, as well as numerous remains of thick and thin processed cores and axes with a handle dating back to the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic (about 50 thousand years ago), now found in many areas of the Maghreb (ater, capsium), Sahara, South Africa (foursmith), East Africa and the Congo Basin (Zaire), testify to the development and success of early and late Paleolithic people on African soil.
A huge number of improved stone tools and rock carvings dating back to the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) indicates a significant population growth and a high level of prehistoric culture in certain areas of Africa since the 10th millennium BC. e. The Lupembe and Chitole cultures in the Congo Basin, as well as the Mesolithic centers in northeastern Angola, in some areas of Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and on the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea, represent an important stage in the further progress of culture. The people of the Lupemba culture were able to make chisels and hollow objects, pointed points with a knocked back and stone leaf-shaped points for spears and dagger-type tools that compare with the best stone points found in Europe.
The Capsian culture in Kenya (approximately the 5th millennium BC) is characterized by a high technique for processing incisors, the use of ceramics and elegant vessels made of well-cut stone. At the same time, single ceramic items appeared in certain areas of Zimbabwe, Southwest Africa and the Cape Province (Wilton culture). The carriers of this civilization were still engaged in hunting and purposeful gathering, but at the same time, for the first time in history, fishing became an important branch of the economy, which led to an increase in the settled population, especially in some coastal areas. Already in the Mesolithic period, rock art in the form of reliefs and paintings on the themes of hunting reached a high level of development. In many areas of Africa - in the Maghreb, Sahara, the Nile Valley, Nubia, in Eastern Sudan, Ethiopia, East Africa, in the central basin of the Congo (Zaire) and in South Africa - beautiful and ascal images have been preserved, which most often show wild animals of the steppes and savannas, as well as people on the hunt, during dances and during the performance of religious ceremonies. With the onset of the Neolithic, rock art continued to develop, and part of its traditions survived to modern times.
Now historians and archaeologists already have a clearer idea of the directly prehistoric period of African history (Neolithic). At this time, new branches of the economy arose - agriculture and cattle breeding. Thanks to the use of more advanced techniques, such as polishing, Neolithic people could more skillfully give the stone the necessary forms. As a result, many stone products appeared that were previously unknown or known only in their infancy. The bow and arrow were improved and this made hunting easier. The appearance of drilled and polished products, the invention and improvement of pottery, the wider distribution of ceramics - all these achievements sharply separate the Neolithic from previous periods when man lived mainly by hunting. Now the basis of its existence is agriculture and cattle breeding. Naturally, from this period came the first signs that a settled way of life became widespread. People were already building huts for themselves; a few huts made up the settlements.
The transition from hunting, plant-gathering, and occasional fishing as the only sources of food to farming and raising livestock was a major step forward. The general rise of productive forces during the Neolithic period was the basis for the development of new forms of social organization. The essence of the changes was that the structure of the tribal community and the ties between individual collectives of this type were strengthened. Tribes arose everywhere, which represented the highest stage of the organization of a tribal society, which took shape even in the bowels of the late Paleolithic on the basis of blood ties. The production and appropriation of its products were still social in nature, and public ownership of the most important means of production was also preserved. Individual appropriation and personal ownership of tools were very limited.
In some parts of Africa, the use of millstones and ceramics, closely associated with the transition of former hunters to a settled way of life, began earlier than in Europe.
Of course, development was not a uniform process and gave rise to many transitional forms. Some tribes continued to lead the life of hunters and fishermen even during the mature Neolithic period. These tribes lived in more or less unfavorable conditions that hindered the transition to new forms of economic activity. At the same time, especially favorable conditions developed in the Nile Valley, in the areas of the Shotts of North Africa, for example, Tunisia and Algeria, as well as in the Sahara of that era. It is the difference in natural conditions that explains the huge chronological gap in the dating of the Neolithic.
As will be seen from the description of the most important finds, a pronounced Neolithic culture and agricultural settlements were inherent in Egypt already in the 5th millennium BC. e., North Africa - in the 4th, and south of the Sahara, typically Neolithic finds belong to the 1st millennium BC. e., and to the 1st millennium BC. e. In this region, the development of various Neolithic cultures of farmers and pastoralists continued for several millennia, and they partially absorbed and partially destroyed or replaced the older cultures of hunters and gatherers. In some areas south of the Sahara, stone-working techniques developed at the end of the gemblian (12th-10th millennium BC) were preserved, and the decisive step towards the Neolithic was never taken. For many areas of South Africa, the example of the Boskopoid Bushmen is typical. These are hunters and gatherers descended in a straight line from primitive man and did not leave the Mesolithic stage. Their historical development has come to a standstill and partly stopped. Bushmen became famous for tens of thousands of rock carvings belonging to them, testifying to a highly developed hunting culture. On the contrary, in other parts of Africa, as a result of an exceptionally favorable combination of circumstances, including good natural conditions, accelerated development is revealed.
The Neolithic cultures of Egypt have been especially thoroughly studied. Periodic floods and subsequent silt deposits have made the Nile Valley remarkably fertile. During excavations in Central Egypt, in particular in Deir Tas, along with bone remains, rich archaeological material was found, from which it can be concluded that the population of Egypt during the Neolithic period, in some places even from the 6th millennium BC. e., in addition to hunting and fishing, they were engaged in agriculture or, at least, collected wild cereals. Polished axes, small bone harpoons, and many primitive pottery items have been found. With the help of a fairly reliable radiocarbon method, it was possible to accurately date the finds from the shores of Lake Fayum and a large depression in Northern Egypt (4500–4000 BC). The inhabitants of Fayum were engaged in hunting, fishing, agriculture and cattle breeding. They sowed einkorn wheat, barley and flax, they knew primitive irrigation. Wooden sickles with flint inserts were found here. In hunting and war, the inhabitants used a bow with arrows and combat maces. They were familiar with pottery and weaving. They made clothes from fabrics and skins. Many other settlements of the Neolithic period have been found in Egypt (El-Omari, Amrat and Badarian cultures).
The last Neolithic culture that preceded the historical era of Egypt was the Gerzean culture (Negada II, north of Thebes) with more advanced forms of household utensils, tools, and ceramics, characteristic of it. Here, in Upper Egypt, the best examples are preserved in a huge necropolis with more than 3,000 graves. The stone tools that were still in use at that time - hoes, sickles, millstones - were of high quality processing and retained their former appearance in the historical period. Flint processing reached true perfection. Along with flint axes, copper items appeared in Upper Egypt (albeit for the first time and most likely as a by-product), but stone tools still formed the basis of the inventory of Egyptian farmers. All material culture developed rapidly and reached an exceptional wealth of forms. The exchange of products of labor has intensified. This led to the differentiation of society, and between 3500 and 3000. BC e. Ancient Egyptian despotism arose, based on the first state formations. Signs-images (hieroglyphs) appeared - the first form of writing.
The need and possibility of building irrigation facilities in the Nile Valley and the regulation of their action accelerated; the process of unification of individual nomes (regions) of Egypt and the use of state means of coercion. True, we do not have direct data on the organization of irrigation work during this period of the emerging ancient Egyptian state, but there is no doubt that the top leadership was concentrated in the hands of the head of state - the king, who was revered as a god.
It is not surprising that Egypt crossed the threshold of the Neolithic relatively quickly. The wider use of metals, the appropriation by the narrow elite of the tribal aristocracy and priests, headed by the nomarch's family, of an ever-increasing share of the surplus product, the emergence of relations of exploitation and dependence of one person on another - all this accelerated economic and social differentiation and the division of society into classes. Subsequently, in the eventful history of Egypt, an early class society, so typical of the ancient East, developed in a specific form.
Using the radiocarbon method, it was possible to date numerous Neolithic settlements of the III-II millennium BC. e., discovered in the now inaccessible or not at all inhabited desert. The Berliet expedition, which worked from 1959 to 1961 east of Air in the Tenere region (Republic of Niger), unearthed the settlements of people who lived on the shores of large lakes and, like the pre-dynastic Egyptians, got their livelihood by hunting, fishing and partly by agriculture. One of the expedition members wrote: “In the depths of the erg (sandy desert), in Tener, I found traces of the sites of ancient fishermen: large piles of fish bones (they occupied several two-wheeled carts), skeletons of hippos and elephants, stone tools. Five hundred kilometers to the south, on the border of the Sahara and Sudan, I found a good dozen more sites. There were heaps of fish bones, turtle shells, mollusk shells, bones of hippos, giraffes and antelopes, among which lay human skeletons.
In recent years, very valuable archaeological materials have also been discovered on the territory of the Republic of Sudan, where ancient Nubia was once located. The discovery of the earliest of them is associated with the name of E. J. Arkell. During excavations near Khartoum, he discovered traces of Neolithic settlements. Found drilled flint axes, reminiscent of finds from Tenere and Fayum, bone tools, the remains of wicker baskets with traces of cereals. When dating, these villages were assigned to the first half of the 4th millennium BC. e. In the same strata, parts of the skeletons and skulls of people of an obviously Negroid type were found - another proof that the main anthropological types had already developed on the land of Africa already in such a distant period. Further finds on the territory of Nubia were divided into cultures A, B, C and dated. During the period of culture C (2400-1600 BC), the population of Nubia repelled the attacks of the Egyptians. Findings dating back to this time - stone weapons, rich pottery, copper and bronze jewelry, and valuable stone axes - show that the first metalworking centers arose in Nubia, as in Egypt.
The Neolithic is also widely represented throughout North Africa and the Sahara. The cultural layers unearthed here contained polished stone axes, maces, grain graters, and the remains of clay vessels. Tools and entire settlements of the Neolithic period have been discovered in the Atlas zone, where people lived in caves. Interesting drawings remained on their walls, for example, in the Oran region (Algeria). Tools of labor extracted to the surface of the earth allow us to conclude that tribes of pastoralists and farmers settled in North Africa already in ancient times.
Between the 8th and 3rd millennia, the Sahara had an exceptionally good climate. Abundant precipitation created favorable conditions for cattle breeding, hunting and, to some extent, agriculture. The Saharan savannahs, the areas around lakes and rivers attracted numerous peoples from the swampy areas of Sudan, the region of Lake Chad and the Maghreb mountains, who were at the stage of the Paleolithic or Mesolithic. So, in many parts of the Sahara, the Neolithic developed, the carriers of which were hunters, shepherds, fishermen and farmers. From them came rock paintings and frescoes, which are distinguished by a special charm, from which we draw important information about the lifestyle of the population of this area during the Mesolithic period.
The discoveries of the French explorer A. Lot in the Tassili (Ahaggar) mountains in southern Algeria and the Italian F. Mori in Fezzan (Libya) gained worldwide fame. These and other scientists discovered tens of thousands of drawings on the now almost waterless uplands of the Central Sahara and in the Atlas Mountains, which are not only an important evidence of the past, but also amaze with their high artistic merit. Murals, frescoes, reliefs carved on rocks are creations of a developed realistic art. . The later ones are somewhat stylized. The oldest images of animals - elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, lions and other predators - date back to about the 10th-8th millennia. Images of people, often with animal heads (later, numerous figures are barely outlined with thin lines or even strokes), combined with scenes of hunting or performing cult ceremonies, reflect the highly developed activity of Mesolithic hunters. This is to some extent influenced by the traditions of the North African Capsian culture.
Realistic painting, which at first was dominated by contour images, over time became more and more stylized and abstract, and acquired features characteristic of plastic arts. The content of the paintings suggests that since the 4th millennium in these mountainous areas, as well as in the vast expanses of the Sahara, the breeding of cattle with long and short horns has become the basis of the economy. On beautiful colored frescoes we see bulls with twisted horns. However, hunting for wild animals, which were found here in abundance, has not lost its significance. Rock art complements our understanding of the various periods and stages of development of the Neolithic in the densely populated Sahara, where fishermen and farmers who lived in the savannah, near numerous lakes and rivers, played no less a role than pastoralists who roamed with their herds in areas suitable for grazing cattle. A. Lot counted about 80 prehistoric settlements in the south of Ahaggar, at the foot of the In-Gezzam plateau.
But first of all, the grandiose rock paintings convince us that at this time (4th-1st millennium BC), the main anthropological types of the African population were basically formed, and it was on the land of Africa itself. These data of the researcher decisively refute the legends, especially energetically spread by the apologists of colonialism, that all the most important cultural achievements that determine social development were brought to Africa from outside. Scientifically unsubstantiated racist theories of the penetration of foreign cultures served as a breeding ground for the creation of entire systems that divide Africans into "higher" and "lower" groups. Meanwhile, according to the preserved human bone remains, it can be established that already in the Mesolithic period there were serious differences in anthropological forms. The bone remains of the Neolithic period are easy to classify according to various anthropological features. By this time, along with the formation of the main anthropological types, there was a pronounced racial differentiation. Most likely, from the Neolithic era, many of the modern language families began to take shape. Rock painting with all the power of realistic art convinces us that during the period of humidity in the Sahara, all anthropological types of the population, which subsequently prevailed on the African continent, were more or less widely represented. Their distinctive features partly reflect differences in the way they obtain food.
Already on the early ancient Egyptian monuments of the III millennium BC. e., as in the cave paintings discovered by Mori in Fezzan, tall fair-skinned people appear. These pastoralists, who roamed the Sahara and North Africa, became speakers of Berber-Libyan dialects, which, along with Egyptian and Coptic, belong to the Semitic-Hamitic family of languages.
Both in terms of their anthropological type and language, they were the ancestors of numerous Berber and Libyan tribes of the Mediterranean, the Tuareg living in the central highlands of the Sahara (Tassili, Ahaggar, Adrar, Air) and the Fulbe of Western Sudan. In the savannahs and on the plateaus of Northeast Africa, in the upper reaches of the Blue Nile, up to the Neolithic zone with the Capsian tradition of Kenya, there lived tribes and clans of hunters, partly settled, but mainly shepherds, which should be attributed to the Ethiopian-Caucasian anthropological type. They were distributed in vast areas of East Africa and spoke the Cushitic languages. In very close relationship with them in anthropological terms and partly in language were many tribes of pastoralists who later inhabited Somalia, Ethiopia and the East African coast.
However, at the same time - at the beginning of the Neolithic - settled farmers of the Negroid type lived both in the Sahara and on the territory of the Sudan. A. Lot reports on mask-drawings in the Tassili mountains, which have an indisputable resemblance to the drawings of the Senufo of the Ivory Coast, belonging to a later period. Undoubtedly, the formation of the main anthropological types and language groups in the regions of the Sahara and the Sudan, as well as in other centers of the Neolithic era in Tropical Africa, provides exceptionally much material for important historical conclusions, if we only abstract from the bourgeois apologetic theories of racial superiority.
The geological process of drying up the Sahara, which began in the III-II millennium BC. e., put an end to the wet period of the Neolithic and, naturally, led to a number of serious changes. True, numerous contacts were still made across the Sahara, and at the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. trade relations between North Africa and the states of Western and Central Sudan were even re-established. But the formation of a largely uninhabited belt of deserts, where nomadic cattle breeders occasionally drove their herds only in the outlying regions, led to the fact that the economic, cultural and political development of the peoples of North Africa, on the one hand, and the population of Tropical Africa, on the other, took place from now on in various directions. In the II millennium BC. e. The Sahara was at least partially populated, but large population movements occurred in the first millennium. Light-skinned pastoral nomads moved into the northern and eastern regions or found pastures for their herds in the savannas in the south, while the agricultural, Negroid population retreated to the territory of Western Sudan. Only a small part of it still lived in the oases of the Sahara.
At this time, the migration of the Bantu peoples began, which caused a lot of conflicting assumptions, which in one way or another penetrated into science. Now it is impossible to accurately establish the detailed routes of numerous tribes and the reasons that caused these migrations. Much still needs to be clarified. It is indisputable, however, that since the Neolithic period and the use of metals, the population of some centers has increased dramatically and gradually spread over the whole continent. Some researchers believe that the reason for such movements, which took place from the 1st millennium BC. e. until the late Middle Ages, usually in the direction from north to south, the relative overpopulation of certain areas, which invariably pushed for the search for new sites for agriculture, cattle breeding, fishing and hunting. In sub-Saharan Africa, another circumstance is of great importance: there was an abundance of land suitable for cultivation, so there was often no incentive to introduce intensive farming methods and other subsistence methods that in Egypt, the Middle East and India forced the population to huddle in the valleys. rivers and irrigation systems.
Perhaps the migrations of the peoples of Tropical Africa were caused by a strong influx of Negroid inhabitants of the Sahara, who were at the Neolithic stage, into the zone of Western Sudan, where they mixed with the locals. Large human flows also moved from the centers of Neolithic culture that developed on the territory of Northern Nigeria, Cameroon, in the region of Lake Chad, the present Republics of the Congo and Zaire, and in the end the whole continent came into motion, which led to the spread of the most important food plants over large areas, for example, millet and one of the varieties of rice, to the introduction of new methods of agriculture, increased mining of iron ore and a wider use of metals.
In attempting to explain these phenomena, one must resolutely abandon the search for the ancestral home of the “proto-Bantu”, rooted in bourgeois literature, often used as dues ex machina for the entire social development of the African continent south of the Sahara. These theories do not take into account that "Bantu" is a purely linguistic term for a relative commonality, suggesting a close relationship of about 350 Bantu languages and dialects in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. Transferring this linguistic concept to anthropological and cultural characteristics is unacceptable and unscientific. The tribes and peoples of this language family have quite significant anthropological differences, are at different stages of social and cultural development, and have features that reflect the processes of merging as a result of the migration of peoples.
After long, often crossing movements in the 1st millennium BC. e. the regions of Cameroon, the Ubangi and Shari basins, Northern and Central Katanga, the territory of the future state of the Congo and the East African coast to the Zambezi (Zambia, Mozambique) stood out as regional centers of the Bantu-speaking population.
This is evidenced by the excavations of burials on the shores of Lake Kisale in Katanga, dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries. n. e. Arab travelers left reliable reports that Bantu-speaking tribes in the 7th and 8th centuries. n. e. reached the eastern shores of the great East African lakes and in the following centuries advanced into the territory of Southern Rhodesia. The tribes and peoples that inhabited vast territories here, under pressure from the newcomers, retreated to Central and South Africa and ousted the inhabitants of these areas, mainly hunters and gatherers, who were still at the stage of the late Paleolithic. In the virgin forests of Central Africa and on the banks of the Congo, the ancestors of modern pygmies lived. Throughout South Africa lived hunter-gatherers of the "bushboskopoid" type, descendants of the Boskop fossil man of antiquity. As recent studies show, it is possible that they even inhabited some areas of East Africa and here came into contact with pastoral nomads of the Ethiopian-Caucasian type. True, many of these tribes, the ancestors of the Bushmen and Hottentots, who spoke the Khoisan languages at the time of their independence, were eventually assimilated or forced out.
Another very ancient center of intensive settlement was the region of Nigeria. On the high plateau of Central Nigeria, near Jos, on the territory of the Bauchi Plateau, up to the southern border of the middle course of the Benue River, Paleolithic tools were found, made, according to B. Fagg, about 40 thousand years ago. Judging by some signs, individual layers can testify to the presence of a person in this area from the Paleolithic up to the Middle and Late Neolithic. Near the village of Nok in the vicinity of Zaria, traces of a highly developed Neolithic were found. During the re-commissioning of the tin mines of Jos, English mining engineers, followed by archaeologists, found the remains of a Neolithic settlement of settled farmers who knew pottery well. They left images of great artistic value. Among the finds, terracotta figurines depicting people of the Negroid type, the heads of elephants, and squatting monkeys predominated. Most of all, the peculiarly stylized heads and life-size terracotta busts attracted attention. The same English archaeologist B. Fagg unearthed a large number of such figurines of the Nok culture in the territory of the adjacent region, where they were scattered within a radius of about 45 kilometers. They were probably originally distributed far beyond Central Nigeria.
Of greatest importance was the discovery that the partially stylized naturalistic terracotta figurines had much in common with the later Ife art (14th-16th centuries) in Southern Nigeria and were the forerunner not only of this trend, which experts consider "classical" in African art, but also later African sculpture. B. Fagg notes that the terracotta figurines from Ife are not much different from the works of the Nok culture - only with a triangular cut of the eyes and "long-eared" heads. As for the rest, both in technical methods and in forms, there is a surprisingly great similarity. These findings helped to refute many apologetic theories that claimed that the Negroid population did not create their own traditional anthropomorphic sculpture. As well as the sensational discoveries of A. Lot in the Sahara, where the indigenous African population of the Efpopian-Caucasian and Negroid types already in the 4th millennium BC. e. skillfully create beautiful realistic images of men and women, clay heads and figurines of the 1st millennium BC found in Central Nigeria. e. were of great importance for the criticism of non-scientific theories. They served as a springboard for the rediscovery of Africa's historical past, which the progressive historiography of young nation-states is now undertaking in spite of the theories and opposition of colonialists and neo-colonialists. Using the radiocarbon method, it has been established that the oldest layers of the Neolithic center, from where the nok figurines came from, date back to about 900 BC. e., and the upper limit is 200 AD. e.
It is also interesting that the figurines were found in tin mines. Along with figurines and vessels made of terracotta, iron picks, remains of smelting furnaces and bellows, and iron slags were found here. Thus, the mines, which were probably laid down as early as the 1st millennium BC. e., they say that in the last centuries BC in Tropical Africa they knew how to mine and process iron. In Central Nigeria, laterite ore is most commonly found, easily mined and smelted at exceptionally low temperatures. Although the inhabitants of these areas learned how to work bronze quite early, they mined iron even earlier. Basil Davidson rightly points out that the Nok culture was a transitional culture from the Late Stone Age to the Metal Age, and that its peak was in the last two or three centuries BC.
But for a long time, stone and metal tools were used in parallel, anticipating the centuries-old process of transition to the use of iron and other metals, and, consequently, the formation of states based on an early class society.
The centers of the Neolithic civilization were discovered, along with Central Nigeria, primarily in the Congo basin, in Zambia and Zimbabwe, in various regions of West Africa, in southern Mauritania, in Guinea, in the Senegal basin, and also on the shores of Lake Chad. The population of these regions switched to agriculture and used stone and iron tools, which from the 1st millennium AD. e. gradually led to the formation of prosperous states south of the Sahara.
Although in recent years the study of the ancient and ancient history of Africa has achieved undoubted success, the study of the interaction of Neolithic cultures in time and space is only making its first steps, and so far we have a very incomplete and inaccurate picture of their distribution.
When trying to restore the events of these periods, one can rely on the first mention of Africa, appearing in written sources from the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. and especially valuable information is provided by Egyptian, and later Greek and Roman inscriptions.
The first data of this kind are contained in the victorious reports of the Egyptians. At the end of the II millennium BC. e. huge concentrations of nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes approached the borders of Egypt. The expansion of the desert gradually deprived them of pastures and fields. Wars broke out every now and then; oases and other fertile irrigated lands were incessantly attacked. Ramesses II decorated the walls of the temple in Medinet Abu with reliefs and inscriptions of his victories over enemies, among which the peoples and tribes of Libya and Fezzan prevailed. At this time (c. 1000 BC), when Nubia was still subject to the rule of the Egyptians, Egyptian sources often mention the "country of Punt" - the country of gold and incense. Where it was located has not yet been definitively established, it is only known that it included areas southeast of Nubia, extending to the Red Sea, and paid tribute to Egypt in gold, ivory and myrrh. It is also known that Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1501-1480 BC) sent expeditions to Punt. From there, Egyptian ships reached the east coast of Africa.
From the stories of the Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans about military, trading and research expeditions, one can draw numerous information about the geography of the African continent, but they tell little about the population of even the most frequently visited coastline, and in general about the deep regions. The map drawn up by the great Greek geographer shows that, along with the Mediterranean coast and the Nile Valley, the eastern coast of Africa to Cape Delgado and the western coast to the Gulf of Guinea were more or less known. However, this knowledge was partly based on legends.
In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. the western part of the coast of North Africa was dotted with settlements and trading posts of the Phoenicians, the center of which was Carthage. There were relatively many of them to Mogador (Morocco), but further on; south were located only periodically visited trading posts and small trading posts that conducted exchange operations with the population of coastal regions. Herodotus (484-425) and the Greek geographer Pseudo-Scylacus, who lived in the 4th century. BC e., report the so-called silent, or quiet, bargaining with the inhabitants of the northern part of the West African coast. In exchange for gold, a very early commercial item, West Africans were offered luxuries such as incense, gems from Egypt, pottery from Athens, and other goods.
Credible sources, including Strabo (Geography, III, 326), report that in the 5th century. BC e. (c. 470), the Carthaginian Hanno passed through the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar) and sailed along the northern part of West Africa. He was instructed to replenish the personnel of the Punic trading posts with new people and to explore the possibilities of trade with the southern region of this coast. The journey took him to the coast of Cameroon. The fiery torrents and pillars of fire that are mentioned, erupting from an unknown volcano, seem to point to Mount Cameroon.
After the few references to the Egyptian military campaigns have dried up, sources, especially after the Roman conquest of North Africa, focus heavily on the east coast of sub-Saharan Africa and the headwaters of the Nile. In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. Greek sailors knew from experience that it was possible, leaving the Red Sea, to reach the northwestern coast of India. They also sailed along the East African coast and reached the borders of modern Mozambique.
From this time, an extremely interesting sailing guide has come down, a guide for Greek navigators, the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, by an anonymous author. Most likely, it was compiled by a Greek from Alexandria, who apparently himself sailed off the southern coast of East Africa. He reports trading stations along the East African coast as far as the settlement of Rapta (between Dar es Salaam and Tanga). The compiler of "Periplus" describes the busy port cities on the coast of "Azania" - now Kenya and Tanzania are located here - and gives some information about their inhabitants.
A few centuries before the spread of Islam in Africa, very close economic and political ties existed between the population of its eastern regions and the southern Arabs, and some leaders of the tribes of the coast were even directly subordinate to the Himyarite rulers of South Arabia. In the first centuries of our era, Africans sold to foreigners Iron tools and weapons produced in the Muse, on the Red Sea (we will talk about iron smelting centers in Tropical Africa separately). Ivory, palm oil, tortoise shells, slaves were exported from the ports of Azania.
"Father of History", the Greek historian Herodotus, who committed in the 5th century. BC e. travel through the countries of the East, we owe interesting and reliable information about the population of some areas of Western and Central Africa, located in the Sahara further south. Herodotus describes the famous Garamantes of Fezzan and their passages across the Sahara, the "troglodyte Ethiopians" and the Nasamones of Eastern Libya. "Ethiopians" at that time were called people of the Negroid type with curly hair, who lived not only in East, but also in West Africa. Starting from the VI century. BC e. they were often depicted on Greek vases. According to Herodotus, the area that stretched from the Egyptian city of Thebes to the Pillars of Hercules was already then a waterless desert, where there was neither vegetation nor wild animals. By the time of Herodotus, the Sahara had largely taken on its present form.
Apparently, in the 7th century. BC e. (?) Nasamon expedition consisting of five people set off from the Aujila oasis to the south. On the way, they met a city and a country, “where all the people were ... small, and ... black. A large river flows past this city, and it flows from west to east, and crocodiles were visible in it: (II, 32). Most likely, the Nasamones went through Fezzan to the southwest to the bend of the Niger (the presence of such paths was suggested by A. Lot on the basis of rock carvings), and reached the regions of Gao and Timbuktu.
Of even greater interest is the description by Herodotus of the campaign of the Garamantes to the southwest, into the valley of the Niger, from Fezzan itself. The Garamantes of Fezzan already knew highly developed agriculture and cattle breeding. On horse-drawn chariots they crossed the Sahara and met the "cave Ethiopians" who spoke in a language reminiscent of the "squeak of bats." Although the researchers have not yet reached unequivocal conclusions and cannot say exactly which country they are talking about, they suggest that this language can be identified with the so-called Sudanese languages, in which pitch changes are known to play an important role. Therefore, it is not excluded that Herodotus' story about the Garamantes refers to the inhabitants of the Niger Basin or Lake Chad. Archaeological excavations and the remains of primitive man indicate that during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods these areas were early centers of settlement, where, after the accelerated drying of the Sahara and the subsequent migration of peoples, large numbers of Africans of the Negroid type settled.
During the Roman domination of North Africa, expeditions to the south were again undertaken. Pliny reports on military campaigns in this direction. Roman proconsul Cornelius Balbus in 19 BC e. reached Fezzan, the country of the Garamantes, and, according to the assumption of A. Lot, crossed the Sahara and reached Gao. Pliny also mentions the cave dwellers of the Niger Valley, the "troglodytes", already described by Herodotus. In 70 AD e. the path of the Garamantes was again traversed, this time by Septimius Flaccus, who, according to some authors, reached Bilma. Ptolemy reports that in 86 AD. e. Julius the Mother, at the behest of the emperor Domitian, crossed the desert with the Garamantes and reached Agisimba, the area "where the rhinos gather." Agisimba was usually identified with the oasis of Air (Republic of Niger). But such an identification is most likely erroneous: it is difficult to reach Air from Fezzan. Bovill believes that the Romans reached the Tibesti highlands, where the ancient route from Fezzan to Central Sudan, already at that time used for trade relations, ran nearby. In favor of the Tibesti, the report says that there were rhinos. These animals over the next few centuries were still found in the region of Lake Chad and surrounding water bodies up to the Tibesti.
In search of the origins of the Nile, and most importantly, in pursuit of gold, expeditions were equipped to Eastern Sudan. By order of the emperor Nero in 70, two centuries went up the Nile, passed the state of Meroe (at the 5th threshold) and reached, obviously, a swampy area on the banks of the White Nile and at Bahr el-Ghazal with "a huge labyrinth of swamps, covered with bogs where no boat can pass" (Seneca, VI, 8). Thus was reached the border of ancient and ancient Africa. South of the Sahara, it was characterized by a transition to the use and processing of metals and the emergence of early class societies.
When at the end of the fifteenth century the first Portuguese conquerors and travelers set foot on the land of Africa, a significant part of its population has been able to smelt and use iron for many centuries. The only exceptions were some tribes who lived in isolation in remote areas of the tropical virgin forest and South Africa.
Many primitive tribes, like the bearers of the Neolithic cultures of the 1st millennium BC. e., in parallel with metal, tools, weapons and other similar items made of stone and bone continued to be used. Such parallelism is observed in the Sao culture of the Lake Chad Basin and in the Neolithic Bigo culture in Uganda from the 10th to the 14th centuries. n. e., as well as in the centers of the Nok culture before the beginning of our era.
Since when did the use of metal begin in Tropical Africa, which marks the end of the Stone Age, and, consequently, of primitive society? This question is of particular importance, because for any people the emergence of economic and social differentiation, the formation of a class society are associated with its entry into the age of metal.
With the exception of Egypt, where bronze-working reached its highest development during the New Kingdom (1262–1085 B.C.), and parts of North Africa and Mauritania, sub-Saharan Africa did not have a distinct copper or bronze age, although copper and bronze in many places even in antiquity, and in some places and for a number of centuries occupied the main place in everyday life. In West Africa, poor in copper, but rich in gold, Libyan copper, which was exchanged for West African gold, played an important role in the trade exchange across the Sahara in ancient times. These operations began in the 1st millennium BC. e. garamants - chariot riders from Fezzan. The French archaeologist R. Moni dates the use of copper in the form of axes and spearheads in Mauritania from 1200 BC. e.
Systematic copper mining began relatively late in sub-Saharan Africa. Acquaintance with it remained purely regional and limited to a few deposits and nodal points along the routes of trade caravans with copper in West Central Africa and did not have a significant impact on the development of productive forces. On the contrary, the extraction of copper, and especially the spread of copper casting, assumed the presence of iron tools and other implements. Only already at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennium AD. e. and it was through the use of iron tools that the exploitation of copper deposits in the Zambezi and Katanga, red copper ore in Takedda (Mali) and tin on the Bauchi Plateau in Nigeria was intensified. From the descriptions of al-Biruni it is known that in the XIII century. There were copper mines in Katanga. Ibn Battuta reports in the XIV century. about a deposit of red copper ore near Takedda in Mali.
The famous bronze and copper works of art from Ife and Benin date from no earlier than the beginning of the 12th century. Figurines made of copper and bronze found by J.-P. Leboeuf in the places where the Sao people settled on the shores of Lake Chad belong to the 10th–13th centuries. As archaeological data show, in Tropical Africa, copper and bronze were almost never used for the production of tools, utensils and weapons, but court artisans with high perfection made works of art and valuable household items from them, as well as from gold. Unlike the countries of the Near East and the Mediterranean, in Africa south of the Sahara, they first learned how to smelt and process iron, and only then mastered the art of obtaining copper. In many areas of Africa at the end of the Neolithic, iron began to be used immediately after the stone. The Bronze Age in the proper sense of the word, characterized by the processing of copper, as well as the Eneolithic (the period of stone and bronze) did not exist here.
The more important was the ability to process iron. It eventually entailed fundamental changes in the state of the productive forces, and consequently in the socio-economic field, in property relations.
It should be emphasized that Africans independently learned how to extract iron and created their own methods of its production and processing.
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History of Africa
Introduction
The oldest archaeological finds that testify to the processing of grain in Africa date back to the thirteenth millennium BC. e. Pastoralism in the Sahara began c. 7500 BC e., and organized agriculture in the Nile region appeared in the 6th millennium BC. e. In the Sahara, which was then a fertile territory, groups of hunters-fishermen lived, as evidenced by archaeological finds. Many petroglyphs and rock paintings have been discovered throughout the Sahara, dating from 6000 BC to 6000 BC. e. until the 7th century AD. e. The most famous monument of the primitive art of North Africa is the Tassilin-Ajer plateau.
1. Ancient Africa
In the 6-5th millennium BC. agricultural cultures (Tasian culture, Faiyum, Merimde) were formed in the Nile Valley, based on the civilization of Christian Ethiopia (XII-XVI century). These centers of civilization were surrounded by the pastoral tribes of the Libyans, as well as the ancestors of the modern Cushite- and Nilotic-speaking peoples. On the territory of the modern Sahara Desert (which was then a savannah favorable for habitation) by the 4th millennium BC. e. a cattle-breeding and agricultural economy is taking shape. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e., when the drying of the Sahara begins, the population of the Sahara retreats to the south, pushing the local population of Tropical Africa.
By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. the horse is spreading in the Sahara. On the basis of horse breeding (from the first centuries AD - also camel breeding) and oasis agriculture in the Sahara, an urban civilization was formed (the cities of Telgi, Debris, Garama), and the Libyan letter appeared. On the Mediterranean coast of Africa in the XII-II centuries BC. e. the Phoenician-Carthaginian civilization flourished. In Africa south of the Sahara in the 1st millennium BC. e. iron metallurgy is spreading everywhere. The culture of the Bronze Age did not develop here, and there was a direct transition from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Iron Age cultures spread both west (Nok) and east (northeast Zambia and southwest Tanzania) of Tropical Africa.
The spread of iron contributed to the development of new territories, primarily tropical forests, and became one of the reasons for the settlement of Bantu-speaking peoples throughout most of Tropical and South Africa, pushing the representatives of the Ethiopian and capoid races to the north and south.
2. The emergence of the first states in Africa
According to modern historical science, the first state (south of the Sahara) appeared on the territory of Mali in the 3rd century - it was the state of Ghana. Ancient Ghana traded gold and metals even with the Roman Empire and Byzantium. Perhaps this state arose much earlier, but during the existence of the colonial authorities of England and France there, all information about Ghana disappeared (the colonialists did not want to admit that Ghana is much older than England and France).
Under the influence of Ghana, other states later appeared in West Africa - Mali, Songhai, Kanem, Tekrur, Hausa, Ife, Kano and other states of West Africa. Another hotbed of the emergence of states in Africa is the vicinity of Lake Victoria (the territory of modern Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi). The first state appeared there around the 11th century - it was the state of Kitara.
In my opinion, the state of Kitara was created by settlers from the territory of modern Sudan - Nilotic tribes, who were forced out of their territory by Arab settlers. Later, other states appeared there - Buganda, Rwanda, Ankole. Around the same time (according to scientific history) - in the 11th century, the Mopomotale state appeared in southern Africa, which will disappear at the end of the 17th century (it will be destroyed by wild tribes). I believe that Mopomotale began to exist much earlier, and the inhabitants of this state are the descendants of the most ancient metallurgists of the world, who had connections with the Asuras and Atlanteans.
Around the middle of the 12th century, the first state appeared in the center of Africa - Ndongo (this is a territory in the north of modern Angola). Later, other states appeared in the center of Africa - Congo, Matamba, Mwata and Baluba. Since the 15th century, the colonial states of Europe - Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, France and Germany - began to interfere in the process of statehood development in Africa. If at first they were interested in gold, silver and precious stones, then later slaves became the main commodity (and these countries were engaged in countries that officially rejected the existence of slavery). Slaves were exported by the thousands to the plantations of America. Only much later, at the end of the 19th century, the colonialists began to attract natural resources in Africa. And it is for this reason that vast colonial territories appeared in Africa.
The colonies in Africa interrupted the development of the peoples of Africa and distorted its entire history. Until now, significant archaeological research has not been carried out in Africa (the African countries themselves are poor, and England and France do not need a true history of Africa, just like in Russia, Russia also does not conduct good research on the ancient history of Russia, money is spent on buying castles and yachts in Europe, total corruption deprives science of real research).
3. Africa in the Middle Ages
The centers of civilizations in Tropical Africa spread from north to south (in the eastern part of the continent) and partly from east to west (especially in the western part) as they moved away from the high civilizations of North Africa and the Middle East. Most of the large socio-cultural communities of Tropical Africa had an incomplete set of signs of civilization, so they can more accurately be called proto-civilizations. From the end of the 3rd century A.D. e. in West Africa, in the basins of Senegal and Niger, the Western Sudanese (Ghana) develops, from the VIII-IX centuries - the Central Sudanese (Kanem) civilizations that arose on the basis of trans-Saharan trade with the Mediterranean countries.
After the Arab conquests of North Africa (VII century), the Arabs for a long time became the only intermediaries between Tropical Africa and the rest of the world, including across the Indian Ocean, where the Arab fleet dominated. Under Arab influence, new urban civilizations are emerging in Nubia, Ethiopia, and East Africa. The cultures of Western and Central Sudan merged into a single West African, or Sudanese, zone of civilizations that stretched from Senegal to the modern Republic of Sudan.
In the 2nd millennium, this zone was united politically and economically in the Muslim empires: Mali (XIII-XV century), to which the small political formations of the peoples of the Fulbe, Wolof, Serer, Susu and Songhay (Tekrur, Jolof, Sin, Salum, Kayor, Soco and others), Songhai (mid-15th - late 16th century) and Bornu (late 15th - early 18th century) - Kanem's successor. From the beginning of the 16th century, between Songhai and Bornu, the Hausan city-states (Daura, Zamfara, Kano, Rano, Gobir, Katsina, Zaria, Biram, Kebbi, etc.) were strengthened, to which in the 17th century the role of the main centers of the trans-Saharan trade. South of the Sudanese civilizations in the 1st millennium CE. e. the Ife proto-civilization is taking shape, which became the cradle of the Yoruba and Bini civilization (Benin, Oyo). Its influence was experienced by the Dahomeans, Igbos, Nupe, and others. To the west of it, in the 2nd millennium, the Akano-Ashanti proto-civilization was formed, which flourished in the 17th - early 19th centuries. To the south of the great bend of the Niger, a political center arose founded by the Mosi and other peoples speaking Gur languages (the so-called Mosi-Dagomba-Mamprusi complex) and turned into a Voltian proto-civilization by the middle of the 15th century (the early political formations of Ouagadugu, Yatenga, Gurma , Dagomba, Mamprusi).
In Central Cameroon, the Bamum and Bamileke proto-civilization arose, in the Congo River basin - the Vungu proto-civilization (the early political formations of the Congo, Ngola, Loango, Ngoyo, Kakongo), to the south of it (in the 16th century) - the proto-civilization of the southern savannahs (the early political formations of Cuba, Lunda, Luba), in the Great Lakes region - an inter-lake proto-civilization: early political formations of Buganda (XIII century), Kitara (XIII-XV century), Bunyoro (from the XVI century), later - Nkore (XVI century), Rwanda (XVI century), Burundi (XVI century), Karagwe (XVII century), Kiziba (XVII century), Busoga (XVII century), Ukereve (late XIX century), Toro (late XIX century), etc. In East Africa, flourished since the X century Swahili Muslim civilization (city-states of Kilwa, Pate, Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi, Sofala, etc., the Sultanate of Zanzibar), in Southeast Africa - Zimbabwean (Zimbabwe, Monomotapa) proto-civilization (X-XIX century), in Madagascar the process of state formation ended at the beginning of the 19th century with the unification of all early political the name of the island around Imerin, which arose around the 15th century. Most African civilizations and proto-civilizations experienced an upswing in the late 15th-16th centuries.
From the end of the 16th century, with the penetration of Europeans and the development of the transatlantic slave trade, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century, their decline took place. All North Africa (except Morocco) became part of the Ottoman Empire by the beginning of the 17th century. With the final division of Africa between the European powers (1880s), the colonial period began, forcibly introducing Africans to industrial civilization.
4. Colonization of Africa
tasian african colonization slave trade
In ancient times, North Africa was the object of colonization by Europe and Asia Minor. The first attempts by Europeans to subjugate African territories date back to the times of the ancient Greek colonization of the 7th-5th centuries BC, when numerous Greek colonies appeared on the coast of Libya and Egypt. The conquests of Alexander the Great marked the beginning of a rather long period of Hellenization of Egypt. Although the bulk of its inhabitants, the Copts, were never Hellenized, the rulers of this country (including the last queen Cleopatra) adopted the Greek language and culture, which completely dominated Alexandria. The city of Carthage was founded on the territory of modern Tunisia by the Phoenicians and was one of the most important powers of the Mediterranean until the 4th century BC. e.
After the Third Punic War, it was conquered by the Romans and became the center of the province of Africa. In the early Middle Ages, the kingdom of the Vandals was founded on this territory, and later it was part of Byzantium. The invasions of the Roman troops made it possible to consolidate the entire northern coast of Africa under the control of the Romans. Despite the extensive economic and architectural activities of the Romans, the territories were subjected to weak Romanization, apparently due to excessive aridity and the ongoing activity of the Berber tribes, pushed back, but not conquered by the Romans. Ancient Egyptian civilization also fell under the rule of the Greeks first, and then the Romans. In the context of the decline of the empire, the Berbers, activated by the vandals, finally destroy the centers of European, as well as Christian civilization in North Africa on the eve of the invasion of the Arabs, who brought Islam with them and pushed back the Byzantine Empire, which still controlled Egypt.
By the beginning of the 7th century A.D. e. the activities of the early European states in Africa completely cease, on the contrary, the expansion of the Arabs from Africa takes place in many regions of southern Europe. Attacks of the Spanish and Portuguese troops in the XV-XVI centuries. led to the capture of a number of strongholds in Africa (the Canary Islands, as well as the fortresses of Ceuta, Melilla, Oran, Tunisia, and many others). Italian navigators from Venice and Genoa have also traded extensively with the region since the 13th century. At the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese actually controlled the western coast of Africa and launched an active slave trade. Following them, other Western European powers rush to Africa: the Dutch, the French, and the British.
From the 17th century, Arab trade with sub-Saharan Africa led to the gradual colonization of East Africa, in the Zanzibar region. And although Arab quarters appeared in some cities of West Africa, they did not become colonies, and Morocco's attempt to subjugate the lands of the Sahel ended unsuccessfully. Early European expeditions focused on colonizing uninhabited islands such as Cape Verde and Sao Tome, and establishing forts along the coast as trading bases. In the second half of the 19th century, especially after the Berlin Conference of 1885, the process of African colonization acquired such a scale that it was called the "race for Africa"; practically the entire continent (except for the remaining independent Ethiopia and Liberia) by 1900 was divided between a number of European powers: Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal retained and somewhat expanded their old colonies.
During the First World War, Germany lost (mostly already in 1914) its African colonies, which after the war came under the administration of other colonial powers under League of Nations mandates. The Russian Empire never claimed to colonize Africa, despite its traditionally strong position in Ethiopia, except for the Sagallo incident in 1889.
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