The Songhai Empire during the 15th and 16th centuries was a kingdom that controlled the Western Sahel. At its height, it was one of the greatest in African history. The state is known for its historiographic name, derived from the Songhai, its leading ethnic group and ruling elite. The Songhai Empire was located in south of the Sahara Desert in …

The Dinka people are a Nilotic tribe from South Sudan, but they do have a significant community in the diaspora. They live mostly along the Nile, from Mangalla to Renk, in Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (formerly two out of three Sudanese Southern Provinces) and Dinka Ngok of Abyei Area in South Sudan. The Dinka originated from the Gezira, in …

Hair has played an important role in the history of ancient African lifeforms. Their family, social class, beliefs, tribe, and marital status symbolized their context. Various tribes used hair as early as the 15th century to show one’s social hierarchy. Royal members wore elaborate hairstyles symbolizing their prestige. Hair was also a prosperity symbol. If a person’s hair was thick, …

El-Molo are Kenya’s smallest ethnic group with around 560 people. Although their numbers have recovered slightly in recent years, the people who live on the Komote Island of Lake Turkana fear their language could become extinct. The El Molo are believed to have originally migrated down into the Turkana Basin around 1000 BC from Ethiopia in the more northerly Horn …

At the height of Ancient Egypt, its bustling capital was Thebes, 419 miles south of Cairo where the modern settlement of Luxor now stands. Known to the Egyptians as Wase (‘City of the Sceptre’) or Nowe (‘City of Amon [an important god]’), Thebes was founded around 4,000 BC. Long-associated with royalty, Thebes blossomed into a sprawling metropolis during the Eleventh …

The main actor of the famous 1980 movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy” was paid just $300, though the movie made over $60 million, as it often appears online. Yes, it’s a reality, surprisingly the film became that year’s top-large foreign film and actor N!Xau Toma won international superstar status from it. N!Xau Toma was born in the Tsumkwe region …

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo is best remembered for his memoirs as a Muslim, who in colonial America had to suffer the Atlantic slave trade and enslavement. In 1734 Thomas Bluett published his personal history with several Accounts of the Life of Job. Till now, they serve in eighteenth-century America as one of the few primary sources of Atlantic slave trade and …

KaMpande was a commander of Zulu during the Anglo-Zulu War. He is most notable at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift for having commanded the Zulus. Dabulamanzi was a half-brother of Zulu king Cetshwayo kaMpande. Following the Zulus defeat, and Cetshwayo’s arrest, Dabulamanzi was calling for his brother’s return to power. As Cetshwayo was returned in 1883 Dabulamanzi fought on his …

The today’s southern half of the Atlantic Ocean in classical geographical works was known as Aethiopian or Ethiopian Sea or Ocean. The name remained in maps from ancient times until 19th century. The term Aithiopos was originally an old name for what is now called the South Atlantic Ocean. A narrow region, between Natal, Brazil and Monrovia, Liberia, that separates …

The tribe of Bodi has a small population occupying approximately 1900 sq.km and resides close to the river Omo. They also border Mursi tribe. These tribes, though similar in different African cultural traditions, sometimes clash. Bodi as a tribe they are a group of people that rely largely on their livestock. They are also key farmers engaged in cultivating sorghum …