KINGDOM OF ADAL SULTANATE
The Adal Sultanate, or Kingdom of Adal (alt. spelling Adel Sultanate), was a Muslim Somali kingdom and sultanate located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din II after the fall of the Sultanate of Ifat. The kingdom flourished from around 1415 to 1577.[1] The sultanate and state were established by the local inhabitants of Zeila.[2][3][4] At its height, the polity under Sultan Badlay controlled the territory stretching from Somalia to the port city of Suakin in Sudan.[5][6] The Adal Empire maintained a robust commercial and political relationship with the Ottoman Empire.[7]
KINGDOM OF ADAL SULTANATE
D'MT (South Arabian)
Dʿmt (South Arabian alphabet: ; Unvocalized Ge'ez: ደዐመተ, DʿMT theoretically vocalized as ዳዓማት, Daʿamat[2] or ዳዕማት, Daʿəmat[3]) was a kingdom located in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia (Tigray Region) that existed during the 10th to 5th centuries BC. Few inscriptions by or about this kingdom survive and very little archaeological work has taken place. As a result, it is not known whether Dʿmt ended as a civilization before the Kingdom of Aksum's early stages, evolved into the Aksumite state, or was one of the smaller states united in the Kingdom of Aksum possibly around the beginning of the 1st century.[4]
Part of a series on the
History of Eritrea
Given the presence of a large temple complex, the capital of Dʿmt may have been present day Yeha, in Tigray Region, Ethiopia.[1] At Yeha, the temple to the god Ilmuqah is still standing.[5]
The kingdom developed irrigation schemes, used plows, grew millet, and made iron tools and weapons.
The Nok culture is an early Iron Age population whose material remains are named after the Ham village of Nok in Kaduna State of Nigeria, where their terracotta sculptures were first discovered in 1928. The Nok Culture appeared in northern Nigeria around 1500 BC [1] and vanished under unknown circumstances around 500 AD, having lasted approximately 2,000 years.[2]
Iron use, in smelting and forging tools, appears in Nok culture by at least 550 BC and possibly a few centuries earlier.[3] Data from historical linguistics suggest that iron smelting was independently discovered in the region by 1000 BC.[4][5] Scientific field work began in 2005 to systematically investigate Nok archaeological sites, and to better understand Nok terracotta sculptures within their Iron Age archaeological context
KINGSON OF BENIN
The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Benin Kingdom, was a pre-colonial kingdom in what is now southern Nigeria. It is not to be confused with Benin, the post-colonial nation state. The Kingdom of Benin's capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo state. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa", it was formed around the 11th century CE",[2] until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897
The Songhai Empire (also transliterated as Songhay) was a state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history. The state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its leading ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai. Sonni Ali established Gao as the capital of the empire, although a Songhai state had existed in and around Gao since the 11th century. Other important cities in the empire were Timbuktu and Djenné, conquered in 1468 and 1475 respectively, where urban-centered trade flourished. Initially, the empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty (c. 1464–1493), but it was later replaced by the Askia dynasty (1493–1591).
During the second half of the 13th century, Gao and the surrounding region had grown into an important trading center and attracted the interest of the expanding Mali Empire. Mali conquered Gao towards the end of the 13th century. Gao would remain under Malian hegemony until the late 14th century. As the Mali Empire started to disintegrate, the Songhai reasserted control of Gao. Songhai rulers subsequently took advantage of the weakened Mali Empire to expand Songhai rule.
THE SONGHAI EMPIRE
The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Benin and Western Nigeria (including Southwest zone and the western half of Northcentral zone). The Oyo Empire grew to become the largest Yoruba state. It rose through the outstanding organizational and administrative skills of the Yoruba people, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the entirety of Western Africa from the mid-7th to the late 18th century,[2] holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west.
THE OYO EMPIRE
The Ghana Empire (c. 300 until c. 1100), properly known as Wagadou (Ghana being the title of its ruler), was a West African empire located in the area of present-day southeastern Mauritania and western Mali. Complex societies based on trans-Saharan trade in salt and gold had existed in the region since ancient times,[1] but the introduction of the camel to the western Sahara in the 3rd century CE, opened the way to great changes in the area that became the Ghana Empire. By the time of the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the 7th century the camel had changed the ancient, more irregular trade routes into a trade network running from Morocco to the Niger River. The Ghana Empire grew rich from this increased trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt, allowing for larger urban centres to develop. The traffic furthermore encouraged territorial expansion to gain control over the different trade routes.
When Ghana's ruling dynasty began remains uncertain. It is mentioned for the first time in written records by Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī in 830.[2] In the 11th century the Cordoban scholar Al-Bakri travelled to the region and gave a detailed description of the kingdom.
As the empire declined it finally became a vassal of the rising Mali Empire at some point in the 13th century. When, in 1957, the Gold Coast became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain its independence from colonial rule, it renamed itself Ghana in honor of the long-gone empire.
THE GHANA EMPIRE
THE MOSSI KINGDOM
The Mossi Kingdoms, sometimes referred to as the Mossi Empire, were a number of different powerful kingdoms in modern-day Burkina Faso which dominated the region of the upper Volta river for hundreds of years. The kingdoms were founded when warriors from the Mamprusi area, in modern-day Ghana moved into the area and intermarried with local people. Centralization of the political and military powers of the kingdoms begin in the 13th century and led to conflicts between the Mossi kingdoms and many of the other powerful states in the region. In 1896, the French took over the kingdoms and created the French Upper Volta which largely used the Mossi administrative structure for many decades in governing the colony.
The Kingdom of Mutapa
The Kingdom of Mutapa – sometimes referred to as the Mutapa Empire, Mwenemutapa, (Shona: Mwene we Mutapa or more commonly and modern "Munhumutapa"; Portuguese: Monomotapa) – was a Shona[citation needed] Empire which was centered in the Zambezi valley.
A sixteenth-century Portuguese map of Monomotapa lying in the interior of southern Africa.
The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the African royal title Mwenemutapa meaning Owner/Lord of the land/mud or Master of the ravaged lands. It is derived from a combination of two words Mwene meaning owner or Lord, and Mutapa meaning land. Mutapa may also stem from the word Mutape, meaning mud, a common praise title used by the Korekore people in the Dande area where the Empire was centered. Over time the monarch's royal title was applied to the kingdom as a whole, and used to denote the kingdom's territory on maps from the period.[2]
The Kingdom of Kongo
Kingdom of Baol
The Kingdom of Baol or Bawol in central Senegal was one of the kingdoms that arose from the split-up of the Empire of Jolof (Diolof) in 1555. The ruler (Teigne or Teen) reigned from a capital in Diourbel.
The Kingdom encompassed a strip of land extending east from the ocean to the capital city and included the cities of Touba and MBacke. It was directly south of the Kingdom of Cayor and north of the Kingdom of Sine. The first King of Baol was Ji the Great.
Baol was famous for its horses. It has special breeds, which were faster and stronger than most of the horses on the plain. Baol citizens are good riders.
Baol was ethnically a Wolof kingdom, but it included communities of Serer-Safen and other Serer groups. The social and political systems were basically the same as those of Cayor. In fact, the kingdoms merged from time to time for mutual defense.
The French conquest of Baol began in 1859. Most of Baol was conquered by the French in 1874, however complete control of the former kingdom was not gained by France until 1895. It was one of many campaigns of Governor Louis Faidherbe who oversaw the conquest of Cayor in 1886.
The Kingdom of Kongo (Kikongo: Kongo dia Ntotila[4] or Wene wa Kongo;[5] Portuguese: Reino do Congo) was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[6] the Republic of the Congo as well as the southernmost part of Gabon.[7] At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo, meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence extended to neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo and Matamba, the latter two located in what is Angola today.[3]
From c. 1390 to 1859 it was mostly an independent state. From 1859 to 1914 it functioned as a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal.[8] In 1914, following the Portuguese suppression of a Kongo revolt, Portugal abolished the titular monarchy. The remaining territories of the kingdom were assimilated into the colony of Angola and the Protectorate of Cabinda respectively. The modern-day Bundu dia Kongo sect favors reviving the kingdom through secession from Angola, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon.[
The Kaabu Empire
The Kaabu Empire (1537–1867), also written Gabu, Ngabou, and N'Gabu, was a great empire in the Senegambia region centered within modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau, larger parts of today's Gambia; extending into Koussanar, Koumpentoum, regions of Southeastern Senegal, and Casamance in Senegal. The Kaabu Empire consisted of several languages namely: Jola-Balanta, Jola-Fonyi, Mandinka, Mandjak, Mankanya, Noon (Serer-Noon), Pulaar, Serer, Soninke, and Wolof. It rose to prominence in the region thanks to its origins as a former imperial military province of the Mali Empire. After the decline of the Mali Empire, Kaabu became an independent Empire. Kansala, the imperial capital of Kaabu Empire, was annexed by Futa Jallon during the 19th century Fula jihads. However, Kaabu's vast independent kingdoms across Senegambia continued to thrive even after the fall of Kansala; this lasted until total incorporation of the remaining Kingdoms into the British Gambia, Portuguese and French spheres of influence during the Scramble for Africa.
Kingdom of Sennar,
The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue (Arabic: السلطنة الزرقاء, romanized: al-Sulṭanah al-Zarqāʼ)[11] was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern Eritrea and western Ethiopia. Founded in 1504 by the Funj people, it quickly converted to Islam, although this embrace was only nominal. Until a more orthodox Islam took hold in the 18th century, the state remained an "African-Nubian empire with a Muslim facade".[12] It reached its peak in the late 17th century but declined and eventually fell apart in the 18th. In 1821 the last sultan, greatly reduced in power, surrendered to the Ottoman Egyptian invasion without a fight.
Kingdom of Ile Ife
Ife (Yoruba: Ifè, also Ilé-Ifẹ̀) is an ancient Yoruba city in south-western Nigeria. The city is located in present-day Osun State. Ife is about 218 kilometers northeast of Lagos[2] with a population of 509,813.
According to the traditions of the Yoruba religion, Ife was founded by the order of the Supreme God Olodumare by Obatala. It then fell into the hands of his sibling Oduduwa, which created enmity between the two.[3] Oduduwa created a dynasty there, and sons and daughters of this dynasty became rulers of many other kingdoms in Yorubaland.[4] The first Oòni of Ife is a descendant of Oduduwa, which was the 401st Orisha. The present ruler since 2015 is Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife who is also a Nigerian accountant.[5] Named as the city of 401 deities, Ife is home to many worshippers of these deities and is where they are routinely celebrated through festivals.[6]
Ilé-Ifè is famous worldwide for its ancient and naturalistic bronze, stone and terracotta sculptures, dating back to between 1200 and 1400 A.D
KINGDOM OF ZIMBABWE
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe (c. 1000–1450) was a medieval Shona (Karanga) kingdom located in modern-day Zimbabwe. Its capital, Lusvingo, now called Great Zimbabwe, is the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. This kingdom came about after the collapse of the Kingdom of Mapungubwe.
KINGDOM OF NRI
The Kingdom of Nri (Igbo: Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì) was a medieval polity located in what is now Nigeria. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called an Eze Nri. The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people, a subgroup of the Igbo-speaking people, and possessed divine authority in religious matters.
The kingdom was a haven for all those who had been rejected in their communities and also a place where slaves were set free from their bondage. Nri expanded through converts gaining neighboring communities' allegiance, not by force. Nri's royal founder, Eri, is said to be a 'sky being' that came down to earth and then established civilization. One of the better-known remnants of the Nri civilization is manifested in the igbo ukwu artifacts. Nri's culture permanently influenced the Northern and Western Igbo, especially through religion and taboos.
The kingdom appears to have passed its peak in the 18th century, encroached upon by the rise of the Benin and Igala kingdom, and later the Atlantic slave trade, but it appears to have maintained its authority well into the 16th century, and remnants of the eze hierarchy persisted until the establishment of Colonial Nigeria in 1911 and represents one of the traditional states within modern Nigeria.
THE MALI EMPIRE
The Mali Empire (Manding: Nyeni[5] or Niani; also historically referred to as the Manden Kurufaba,[1] sometimes shortened to Manden) was an empire in West Africa from c. 1235 to 1670. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 – c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Musa Keita. The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. The Mali Empire was the largest empire in West Africa and profoundly influenced the culture of West Africa through the spread of its language, laws and customs.[6] Much of the recorded information about the Mali Empire comes from 14th-century North African Arab historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta and 16th-century Moroccan traveller Leo Africanus. The other major source of information is Mandinka oral tradition, through storytellers known as griots.[7]
The empire began as a small Mandinka kingdom at the upper reaches of the Niger River, centered around the town of Niani (the empire's namesake in Manding). During the 11th and 12th centuries, it began to develop as an empire following the decline of the Ghana Empire to the north. During this period, trade routes shifted southward to the savanna, stimulating the growth of states. The early history of the Mali Empire (before the 13th century) is unclear, as there are conflicting and imprecise accounts by both Arab chroniclers and oral traditionalists. Sundiata Keita is the first ruler for which there is accurate written information (through Ibn Khaldun). Sundiata Keita was a warrior-prince of the Keita dynasty who was called upon to free the Mali people from the rule of the king of the Sosso Empire, Soumaoro Kanté.
THE ASANTE EMPIRE
The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: Asanteman) was an Akan empire and kingdom from 1670 to 1957, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from Ashanti to include the Brong-Ahafo Region, Central Region, Eastern Region, Greater Accra Region and Western Region of present-day Ghana. Due to the empire's military prowess, wealth, architecture, sophisticated hierarchy and culture, the Ashanti Kingdom has been extensively studied and has more historiographies by European, primarily British authors than any other indigenous culture of Sub-Saharan Africa.[4]
Starting in the late 17th century, the Ashanti king Osei Tutu (c. 1695 – 1717) and his adviser Okomfo Anokye established the Ashanti Kingdom, with the Golden Stool of Asante as a sole unifying symbol.[1][2] Osei Tutu oversaw a massive Ashanti territorial expansion, building up the army by introducing new organisation and turning a disciplined royal and paramilitary army into an effective fighting machine.[4] In 1701, the Ashanti army conquered Denkyira, giving the Ashanti access to the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean coastal trade with Europeans, notably the Dutch
KINGDOM OF MAPUNGUBWE
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe (or Maphungubgwe) (c.1075–1220) was a medieval state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The name is derived from either TjiKalanga and Tshivenda. The name might mean "Hill of Jackals".[1] The kingdom was the first stage in a development that would culminate in the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century, and with gold trading links to Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the African east coast. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe lasted about 80 years, and at its height the capital's population was about 5000 people.[2]
This archaeological site can be attributed to the BuKalanga Kingdom, which comprises the Bakalanga people from northeast Botswana, the Kalanga from Western Zimbabwe, the Nambya on the Zambezi Valley, and the Vha Venda in the northeast of South Africa. They crossed the Limpopo River to the south, and established their kingdom where the Shashe and Limpopo conjoined (Sha-limpo). The Mapungubwe Collection is a museum collection of artifacts found at the archaeological site and is housed in the Mapungubwe Museum in Pretoria.
KINGDOM OF CAYOR
Cayor (Wolof: Kajoor; French: Cayor) was the largest and most powerful kingdom (1549–1879) that split off from the Jolof Empire in what is now Senegal. Cayor was located in northern and central Senegal, southeast of Walo, west of the kingdom of Jolof, and north of Baol and the Kingdom of Sine.
In 1549, the damel (dammeel in Wolof,[1] often translated into European languages as "king") Dece Fu Njogu became independent from Jolof and set Cayor's capital at Mbul. The French, under governor Louis Faidherbe, annexed Cayor in 1868; Cayor re-established independence in 1871. France invaded again and annexed Cayor again in 1879, when it ceased to be a sovereign state. The kingdom was extinguished in its entirety October 6, 1886.
In addition to Cayor, the damels also ruled over the Lebou area of Cap-Vert (where modern Dakar is), and they became the "Teignes" (rulers) of the neighboring kingdom of Baol.
Traditionally the damel himself was not purely hereditary, but was designated by a 4-member council consisting of:
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the Jaudin Bul (Diawdine-Boul), hereditary chief of the Jambur ("free men"; French Diambour)
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the Calau (Tchialaw), chief of the canton of Jambanyan (Diambagnane)
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the Botal (Bôtale), chief of the canton of Jop (Diop), and
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the Baje (Badgié), chief of the canton of Gateny (Gatègne).
A great hero in Senegal history, for his defiance and battles against the French, was Lat Jor. He was defeated at the battle of Dekheule, and was deposed twice, in 1869 and 1879. He converted to Islam around 1861.
The 30th and last damel of Cayor was Samba Laube Fal (1858–1886), killed at Tivaouane, Senegal.
KINGDOM OF SINE
Kingdom of Saloum
The Kingdom of Saloum (Serer language: Saluum or Saalum) was a Serer/Wolof[3] kingdom in present-day Senegal. Its kings may have been of Mandinka/Kaabu origin.[3] The capital of Saloum was the city of Kahone. It was a sister kingdom of Sine. Their history, geography and culture were intricately linked and it was common to refer to them as the Sine-Saloum.
Carthage romanized: Qart-ḥadašt, lit. 'New City'; Latin: Carthāgō)[3] was an ancient Phoenician city-state located in present-day Tunisia. Founded around 814 BC as a colony of Tyre, within centuries it grew to become the center of the Carthaginian Empire, a major commercial and maritime power that dominated the western Mediterranean until the mid third century BC.[4][5][6]
After gaining independence in the mid seventh century BC, Carthage gradually expanded its political hegemony across northwest Africa, Iberia, and the major islands of the western Mediterranean. Its sphere of influence encompassed an informal empire of colonies, client states, and allies. Despite its cosmopolitan character, the core aspects of Carthaginian culture, language, religion, and identity remained Phoenician, also known as Punic.
At its height in the third century BC, Carthage was the dominant economic, political, and military power in the Mediterranean. It was among the largest and richest cities in the ancient world, and served as the region's leading commercial and industrial hub. Carthage's vast trade network extended from the Levant to West Africa, and from sub-Saharan Africa to northern Europe, providing an array of agricultural goods, precious metals, and manufactured products. This mercantile empire was secured by a large and powerful navy, which for centuries was unmatched in size and strength.
Carthage's rise brought it into conflict with many neighbors and rivals, from the indigenous Berbers of North Africa to the nascent Roman Republic.[7] Following a series of conflicts with the Sicilian Greeks (c. 580–265 BC), growing competition with Rome culminated in the Punic Wars (264–146 BC), which saw some of the largest and most sophisticated battles in antiquity. In 146 BC, after the third and final Punic War, the Romans destroyed Carthage and established a new city in its place.[8] All remaining Carthaginian dependencies, as well as other Phoenician city-states, came under Roman rule by the first century AD.
Carthage is mostly remembered for its long and bitter conflict with Rome, which almost threatened the rise of the Roman Republic and changed the course of Western civilization. Due to the destruction of virtually all Carthaginian texts after the Third Punic War, much of what is known about its civilization comes from Roman and Greek authors, many of whom wrote well after its destruction, and who to varying degrees were influenced by attitudes shaped by the Punic Wars
Numidia
Numidia (202 BC – 40 BC, Berber: Inumiden) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in what is now Algeria and a smaller part of Tunisia and small part of Libya in the Maghreb. The polity was originally divided between Massylii in the east and Masaesyli in the west. During the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), Masinissa, king of the Massylii, defeated Syphax of the Masaesyli to unify Numidia into one kingdom. The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later alternated between being a Roman province and a Roman client state.
Numidia, at its largest extent, was bordered by the Kingdom of Mauretania to the west, at the Moulouya River,[2] Africa Proconsularis (now part of Tunisia) to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Sahara to the south. It is considered to be one of the first major states in the history of Algeria and the Berber world.
Mauretania
Mauretania (/ˌmɒrɪˈteɪniə, ˌmɔːrɪ-/)[4][5] is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains.[6] Its native inhabitants, seminomadic pastoralists of Berber ancestry, were known to the Romans as the Mauri and the Masaesyli.[1]
In 27 BC, the kings of Mauretania became Roman vassals until about 44 AD, when the area was annexed to Rome and divided into two provinces: Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis. Christianity had spread there from the 3rd century onwards.[7] According to one view, it was extinguished when the Muslim Arabs subdued the region in the 7th century.
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The Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush (/kʊʃ, kʌʃ/; Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 kꜣš, Assyrian: Ku-u-si, in LXX Ancient Greek: Κυς and Κυσι; Coptic: ⲉϭⲱϣ) was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, located at the Sudanese and southern Egyptian Nile Valley.
The Kushite era of rule in Nubia was established after the Late Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt. Kush was centered at Napata (now modern Karima, Sudan) during its early phase. After Kashta ("the Kushite") invaded Egypt in the 8th century BC, the monarchs of Kush were also the pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, until they were defeated by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Assyrian conquest of Egypt under the rule of Ashurbanipal a century later, and finally expelled from Egypt itself by Psamtik I.
During classical antiquity, the Kushite imperial capital was located at Meroë. In early Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Aethiopia. The Kingdom of Kush with its capital at Meroe persisted until the 4th century AD, when it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion. The seat was eventually captured and burnt to the ground by the Kingdom of Aksum. Afterwards the Nubians established the three, eventually Christianized, kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia.
The Kingdom of Aksum
The Kingdom of Aksum (Ge'ez: መንግስቲ ኣኽሱም), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was an ancient kingdom centered in what is now Eritrea and the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia.[2][3] Axumite Emperors were powerful sovereigns, styling themselves King of kings, king of Aksum, Himyar, Raydan, Saba, Salhen, Tsiyamo, Beja and of Kush.[4] Ruled by the Aksumites, it existed from approximately 80 BC to AD 825.[5] The polity was centered in the city of Axum and grew from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period around the 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD. Aksum became a major player on the commercial route between the Roman Empire and Ancient India. The Aksumite rulers facilitated
trade by minting their own Aksumite currency, with the state establishing its hegemony over the declining Kingdom of Kush. It also regularly entered the politics of the kingdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and eventually extended its rule over the region with the conquest of the Himyarite Kingdom. The Manichaei prophet Mani (died 274 AD) regarded Axum as one of the four great powers of his time, the others being Persia, Rome, and China.[2][6][7][8]
The Aksumites erected monumental stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times. One of these granite columns is the largest such structure in the world, at 90 feet.[9] Under Ezana (fl. 320–360) Aksum adopted Christianity. In the 7th century, early Muslims from Mecca sought refuge from Quraysh persecution by travelling to the kingdom, a journey known in Islamic history as the First Hijra.[10][11]
The kingdom's ancient capital, also called Axum, is now a town in Tigray Region (northern Ethiopia). The Kingdom used the name "Ethiopia" as early as the 4th century.[12][13] Tradition claims Axum as the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba