1000 Bantu-speaking peoples set up kingdoms in southern Africa 1000 Kingdoms of Takrur and Gao flourish in West Africa due to gold trade 1021-1035 Reign of Fatimid caliph al-Zahir marks start of decline of Fatimid power 1050 Culture of Yoruba people of Ife flourishes in Nigeria in West Africa; it survives until 1050-1146 Almoravids, Berber Muslims from western Sahara, take over Morocco, Algeria, and part of Muslim Spain; they invade Ghana in 1076, and establish power there 1062 Almoravids found capital at Marrakech 1100 Ghana empire in West Africa declines 1100 Katanga in Zaire central Africa probably founded 1147 Almohads, Berber Muslims opposed to Almoravids, seize Marrakech and go on to conquer Almoravid Spain, Algeria, and Tripoli 1150 Zagwe dynasty rules in Ethiopian highlands 1171 Saladin, Muslim warrior and commander in Egyptian army, overthrows Fatimid dynasty 1173 Saladin declares himself sultan of Egypt 1200-1230 King Lalibela of Ethiopia responsible for churches cut from rock 1218 Ayyubid empire breaks up but Ayyubids rule Egypt to 1250 1220 City state of Kilwa in Tanzania increases in prosperity 1230 Hafsid monarchy takes over from Almohads in Tunisia and acquires much trade across the Sahara desert 1235 Great warrior leader Sun Diata founds Mali empire in West Africa; it expands under his rule 1250 Kanem kingdom in Lake Chad region begins to break up into rival factions 1250 Last Ayyubid ruler in Egypt murdered; Mamluks, soldiers from central Asia employed by Ayyubids, seize power and found military state 1260-1277 Mamluk commander Baybars takes over as sultan of Egypt 1300 Ife culture of West Africa produces famous brasses 1324 Emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Arabia 1348 Egypt devastated by plague, called Black Death 1352-1253 Ibn Battuta, Berber scholar, travels across Africa and writes an account of all he sees 1380 Foundation of Kongo kingdom in Congo river-mouth region of Zaire, central Africa 1400 Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe in southern Africa thrives on gold trade 1400 Gold from mines in Zimbabwe is exported to Asia via Sofala on the east coast 1400 Engaruka community farms land in Tanzania 1420 Portuguese sailors begin to explore west coast of Africa 1420 Songhai people in Gao region, West Africa, begin raids on Mali empire 1430 Sultans of Kilwa on east African coast begin grand building programme 1434-1468 Reign of Christian emperor Zera Yacub in Ethiopia; he expands church and promotes great monasteries 1450 Building at Great Zimbabwe, southern Africa, at its height 1462 Sonni Ali becomes ruler of the Songhai and goes on to build an empire 1482 Portuguese explore Congo river estuary 1491 Ruler of Congo kingdom baptized as Christian by Portuguese 1500 Songhai empire in West Africa enters period of greatest expansion and power under Askia Mohammed Turré 1500 Trade encourages growth of Hausa states in West Africa 1505-1507 Portuguese capture Sofala on east coast and found Mozambique; they begin to trade with Africans 1507 Nzinga Mbemba, Christian and Portuguese ally, becomes king of Kongo kingdom in central Africa 1517 Ottomans defeat Mamluks and conquer Egypt 1529 Muslims defeat Christian Ethiopian forces at the Battle of Shimbra Kure and overrun the kingdom until 1543, when Portuguese troops help to defeat them 1530 Beginning of trans-Atlantic slave trade organized by Portuguese 1560 First Portuguese embassies in Timbuktu, West Africa 1562 Sir John Hawkins starts English slave trade, taking cargoes of slaves from West Africa to the Americas 1570-1610 Kanem-Bornu kingdom in western Central Africa at its most powerful; alliance with the Ottomans brings it firearms, military training, and Arab camel troops 1575 Portuguese begin to colonize Angola; more than a century of warfare follows 1590-1591 Songhai empire overthrown by Moroccan army 1598 First Dutch trade posts set up on Guinea coast, West Africa 1600 Kalonga kingdom, north of Zambezi river, becomes rich through ivory trade 1600 Hausaland dominates trade routes to Sahara 1600 Great Zimbabwe replaced by several regional capitals in Transvaal, Botswana, and Zimbabwe 1620 Queen Nzinga of Ndongo fights Portuguese in Angola 1650 Portuguese clash with Muslims in Zambezi region 1650 Ethiopia expels Portuguese missionaries and diplomats 1652 Dutch found Cape Town in South Africa 1660 Mawlay-al-Rashid restores sultanate of Morocco 1670 French settle in Senegal 1670 Fulani pastoralist people gain control of Bondu in southern Senegal 1680 Rise of Asante kingdom in West Africa 1680 Butua kingdom flourishes in Zimbabwe plains; Portuguese are driven into Zambezi valley, and also eastwards 1686 Louis XIV of France officially annexes Madagascar 1698 Portuguese expelled from Mombasa on eastern coast 1701 Osei Tutu creates free Asante nation in West Africa 1705 Bey (army commander) Husain ibn Ali founds dynasty at Tunis in North Africa 1705 Kongo prophetess, Dona Beatrice, founds new religious cult and helps to end civil war 1710 Dey (military leader) becomes pasha in Algiers, controlling northern Algeria 1714 France captures the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean 1720 Yoruba state of Oyo still dominates region west of the Niger river in West Africa 1722-1723 Asante conquer kingdom of Bono-Mansu north of the forest area of Akan region of West Africa 1724-1734 King Agaja of Dahomey in West Africa temporarily disrupts slave trade; it is reintroduced in the 1740s 1725 Fulani Muslim cleric Alfa Ibrahim appointed Commander of the Faithful in Futa Jalon in West Africa 1727 Death of Mulai Ismail followed by 30 years of anarchy in Morocco 1740 The Lunda create prosperous new kingdom 1746 Mazrui dynasty in Mombasa, East Africa, becomes independent from Oman 1755 The first outbreak of smallpox, brought by sailors, in Cape Town, South Africa, spreads rapidly inland; it kills many Khoisan hunters and herders 1764-1777 Reign of Osei Kwadwo, Asante ruler, in West Africa 1768-1773 Scottish explorer James Bruce travels in Ethiopia 1768 Ali Bey, a Mamluk army officer, makes himself ruler of Egypt 1770 Tukolor kingdom gains power in former Songhai region of West Africa 1773 Ali Bey dies a week after being wounded in a battle with rebels led by Abu'l-Dhahab 1777 Sidi Mohammed, ruler of Morocco (1757-90), abolishes Christian slavery 1779 Dutch farmers in Cape Colony clash with organized Xhosa resistance 1781 Militant Tijaniyya Islamic order set up in Algeria 1785 Omani rulers reassert influence in Zanzibar 1787 Tuaregs, nomads in Sahara, abolish Moroccan pashalik of Timbuktu 1788 Usuman dan Fodio, a Fulani cleric, stirs holy war against a Hausa king 1788 African Association founded in England to explore interior of Africa 1795 British seize Cape Colony from Dutch for the first time 1795-1796 Scottish explorer Mungo Park travels through Gambia and reaches Niger 1804 Fulani begin jihad (holy war) in northern Nigeria 1805-1806 Mungo Park explores Niger river, West Africa 1805-1848 Mohammed Ali rules Egypt; Egypt breaks away from Ottoman empire 1807 Asante invade Fante confederacy of states 1808 Fulani invade Bornu near Lake Chad 1814 Cape Colony in south Africa formally ceded to Britain by Netherlands 1816-1828 Career of Zulu ruler Shaka in South Africa 1820 Fulani emirate founded in Adamawa, West Africa 1820-1864 Fulani in Mali, West Africa, found and rule Hamdallahi caliphate 1822 Liberia founded in West Africa as home for freed slaves 1825 Egyptians found the city of Khartoum in Sudan 1828 Basel mission to Ghana (then called Gold Coast), West Africa 1828 Shaka, Zulu ruler, assassinated by his half-brother Dingane who takes over as ruler of Zulu nation 1830 French invade Algeria; they gradually occupy the country 1832-1847 Abd-al-Kadir leads Arab resistance to France in Algeria 1836-1837 The Great Trek of Boers (Dutch farmers) away from British in South Africa; they fond the Republic of Natal in 1838 and the Orange Free State in 1854 1840 Imam Sayyid Said, ruler of Oman (1806-56), makes Zanzibar, a small island off the east African coast, his capital 1843 Britain takes over Natal from the Boers as a British colony 1852 Tukolor leader al-Hajj 'Umar launches jihad along Senegal and upper Niger rivers to establish Islamic state 1852 In South Africa, Britain recognizes Transvaal's independence 1853-1856 Dr David Livingstone crosses Africa; follows course of Zambezi river, reaches Victoria Falls 1855-1868 Reign of Emperor Theodore of Ethiopia 1863 Al-Hajj 'Umar takes Timbuktu 1865-1868 Wars between Orange Free State and Moshweshwe's Basuto people, in South Africa 1867 Diamonds discovered at Kimberley at South Africa 1869 Suez Canal opened 1872 Cape Colony in South Africa granted self-government by Britain 1873-1874 War between Asante kingdom and Britain 1874 Beginnings of Mande state in old Mali under Samori Turé 1879 Zulu war with British; British defeated at Isandlwana but victorious at Ulundi 1880 Beginning of the European ³Scramble for Africa² 1880-1881 First Boer War, Transvaal defeats Britain 1885 Conference in Berlin on Scramble for Africa 1885 in Sudan, Muslim leader, the Mahdi, takes Khartoum from Egypt; General Gordon killed 1886 Gold found in Transvaal 1894 French set up protectorate in Dahomey (Benin), West Africa 1895-1896 Jameson Raid into Transvaal 1896 France takes Madagascar 1896 Ethiopian ruler Menelik crushes Italian army at Adowa 1897 Slavery banned in Zanzibar 1899-1902 Second Boer War in South Africa 1900 Buganda, East Africa, is ruled by the kabaka, or king, with British advice 1900-1901 Rising in Asante, West Africa; Britain annexes Asante 1902 Treaty of Verceniging ends second Boer War in South Africa; defeated Boers remain bitter and determined to regain power 1903 Sokoto caliphate in Hausaland taken over by Britain 1904 French create federation of French West Africa 1905 Kaiser William II of Germany visits Tangier and provokes crisis with France 1905 Maji-Maji rebellion begins in Tanzania (German East Africa) 1906 Tripartite pact (Britain, France, Italy)seeks to preserve integrity of Ethiopia 1907 Government of Mozambique organized 1908 Belgium takes over Congo Free State 1909 Franco-German agreement reached on Morocco 1909 Liberia calls on United States for financial assistance 1910 Union of South Africa 1912 New loans to Liberia coupled with US control over customs revenue 1912 French make Morocco a protectorate at Treaty of Fez 1913 South African government introduces laws to reserve 87 per cent of land for whites 1914 Britain and France occupy German colonies in West Africa 1916 Boer leader Jan Smuts leads an anti-German drive from Kenya into Tanzania (German East Africa) 1916 British and Belgian troops take Yaounde, the capital of the German Cameroons 1917 Ras Tafari (later, Haile Selassie) becomes regent of Ethiopia 1917 German forces in German East Africa withstand British and Portuguese at Mahiwa; Germans withdraw into Mozambique 1919 ANC demonstrates against pass laws in Transvaal 1920 More British and Indians settle Kenya 1921-1926 Abd-el-Krim leads Berbers and Arabs against Europeans in North Africa 1922 Egypt becomes independent from Britain under King Fuad 1923 Ethiopia admitted to League of Nations 1930 White women given the vote in South Africa 1930 Ras Tafari crowned emperor of Ethiopia, and takes name Haile Selassie 1931 First trans-African railway completed, from Angola to Mozambique 1934-1936 British colonial government of Ghana suppresses radical African critics 1936 Representation of Natives Act denies black South Africans any chance of political equality 1935-1936 Italians under Mussolini invade and annex Ethiopia 1939 South Africa declares war on Germany at start of World War II 1941 German army under Rommel attacks British in North Africa 1941 Ethiopia liberated from Italians by Ethiopians and British, and recognized as independent 1942 British defeat German army at Battle of El Alamein in Egypt 1943 Germans and Italians driven from North Africa 1948 Afrikaner National Party wins power in South Africa 1951 Libya gains independence 1952-1959 Mau-Mau guerrilla war against British in Kenya 1954-1962 War for independence in Algeria; freedom won in 1962 1954-1970 Colonel Nasser rules Egypt; revolutionary changes 1956 Suez crisis; Britain and France attempt to regain control of Suez canal from Egypt, but fail 1956 Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan gain their independence 1957 Ghana is first country in sub-Saharan Africa to become independent 1958-1960 Independence for Zaire, Nigeria, Somalia, and 12 of France's 13 sub-Saharan colonies 1960 Civil war in south Sudan 1960-1965 Civil war in Zaire, formerly Belgian Congo 1961-1967 Independence for Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Botswana, Gambia, and Swaziland 1963 Organization of African Unity founded 1965 White regime in Zimbabwe declares independence 1967-1970 Biafran War, Nigeria 1970 Severe droughts in northeastern Africa and the lands on the southern edge of the Sahara 1974 Nigeria becomes leading oil producer in Africa 1974-1991 Revolutionary regime in Ethiopia; civil war spreads 1974-1975 Portuguese colonies gain independence after long struggle 1976 African schoolchildren spark uprisings in Soweto in South Africa 1980 Zimbabwe gains independence after guerrilla war 1983 Conflict in Sudan; more than 1.5 million people die 1983 African countries adopt IMF (International Monetary Fund) plans for managing their economies 1989 Zambia and other countries see changes of government by democratic election 1990 Namibia gets independence 1990 Nelson Mandela freed in South Africa; process of dismantling apartheid begins 1993 Eritrea (in north Ethiopia) breaks from Ethiopia; first successful secession in post-colonial Africa 1994 African National Congress (ANC) wins first multi-racial election ever held in South Africa