GENERAL HISTORY OF AFRICA- V
Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century
U N E S C O General History of Africa
Volume I
Methodology and African Prehistory
(Editor J. Ki-Zerbo)
Volume II
Ancient Civilizations of Africa
(Editor G . Mokhtar)
Volume III
Africa from the Seventh to the Eleventh Century
(Editor M . El Fasi)
(Assistant Editor I. Hrbek)
Volume IV
Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century
(Editor D . T . Niane)
Volume V
Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century
(Editor B . A . Ogot)
Volume V I
Africa in the Nineteenth Century until the 1880s
(Editor J. F . A . Ajayi)
Volume VII
Africa under Colonial Domination, 1880-1935
(Editor A . A . Boahen)
Volume VIII
Africa since 1935
(Editor A . A . Mazrui)
(Assistant Editor C . Wondji)
U N E S C O International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa
GENERAL HISTORY
OF AFRICA-V
Africa from the Sixteenth
to the Eighteenth Century
EDITOR B.A.OGOT
HEINEMANNCALIFORNIAUNESCO
First published in 1992 by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization,
7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris
and
Heinemann International Literature and Textbooks
a division of Heinemann Educational Books Ltd
Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford O X 2 8EJ
P M B 5205, Ibadan, P O Box 54314, Nairobi
P O Box 10103, Village Post Office, Gaborone
OXFORD EDINBURGH MADRID
PARIS ATHENS BOLOGNA MELBOURNE
SYDNEY AUCKLAND SINGAPORE
TOKYO PORTSMOUTH N H (USA) HARARE
First published 1992
in the United States of America by the
University of California Press
2120 Berkeley W a y , Berkeley
California 94720, United States of America
Reprinted in 2000 by U N E S C O Publishing
1 rue Miollis, 75732 PARJS Cedex 15, France
© U N E S C O 1992
Maps drawn by John Gilkes
Heinemann International Literature
and Textbooks
ISBN o 435 948113
UNESCO
I S B N 92-3 -1 o 1711 - X
University of California Press I S B N 0-520 039165
The ideas and opinions expressed in this book
are those of the authors and do not necessarily
represent the views of U N E S C O .
The designation employed and the
presentation of material throughout the
publication do not imply the expression of any
opinion whatsoever on the part of U N E S C O
concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area or of its authorities, or
concerning its frontiers or boundaries.
Filmset in u p t M o n o p h o t o Ehrhardt by
Butler & Tanner Ltd, F r o m e and L o n d o n
Contents
Note on chronology
Key for Maps
List of Figures
List of Plates
ix
xi
xiii
xvii
Acknowledgements for plates
xxi
Preface
xxiii
A M A D O U - M A H T A R M ' B O W , Director-General of U N E S C O (19741987)
Description of the project
xxix
B . A . O G O T , President of the International Scientific Committee for the
Drafting of a General History of Africa (1978-1983)
1
The struggle for international trade and its implications for
Africa
1
M . MALOWIST
2
African political, economic and social structures during this
period
23
P. DIAGNE
3
Population movements and emergence of new socio-political forms
in Africa
46
J. V A N S I N A
4
Africa in world history: the export slave trade from Africa and the
emergence of the Atlantic economic order
74
J.E. INIKORI
5
The African diaspora in the Old and N e w Worlds
J.E.HARRIS
6
The Ottoman conquest of Egypt
R. VESELY
7
The Sudan, 1500-1800
170
Y. F. HASAN and B. A. O G O T
8
Morocco
200
M . EL FASI
9
Algeria, Tunisia and Libya: the Ottomans and their heirs
113
137
233
M . H . CHERIF
v
Contents
io
Senegambia from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century: evolution
of the Wolof, Sereer and 'Tukuloor'
262
B. BARRY
11
The end of the Songhay empire
M . ABITBOL
300
12
From the Niger to the Volta
327
M . IZARD and J. K I - Z E R B O
13
The states and cultures of the Upper Guiñean coast
368
C. WONDJI
14
The states and cultures of the Lower Guiñean coast
A.A.BOAHEN
15
Fon and Yoruba: the Niger delta and the Cameroon
E.J. A L A G O A
16
The Hausa states
399
434
453
D. LAYA
17
Känem-Borno: its relations with the Mediterranean Sea, Bagirmi
and other states in the Chad basin
492
B . M . BARKINDO
18
From the Cameroon grasslands to the Upper Nile
515
E. M'BOKOLO
19
The Kongo kingdom and its neighbours
546
J. V A N S I N A , based on a contribution by T . O B E N G A
20
The political system of the Luba and Lunda: its emergence and
expansion
588
Ndaywel è N Z I E M
21
The northern Zambezia-Lake Malawi region
608
K . M . PHIRI, O.J. M . K A L I N G A and H . H . K . BHILA
22
Southern Zambezia
H . H . K . BHILA
23
Southern Africa
640
683
D. DENOON
24
The Horn of Africa
703
E. HABERLAND
25
East Africa: the coast
A . I. S A L I M
750
26
The Great Lakes region, 1500-1800
776
J. B . W E B S T E R , B . A . O G O T and J. P. C H R E T I E N
Contents
27
T h e interior of East Africa: the peoples of Kenya and Tanzania,
1500-1800
828
W . R . OCHIENG1
28
Madagascar and the islands of the Indian Ocean
849
R.K.KENT
29
T h e historical development of African societies, 1500-1800:
conclusion
895
B. A. O G O T
M e m b e r s of the International Scientific Committee for the drafting of a
General History of Africa
906
Biographies of Authors
Bibliography
Glossary
Index
908
912
963
988
vii
Note on chronology
It has been agreed to adopt the following method for writing dates. With
regard to prehistory, dates m a y be written in two different ways.
O n e w a y is by reference to the present era, that is, dates B P (before
present), the reference year being + 1950; all dates are negative in relation
to +1950.
T h e other way is by reference to the beginning of the Christian era.
Dates are represented in relation to the Christian era by a simple + or —
sign before the date. W h e n referring to centuries, the terms B C and A D are
replaced by 'before the Christian era' and 'of the Christian era'.
S o m e examples are as follows:
(i) 2300 B P = - 3 5 0
(ii) 2900 BC= —2900
AD l800= +180O
(iii) 5th century B C = 5th century before the Christian era
3rd century A D = 3rd century of the Christian era
ix
Key for Maps
ASANTE
TAKRUR
SAHARA
Agadir
Niger
•
G
Ethnic groups
States
Regions
Towns
Rivers, lakes
Site of town
Site of city
Additional information and keys are given on individual maps.
xi
List of Figures
i.i
2.1
2.2
2.3
4.1
4.2
4.3
5.1
5.2
6.1
6.2
7.1
7.2
7.3
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
9.1
10.1
1 I.I
11.2
12.1
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
14.1
Africa: the main points of European trade contact during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
4
Political entities of the Sahel between the eleventh and sixteenth
centuries
2$
African trade routes in the sixteenth century
33
Political areas from the Sahara to the equator in the seventeenth
century
44
Atlantic commerce in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
77
Sources of the Atlantic slave trade from Africa in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries
105
T h e West African middle belt
iog
T h e Americas and Africa
rig
Africa, Europe and Asia
130
Lower Egypt (al-Delta)
146
Middle and Upper Egypt (al-Sai'd)
147
Trade routes of the Sudan
182
Kingdoms and sultanates of the Sudan
186
Peoples of the Sudan
1Q4
Morocco in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
202
T h e stages of D o n Sebastian's progress towards the site of the
'Battle of the Three Kings' at W â d ï al-Makhäzin, 30 July to 4
August 1578
208
T h e empire of A h m a d al-Mansür, 'the Golden' (1578-1603)
213
T h e principalities of northern Morocco in the early seventeenth
century
217
Algeria, Tunisia and Libya in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
227
Senegambia in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
264
Trans-Saharan routes in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
302
T h e Timbuktu region
30$
T h e Niger-Volta region in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
328
Major population groups of West Africa
370
Migratory movements of the peoples of West Africa,fifteenthto
eighteenth centuries
376
T h e main states of West Africa, pre-sixteenth century
387
T h e main states of West Africa in the seventeenth century J O J
T h e Akan, G a and E w e peoples
401
xiii
List of Figures
14.2
14.3
14.4
14.5
15.1
16.1
16.2
16.3
16.4
16.5
17.1
17.2
17.3
18.1
18.2
19.1
19.2
19.3
19.4
19.5
19.6
20.1
20.2
20.3
21.1
21.2
21.3
21.4
22.1
22.2
22.3
22.4
23.1
24.1
Principal trade routes of the Bandama-Volta-Mono basins
411
Re-drawing of a 1629 m a p of the Gold Coast
414
States of the Lower Guinea coast, 1700
416
States of the Lower Guinea coast, 1750
421
T h e Niger Delta area and Cameroon in the sixteenth to eighteenth
centuries
43s
T h e Central Sudan and North Africa in 1600
45g
Hausaland, pre-1800
464
Hausa states in the eighteenth century
468
Trade routes between Hausaland and the Volta basin
478
Diagram showing the main trade and caravan links in the Sahara
and west and central Sudan, c. 1800
480
Borno, K ä n e m and their immediate neighbours in the eighteenth
century
500
Plan of K u k a w a , the nineteenth-century capital of Borno, built in a
double form of the traditional Kanuri design
505
Borno's links with North Africa and the Nile valley in the eighteenth
century
514
Population migrations in the Uele-Ubangi regions
522
Peoples and spheres of influence along the Congo-Zaire axis
$42
Topography and natural resources of K o n g o
548
Kongo and its neighbours in the sixteenth century
551
Kingdoms and trade of the K o n g o region in the seventeenth century,
with inset m a p of Ndongo
560
Shipping routes to Central Africa in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries
¡68
T h e slave trade in Central Africa in the eighteenth century
$jg
West Central Africa in the eighteenth century
585
T h e states in Shaba before 1700
S9°
T h e Luba kingdom in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
S94
T h e Lunda empire in the eighteenth century
604
Peoples of the Northern Zambezi region in the eighteenth
century
6og
Pre-dynastic groups in Northern Zimbabwe
611
T h e Maravi expansion, c. 1650
616
Ivory trade routes in East-Central Africa in the eighteenth
century
636
Central and south-eastern Africa during the period of the Mutapa
and Torwa states
641
T h e prazos of the lower Zambezi valley
654
T h e Rozvi empire
657
T h e main feiras in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
678
Southern Africa in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
68s
T h e Ethiopian empire and its dependencies, c. 1550
708
Lis/ of Figures
24.2
24.3
24.4
25.1
25.2
26.1
26.2
27.1
28.1
South-eastern Ethiopia, c. 1500
711
O r o m o migrations in the sixteenth century
720
Christianity in north-eastern Africa, c. 1700
748
T h e western Indian Ocean basin
7$2
T h e East African coast
75g
T h e Nyarubanga and the fragmentation of the L u o , c. 15701720
784
T h e southern Great Lakes region at the end of the seventeenth
century
816
Ethnic groups of Kenya and Tanzania
830
Ethnic groups of Madagascar
852
xv
List of Plates
Cover page A photomontage of an African loincloth dating from 1656, a
calabash used for divination connected with royal authority
(Angola) and an ivory horn (Congo)
1.1
Negro slaves washing for diamonds in Brazil
1$
1.2
Sale of slaves in the Rotunda, N e w Orleans
17
1.3
T h e political cartoon, ' M e n and Brothers!!'
21
2.1
Leather sandal, m a d e in the K a n o area
35
2.2
Leather bag from the Timbuktu region
35
4.1
Plan and cross-section of a European slaving ship
82
4.2
Spanish coin with heads of Ferdinand and Isabella
86
4.3
Negro slaves in Brazil, c. 1870
g$
4.4
Negro slaves in the West Indies, c. 1833
g8
4.5
Slaves being loaded onto a European slaving ship
102
5.1
General T h o m a s Alexandre D u m a s , 1762-1806
117
5.2
Phyllis Wheatley, w h o became a distinguished poet
124
5.3
Benjamin Banneker, w h o became a well-respected mathematician
12$
5.4
Toussaint L'Ouverture of Haiti
127
5.5
Malik A m b a r , an African king in India
13s
6.1
Sultan Selim I, conqueror of Egypt
13g
6.2
T h e Janissaries, in a sixteenth-century Turkish miniature
141
6.3
Burial chamber of Ibrahim, Agha of the Janissaries
c. 1062/1652
144
6.4
T h e mosque of M a h m u d Pasha, 975/1568
15g
6.5
T h e man of the mosque 7>F A h m a d al-Burdainï, 1025/16161038/1629
15g
6.6
T h e main room in Djamaluddïn a l - D a h a W s house,
1047/1637
161
6.7
T h e screen in Djamaluddïn al-Dahab^s house, 1047/1637
161
6.8
'Ali Bey, vice-regent of Egypt
163
6.9
T h e mosque o f M u h a m m a d Bey A b u ' 1 - D a h a b , 1188/1774
165
7.1
T h e port of Sawäkin, in a nineteenth-century engraving
176
8.1
A sugar-loaf mould from the Chichawa sugar mill
211
8.2
Sultan Mawläy Ismail
221
8.3
A letter from the correspondence between Sultan M a w l ä y Ismail
and Shaykh al-Islim SIdl M u h a m m a d al-Fâsï
227
8.4
Walad~Däwüd Ait H a m ü or Mansür Kasaba
22g
9.1
Earthenware vase from the Kallaline district
243
9.2
A Tunisian-made, eleven-stringed lute
244
9.3
View of the city and port of Algiers
248
xvii
List of Plates
9.4
9.5
9.6
9.7
9.8
9.9
9.10
9.11
10.1
[0.2
:o.3
¡0.4
0.5
:o.6
;I.I
:i.2
: 1.3
: 1.4
1.5
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
3.1
3.2
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
7.1
7.2
7.3
8.1
8.2
8.3
xviii
View of the city and port of Tripoli
248
Algerian embroidered scarf
250
W e d d i n g chest from Kabylia, Algeria
252
Ceramic panel from the Kallaline district
254
T h e city of Constantine
256
Silver conical headdress from Algeria
257
Part of a street in G h a d â m e s , Libya
259
Living r o o m in a house in G h a d â m e s , Libya
25g
Saint-Louis, at the m o u t h oTthe River Senegal
270
T r o p h y of weapons and objects from Senegal
272
A W o l o f chief in his residence
280
Warriors from Waalo
282
Fulbe w o m a n of the Futa Jallon
2go
T h e old m o s q u e at Labe, Futa Jallon
2gi
General view of Timbuktu
30g
A Songhay village
311
Tyi-wara antelope headdress
317
Travellers approaching T i m b u k t u
320
A m o s q u e in T i m b u k t u
32$
Soninke statuette of a kneeling hermaphrodite
331
Mossi statuette commemorating a female ancestor
346
General view of K o n g
357
Market traders under a banyan tree
360
Carved ivory salt-cellar from Sherbro Island
384
Carved ivory hunting-horn from Sherbro Island
385
Fort St George at El M i n a
407
W e s t African weaving
42g
A k a n brass weights for weighing gold-dust
431
N a n a O t u o Siriboe II
432
Bronze commemorative head from Benin
437
Brass commemorative head of an oba from Benin
441
Yoruba female statuette
443
Bronze m a s k from Benin
444
Bronze plaque of a warrior from Benin
446
Bronze plaque of a chief from Benin
44g
Hausa loin-cloth
477
Hausa robe w o r n by m e n
477
Façade of a Birni house in Zinder
48s
Miniature H a u s a K u r ' a n
488
Bornoan weaver making cotton strips
501
A wall of the Mai's s u m m e r palace at G a m b a r u
506
Reception of the D e n h a m - C l a p p e r t o n mission in Borno
H e a d in volcanic tuff, Uele
¡21
K u b a royal statuette
526
Fang m a s k
jrjo
510
List of Plates
18.4
18.5
18.6
19.1
19.2
19.3
19.4
19.5
19.6
19.7
19.8
19.9
19.10
19.11
19.12
19.13
20.1
20.2
20.3
20.4
20.5
20.6
20.7
21.1
21.2
21.3
21.4
22.1
22.2
22.3
22.4
22.5
22.6
23.1
23.2
23.3
23.4
24.1
24.2
24.3
24.4
Ngunie-style mask from Gabon
533
K u b a statuette in wrought iron, c. 1515
537
K u b a anvil
538
Y o m b e pottery
549
San Salvador, the capital of K o n g
552
Nzimbu vessel
554
K o n g o noblemen of the Kingdom of Loango
556
Court of the King of Loango, 1668
56/
T h e port of Luanda in the seventeenth century
¡62
T h e city of San Paulo of Luanda in the 1640s
564
Tiled panel from the Church of O u r Lady of Nazareth, Luanda,
1665
565
Detail from above, showing the head of King Antonio I
565
Tiled panel from the Church of O u r Lady of Nazareth, Luanda,
showing the battle of Mbwila
567
Ruins of the former bishop's palace, M b a n z a K o n g o , 1548
575
N d o n g o mask from Loango
s77
L e m b a medicine-chest m a d e of bark
583
H e m b a , Zaire: monoxyloid caryatid seat
sgi
K u b a , central Zaire: cephalomorphic ritual cup
5Q6
L u b a , southern Zaire: the knob of a ceremonial cane
S97
L u b a , Zaire: ceremonial weapon
§g8
L u b a , Zaire: the knob of a cane, in the form of a scarified w o m a n
with a pearl necklace
600
L u b a , Zaire: the knob of a cane, in the form of a scarified w o m a n
with her hands on her shoulders
600
C h o k w e , Angola and Zaire: a wooden ritual bed
60s
M a s k used by the N y a u Secret Society
614
T h e royal stool of Chief Kanyenda of Nkhota-Kota
623
T h e remains of a T u m b u k a iron-smelting kiln
63s
A T u m b u k a - m a d e iron hoe
63s
Ruins in the Matendere area
643
Mutoko-type ruins
643
A n eighteenth-century engraving of Mutapa
645
Musimbira-type ruins
646
Father Conçalo da Silveira
6$o
Decorative walling at Danangombe
658
Gonaqua huntsman
659
Khoi Khoi farmers threshing grain
6g2
Khoi Khoi family herding cattle
6g6
A N a m a q u a family
6gg
T h e castle at Gondar, built by the Emperor Fasiladas
J25
Coptic painting of the Virgin and Child, Gondar
734
Coptic painting of St George and the dragon, Gondar
73s
Wall painting in the church of Dabra Bizan, Gondar
736
xix
List of Plates
24.5
24.6
24.7
25.1
25.2
25.3
25.4
26.1
26.2
26.3
26.4
27.1
27.2
28.1
28.2
xx
Coptic fresco of hell and the devil, in the church of Dabra Birhan,
Gondar
7J7
Former church bell from Tigré, used as a sacral ox-bell
743
T h e walls of Wolayta, southern Ethiopia
744
Carved door, Zanzibar
755
Fort Jesus, M o m b a s a , built in 1593-4
763
Roundel from a mosque at V u m b a K u u
771
T h e Great Siwa of Mwinyi M k u u , Zanzibar
773
T h e sacred wood of Bunywankoko in N k o m a
8og
Objects from the tomb of Cyirima Rujugira
813
T h e sanctuary of Banga in M u g a m b a
824
Ancient royal drums in the sanctuary of Banga in
Mugamba
824
Forging hoes
836
K a m b a statuette of a femalefigure,made of wood
842
Etienne de Flacourt, governor of Fort Dauphin, Madagascar,
1648-58
86s
Bara ethnic group of Ambusitra, south-eastern Madagascar: m e m orial statue called alualu 881
Acknowledgements for plates
Addo, M . , 16. i
Aeschiman, M . , Geneva, © and photo, 20.4
Bahimmi, Dr Al-Saghayar A., Tripoli, 9.11
Barth, H . Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa. Harper and
Brothers, N e w York, 1857, © Royal C o m m o n w e a l t h Society Library, London,
2.1, 2.2, 11.1, 11.2, 11.4
Berjonneau, G . , A R T 135, Boulogne-Billancourt, © and photos, 12.1, 20.1, 20.2,
20.3, 20.7, 28.2
© Bertoni, M . , Florence, front cover photo of ivory horn
© Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 9.3, 9.4, 9.8
Binger, L . G . , Du Niger au golfe de Guinée par le pays de Kong et le Mossi, 1887188g, Hachette, Paris, 1892. © Royal C o m m o n w e a l t h Society Library, L o n d o n ,
p. 295,12.3, p. 47,12.4
British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi, 25.3, 25.4
British M u s e u m , London, reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees, 18.2
© Collection M u s é e de l ' H o m m e , Paris, photo D . Ponsard, 9.2, photo D . Destable,
18.3, photo M . Delaplanche, 18.4
© Chrétien, J. P . , 26.1, 26.3, 26.4
Cultural Atlas, p. 57, © Spectrum Picture Library, 25.2
Dapper Foundation, Paris, 19.2
Dapper, O . , Description de F Afrique, Wolfgang, Waesberge, B o o m and van
Someren, Amsterdam, 1686, © and photos Dapper Foundation, Paris, 14.1,
19.4, 19.5, © and photo National M u s e u m of Angola, Luanda, 19.6
D e n h a m , D . , Narratives of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa,
John Murray, London, 1826, © Royal Geographical Society, London, 17.3
Dubois, H . , Brussels, 12.2, 15.3, 15.4,15.5, 20.5, 20.6, 27.2
von Duisburg, A . , Im Lande des Chegbu von Bornu, D . Reimer Verlag, Berlin,
1942, facing p. 81,17.i
El Fasi, His Excellency M . , 8.3
Etnografisch M u s e u m , Antwerp, 18.5
French National M u s e u m s (Réunion des musées nationaux), Paris, 9.5
© Frobenius Institute, Frankfurt, 24.6, 24.7
Garrard, T . , Akan Weights and the Gold Trade, L o n g m a n , L o n d o n , 1980, p. 280,
photos courtesy of T . Garrard, 14.3
© Holford, M . , 4.2
© T h e Hulton-Deutsch Collection, London, 4.1, 4.5, 6.1, 23.3
The Illustrated London Nervs, 1888, © T h e M a r y Evans Picture Library, 7.1
Institut des musées nationaux d u Zaïre, 18.6, 19.1
Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire ( I . F . A . N . Cheikh Anta Diop), Dakar, photos
G . Labitte, 10.5,10.6
Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, Prague, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.9
Janzen, J., Lemba, 1650-iQjo, N e w York, 1982, courtesy of the Section of
Ethnography, Royal M u s e u m of Central Africa, 1980-Tervuren, Belgium, 19.13
xxi
Acknowledgements for Plates
L a m b , V . , West African Weaving, Duckworth, London, 1975, facing pp. 121 and
175, photos A . L a m b , 14.2
Livingstone, D . , Last Journals, John Murray, London, 1874, © Royal C o m monwealth Society Library, vol. I, p. 30, 25.1, vol. I, p. 146, 27.1
© Luigi Pigorini M u s e u m , R o m e , photos (left) Pellegrini, (right) Rossini, 13.1,
photo Rossini, 13.2
Madagascar au début du XXe siècle, Société d'éditions scientifiques et littéraires,
Paris, 1902, p. 319, © Royal Commonwealth Society Library, London, 28.1
© T h e Mansell Collection, London, 6.8, 23.2, 23.4
© T h e M a r y Evans Picture Library, 4.3
Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Morocco, 8.1, 8.4
T h e Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, D . C . ,
5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4
M u h a m m a d V Mausoleum, Rabat, courtesy of the Curator, 8.2
Musée universitaire de Kinshasa, Zaire, 19.3
M u s e u m of Malawi, Blantyre, 21.2
M u s e u m Rietberg, Zurich, © and photo Wettstein and Kauf (Von der Heydt
Collection), 18.1
King Nana Otuo Siriboe II, 14.4
© Nantet, B . , Paris, 26.2
© National M u s e u m of African and Oceanic Arts, Paris, photos R . Chuzeville,
9.1, 9.6, 9.7, 9.9
National M u s e u m of African Art, Eliot Elisofon Archives, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D . C . , photo B . Fleischer, 15.1, photos J. Ploskonka, 15.2,15.6
© National M u s e u m of Angola, Luanda, 19.7,19.11, photos D . W a d e , 19.8,19.9,
19.10
Palmer, H . R . , Sudanese Memoirs, Frank Cass, London, 1967 edn., courtesy of the
Royal Geographical Society, London, 17.2
Phiri, K . M . , 21.1, 21.3, 21.4
Queen Victoria M u s e u m , Harare, 22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4, 22.5, 22.6
Rijkmuseum voor Volkenkunde, Leiden, 19.12
T h e Ross-Coomaraswamy Collection, courtesy of the M u s e u m of Fine Arts,
Boston, M A , 5.5
© P. Marzari, Schio (Italy), 9.10
The Saturday Magazine, 1833, © T h e M a r y Evans Picture Library, 4.4
Topkapi M u s e u m , Istanbul, H1524 p. 271A, © Sonia Halliday Photographs, 6.2
Le tour du monde, Hachette, Paris, 1861, vol. Ill, © Hachette, Paris p. 21, 10.1.
p. 17, 10.2, p. 27, 10.3, vol. Ill, 10.4 (picture in the public domain)
Travels from the Cape of Good Hope into the Interior Parts of Africa, trans, by
M . Vaillant, William Lane, London, 1790, vol. II, p. 3, © Royal Commonwealth
Society Library, London, 23.1
© Ulmer M u s e u m , U l m , front cover photos of loincloth and calabash
Vesely, D r R . , 6.6, 6.7
© Werner Forman Archive, London, 11.3, n . 5 , 24.1, 24.4, 24.5, Wallace Collection, 16.2, private collection, 16.4, Addis Ababa M u s e u m , 24.2, 24.3
© T h e Wilberforce M u s e u m , Hull, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
xxn
Preface
AMADOU-MAHTAR M'BOW
Director-General of UNESCO (iç^4-iç8y)
For a long time, all kinds of myths and prejudices concealed the true
history of Africa from the world at large. African societies were looked
upon as societies that could have no history. In spite of important work
done by such pioneers as L e o Frobenius, Maurice Delafosse and Arturo
Labriola, as early as thefirstdecades of this century, a great m a n y nonAfrican experts could not rid themselves of certain preconceptions and
argued that the lack of written sources and documents m a d e it impossible
to engage in any scientific study of such societies.
Although the Iliad and Odyssey were rightly regarded as essential sources
for the history of ancient Greece, African oral tradition, the collective
m e m o r y of peoples which holds the thread of m a n y events marking their
lives, was rejected as worthless. In writing the history of a large part of
Africa, the only sources used were from outside the continent, and the final
product gave a picture not so m u c h of the paths actually taken by the
African peoples as of those that the authors thought they must have taken.
Since the European Middle Ages were often used as a yardstick, modes of
production, social relations and political institutions were visualized only
by reference to the European past.
In fact, there was a refusal to see Africans as the creators of original
cultures which flowered and survived over the centuries in patterns of their
o w n making and which historians are unable to grasp unless they forgo
their prejudices and rethink their approach.
Furthermore, the continent of Africa was hardly ever looked upon as a
historical entity. O n the contrary, emphasis was laid on everything likely
to lend credence to the idea that a split had existed, from time immemorial,
between a 'white Africa' and a 'black Africa', each unaware of the other's
existence. T h e Sahara was often presented as an impenetrable space preventing any intermingling of ethnic groups and peoples or any exchange
of goods, beliefs, customs and ideas between the societies that had grown
up on either side of the desert. Hermetic frontiers were drawn between the
civilizations of Ancient Egypt and Nubia and those of the peoples south
of the Sahara.
xxiii
Preface
It is true that the history of Africa north of the Sahara has been more
closely linked with that of the Mediterranean basin than has the history of
sub-Saharan Africa, but it is n o w widely recognized that the various
civilizations of the African continent, for all their differing languages and
cultures, represent, to a greater or lesser degree, the historical offshoots of
a set of peoples and societies united by bonds centuries old.
Another phenomenon which did great disservice to the objective study
of the African past was the appearance, with the slave trade and colonization, of racial stereotypes which bred contempt and lack of understanding
and became so deep-rooted that they distorted even the basic concepts of
historiography. F r o m the time w h e n the notions of'white' and 'black' were
used as generic labels by the colonialists, w h o were regarded as superior, the
colonized Africans had to struggle against both economic and psychological
enslavement. Africans were identifiable by the colour of their skin, they
had become a kind of merchandise, they were earmarked for hard labour
and eventually, in the minds of those dominating them, they came to
symbolize an imaginary and allegedly inferior Negro race. This pattern of
spurious identification relegated the history of the African peoples in m a n y
minds to the rank of ethno-history, in which appreciation of the historical
and cultural facts was bound to be warped.
T h e situation has changed significantly since the end of the Second
World W a r and in particular since the African countries became independent and began to take an active part in the life of the international
community and in the mutual exchanges that are its raison d'être. A n
increasing n u m b e r of historians has endeavoured to tackle the study of
Africa with a more rigorous, objective and open-minded outlook by using with all due precautions - actual African sources. In exercising their right
to take the historical initiative, Africans themselves have felt a deep-seated
need to re-establish the historical authenticity of their societies on solid
foundations.
In this context, the importance of the eight-volume General History of
Africa, which U N E S C O is publishing, speaks for itself.
T h e experts from m a n y countries working on this project began by
laying d o w n the theoretical and methodological basis for the History. T h e y
have been at pains to call in question the over-simplifications arising from
a linear and restrictive conception of world history and to re-establish the
true facts wherever necessary and possible. T h e y have endeavoured to
highlight the historical data that give a clearer picture of the evolution of
the different peoples of Africa in their specific socio-cultural setting.
T o tackle this huge task, m a d e all the more complex and difficult by the
vast range of sources and the fact that documents were widely scattered,
U N E S C O has had to proceed by stages. T h efirststage, from 1965 to
1969, was devoted to gathering documentation and planning the work.
Operational assignments were conducted in the field and included c a m paigns to collect oral traditions, the creation of regional documentation
xxiv
Preface
centres for oral traditions, the collection of unpublished manuscripts in
Arabic and Ajami (African languages written in Arabic script), the c o m pilation of archival inventories and the preparation of a Guide to the Sources
of the History of Africa, culled from the archives and libraries of the
countries of Europe and later published in eleven volumes. In addition,
meetings were organized to enable experts from Africa and other continents
to discuss questions of methodology and lay d o w n the broad lines for the
project after careful examination of the available sources.
T h e second stage, which lasted from 1969 to 1971, was devoted to
shaping the History and linking its different parts. T h e purpose of the
international meetings of experts held in Paris in 1969 and Addis Ababa
in 1970 was to study and define the problems involved in drafting and
publishing the History; presentation in eight volumes, the principal edition
in English, French and Arabic, translation into African languages such as
Kiswahili, Hausa, Fulfulde, Yoruba or Lingala, prospective versions in
G e r m a n , Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese, as well as abridged
editions designed for a wide African and international public.1
T h e third stage has involved actual drafting and publication. This
began with the appointment of the 3 9 - m e m b e r International Scientific
Committee, two-thirds African and one-third non-African, which assumes
intellectual responsibility for the History.
T h e method used is interdisciplinary and is based on a multi-faceted
approach and a wide variety of sources. T h e first a m o n g these is archaeology, which holds m a n y of the keys to the history of African cultures and
civilizations. Thanks to archaeology, it is n o w acknowledged that Africa
was very probably the cradle of mankind and the scene - in the neolithic
period - of one of thefirsttechnological revolutions in history. Archaeology
has also shown that Egypt was the setting for one of the most brilliant
ancient civilizations of the world. But another very important source is
oral tradition, which, after being long despised, has n o w emerged as an
invaluable instrument for discovering the history of Africa, making it
possible to follow the movements of its different peoples in both space and
time, to understand the African vision of the world from the inside and to
grasp the original features of the values on which the cultures and institutions of the continent are based.
W e are indebted to the International Scientific Committee in charge of
this General History of Africa, and to its Rapporteur and the editors and
authors of the various volumes and chapters, for having shed a new light
on the African past in its authentic and all-encompassing form and for
having avoided any dogmatism in the study of essential issues. A m o n g
these issues w e might cite; the slave trade, that 'endlessly bleeding w o u n d ' ,
i. Volumes I and II have been published in Arabic, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese,
Chinese and Italian; Volume I has been published in Kiswahili and Hausa; Volume II in
Hausa; Volume IV and Volume VII in Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese.
XXV
Preface
which was responsible for one of the cruellest mass deportations in the
history of mankind, which sapped the African continent of its life-blood
while contributing significantly to the economic and commercial expansion
of Europe; colonization, with all the effects it had on population, economics,
psychology and culture; relations between Africa south of the Sahara and
the Arab world; and,finally,the process of decolonization and nationbuilding which mobilized the intelligence and passion of people still alive
and sometimes still active today. All these issues have been broached with
a concern for honesty and rigour which is not the least of the History's
merits. B y taking stock of our knowledge of Africa, putting forward a
variety of viewpoints o n African cultures and offering a new reading of
history, the History has the signal advantage of showing u p the light and
shade and of openly portraying the differences of opinion that m a y exist
between scholars.
B y demonstrating the inadequacy of the methodological approaches
which have long been used in research on Africa, this History calls for a
new and careful study of the twofold problem areas of historiography and
cultural identity, which are united by links of reciprocity. Like any historical
work of value, the History paves the way for a great deal of further research
on a variety of topics.
It is for this reason that the International Scientific Committee, in close
collaboration with U N E S C O , decided to embark on additional studies in
an attempt to go deeper into a number of issues which will permit a clearer
understanding of certain aspects of the African past. T h efindingsbeing
published in the series ' U N E S C O Studies and Documents - General
History of Africa'2 will prove a useful supplement to the History, as will
the works planned on aspects of national or subregional history.
T h e General History sheds light both on the historical unity of Africa
and also its relations with the other continents, particularly the Americas
and the Caribbean. For a long time, the creative manifestations of the
descendants of Africans in the Americas were lumped together by s o m e
historians as a heterogeneous collection of Africanisms. Needless to say,
this is not the attitude of the authors of the History, in which the resistance
of the slaves shipped to America, the constant and massive participation
of the descendants of Africans in the struggles for the initial independence
of America and in national liberation movements, are rightly perceived for
what they were: vigorous assertions of identity, which helped forge the
2. T h e following eleven volumes have already been published in this series: The peopling
of ancient Egypt and the deciphering of Meroitic script; The African slave trade from
thefifteenthto the nineteenth century; Historical relations across the Indian Ocean; The
historiography of Southern Africa; The decolonization of Africa: Southern Africa and the
Horn of Africa; African ethnonyms and toponyms; Historical and socio-cultural relations
between black Africa and the Arab morid from içjj to the present; The methodology of
contemporary African History; The Educational Process and Historiography in Africa; Africa
and the Second World War; Libya Antiqua.
XXVI
Preface
universal concept of mankind. Although the phenomenon m a y vary in
different places, it is n o w quite clear that ways of feeling, thinking, dreaming
and acting in certain nations of the western hemisphere have been marked
by their African heritage. T h e cultural inheritance of Africa is visible
everywhere, from the southern United States to northern Brazil, across the
Caribbean and on the Pacific seaboard. In certain places it even underpins
the cultural identity of some of the most important elements of the population.
T h e History also clearly brings out Africa's relations with southern Asia
across the Indian Ocean and the African contributions to other civilizations
through mutual exchanges.
I a m convinced that the efforts of the peoples of Africa to conquer or
strengthen their independence, secure their development and assert their
cultural characteristics, must be rooted in historical awareness renewed,
keenly felt and taken u p by each succeeding generation.
M y o w n background, the experience I gained as a teacher and as chairm a n , from the early days of independence, of thefirstcommission set up to
reform history and geography curricula in some of the countries of West and
Central Africa, taught m e h o w necessary it was for the education of young
people and for the information of the public at large to have a history book
produced by scholars with inside knowledge of the problems and hopes of
Africa and with the ability to apprehend the continent in its entirety.
For all these reasons, U N E S C O ' s goal will be to ensure that this
General History of Africa is widely disseminated in a large number of
languages and is used as a basis for producing children's books, school
textbooks and radio and television programmes. Y o u n g people, whether
schoolchildren or students, and adults in Africa and elsewhere will thus be
able to form a truer picture of the African continent's past and the factors
that explain it, as well as a fairer understanding of its cultural heritage and
its contribution to the general progress of mankind. T h e History should
thus contribute to improved international co-operation and stronger solidarity among peoples in their aspirations to justice, progress and peace.
This is, at least, m y most cherished hope.
It remains for m e to express m y deep gratitude to the members of the
International Scientific Committee, the Rapporteur, the different volume
editors, the authors and all those w h o have collaborated in this tremendous
undertaking. T h e work they have accomplished and the contribution they
have m a d e plainly go to show h o w people from different backgrounds but
all imbued with the same spirit of goodwill and enthusiasm in the service
of universal truth can, within the international framework provided by
U N E S C O , bring to fruition a project of considerable scientific and cultural
import. M y thanks also go to the organizations and governments whose
generosity has m a d e it possible for U N E S C O to publish this History in
different languages and thus ensure that it will have the worldwide impact
it deserves and thereby serve the international community as a whole.
xxvii