Africa Unbound
A Brief Examination of Historical and Legendary Figures Present in Medieval Africa
Presented By Oloye Omokehindegbegbon Ayoka Obo
History has always been problematic in its depictions of Africans, whether mixing “tribes” together for a
homogenous, traditional sense of what it means to be African or singling out slavery as the most prominent era in
Africa’s timeline. Both extremes make re-creation of medieval Africa within the scope of the Society for Creative
Anachronism exceptionally difficult, so this segment has been written with the intent to educate newcomers on
several prominent figures in Africa’s history, with a focus on sub-Saharan West Africa.
Joannes Leo Africanus or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi
Andalusian Amazigh Moor (c. 1494-1554?)
Born in Granada, his family left Spain and fled to Fes in Morocco, to
escape Catholic rule a century before the official expulsion
Della descrittione dell'Africa et delle cose notabili che iui sono, per
Giovan Lioni Africano in 1550 (Description of Africa)
Possibly never visited Hausaland, Bornu, Subsahara and merely relied
on descriptions
Rumored to have inspired Othello
Juan Garrido Black
African-Spanish Conquistador (c 1480-1550)
Born African, travels to Portugual, converts
to Christianity and chooses a Spanish name
Arrives in Santo Domingo in 1502
Invades Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1508
Joins Cortes' forces in Mexico by 1519
Marries, settles down in Mexico City, and
serves Spanish forces for more than 30 years
João I of Kongo or alias Nzinga a Nkuwu or Nkuwu Nzinga - King of
the Kongo (died c. 1506)
ruled 1470 - 1506
baptized by Portuguese missionaries May 3, 1491 and took the
name of his Portuguese counterpart, along with his queen and son
(Leanor and Afonso, respectively)
Sonni Ali Ber and Askia Mohammad I – Rulers of
the Songhai Empire (Sonni Ali 1464 to 1492 and
Askia 1493 to 1538)
Sonni Ali was the first ruler of the
Songhai Empire, which surpassed the Mali Empire
during his reign
Askia was rumored by oral tradition to
have murdered Sonni Ali and subverted Sonni Baru
from ascending the throne
Askia the Great encouraged learning and
literacy, ensuring a cultural revolution under his
rule, and ushering in a golden age of scholarship
Iyoba Idia and Oba Esigie – Queen Mother and King of Benin (simultaneously
from 1504 to 1550)
A warrior that fought relentlessly for the good of her favorite son and
kingdom against her second son, Arhuaran
Helped to repel the Igala invasion as her son’s political advisor
Recognized as the first Queen Mother (Iyoba) of Benin for her deeds
Musa I of Mali or Mansa Musa – Emperor of Mali
(c.1280 to 1337)
Musa was appointed deputy by Abubakari II, who
sailed to explore the limits of the Atlantic, leaving Musa
to ascend to the throne
Through overly generous actions of his pilgrimage
to Mecca in 1324, he caused devastation to the economy
of his region, creating the only time in recorded history
that one man controlled the price of gold in the
Mediterranean
Commissioned architects from Andalusia to build
his palace in Timbuktu and restaffed the University of
Sankore
Olori Moremi Ajasoro – Princess Consort of Ile-Ife (Legendary Figure)
Married into the royal family of Emperor Oduduwa
Offered anything she had to give in exchange for knowledge of the strength of
her nation’s enemies
Kidnapped and forced into slavery and then into marriage as a queen consort
Escaped to Ile-Ife after learning her husband’s tactics and led her people into
battle against her captors, sacrificing her son after their victory
Queen Makeda of Sheba or Malkat sabaa (Arabic) or Nigista Saba (Ge'ez) or
Ayaba ile Seba (Yoruba), Bilqis/Balqis/Balquis/Bilqays
(Legendary Figure)
Wife of King Solomon of Abrahamic and African tradition
Believed to be the common root that the Imperial family of Ethiopia is derived
from
Also known to the Yoruba
subclan, the Ijebu, as Oloye
Bilikisu Sungbo. It is believed by the Ijebu that their ancestors
built an eredo (one of the largest constructed) as a monument in
her honor during the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries
Resources
Leo Africanus
Maalouf, Amin. Leo Africanus. London: Abacus, 1994. Print.
Africanus, Leo, John Pory, and Robert Brown. The History and Description of Africa and of the Notable Things
Therein. Whitefish, Mont.?: Kessinger Pub., 2007. Print.
Juan Garrido
Matthew Restall. "Black Conquistadors: Armed Africans in Early Spanish America." The Americas 57.2 (2000):
171-205. Project MUSE. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.
Joao I of Kongo
Gondola, Ch Didier. The History of Congo. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2002. Print.
Shillington, Kevin. Encyclopedia of African History. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2005. Print.
Sonni Ali
Walker, Robin with Siaf Miller. The West African Empire of Songhai in 10 Easy Lessons: Introduction to Black
History. Concept Learning Ltd, 1999. Print.
Russell, Jesse with Ronald Cohn. Sonni Ali. Book on Demand, 2012. Print
Quigley, Mary. Ancient West African Kingdoms: Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. Capstone Classroom, 2002. Print.
Askia Mohammad
Muhammad Kati, Tarik al-Fattah
Abdul-Rahman as-Sadi, Tarik ul-Sudan ("Chronicle of Africa")
Vogel, Joseph O., Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa: Archaeology, History, Languages, Cultures, and
Environments.
Iyoba Idia
Salami-Agunloye, Irene Isoken. Idia, the Warrior Queen of Benin. Saniez Publication, 2008. Print.
Peavy, Daryl. Kings, Magic, and Medicine. Lulu.com, 2010. Print.
Mansa Musa I
Goodwin, A.J.H. (1957), "The Medieval Empire of Ghana", South African Archaeological Bulletin
Levtzion, Nehemia (1963), "The thirteenth- and fourteenth-century kings of Mali", Journal of African History
Levtzion, Nehemia (1973), Ancient Ghana and Mali, London: Methuen, ISBN 0-8419-0431-6.
Olori Moremi Ajasoro
Moremi. Sacred Texts. N.P. Web.
Queen Makeda of Sheba
"Queen of Sheba (queen of Saba)". Encyclopædia Britannica.
Budge, E. A. Wallis. The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek: Being the History of the Departure of God
and His Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Ethiopia, and the Establishment of the Religion of the Hebrews and
the Solomonic Line of Kings in That Country. London: Medici Society Limited, 1922.
Byrd, Vickie, editor; Queen of Sheba: Legend and Reality, (Santa Ana, California: The Bowers Museum of Cultural
Art, 2004)
For more information on Kehinde and her research into medieval Western African history, aesthetics, and oral
traditions, visit her web log at http://bestservedstylish.wordpress.com/