Kanembu warriors and their mounted chief in an illustration from Heinrich Barth’s Travels and Discoveries, Vol. III, 1857
The Kanembu are an ethnic group of Chad, generally considered the modern descendants of the Kanem-Borno Empire. The Kanembu number an estimated 655,000 people, located primarily in Chad’s Lac Prefecture but also in Chari-Baguirmi and Kanem prefectures. They speak the Kanembu language, from which derived the Kanuri language, with many speaking Arabic as a second language.
Refugee camp for Rwandans in Kimbumba, eastern Zaire (current Democratic Republic of the Congo), following the Rwandan genocide, 1994
Haile Selassie taking part in a televised Q&A session during his American tour, 1954)
Haile Selassie I (“Power of the Trinity”) (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen,was Ethiopia’s regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He was the heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and Queen Makeda, Empress of Axum, known in the Abrahamic tradition as the Queen of Sheba. Haile Selassie is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history.
Pendant ivory mask of Queen Idia (Iyoba ne Esigie (meaning: Queenmother of Oba Esigie), court of Benin, 16th century
The Benin Empire (1440–1897) was a pre-colonial African state in what are now modern Nigeria, Benin and Togo. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey.
Checking into a hotel during the Mau Mau Uprising, Kenya, 1953
The Mau Mau Uprising (also known as the Mau Mau Revolt, Mau Mau Rebellion and the Kenya Emergency) was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960. It involved a Kikuyu-dominated anti-colonial group called Mau Mau and elements of the British Army, auxiliaries and anti-Mau Mau Kikuyu.The movement was unable to capture widespread public support. The capture of rebel leader Dedan Kimathi on 21 October 1956 signalled the ultimate defeat of the Mau Mau uprising, and essentially ended the British military campaign.
Historic map of the Swedish Gold Coast, c.1650
The Swedish Gold Coast was a Swedish colony founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana and Togo in West Africa. It lasted to April 1663 when the whole Swedish Gold Coast was seized by the Danes, and integrated in the Danish Gold Coast.
Diobé, ruler of Bakel, and his advisors - 1887-1888. Bakel, a cosmopolitan Soninke trading town, was a target of French expansion in the mid 19th century. This photograph was taken by members of Colonel Joseph Galliéni’s campaign to create French protectorates up the Senegal River into modern Mali.
A native (Indonesian) soldier (left) and African soldier (right) in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, 1885
Eze Nri Òbalíke, the 15th recorded Eze Nri of the Kingdom of Nri in modern day southeastern Nigeria, sounding a bell. Photo taken by Northcorte Thomas in 1910. The eze held religious and political authority over the Kingdom of Nri in a fashion comparable with that of the pope. The Nri culture is believed to stretch back to around the 10th century, however, its recorded kings goes back to the early 13th century. The power of the eze Nri and the kingdom as a whole ended in 1911 with the last independent monarch being forced to submit to British rule at gunpoint. Nevertheless, the title of eze Nri has survived into the 21st century.
