Timeline of Africa
1000 BC: the Queen of Sheba visits king Solomon of Israel
300 BC: the city of Axum is founded
50: Axum rules Eritrea
300: Axum conquers southern Arabia
320: the Syrian monk Frumentius converts Ethiopian emperor Ezana to Christianity
500: Axum conquers southern Sudan
525: King Ella Kaleb of Axum annexes Yemen
500: Polynesian people settle Madagascar
500: the Christian kingdom of Dongola rules over Sudan
600: Arabs colonize East African trade towns including Zanzibar
710: Arabs invade Eritrea and destroy the Axumite empire
800: the empire of Ghana controls Mali, Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal
982 BC: Menelik I, son of the Queen of Sheba, becomes Ethiopia’s first emperor
1000: Queen Yodit defeats the last Axumite king Del Na’od
1000: Timbuktu is founded in Africa by Muslim traders
1076: Almoravids from Morocco defeat the kingdom of Ghana and seize Mali and Mauritania
1080: Great Zimbabwe is the capital of a wealthy Shona kingdom that trades with Asia
1084: the Shona empire forms between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers
1137: the Zagwe Dynasty is founded in Ethiopia and the capital is moved from Axum to Lalibela
1250: Sudan (Dongola) is conquered by the Mamaluks of Egypt
1250: Sundiata Keita founds the empire of Mali
1270: Yekuno Amlak ends the Zagwe dynasty and founds the Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia
120: the empire of Ghana rules over Mali and Senegal
1200: the Mali empire expands to Guinea
1300: kingdoms of Kongo, Luba, Kuba, Lunda in the Congo
1300: Mali emperor Mansa Musa hires Arab architects to rebuild Timbuktu and Djenne
1300: the kingdoms of Ife, Oyo, Benin in Nigeria engage in the slave trade
1300: the empire of Mali expands to the Atlantic
1320: Amda Siyon becomes negus of Ethiopia and expands the empire
1325: Mansa Musa, the king of Mali, makes his pilgrimage to Mecca carrying 500 slaves and 100 camels
1400: Bantu people invade the eastern half of South Africa
1400: Gao raids Mali’s capital Niani
1424: prince Henrique the Navigator of Portugal sends the first expedition to Africa
1430: Portugal trades slaves within Africa
1436: Afonso de Baldaya reaches Rio de Oro on behalf of prince Henrique the Navigator of Portugal
1444: the first public sale of African slaves by Europeans takes place at Lagos, Portugal
1464: Gao invades all of Mali
1472: Portugal explores Gabon and Sao Tome
1482: Portugal founds the first European trading post in Africa (Elmina, Gold Coast)
1488: Moroccans invade the African kingdom of Mali
1495: Cape Verde becomes a Portuguese colony
15xx: Portugal establishes a trade post in Mozambique
1500: Portugal raids Eastern Africa trade towns
1500: the Shonas found the Rozwi state
1500: Tutsis from Ethiopia establish a feudal system in the Hutu lands (Rwanda and Burundi)
1500: Portugal “discovers” Madagascar
1506: a Christian, Nzinga Mbemba, becomes king of the Kongo Kingdom
1533: Muslim general Ahmad Gran invades Ethiopia
1542: Portugal helps Ethiopia repel an Arab invasion
1571: Portugal attacks Mali
1575: Mali defeats Portugal
1575: Portugal establishes a trade post in Luanda (Angola) to buy slaves for Brazil
1591: the Gao empire collapses
*(see more of the timeline by going to the link of the site at the top of the page).