The African History Diary.

The Western Portion of the Rift Valley is Actually as old as th Eastrn Portion.

2012-04-30T02:35:00.002-07:00

Researcher have always believed that the origin of humanity, in the Great Rift Valley region of Africa, the Eastern part that surges through Northern Kenya to kiss its counterpart in the Western is actually older than the later.

However, this conflict was later resolved by Natural Geoscience who found out that the two arms are actually as old as each other. This was according to a statement on Michigan state University which reads as follows:

The Great Rift Valley of East Africa – the birthplace of the human species – may have taken much longer to develop than previously believed.
"We now believe that the western portion of the rift formed about 25 million years ago, and is approximately as old as the eastern part, instead of much younger as other studies have maintained,” said Michael Gottfried, Michigan State University associate professor of geological sciences. “The significance is that the Rift Valley is the setting for the most crucial steps in primate and ultimately human evolution, and our study has major implications for the environmental and landscape changes that form the backdrop for that evolutionary story.”
Gottfried worked with an international team led by Eric Roberts at Australia’s James Cook University who added that the findings have important implications for understanding climate change models, animal evolution and the development of Africa’s unique landscape.
The Rukwa Rift (a segment of the western branch) is an example of a divergent plate boundary, where the Earth’s tectonic forces are pulling plates apart and creating new continental crust. The East African Rift system is composed of two main segments: the eastern branch that passes through Ethiopia and Kenya, and a western branch that forms a giant arc from Uganda to Malawi, interconnecting the famous rift lakes of eastern Africa.
Traditionally, the eastern branch is considered much older, having developed 15 to 25 million years earlier than the western branch.
This study provides new evidence that the two rift segments developed at about the same time, nearly doubling the initiation age of the western branch and the timing of uplift in this region of East Africa.
“A key piece of evidence in this study is the discovery of approximately 25 million-year-old lake and river deposits in the Rukwa Rift that preserve abundant volcanic ash and vertebrate fossils,” Roberts said.
These deposits include some of the earliest anthropoid primates yet found in the rift, added Nancy Stevens of Ohio University.
The findings imply that around 25 to 30 million years ago, the broad uplift of East Africa occurred and re-arranged the flow of large rivers such as the Congo and the Nile to create the distinct landscapes and climates that mark Africa today.

Biography: Chief Albert Luthuli (1898 – 21 July 1967).

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

"I have joined my people in the new spirit that moves them today, the spirit that revolts openly and broadly against injustice."

Early life.

Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli was born in around the year 1898 to a Seventh day Adventist missionary, in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, (present Zimbabwe). He attended a missionary school in his ancestral town of Groutville, Natal. Luthuli also trained as a teacher at Edendale, near Pietermaritzburg. He also attended Adam’s College where was part of the staff until 1935.

Chief Luthuli also became lay preacher at Adam’s College. He was so religious – this explained his non-violent approach to politics, despite a call for a militant approach to apartheid.

Luthuli and ANC.

Chief Luthuli joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1945, and was elected president of the Province of Natal in 1951.

Luthuli was one of the architects of the Defiance Campaign – anon-violent protest against pass laws. He was summoned to Pretoria to answer for his acts. While there, he was given two choices; to either renounce the membership of ANC or be scrapped off his position as a tribal chief. Luthuli refused to resign but instead issued a statement to the press. In his statement, he was reaffirming his backing of the anti-apartheid campaign.

In November 1952, Chief Luthuli was scrapped off his chieftaincy.

In the last quarter of 1952, Albert Luthuli became president of ANC. This was made possible by the lack of popularity of former president, Dr. James Moroka, who had pleaded not-guilty to charges laid to him in relation to the Defiance Campaign. This automatically made Nelson Mandela vice president of ANC.

Luthuli was banned in 1954, and later imprisoned in 1956. He was one of the 156 people accused of ‘high treason’. He was released shortly after due to lack of evidence.

Chief Luthuli was re-elected President of ANC in 1955 and again in 1958.

In 1960, Luthuli led the protests in response to the Sharpville Massacre. He was once again summoned by the apartheid government. A supporting mob of Seventy-two Black Africans was shot and others (200) injured. In response to this, Chief Luthuli publically burned his passbook. He was detained on 30 March. In addition, he was later confined to his home in Stranger, Natal.

Last Days.

Chief Luthuli suffered ill health and eyesight problems. Up to this time, he was still confined to his home in Natal. While taking a walk near his home, Luthuli was hit by a speeding train and died on 21 July 1967. However, many of his followers dismissed this explanation.

Awards.

- He was awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the fight against apartheid. He was the first person to win the prestigious ward.

- He was elected Rector of Glasgow University (a position which was honorary) in 1962.

- He published his autobiography, ‘Let my people go’ in the same year 1962.

Eight great lessons to learn from Col. Gaddafi.

2011-10-31T23:29:00.000-07:00

It is now a week and some few days since ~~Col. Muammar Gaddafi~~ the late Gaddafi left this great world to go and have a taste of the other world that so unfamiliar to many of us, a strong states man with a unique character and personality is what Gaddafi presented to the world.

That said, the political and fracas surrounding his death is not of concern to us now. We have a lot to learn from Gaddafi’s life
and rule; and from both his strengths and weaknesses.

#1. Stand for what you believe in.

Gaddafi was a person with a unique identity grounded in his personality. For instance, the fact that he pretended to only know Arabic as a foreign language, among other fanny characters he presented. He was a person who strongly believed in what he believed in! This in part, facilitated his downfall.

#2. Never give up.

Yeah, never give up is the statement. I hope if you are reading this, you know what I am talking about. I mean fighting to the death; this is what Gaddafi stood for. At least he was not ready to be depicted as a failure. Even when he knew that he never had a chance against the western forces, he persisted. He even urged his supporters to fight ‘till kingdom come’. A tabloid in Uganda reported that it was even included in his will!

#3. Impressions need utmost priority.

This was one of the reasons he upheld a political system for over 40 years – impressions. For long, we were made to believe that Gaddafi was a savior of the Libyan peoples. That everyone had a job, housing with piped water, heath care among others all covered by the regime, however, this was not the case. What if it was, then it would be hard for us to explain the lynching we watched on TV.

Machiavelli, a political philosopher once said that people are moved by impressions, so did Gaddafi and I can solely affirm that it had actually worked for him. What was depicted to the outside world were distorted ‘facts’ – for lack of a better word!

I think, unless you have other options, you should not take this one as a lesson to learn, at least not one of them. You should consider it only if you have no other option but to conform.

#4. Play it smart, but someone else is stronger!

One problem with Gaddafi was that where he failed to make friends, he created enemies. Someone could be thinking about the bombings at Lockerbie, the other picturing Gaddafi tearing into pieces the UN charter. One thing was clear to Gaddafi, most of his enemies were stronger than him in almost all aspects besides owning oil wells! They also had stronger allies. Now, what did Gaddafi do? He kept on provoking them. What happened to him? They smashed him as a crazy man does a car windscreen.

#5. Never be selfish.

Selfishness only serves the bearer. Gaddafi had managed to protect the interest of the Libyans (black gold) from external forces, but in essence, these Libyan interests had become his personal interests. He had excluded many Libyans from the benefits that come from the oil resource. In other words, he had defied Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy were he states that work should not be mixed with personal motives. This will explain much of the discontent that we saw in the past few days.

#6. Never give the enemy a chance.

One of the things Gaddafi loved the would have been evoking a sense of anger within his enemies. One could affirm that he was the architect of his downfall. The fact that he loved provoking the enemy will partly explain why he is six-feet under.

#7. East or West, home is best.

One person remarked, “Gaddafi acted foolishly”, in this he meant that Gaddafi should have run away when he still had a chance. Even the president of Uganda, YK Museveni labeled Gaddafi a brave man. This was because, according to Museveni, Gaddafi died while on the battlefield. The question was, where would he go? Anyways, the best and only option he had was to stay at home and ‘fight the good fight’.

#8. Do not wait until you are 50!

As all of us are aware, Gaddafi became president when he was 27 years of age. A President at 27? How is that? In short, Gaddafi achieved self-realization before he was even 30! The question goes to you who are reading this, for how long are you gonna wait until you take the biggest stride towards your dreams?

Col. Gaddafi, now the late Gaddafi, call that an additional ‘title’ to colonel, had what you would consider the fullest life at the helm for the longest time in this century [or the last two centuries]. A man of different characters and perhaps, a man of different lessons.

This Week In History: Boer war begins in South Africa, Obote dies, Ingabire is arrested,

2011-10-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

This week, 11th - 17th October is memorable in Africa. Struggles for power, deaths of nationalists, some arrests among many other events as we will see.

Without wasting time, lets take a look at the memorable events in Africa here on The African Social History Blog.

Boer war begins in South Africa.
On this day in 1899, the Boers also called Afrikaners, of Dutch descent went to war with the British. This was after they had captured the Dutch cape colony in 1806 amid the Napoleonic
wars.

The Dutch were against the British Anglicanisation of South Africa and the British anti-slavery policies.

This war took place in the Dutch republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State. The British had an upper hand but an organised guerrilla attack by the Dutch gave them the edge over their rivals - the British.

Peace of Vereeniging was signed on 31st May 1902 putting an end to the fighting.

Obote dies.
Dr Apollo Milton Obote was the first prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 when he became executive president.

Milton obote was born on 28th December, 1925 in Akokoro village in Apac district, Northern Uganda. He became President in 1966 when his troops under the command of Gen Idi Amin Dada attacked Sir Edward Muteesa's palace (the the Kabaka of Buganda). He was later ousted by his protege Amin in a coup on 26th January, 1971.

Obote later returned in 1980 to win the general elections which were marred by controversy. These elections sent Yoweri Museveni to war under the guerilla group National Resistance Army. Obote was however ousted again in 1985 by illiterate Tito Okello Lutwa, who also lost power to the NRM in 1986.

After this, Obote was exiled in Tanzania and later Zambia, later died of Kidney failure in Johannesburg on 10th October 2005.

Ingabire is arrested.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, Rwanda's opposition leader, was arrested on October 12th, 2010. The FDU-Inkingi Coalition leader was suspected to have a hand in rebel activities hence her arrest.

And many more...

-Mother Teresa escapes a plane crash that kills six in Tanzania. (11th October, 1986)

-The ANC says it "is not prepared to negotiate peaceful settlement with Pretoria". (13th October 1985).

-Scientists discovered a mysterious disease that killed many people (over 3oo) in the North of Zaire and the Sudan.(14th October, 1976)

-Egyptian and Israeli forces clash in the Sinai. (17th October, 1973) .

With that and many events, we witness land marks in Africa especially in the struggle for self rule. Not only that, but also foreigners fighting for Africa!

The Tales of The ancient Kingdom of Kanem

2011-10-07T02:48:00.000-07:00

Kanem was situated northeast of Lake Chad. The early origins of the kingdom are believed to date as far as the seventh-century AD with the settlement of the Zaghawa people. The Sefawa dynasty replaced the Zaghawa in the early eleventh-century.

Njimi was thought to be the capital of Kanem, with a centralized form of governance. However, no one seems to know exactly where Njimi was located.

Abu ‘l-Fida, a thirteenth-century politician and scholar from Syria quoted Ibn Said’s
account of Njimi.

”Njimi is the capital of Kanem. There resides the sultan of Kanem, well known for his religious warfare. He is a descendant of Sayfd. Dhi Yazan on a level with Njimi, he possesses a town with gardens and a pleasure ground. It is on the west bank of the Nile which comes to Egypt and is 40 miles from Njimi. There are fruits there which do not resemble ouf fruits as well as pomegranates, peaches and sugar cane”

The replacement of the Zaghawa people by the Sefawa dynasty saw a shift in economic activity. There was a shift from an entirely nomadic to pastoral-life with immense agricultural activity.

Kanem and Islam.

The first Islamic contact in Kanem was under the leadership of Hu or Hawwa (1067-71) who is speculated to have been a woman. The faith was however not strong until the activities of Arab traders from the north took root in the thirteenth-century.

Social Construction.

The people of Kanem exchanged presents as a way of strengthening their social ties. This formal exchange of presents also involved the king, who exchanged presents with sultans from the north.

Memorable was a gift of a giraffe presented by the king of Kanem to Hafsid Sultan al-Mustansir of Tunis in the thirteenth-century.

Trade and power.

Kanem was a wealthy state, the ability of its rulers to control trade in the region was key to its growth.

The main export products of Kanem were ostrich features, slaves and ivory. Keynote in their trade was their riding of horses, which they imported, from the north.

The fact that Kanem controlled trade activities in the region gave her power. Through this, Kanem had to impose her hegemony over the surrounding neighbors and the whole region.

The long rule of Mai-Dunama Dibalami (1210-1248) saw Kanem reach the height of power in the region. Mai-Dunama had a cavalry numbering over 40,000.

Decline.

Several explanations can be attached to the eventual downfall of Kanem. That said, we would tackle just a few that played the most crucial part.

Having shifted from nomadism to pastrolism, the farming methods of Kanem were lacking, over grazing exhausted all pastures. Dynastic

This week in History Exclusive; 9 October 1962, Uganda attains Her Independence. (Part one)

2011-10-07T01:11:00.000-07:00

On the 9^th day of this month, Uganda will be celebrating her 49^th independence anniversary, with this; I will bring you a Special Exclusive of This week in History, covering Uganda’s encounter with alien rule and the run up to independence.

Uganda and Imperialism.

The crafty Europeans after the loss of colonies in the Americas needed alternative colonies to supply their finished produce, get raw materials and settle their unemployed population, which had threatened a revolution. Steads, a British journalist quoted his friend Cecil Rhodes, a
banker and Billionaire; and architect of the second Anglo-Boer war,

“I was in the east of London yesterday and attended a meeting of the unemployed. I listened to the wild speeches, which were just a cry of ‘bread’, ‘bread’, ‘bread’ and on my way home, I pondered over the scene and I became more convinced of the importance of imperialism… my cherished idea is a solution for the social problem, i.e., in order to save the 40,000,000 inhabitants of the UK from a bloody civil war, we colonial statesmen must acquire new lands to settle the surplus population, to provide new markets for the goods produced by them in the factories and mines. The Empire as I have always said is the bread and butter question. If you want to avoid a civil war, you must become imperialists. ”

A clearly executed plan was undertaken, explorers, missionaries, cartographers, anthropologists, administrators and traders were recruited to study the African populations and lay a foundation of what would come to be British imperialism in Africa and Uganda in particular.

Using locals, imperialism was hegemonised; these were to be the 1000 families to receive land, as a reward for their collaboration with the British to spread colonialism, notable is Semei Kakungulu.

Imperialism was so lucrative on the side of the colonizers as the locals had to shift from their agro-based lifestyle to a capitalist one. Imperialism was a colonialists scheme to plunder the locals resources; and indeed they did so, including picking from their pockets! For example, an estimated 30.8 million pounds intended for the farmers under marketing boards was siphoned by the colonial regime and retained in the Bank of England.

Colonial Resistance.

Colonial invasion of Uganda did come with organized militant resistance. The natives were not ready to adopt an alien rule based on imported principles. Any form of power will give rise to resistance. Prophecies by some medicine men about colonial invasion came to pass. Among them was Nyakairima Ka Muzoora, from Kigezi. He prophesied;

People with skins of lepers would invade the land and these people would come in granaries running on threads…they would rule the world.

These medicine men had won themselves a point of trust from locals. Different forms of resistance sprung up in for of uprisings; some led by kings. However, these forces did not spring up because of prophesies alone, other factors also dictated. Among them was lack of unity and collaboration, technological differences, lack of organized platforms, lack of reason for resistance among others.

Watch out for Part Two of these series. Please subscribe by Email to receive updates.

This Week in History; Nigeria, Kingdom of Lesotho and Guinea archive Independance, Nadine Gordimer wins Nobel and Many Others.

2011-10-02T04:46:00.000-07:00

This week 1st -7th, is incredible in Africa as far as History is concerned. Here at BRT, we have started a feature called This Week In History, the purpose is to highlight the important elements in Africa in the past days, of this week.

Independence For Africa.

On the first day of October, 1960, Nigeria achieved independence from the colonial masters - the British with Namdi Azikiwe as Governor General. Later, in 1962 0n the
same day, Nigeria became a Republic. Today, Nigeria is a democratic country, leading a Federal Government under H.E Good Luck Jonathan.

On 2nd October 1958, Ahmed Sékou Touré led Guinée Française to independence amidst joyous celebrations in the capital Conakry. French Guinea was the first black country to attain independence in Africa.

Similarly, on the 4th day of the year 1966, The Kingdom of Lesotho, gained independence from the colonial masters, the British.

Italy attacks Ethiopia.

On 3rd October 1935, Abyssinia witnessed the first major attack from Italy in what came to be known as the Italo-Ethiopian War of Abyssinia.

This was after Haile Selassie had threatened to mobilise his troops in defense to a threat of an attack from Italy.

Nadine Gordimer wins an Award.

Nadine Gordimer, a South African writer was in 1991 awarded a Nobel Award for Literature. Gordimer,s writings were influential in the apartheid Period. Alfred Nobel thought her works were so influential to humanity.

Looking at this week, i see the fruits of African struggles being reaped. The social realisatons of our peoples to rule their lands in the best way they deemed possible, also, not forgetting the Nobel Literate Gordimer who made Africa proud.

Black Roots Exposed! The Kingdom of Ghana.

2011-09-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

“Ghana is the title given to their kings, but the name of the kingdom of Awkar. In this year 1067 [or 460 of the Islamic calendar], their king is Tunka Manin who came to the throne in 1063. He rules an enormous kingdom, and wields strong power”

This is an account of al-Bakri, an Arab chronicler through the information he had form the Andalusian traders.

The kingdom of Ghana should not be confused with the present Republic of Ghana, in fact, the kingdom was different from the present Ghana in terms of ethnicity and territory. It was situated some 400km northeast of the present Ghana. In its territory, was now north Senegal and south Mauritania.

Further west was the state of Tukrur in Senegal valley. A coastal route leading to Morocco via Sjilmasa opened it to the north.

Roots.

The origins of Ghana up to now remain a mystery to everyone. When it came to existence
is a question no one can dare to attempt. It is presumed that Ghana came into existence in around 750 AD.

Diverse clans of the Soninke (modern Senegal) – a Mande speaking people came together under the leadership of Dinga Cisse, who is believed to have come from lands afar from Ghana.

This union was believed to have been purposed by the frequent attacks by the then desperate nomads who needed pastures and water for their herds.

Power and wealth.

Ghana derived its wealth and power from gold. An Arab chronicler named Al Hamdani, described Ghana as having the richest gold mines in the world. These mines where situated at Bambuk, on the upper Senegal River.

However, according to visitors that frequented the kingdom moments later, it was found out that gold did not actually come from Ghana itself. It was got from a rising kingdom called Mali whose capital was Niani on the upper Niger river.

Trade and Commerce.

Ghana traded in salt, slaves and copper in exchange for textiles, finished products and beads.

This trade led to a methodic tax fabrication. This trade provided the king with systematic revenues to run the kingdom.

Al-Bakri’s record on the import and export trade plus the means of exchange seemed rather sufficient.

“On every donkey-load of salt the king levies one gold dinar when it is brought into the country, and two dinars. When a load of salt is sent out of the country. From a load of imported copper, the king’s revenue in tax is five mitcal, and ten mictal on every load of other goods” As for gold, “all nuggets in any of the mines of his country are reserved for the king, only gold dust being left to the people”

These monetary terms such as mitcal and dinar require more insight. According to al-Bakri, a dinar (dinarious aureus) was a gold coin – a famous standard of value.

The exchange value was aided by sufficient gold reserves in West Africa. This saw the introduction of the Fatimid dinar and then the Almoravid dinar, which were mined from Sjilmasa, Morocco.

The standard weight of this Muslim dinar was 4.233 grams. The weight of a dinar was called a mitcal; the fact that the mitcal was a weight rather than a coin requires more attention.

What was the value of this royal dinar? al-Bakri found out that the purchase price of a woman cook in the west African city of Awdaghost went for 100 dinars. In the eleventh-century Cairo, two dinars could uphold a fairly humble family. In the same city, a domestic servant – probably bought as a slave went for 20 dinars.

From this, it is clear that the king of Ghana accumulated a good deal of wealth from his taxing of trade activities.

Myths and Oral Tradition.

The wealth of the kingdom of Ghana also has a mythical attachment to it. A story is told of a black snake, called Bida. To the snake, the people of Ghana offered annual sacrifice in exchange for wealth to the kingdom. Every year, a virgin was offered as sacrifice.

It was not until one day when the fiancée of the intended victim rescued her, his name was Mamadou Sarolle. Cheated of sacrifice, Bida took revenge, a terrible drought hit Ghana and the glorious gold mines hit a decline.

Downfall.

Towards 1200 AD, the kingdom of Ghana started to decline. During this period, the king lost his monopoly over trade. This meant a decline in revenues. In addition was the discovery of gold mines at Bure (modern Guinea). This was out of the financial muscle of Ghana. Hence, new trade routes were also developed Far East of Ghana.

Ghana faced external attacks mainly by the Almoravid Muslims who were Berbers from the north. Additionally, were the attacks by the Sosso ruler Sumangutu Malinke in 1235 under the charismatic leadership of Sundiata Keita.

All these developments left Ghana submerged in them.

Tracing The Paths Of History In Africa; The City Kingdom Of Benin.

2011-09-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

Benin City (the name of a powerful kingdom of the same name) rose to prominence in the fifteenth century. Located in the present-day southwestern Nigeria.

The territory of the Kingdom extended from the western Ibo tribes on the shores of the Niger River, way through parts of the southwestern region of Nigeria. It expanded eastwards to Niger River, near the Oyo Kingdom, which extended through most of South Western Nigeria in the West to parts of present day Republic of Benin.

The Ogiso dynasty came to an end in 1180 AD by the help of Eweka 1 the first Oba who changed the ancient name of Igodomigodo to Edo and 'Ogiso' dynasty to Oba dynasty. The word "Oba" is a Yoruba title for king. Eweka 1 was the son of Oranmiyan a Yoruba prince from ile ife an the grandson of Oduduwa the Oba of ife. In this, Eweka 1 was the first "Oba" and architect of this title.

Among the regalia of Benin was coral. i was believed that the Oba contested Olokun, the sea-god to a wrestling match at a beach, the Oba won the match and seized all the coral from the sea-god Olukon. From this moment, coral became important in the empire of Benin.

Benin traded with the peoples of the inlands and Europeans; first the Portuguese and later the Dutch and British among others. Endowed will skilled artisans, specializing in sculptural making, Benin made some of the world’s best sculptures that when the European critics looked at them, they declined to believe that these had actually come from Africa. These sculptures were made from bronze, gold, brass and wood.

The Oba, was given immense power and favor among all the people of Benin. Before we delve into the power and popularity off the Oba, let us first review the city of Benin itself.

The city of Benin.

History about Benin was gathered by European mariners, traders and through oral tradition – first hand information from people who were there at the time and were somewhat impacted upon by these occurrences.

Igodomigodo was the name of the lands of the people of Benin. The name of the town was Ubinu – an Itsekhiri name for the royal administrative centre of the kingdom of Edo, however, the people living there changed the name to Bini. Hence the Portuguese took it as Benin City, this city was founded in the 8^th century A.D and was protected by earthen walls.

Oba Ewuare ordered the building of an 11-kilometer long earthen wall and 15 meters deep. Graham Connah excavated this in the early 1960s and his estimations were that it would take more a than 1,000 men labor force for about 10 hours a day and 7 days a week to complete the structure today.

According to the account of some early mariners that came to Benin in the late fifteenth century, a good and favoring account is given of the city of Benin

[The city] looks very big when you go into it. You enter by a great broad street, not paved, which sees to be seven or eight times broader than the Warmoes-street n Amsterdam. This street goes right through, not bending; and the place where i was lodged with Mattheus Cornelison was at least a quarter of an hour from the gate and yet i could not see the the other end of it
This is an account of one Dutchman who traded in information in about 1600 A.D.

The Dutchman continues with his account;

The houses in the town stand in good order, one close and even the with next as our Dutch houses are.....while the king's palace is very large, having within many four square plains, each surrounded by galleries which are always guarded, i went in as far into the palace as to cross four of the squares; but wherever i looked, i saw gate after gate for entry into the squares; and in this manner, i went in as far as any Dutchman had been permitted.

Based on this account, the city of Benin must have been a huge one. The dutch informer stresses the issue of order and organization in the city whose building somewhat struck a resemblance with those in Benin city.

The people of Benin.

In this the area of household manners the, Dutch trader pointed out that the people of Benin were equally when smart compared to his natives back home in Amsterdam.

these people are in no way inferior to the Dutch in cleanliness. they wash and scrub their houses so well that they are as polished as a looking glass.

According to the account given by the Dutchmen, the people of Benin were so hospitable and received all visitors well.

The power and influence of the Oba.

A German mariner by the names of Anderas Josua Ultzheimer docked at River Benin and embarked on a journey inland. A staunch and self-styled protestant he was, this is what he had to say about the Oba,

The king allows himself to be seen in public only once a year and that is on his birthday when he rides in progress around his city walls, clad in scarlet cloth and bejeweled with beads of coral.

Here a stampede is created as everyone wants to take a glimpse of their king;

Everyone wants to see the king, just as in Rome when the Pope celebrates his "jubilee". six thousand people press towards him and when he comes they all go down to their and clap their hands in greeting. For his part, he waves his hand back and forth, just as does the Pope in Rome when he blesses the people.

Considerate to note should be the actuality that Ultzheimer was a son of the religious conflict between Catholism and Protestantism. He had also served as Landsknecht in battles in Hungary. Hence, he looked at things in Protestant-Catholic panorama

European contact.

The European contact with the peoples of Benin was in 1485 A.D, a strong relationship developed based on mercantile trade. Trade was in ivory, pepper and palm oil while from Portugal, came guns and manila. This trade also saw the Oba sending an ambassador to Lisbon and the Portuguese sending Christian missionaries in return.

The British entered this trade in 1553 trading in palm oil, pepper and ivory; this trade grew but turned sour in 1897.

As earlier noted, the people of Benin were so hospitable to visitors (according to a Dutchman) this led to growth of trade in the region between Benin and Europe. As time moved on, with the benefits of trade and a new generation born and bred, the people of Benin changed their attitude towards Europeans especially the British. This was because they suspected them of interest in their lands.

Following this, Britons in Benin were killed by the natives (the Benin peoples).

Decline of Benin.

The news of the killed Britons were no received well back home, in 1897, an armed expedition was conducted in Benin and the results were devastating. The palace was destroyed, regalia dispersed and sculptures and plaques looted. The looted art pieces were sold off in Europe and some were bought by museums around Europe.

It was not until 1917 that the ruins of Benin were put together to forge a new start for the defunct, once glorious and mighty, artisan rich kingdom. To this date, the kingdom of Benin lies in silence to the south west of modern day Nigeria.

Tracing The Paths of History In Africa; The Ancient North African Kingdoms.

2011-09-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

“Africa is no historical part of the world [and] it has no development to show”

- Georg Hegel, German Philosopher.

Many more people would carry on with the thought process of Georg Hegel, considering Africa a blank slate! These thoughts had no truths in them and they were measurable to a pinch of salt.

Besides, Africa had and still has many things to offer to the world in all aspects we could think of; Politics, Economics, Architecture, Arts to mention but a few (as we shall see in future).

Africa had the first set of kingdoms, which defined political order in medieval Africa.

“And kingdoms in Africa are indeed among the oldest political institutions. They emerged in Africa from time even before time began”

- Adopted from an essay written for Raph Uwechu.

Based on the above statement, it is clear that Africa has had kingdoms since time in memorial!

The Pharaonic Egypt.

It is believed that the first set of kingdoms arose in around 3400 B.C in the Nile Delta and the northern Nile in Egypt. These [two] kingdoms joined to form a great kingdom under the influence of the Pharaohs- this kingdom was later credited for the “daughter kingdoms” that sprung up elsewhere in Africa.

The ancient Greeks believed that the Egypt of the pharaohs was a fountain of immense knowledge, striking mathematics and philosophy; and amazing architecture. All the names of the gods in ancient Greece had been adopted from Egypt.

According to Homer, the gods of Greece flew once a year to feast with their elder gods in Egypt. This connotes the importance of the Pharaonic kingdom to the spiritual necessities of the Greeks of pre-historic west.

This belief of kingdoms in Africa did not go well with the Europeans (at least not all)- they never welcomed it. The result was separation of Egypt from the rest of Africa. All this was
brought about by the many centuries of slave trade; the belief that Africans were merely goods worth trading in! And yes, they took it in that indeed all these advancements were from Egypt, but the confusion came from not accepting that Egypt was without dispute part and parcel of the larger Africa.

“Whites are more intelligent than Negroes; intelligence is overwhelmingly the result of inheritance rather than environmental influence…..”

-Arthur Jensen, (5^th/17/1969), in the theory of differentials in genetics.

The above statement just explains all about the debated in Europe and North America about Africa from the eighteenth century and onwards.

However, successors of Arthur Jensen and the rest had to come to terms with reality about where Egypt really lied in this whole web of controversy. With the help of archeology, facts showed that indeed the Egypt of the Pharaohs is part of Africa- the black people. To these, the Greeks referred to as Ethiopians [not the country we all know], aithiops is a Greek word for black people of burnt people for that matter.

The little Kingdom of Zuweila.

Zuweila was a city kingdom located in Fezzan in Tunisia. It existed around the ninth century A.D - that is before 871 A.D. Though it was short lived.

Zuweila was a famous and pivotal town in ancient Africa as it was a centre for trans-desert trade in the ninth century A.D.

Remarkable about Zuweila was a great piece of architecture- a masterpiece stood and still stands the test of time; the Bab Zuweila, a famous city gate in the west that controlled traffic to and from the city. The Bab Zuweila was constructed in 1087 A.D, to control traffic [as I mentioned earlier].

Hence, a European art specialist could not help get amused;

”One can hardly imagine anything more majestic than this monumental gateway, surmounted by minarets, built on twin towers of fine cut masonry, the mighty portal opens through a high rounded arch”

-Gaston Weit, a French Art Specialist.

Such great architecture and more existed and still exists in Africa, though to us the peoples, it is in our unconsciousness’!