Central Africa: Did you mean...?

Let's look at a map and see a summary of the different phases of exploration, conquests and colonization of African territories by European powers, beginning from the mid-15th century. Chapter 00:00 Trade...

A March 1942 photograph of a 'Quad' artillery tractor pulling a 25-pdr artillery gun, British Eighth Army, during the Western Desert Campaigns of the Second World War (1939-45). (Imperial War Museums)

The Great Game describes the rivalry between the British and Russian empires through the 19th century. The game was primarily concerned with the control of certain regions in Central Asia and the...

Sir John Hawkins (1532-1595 CE) was an Elizabethan mariner, merchant and naval administrator who has the inglorious (if not wholly accurate) record of being England's first slave trader. In the 1560s CE Hawkins trafficked slaves...

The Oyo Empire flourished from the 17th to 19th century CE in what is today southwest Nigeria. The Oyo forged an empire thanks to their formidable cavalry units and so came to dominate other Yoruba peoples of the region. The Oyo Empire...

The Cullinan Diamond was discovered in Transvaal, South Africa in 1905 and presented as a birthday gift to Edward VII of England (r. 1901-1910) by the Transvaal Government. It weighed well over 3,000 carats, making it the largest...

Homo erectus, or 'upright man', is an extinct species of human that occupies an intriguing spot within the human evolutionary lineage. These prehistoric hunter-gatherers were highly successful in adapting to vastly different habitats...

Vasco da Gama (c. 1469-1524) was a Portuguese navigator who, in 1497-9, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa and arrived at Calicut (now Kozhikode) on the south-west coast of India. This was the first direct voyage...

We are continuing our new animated historical documentary series on the Roman trade and economy with a video on the trade with Africa. Previously we have covered the Roman trade with India https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDTaOOVbxLs...

Hausaland, sometimes referred to as the Hausa Kingdoms, was a group of small independent city-states in northern central Africa between the Niger River and Lake Chad which flourished from the 15th to 18th century CE. The origins of...