Zimbabwe: Did you mean...?

Walls in the ancient world were built around cities or territories for defense but also served many other purposes, such as enclosing temples, surrounding palaces, enclosing tombs, providing people with homes, and encircling sports venues...

A leopard skin apron which would have been worn by an elite member of the Shona, rulers of such kingdoms as Great Zimbabwe and Mutapa in southern Africa between the 12th and 17th century CE. (British Museum, London)

Although climate change has today become a much bigger and more globalized problem than in the past, ancient peoples did have to contend with local events that severely disrupted or even ended their way of life as they knew it. A long series...

The Portuguese first took an interest in East Africa from the beginning of the 16th century as their empire spread eastwards across the Indian Ocean. Trade in the region was already well-established and carried out by Africans, Indians, and...

A map indicating the major ancient and medieval states in sub-Saharan Africa. Areas and dates relate to a state at its peak. In addition, shaded areas are approximate indicators only. For the majority of the states, their precise borders...

The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies like Brazil...

SUBSCRIBE to the OFFICIAL BBC YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2IXqEIn LAUNCH BBC iPlayer to access Live TV and Box Sets: https://bbc.in/2J18jYJ More about this programme: In 1871, European explorers stumbled across an astonishing ruined...