All Posts by OLIVER HIRSCH

The Mossi Kingdoms of West Africa

THE MOSSI KINGDOMS The Mossi Kingdoms (c.1050-1896) were four major states which for many years dominated the upper Volta region of West Africa. They are famous for fighting the great Mali and Songhai Empires. ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT According to tradition, the founders of the Mossi were from modern-day northern Ghana.

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Kanem-Bornu: ‘The Longest Empire in African History’

(Much of this information is taken from an article by Vincent Hiribarren, which can be found here) The Kanem Bornu Empire lasted for nearly one thousand years, between the eleventh and nineteenth centuries AD. It has been described by Vincent Hiribarren, a lecturer at King’s College London, as ‘The Longest

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A Short History of the Kingdom of Kongo

The Kingdom of Kongo was one of the most powerful states in Central Africa. Kongo was founded in around 1390, and by 1490 it had grown to rule three million subjects. It had a powerful army and a sophisticated political structure. The Kingdom only ended in the early twentieth century.

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