African EmpiresA HISTORICAL ATLAS
An atlas of power, culture & connection

AfricanEmpires.

15001900

Travel through four centuries of kingdoms, city-states, and societies. Discover the people and connections that shaped their worlds.

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04 REGIONS07 HISTORIES01 CONNECTED CONTINENT
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATOR20° E
Seven entry points into African history. Approximate centers, not historical boundaries.EQUATORATLANTICOCEANINDIANOCEANSonghaiSonghai · GaoBambaraBambara · SégouAsanteAsante · KumasiEthiopiaEthiopia · GondarSwahili CoastSwahili Coast · ZanzibarKongoKingdom of Kongo · Mbanza KongoZuluZulu Kingdom · Ulundi
Modern geographic locator. Dots mark selected centers; they do not represent the extent of any state. Base: Natural Earth. [70]
Select a marker to begin
POWEREXCHANGEBELIEFRESISTANCECONTINUITY
History beyond a single story

Different societies.
Connected worlds.

“Empire” is a starting point, not a single political blueprint. Songhai and Asante built powerful states; the Swahili Coast connected towns whose independence and allegiances changed over time. Each history asks the same four questions: how did power change, how did people live, who governed, and what sustained the economy? [1] [17] [38]

Follow rivers and ocean connections, consider the choices of rulers and communities, and examine the consequences of conquest and enslavement. Earlier origins appear where they explain the period. The year 1900 is this atlas’s stopping point—not the end of these peoples or their histories. Use the numbered references to follow the evidence.

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Explore four regions

A selection, not the whole continent
013 FEATURED HISTORIES

West Africa

Rivers, gold & the making of states

Songhai · Bambara · Asante022 FEATURED HISTORIES

East Africa

Highland kingdoms & an ocean of connections

Ethiopia · Swahili Coast031 FEATURED HISTORY

Central Africa

Kingship between the river & the Atlantic

Kingdom of Kongo041 FEATURED HISTORY

Southern Africa

Cattle, community & a changing kingdom

Zulu Kingdom
Meet the societies

Seven ways into history

Explore the evidence
West Africa01

Songhai

An imperial power connected river communities, trading cities, and Islamic scholarship across the western Sahel.

Imperial era c. 1464–1591; communities continuedExplore
West Africa02

Bambara

Ségou and Kaarta were distinct Bamana powers, connected by culture and commerce but often divided by rivalry.

Ségou c. 1712–1861; Kaarta a separate stateExplore
West Africa03

Asante

An Akan union centered on Kumasi expanded into an empire sustained by political organization, gold, and far-reaching trade.

Union c. 1700; empire through the 1800sExplore
East Africa04

Ethiopia

A changing highland empire rebuilt its authority, expanded southward, and defended its sovereignty at Adwa.

1500–1900 focus; the monarchy continued beyond 1900Explore
East Africa05

Swahili Coast

Independent coastal towns connected African production with Indian Ocean trade through changing alliances and imperial pressures.

1500–1900 focus; coastal societies existed earlier and continue todayExplore
Central Africa06

Kingdom of Kongo

A powerful Central African kingdom whose diplomacy, commerce, and religious creativity connected Mbanza Kongo to an expanding Atlantic world.

Established before 1500; political transformation through the 1800sExplore
Southern Africa07

Zulu Kingdom

A nineteenth-century kingdom that united many communities through royal institutions and confronted the expansion of British colonial rule.

c. 1816–1879 independent kingdom; colonial transformation to 1900Explore
Across the continent

A shared span of time

Selected events · 1500–1900

These moments happened in different places and political settings. Their order connects the chronology, without implying a common path of rise and decline.

1591Tondibi and invasion

Moroccan victory fractures imperial power; resistance continues. [8]

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1665Mbwila

António I is killed fighting Portuguese forces; subsequent wars deepen political fragmentation. [56]

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1698Omani siege succeeds

Fort Jesus falls after a siege beginning in 1696; coastal control continues to change afterward. [45]

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c. 1700The Asante union forms

Osei Tutu brings chiefdoms together around Kumasi. [17] [19]

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c. 1712Biton consolidates Ségou

A transformed youth association helps establish royal military power. [15]

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c. 1816Shaka takes power

Shaka becomes ruler of the Zulu chiefdom and begins building a larger kingdom. [61]

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1896Victory at Adwa

Ethiopian forces defeat Italy’s invading army and defend the country’s sovereignty. [34]

Read this history
Follow the evidence

Page references

All sources & image credits
  1. 70
    Natural Earth 1:110m geography and terms of use ↗

    Natural Earth · Public-domain map dataset. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  2. 1
    3.2 The Songhai Empire ↗

    OpenStax, Rice University · World History, Volume 2, from 1400. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  3. 17
    Asante Kingdom ↗

    Introduction updated by Germa Seuren · African Studies Centre Leiden · Updated 2024. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  4. 38
    The People of the Swahili Coast ↗

    National Geographic Society. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  5. 8
    Sahel: Art and Empires on the Shores of the Sahara — exhibition text ↗

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 2020 exhibition. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  6. 56
    Women Leaders in African History: Dona Beatriz, Kongo Prophet ↗

    Alexander Ives Bortolot · The Metropolitan Museum of Art · 2003. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  7. 45
    Fort Jesus Museum ↗

    National Museums of Kenya. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  8. 19
    8.3 Centralized Societies: Chiefdoms and States ↗

    OpenStax, Rice University · Introduction to Anthropology. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  9. 15
    3.4 The Trans-Saharan Slave Trade ↗

    OpenStax, Rice University · World History, Volume 2, from 1400. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  10. 61
    Shaka Zulu ↗

    South African History Online · 2011; updated 2026. Accessed 2026-10-07.

  11. 34
    The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire ↗

    Raymond Jonas · University of Washington, Department of History · 2011 book description. Accessed 2026-10-07.

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