7 Most Powerful African Kingdoms They Never Taught You About

Summary

Kings of Kush ruled Egypt as its 25th Dynasty from about 750 to 666 BC, and the kingdom itself lasted from about 1069 BC to AD 350 (World History Encyclopedia)
In the 3rd century AD, the Persian prophet Mani named Aksum one of the four great kingdoms on Earth, together with Persia, Rome and China (British Museum)
The Sef dynasty ruled Kanem-Bornu around Lake Chad until it died out in 1846. Britannica dates its rule from the 9th century, about a thousand years; other accounts start the dynasty in the 11th century, which still gives it more than 750 years (Britannica; Wikipedia, "Kanem–Bornu Empire")
Songhai was West Africa's largest empire ever and covered about 1.4 million square kilometres at its peak in the early 16th century (World History Encyclopedia; Wikipedia, "Songhai Empire")

#	Kingdom	Modern Countries	Period	Capital	Proof of Power
1	Kush	Sudan, Egypt	c. 1069 BC–c. AD 350	Napata, then Meroë	Ruled Egypt as the 25th Dynasty
2	Aksum	Ethiopia, Eritrea	c. AD 100–10th century	Aksum	Named one of the four great kingdoms of the 3rd century
3	Kanem-Bornu	Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Libya	c. 850–1893	Njimi, then Ngazargamu	One dynasty ruled for 750 to 1,000 years
4	Great Zimbabwe	Zimbabwe	11th–15th century	Great Zimbabwe	Built the largest ancient structure in sub-Saharan Africa
5	Oyo	Nigeria, Benin	c. 1300–1835	Old Oyo (Oyo-Ile)	Held Dahomey as a tributary from 1730 to 1823
6	Kongo	Angola, DR Congo	c. 1390–1914	Mbanza Kongo	Opened diplomatic relations with Portugal in the 1480s
7	Songhai	Mali, Niger, Nigeria	1464–1591	Gao	Largest empire in West African history

This list is ordered by founding date, oldest first, rather than ranked. Dates marked "c." are approximate. Each kingdom is here because it passed a hard test of power: it conquered or dealt as an equal with a major power, it dominated its region, or it endured for centuries.

Selected Details About Each Kingdom on the List

1. Kush (modern Sudan)

Kush is the African kingdom that ruled Egypt. From about 750 to 666 BC, Kushite kings, among them Piye, governed Egypt as its 25th Dynasty (World History Encyclopedia). Assyrian invasions ended that rule, but the kingdom went on for roughly nine more centuries from a new capital at Meroë, where its rulers built more than 200 pyramids (National Geographic). The end came around AD 330, when Aksum invaded, and by about 350 Meroë was abandoned. From start to finish, Kush lasted about 1,400 years.

2. Aksum (modern Ethiopia and Eritrea)

In the 3rd century AD, the Persian prophet Mani listed the four great kingdoms on Earth: Persia, Rome, China and Aksum (British Museum). The kingdom grew rich on trade and from about 270 struck its own coins, which have been dug up as far away as southern India (Wikipedia, "Kingdom of Aksum"). In the mid-4th century, King Ezana made Christianity the state religion. UNESCO calls Aksum the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia. Its builders even tried to raise a single block of stone some 33 metres long. It still lies where it fell.

3. Kanem-Bornu (modern Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Libya)

This kingdom's claim to power is endurance. Britannica records one dynasty, the Sef, ruling the lands around Lake Chad from the 9th to the 19th century, about a thousand years. Other accounts start the dynasty in the 11th century, which still gives it more than 750 years (Wikipedia, "Kanem–Bornu Empire"). Its first capital was Njimi, and it was an Islamic state from the late 11th century. Its peak came under Mai Idris Aluma, around 1571 to 1603, who dealt with Tripoli, Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans sent a 200-member embassy across the Sahara to his court (New World Encyclopedia). The dynasty died out in 1846, and in 1893 the Sudanese warlord Rabih az-Zubayr conquered what remained.

4. Great Zimbabwe (modern Zimbabwe)

Between the 11th and 15th centuries, this was the heart of a trading empire with 10,000 to 20,000 people (Britannica), though a recent study puts the peak below 10,000. Its Great Enclosure has an outer wall about 250 metres around and 11 metres high, built without mortar, and it is the largest single ancient structure in sub-Saharan Africa. The state behind it took in more than 150 smaller stone settlements (Wikipedia, "Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe"). Its wealth came from cattle and from gold and ivory traded to the Indian Ocean coast (Metropolitan Museum of Art). European visitors in the 1800s credited the walls to foreign builders. They were wrong. The full story is in The Rise and Fall of Great Zimbabwe.

5. Oyo (modern Nigeria and Benin)

Oyo's power rode on horseback. Conquered by its northern neighbours in 1550, it rebuilt under the ruler Orompoto, who used trade wealth to raise a cavalry force (Britannica). At its height, from 1650 to 1750, Oyo dominated most of the states between the Volta and Niger rivers. The kingdom of Dahomey became its tributary in 1730 and stayed one until 1823 (Wikipedia, "Ghezo"). Yet the king, the Alaafin, was not absolute: a council of seven nobles, the Oyo Mesi, could reject a ruler, and did so more than once. The empire ended in defeat at Ilorin in 1835. Read more in The Rise and Fall of the Ancient Oyo Empire.

6. Kongo (modern Angola and DR Congo)

When Portuguese ships arrived in 1483, they found a kingdom with a formal state structure and a king chosen by powerful electors (Wikipedia, "List of rulers of Kongo"). Impressed by its organisation and trade, Portugal opened diplomatic relations (Britannica). King Afonso I, who ruled from 1509 to about 1542, strengthened royal power at the capital, Mbanza Kongo, and expanded the kingdom by war. He also tried, and failed, to stop the Portuguese slave trade in the 1520s. On 29 October 1665, Portuguese forces killed King António I at the Battle of Mbwila (Britannica). The kingdom then fell into a civil war that lasted until 1709, and Portugal abolished the monarchy in 1914. We tell the whole story in The Rise and Fall of the Ancient Kongo Kingdom.

7. Songhai (modern Mali, Niger and Nigeria)

Songhai was the largest empire West Africa has ever had. King Sunni Ali, who ruled from 1464 to 1492, took Timbuktu in 1469 and Djenné in 1473 (World History Encyclopedia). Under Askia Muhammad, who ruled from 1493 to 1528, the empire reached about 1.4 million square kilometres (Wikipedia, "Songhai Empire"). It ended fast. On 13 March 1591, a Moroccan army carrying firearms met Songhai's forces at Tondibi. Askia Ishaq II had assembled more than 40,000 soldiers, and they broke before the gunpowder weapons (Wikipedia, "Askia Ishaq II"). The Moroccans then seized and looted Gao, Timbuktu and Djenné.

Quick Answers to Commonly Asked Questions About this Topic

What was the most powerful kingdom in African history?

It depends on the measure. Kush is the strongest answer for conquest, because it ruled Egypt for most of a century. Aksum is the strongest for standing in the wider world, as one of Mani's four great kingdoms. Songhai was the largest by area in West Africa, at about 1.4 million square kilometres.

Which of these kingdoms lasted the longest?

Kush, at about 1,400 years, from about 1069 BC to AD 350. Kanem-Bornu comes second: its Sef dynasty alone ruled for between 750 and 1,000 years, depending on the source.

Who built Great Zimbabwe?

Africans did. Britannica states that the ruins are of African origin and were built by Bantu-speaking peoples, and historians identify the kingdom as Shona. The claim that outsiders built it began with European visitors in the 1800s and has no support in the evidence.

Why are these kingdoms rarely taught in schools?

One measure of how little room school history leaves comes from the United States. A 2015 study by the National Museum of African American History and Culture found that history classrooms give only 8 to 9 per cent of class time to Black history. That study covers Black history in American classes as a whole, not African kingdoms specifically, but it shows how small the space is.

Why are Egypt and Mali not on this list?

Because they are the African states readers are most likely to know already, through the pharaohs and through Mansa Musa. This list is for the powers that get left out.