SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA TIMELINE |
| 1.8M | First hominids appear in the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa |
| 100K | First Homo sapiens first appears in eastern Africa |
| 7500 | "Wet Holocene": North Africa green and well-watered (until 2500 B.C.) |
| 5000 | Settlements in Mali and Mauritania; possible beginnings of agriculture in sub- Saharan Africa |
| 2000 | Beginning of the Kingdom of Cush in Sudan with its capital at Kerma; strong Egyptian influence in Nubia (until 1000 B.C.) |
| 1700 | Beginning of the zenith of the Kingdom of Cush (until 1500 B.C.); "agricultural revolution" in sub-Saharan Africa |
| 1500 | Cush conquered by Egypt. Beginning of the Olmecs in Mexico (to 800 B.C.) |
| 970 | Shortly after 1000 B.C., Cush becomes an independent kingdom with the capital at Napata on the Nile |
| 900 | Cush conquers Nubia. Chavin culture in the Peruvian highlands (to 200 B.C.) |
| 591 | Sack of Napata by the Egyptians; Cushite capital moved south down the Nile to Meroe: beginning of Meroitic civilization |
| 500 | Nok culture thrives in western Sudan |
| 250 | Zenith of Meroitic civilization (until 100 A.D.) |
| 100 | Decline of Meroitic Empire. Beginning of Moche and Nazca cultures on the Peruvian coast (until about 600) |
| 330 | Conquest of Meroitic Empire by Nuba; Aksum becomes the commercial center of sub-Saharan Africa. |
| 350 | Aksumite king Ezana converts to Christianity and declares it the state religion. |
| 500 | States of Takrur and Ghana founded; Aksum (Ethiopia) becomes great power (until 800, fully declining by 900) |
| 700 | States of Gao and Kanem founded (until 900) |
| 800 | Kanuri around Lake Chad; Chimu Empire on the north coast of Peru. Swahilis (Arabic swahila: "peoples of the east") along the northern coast of Kenya and Somalia; the Swahili (a combination of Arab, Bantu, and Indian cultures and languages), an Islamic people, set up the major commercial cities of Sofala and Kilwa. |
| 846 | Founding of the Kanem-Bornu kingdom east of Lake Chad. |
| 900 | Kingdom of Ghana. |
| 1000 | Islam moves into sub-Saharan Africa; "Great Zimbabwe" (zimbabwe : "stone enclosure") capital of Mwenetupa Empire in Southern Africa. The West African kingdom of Takrur converts to Islam. Grasslanders move into the forests of Nigeria, begin dynasties at Oyo, Benin, and elsewhere. |
| 1054 | Muslim Berbers (Almoravids) declare a jihad against the Kingdom of Ghana, which eventually capitulates. |
| 1087 | Kanem-Bornu converts to Islam |
| 1100 | Kingdom of Benin (until 1897). Ethiopian power moves from Aksum to Lalibela |
| 1200 | Establishment of Hausa kingdoms in west Africa; first kingdom: Daura |
| 1203 | Fall of the kingdom of Ghana to the Sosso |
| 1230 | Kingdom of Mali established under King Sundiata or Sunjata (1230-1255); Walata and Timbuktu become major commercial cities. |
| 1300 | Zenith of Ethiopian power (until about 1500). The slave trade greatly expands in northern Africa, Ethiopia, and the West African savanna |
| 1332 | Death of Mansa Musa, the great king of Mali (ruled 1307-1332), who extended Mali rule over Timbuktu, Djenné, and Gao, and built expensive mosques throughout his kingdom |
| 1375 | Gao secedes from Mali, eventually becomes the Songhai Empire |
| 1440 | Eware the Great (ruled 1440-1473) expands Benin into a great forest empire. |
| 1450 | Decline of the Kingdom of Mali; rise of the Songhai Empire |
| 1468 | Sonni Ali conquers Timbuktu |
| 1493 | Muhammad Touré (1493-1528) assumes power in Songhai; the empire becomes Muslim |
| 1500 | Consolidation of Songhai Empire under Askia Muhammed |
| 1529 | The muslim state of Adal declares a jihad against Christian Ethiopia, conquers most of Ethiopia |
| 1541 | Ethiopian defeat of the Muslims |
| 1549 | The zenith of the Songhai Empire under Askia Daud (1549-1582) |
| 1591 | Moroccans defeat the Songahai |
