African American History Timeline

  • 2500 BCE

    Ancient Egypt

    Ancient Egypt
    Ancient Egypt is one of the world's earliest advanced societies, which flourished around 2500 BC, long before ancient Rome was even a tiny village of farmers and shepherds.
  • 1500 BCE

    Egyptian Troops conquered most of Nubia

    Egyptian Troops conquered most of Nubia
    In the 1500s BC, Egyptian troops conquered most of Nubia, including Kush. During this period, the Egyptians introduced many elements of their culture, such as clothing styles and pyramid building into Kush.
  • 750 BCE

    Kushite

    Kushite
    By 750 BC the Kushites, tired of centuries of Egyptian rule, decided to turn the tables. After a fierce invasion and years of heavy fighting, the Kushite took over Egypt and made one of their rulers the new pharaoh.
  • 450 BCE

    Herodotus

    Herodotus
    Herodotus, a famous Greek scholar and traveler, traveled to Egypt. In writing about his journey , he expressed amazement at the many achievements of the Egyptians, including their sophisticated and accurate calendars, systems of record keeping, and mathematics.
  • 100

    Middle Eastern and Asian Trade

    Middle Eastern and Asian Trade
    By the year 100 Middle Eastern and Asian ships traded along the East African coast as for south as present-day Tanzania.
  • Period: 700 to 1000

    Ghana

    From about 700 to 1000 Ghana was at the height of its power. The people of Ghana conquered several neighboring kingdoms, enslaved some captured peoples, and forced others to pay them tribute in exchange for their freedom.
  • 1300

    Ibn Battuta

    Ibn Battuta
    By the 1300s , the famed Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta, who had already traveled to India and China, had praised the Swahili city of Kihwa.
  • Period: 1307 to 1337

    Mana Musa

    Mana Musa is known for the security that prevailed in Mali. An arab scholar of the day called him " the most powerful, the richest, the most feared by his enemies and the need to do good to those around him."
  • 1325

    Songhai

    Songhai
    In 1325 Mana Musa had conquered the Songhai people and their capital city of Gao. For about 50 years, Songhai was part of Mali. Then, Songhai cast out the Malians and won back its independence .
  • 1461

    King Sunni Ali Ber

    King Sunni Ali Ber
    In 1461, King Sunni Ali Ber came to power and began the expansion that would make Songhai a major empire. Sunni Ali, a brilliant strategist, was one of the first African kings to equip his army with horses.