Africa walking behind on development.

[cell25]

African Warriors

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illustration of angus mcbride showing a spanish christian cavalryman from aragon being ambushed by a african cavalryman and archer from the Mali Empire serving as border guards for the Almohad dynasty. 13th century AD

Nubian Warriors
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illustration of graham turner showing a group of nubian warriors of The Kingdom of Makuria in the 10th century AD.

Chad - Bagirmi and Wadai

Mamluk Warriors
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illustration of angus mcbride showing egyptian muslim warriors of the Mamluk Sultanate in the 15th century AD during training

amazon from the kingdom of Dahomey

nubia-
Makurian Longbowmen

Makurian Spearmen

Nubian Noble Cavalry

African Warriors
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illustration of angus mcbride showing a war-dance being performed by warriors and noblemans in one of the great ritual compounds of the Zimbabwe kingdom

African Warriors
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illustration of angus macbride showing infantryman of the Kingdom of Dahomey during the Franco-Dahomean Wars in the 1890´s

African Warriors
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illustration of Richard Scollins showing warriors of the Ashanti Empire


Nubian Warriors
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illustration of angus mcbride showing a group of amoured nubian cavalryman of the Sultanate of Sennar being observed by a impressed british merchant in the 18th century AD.

African Warrior
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19th century painting showing a nubian muslim armoured cavalryman of the Sultanate of Sennar

Assyrian Vs Nubian
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illustration of angus mcbride showing a Assyrian Warrior of The assyrian King Esarhaddon fighting against a Nubian Warrior of The nubian Pharaoh Taharqa in the 7th century B.C.

 

[cell25]

Nubian Warrior

illustration of angus mcbride showing a christian nubian infantryman of the Kingdom of Makuria in the 10th century AD


African King

illustration showing King Sunni Ali Ber the founder of the Songhai Empire, one of the largest African empires in history in the 15th century AD.

 

[cell25]

Hausa

Near East in 1200 AD, showing Hausa States and neighbors.






Moderator edit - Copyrighted material removed

 

[cell25]

Global horse culture

Kano Durbar

The Kano Durbar is a fantastic festival and procession held regularly in Kano, Nigeria. Featured in the processions are thousands of horsemen in antique ceremonial gear - the horses wearing ornate bridles and saddles; the men in billowing colorful robes and turbans. According to this article, the durbar was encouraged by the British during colonial times as a way of redirecting the efforts of warring factions into a unified ceremonial event. The durbars are held on major Muslim holidays, but also staged for special occasions, such as visits by important dignitaries. The northern part of Nigeria, where Kano is located, is a Muslim area, and the horse culture reflects a mix northern African and native Nigerian styles (Islam spread into Nigeria from its origins in Arabia via the Saharan trade routes).
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A wild and crazy hat!

This rider at an Ethiopian traditional sports festival has the wildest fur hat! Even the chin strap is covered with fur. The round pointed object he is holding is a traditional warrior's shield.

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Quilted Armor

Quilted_armor What an interesting set of armor for horse and rider! These are from the Sudan, made of quilted fabric, and housed at the British Museum in London.

The British Museum site describes the piece in more detail:

"This horse armour is made from several pieces of brightly coloured cloth sewn together. They are stuffed with kapok, the wool-like strands that surround the seeds of the silk cotton tree, creating a heavy garment. In full battle the war-horse would also have worn chainmail or pieces of leather across the flanks. A headpiece of metal and cloth completed the outfit. These colourful horses did not always go into battle but instead they were often used by the bodyguards for leaders. Quilted armour is still worn today but only on ceremonial occasions.This particular horse armour was probably used during the Battle of Omdurman (2 September 1898).... " (link) There is another caption here, describing more about the armor.
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Berber Horse

Berberboy This white horse is beautifully turned out for a procession, carrying a woman and child. The caption describes it as part of a wedding procession, but I wonder if this boy might be on his way to his circumcision? The photo is from a Berber village in Morocco.

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Horses and Lions
Ethiopian_pompoms_2 This pretty Ethiopian horse is all dressed up for a parade or festival. The red pom-poms are a common feature of fancy Ethiopian adornment, as is the blue saddle cloth featuring a golden lion. The saddle cloth hangs over top of the saddle (there are slots front and back for the pommel and cantle to stick through) and is just decorative (although perhaps keeps the rider's leg from rubbing on the stirrup leathers - but it's not padded).

I happen to have a similar saddle cloth, which a friend brought back from a trip there. You can see the detail of the popular lion motif in the second picture (taken by me). The lion, of course, is the "lion of Judah", royal symbol of Ethiopia. Because of that it has also been adopted as an important symbol by Rastafarians.

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Tuareg Horse Gear

Malituareg_horse_head This photo, from an old postcard I have, shows in some detail the elaborate bridle of a Tuareg man's horse. The Tuareg are originally North African, from the area around Libya, being Saharan nomads. The largest Tuareg populations are now in Niger and Mali, in West Africa. The horse appears to be of Barb type.

The dense fringes over the nose help chase off flies, as do the fringes on the reins. There are amulets around the horse's neck, and bells on the sides of the bridle.

As the noseband does not go all the way around and buckle under the chin, like an English noseband, a centerpiece down the front of the face holds it in position.

 

[cell25]

Moderator edit - Copyrighted material removed

 

[cell25]

Benin city in the 17th century.


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illustration of angus mcbride showing an oba (king) of the benin empire in the great capital city of Ile-Ibinu during a ceremony


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illustration of angus mcbride showing the oba (king) of the benin empire receiving a group of portuguese ambassadors in the 16th century AD




Moderator edit - Copyrighted material removed

 

[Naomasa298]

cell25 - your information is interesting, but there is such a thing as information overload. You might want to just consider leaving a bit of time between long posts - alternatively, you could post it in a blog and link people to it. Maybe Pedro would consider putting some of this into the Historum journal.

 

[cell25]

The kingdom of kongo

African Treasures
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17th century painting of the dutch painter Albert Eckhout showing two emissaries of the Kingdom of Kongo in Brazil holding the two main sources of wealth in west africa, an ivory tusk and a jewel box.

African Nobleman
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17th century painting of the dutch painter Albert Eckhout showing the nobleman Don Miguel de Castro from the Kingdom of Kongo during a commercial trip to the portuguese colony of Brazil

African King
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illustration showing the king Afonso I of Kongo, ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo in the first half of the 16th century. Afonso is best known for his vigorous attempt to convert Kongo to a Catholic country, by establishing the Roman Catholic Church in Kongo, providing for its financing from tax revenues, and creating schools. By 1516 there were over 1000 students in the royal school, and other schools were located in the provinces, eventually resulting in the development of a fully literate noble class.

African Queen
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illustration showing the queen Nzinga Mbande ruler of the the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms in agonla in the 17th century AD, Nzinga converted to Christianity to strengthen the peace treaty with the Portuguese and adopted the name Dona Anna de Sousa, the Dutch, working in alliance with the Kingdom of Kongo, seized Luanda. Nzinga soon sent them an embassy and concluded an alliance with them against the Portuguese who continued to occupy the inland parts of their colony. Hoping to recover lost lands with Dutch help. In 1644 she defeated the Portuguese army at Ngoleme, but was unable to follow up. in 1647 Nzinga laid siege to the Portuguese capital of Masangano. The Portuguese recaptured Luanda with a Brazilian-based assault led by Salvador de Sá, and in 1648, Nzinga continued to resist Portugal. She resisted the Portuguese well into her sixties, personally leading troops into battle.

 

[cell25]

cell25 - your information is interesting, but there is such a thing as information overload. You might want to just consider leaving a bit of time between long posts - alternatively, you could post it in a blog and link people to it. Maybe Pedro would consider putting some of this into the Historum journal.

Thanks but in away this for my records,just in case someone wants to know i post this link.I WILL DO A FEW MORE AND CHILL.
There are other african civilzations i wanted to post but for now i just only posted some.
I will do more however,then folks could sit back and take thier time and read.
Of course there is the modern african info too.Alot of good updated info i posted.

 

[Agarwaen]

Many interesting things you are showing Cell25! We should have more African threads here in Historum.