Pre-colonial Africa

Maria should not picture Africa before 1880 as a blank space awaiting Europeans. Africa was home to diverse societies: the Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa, the Asante Empire in Ghana, the Zulu Kingdom in southern Africa, the Ethiopian Empire, the Buganda Kingdom in East Africa, and many others. Some were highly organized states with significant military power. The Zulu defeated a British army at Isandlwana (1879). The Ethiopians defeated an Italian army at Adwa (1896). The slave trade had previously disrupted some African societies, but in 1880 Africa was a continent of functioning states with their own histories.