What were the greatest kingdoms on the African continent?

Histories of early African civilizations often focus solely on ancient Egypt, but the continent was home to several other powerful empires that controlled trade routes, built ... Best known as ancient Rome's rival in the Punic Wars, Carthage was a North African commercial hub that flourished for over 500 years. read more

Some of the largest African kingdoms formed in West Africa during the medieval period. These kingdoms became wealthy through controlling valuable resources, especially salt and gold, which were used in trans-Saharan trade. The Empire of Mali, founded in the 13th century, is probably the largest and most well known of the kingdoms. read more

These kingdoms are morphologically intermediate between regal kingdoms and federations. This type is rather common in Africa, examples including the Kongo of the 17th century, the Cazembe, Luapula, Kuba, Ngonde, Mlanje, Ha, Zinza and Chagga states of the 18th century. read more