I think the Ghanaians and Songhai would work well.
1 Like
You need to give them someone to fight in campaigns which isnāt a mirror civ like it happened with Malians and Ethiopians.
If they introduced sosso or axumites for example the sundjata and yodit campaigns respectively would have been more varied.
Thatās like having historical rivalries as Franks and Britons, goths and Romans, Spanish and Aztecs etc otherwise you recreate the same issue with pachacuti.
1 Like
That there is why I think Caucasus civs have better potential than more African civs. The campaigns would be a lot more interesting and varied, and we have more info on them in the first place.
1 Like
Iām sure thereās space to add something else, specially in late middle ages. Swahili and Zimbabwe in the south, Wagadou and Songhai in the west, Nubians in the eastā¦ Of these Iām quite confident you can have civs and campaigns.
1 Like
You can have civs, no doubt. Iāve designed multiple African civs. But can they have interesting and noteworthy campaigns? That is the real challenge. For the Caucasus, finding interesting campaigns with varied opponents and events is no problem.
Yeah youāre right, with other continents is easier no doubt. But they manage to make yodit and sundjata I guess, taking many poetic licensesā¦ they both have a semi mythical aura just by reading their stories but thatās fine as long as the general events are true (fall of Ghana and fall of Axum).
For Axumites you could make a campaign about their invasion of Yemen (discreet civ variety, the elephant of abraha is already in game, would be better with a Yemeni civ added) but I can hardly see the Ethiopians being time-splitted tbh (also I donāt know how much yodit do represent Ethiopians instead of the one who destroyed Ethiopia/Axum, they could have probably choose better).
Nubians could have a campaign about resisting the Arabs since the kingdom of Makuria was the only Christian African state actually able to stop the Muslim expansion, preserving their religion and independence until 1300 circa.
For wagadou I remember reading something but yeah not that much while Songhai being later Iām quite sure you can find a campaign protag.
People who know better than me gave me details about possible Zimbabwean campaigns too.
Edit: for Wagadou (aka Ghana empire, donāt know if Soninke would be interchangeable or another whole civ) Ghana Bassi seems the most interesting character to me. It would shows the transition of the empire from paganism to Islam in the XI century.
Here and there they take some freedom to bend history in favour of story-telling and gameplay, bringing in elemnts from legends. African campaigns are not the only ones.
4 Likes
That could be said about other possible civis too.take venice for example they fought and allied with pretty much everybody around them.
Yeah, but theyāre already pretty well represented by the Italians. Iām talking mostly about civs that are either not represented at all or represented poorly by other civs.
Wagadou is the name of the state preceding the Ghana Empire, not the Ghana Empire itself. Plus, I think it could be confused with the modern day city of Wagadougou, which is in Mossi territory.
Regarding campaigns, we have Sonni Ali Ber or Askia Muhammad I for the Songhai, Dunama Dabbalemi or Idris Alooma for the Kanuris, Tenguella and his son Koni Tenguella for the Fulani, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim for the Somalis or the Harari, Matope for the Shona, and so on. Itās far from impossible.
2 Likes
I really really hope to see a Chinese split. I know thereāre certain political constraints so that Uyghurs and Tibetans cannot be included in the game, but at least I hope to see the current Chinese civ splitting into Jurchens, Tanguts, Nanzhao, and Han / Hua.
And apart from that Iād also hope to see a Malay split into Malays and Javanese.
6 Likes
Wikipedia uses them interchangeably, it says Ghana empire or Ghanata is an exonym of a state whose inhabitants called wagadogou. The Ghana was the ruler.
Yeah but one thing is to namecheck them, another is to have enough stuff for 5 or 6 scenarii (even if certain campaigns get away with less probably). With some imagination you can probably stretch them long enough.
The original campaigns are an example of that and even the most recent ones, the Bohemian one among others to be precise, makes it seem like Jan Žižka due to its religious extremism didnāt completely ravage Bohemia which was the case.
To be honest, for the more recent civs added to the game, you have to dig further into history books to find stuff. I would probably never have read a dedicated book about Sicily if they wouldnāt have been added with LotW. And Armenians/Georgians are no exception to that considering those are very little montaneous country which at best are remembered to be former Soviet Republics or for the genocide in the case of Armenia for most people but thatās about it. It surprised me when I checked it but Sicily and Belgium are more populated than Armenia and Georgia. In the case of Belgium, itās more populated than both combined. Also, on a side note, I have yet to see a movie about Medieval Georgia/Armenia nor arenāt they the types of books exposed in the history section of my local library and book store, which might be an indicator that itās more niche than some people here might suggest it is.
Anyway, I hope Africa isnāt forgotten and saying that Africa has less potential than the Caucasus just seems me to be a case of not being well read on it if Iām completely honest. Get some books and start to read is the only thing Iāll say.
2 Likes
Would also be the occasion to add a more Chinese looking set than the one we currently have.
4 Likes
I think āsplitā is the wrong word. More āadd the areas around Chinaā.
Also no Khitans mention? They were pretty important in the region.
8 Likes
Yes, I agreeā¦we need more civs in the Balkans and more Nordic civs (Danes and Swedes) (although unlike their AoE 3 counterparts they would be more focused on their medieval versions)ā¦Ex:
Vikings: Harald Hardrada (1030-1066)
Danes: Margaret I and the Creation of the Kalmar Union (1385-1412)
Swedes: Gustav Vasa (1521-1560)
Yes, nothing more for that reasonā¦ since they were all oral legends, it is very difficult to have a record of the African civs prior to 1400 ADā¦
It seems to me that I would just put them in the scenario editorā¦having units from the 17th century in a medieval game is a bit anachronisticā¦
Yes, I agreeā¦if it is not possible, it is not necessary to put early modern African civs in AoE 2 because yes, AoE 3 can represent them better and not be anachronisticā¦
Kongolese, Kanuri (Kanem-Bormu), Shona and Swahili and thatās itā¦
And the Berbers cover the Maghrebā¦
Of course, both regions have a lot of potentialā¦
1 Like
The Sao civilization flourished from about the sixth century BC to as late as the 16th century AD in Central Africa. The Sao lived by the Chari River south of Lake Chad in territory that later became part of present-day Cameroon and Chad. They are the earliest people to have left clear traces of their presence in the territory of modern Cameroon. Today, several ethnic groups of northern Cameroon and southern Chad ā but particularly the Sara people ā claim descent from the civilization of the Sao. Sao artifacts show that they were skilled workers in bronze, copper, and iron.[1] Finds include bronze sculptures and terracotta statues of human and animal figures, coins, funerary urns, household utensils, jewelry, highly decorated pottery, and spears.[2] The largest Sao archaeological finds have occurred south of Lake Chad.
The Kanem Empire was centered in the Chad Basin. It was known as the Kanem Empire from the 9th century AD onward and lasted as the independent kingdom of Bornu until 1893. At its height it encompassed an area covering not only much of Chad, but also parts of modern southern Libya, eastern ############################################# northeastern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, parts of South Sudan and the Central African Republic. The history of the Empire is mainly known from the Royal Chronicle or Girgam discovered in 1851 by the German traveller Heinrich Barth.[3] Kanem rose in the 8th century in the region to the north and east of Lake Chad. The Kanem empire went into decline, shrank, and in the 14th century was defeated by Bilala invaders from the Lake Fitri region.[4]
Around the 9th century AD, the central Sudanic Empire of Kanem, with its capital at Njimi, was founded by the Kanuri-speaking nomads. Kanem arose by engaging in the trans-Saharan trade. It exchanged slaves captured by raiding the south for horses from North Africa, which in turn aided in the acquisition of slaves. By the late 11th century, the Islamic Sayfawa (Saifawa) dynasty was founded by Humai (Hummay) ibn Salamna. The Sayfawa dynasty ruled for 771 years, making it one of the longest-lasting dynasties in human history.[5] In addition to trade, taxation of local farms around Kanem became a source of state income. Kanem reached its peak under Mai (king) Dunama Dibalemi ibn Salma (1210ā1248). The empire reportedly was able to field 40,000 cavalry, and it extended from Fezzan in the north to the Sao state in the south. Islam became firmly entrenched in the empire. Pilgrimages to Mecca were common; Cairo had hostels set aside specifically for pilgrims from Kanem.
The Kanuri people led by the Sayfuwa migrated to the west and south of the lake, where they established the Bornu Empire. By the late 16th century the Bornu empire had expanded and recaptured the parts of Kanem that had been conquered by the Bulala.[8] Satellite states of Bornu included the Damagaram in the west and Baguirmi to the southeast of Lake Chad.
Around 1400, the Sayfawa dynasty moved its capital to Bornu, a tributary state southwest of Lake Chad with a new capital Birni Ngarzagamu. Overgrazing had caused the pastures of Kanem to become too dry. In addition, political rivalry from the Bilala clan was becoming intense. Moving to Bornu better situated the empire to exploit the trans-Saharan trade and to widen its network in that trade. Links to the Hausa states were also established, providing horses and salt from Bilma for Bonoman gold.[9] Mai Ali Gazi ibn Dunama (c. 1475 ā 1503) defeated the Bilala, reestablishing complete control of Kanem.[10] During the early 16th century, the Sayfawa dynasty solidified its hold on the Bornu population after much rebellion. In the latter half of the 16th century, Mai Idris Alooma modernized its military, in contrast to the Songhai Empire. Turkish mercenaries were used to train the military. The Sayfawa dynasty were the first monarchs south of the Sahara to import firearms.[10] The empire controlled all of the Sahel from the borders of Darfur in the east to Hausaland to the west. Friendly relationship was established with the Ottoman Empire via Tripoli. The Mai exchanged gifts with the Ottoman sultan
Sometime between 1300 and 1400 AD, Kongolo Mwamba ########## from the Balopwe clan unified the various Luba peoples, near Lake Kisale. He founded the Kongolo dynasty, which was later ousted by Kalala Ilunga. Kalala expanded the kingdom west of Lake Kisale. A new centralized political system of spiritual kings (balopwe) with a court council of head governors and sub-heads all the way to village heads. The balopwe was the direct communicator with the ancestral spirits and chosen by them. Conquered states were integrated into the system and represented in the court, with their titles. The authority of the balopwe resided in his spiritual power rather than his military authority. The army was relatively small. The Luba was able to control regional trade and collect tribute for redistribution. Numerous offshoot states were formed with founders claiming descent from the Luba. The Luba political system spread throughout Central Africa, southern Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the western Congo. Two major empires claiming Luba descent were the Lunda Empire and Maravi Empire. The Bemba people and Basimba people of northern Zambia were descended from Luba migrants who arrived in Zambia during the 17th century.[18][19]
Lunda Empire[edit]
Main article: Kingdom of Lunda Ā§ Origin
Further information: List of rulers of the Lunda Empire
Lunda town and dwelling
In the 1450s, a Luba from the royal family Ilunga Tshibinda married Lunda queen Rweej and united all Lunda peoples. Their son mulopwe Luseeng expanded the kingdom. His son Naweej expanded the empire further and is known as the first Lunda emperor, with the title mwato yamvo (mwaant yaav, mwant yav), the Lord of Vipers. The Luba political system was retained, and conquered peoples were integrated into the system. The mwato yamvo assigned a cilool or kilolo (royal adviser) and tax collector to each state conquered.[20][21]
Numerous states claimed descent from the Lunda. The Imbangala of inland Angola claimed descent from a founder, Kinguri, brother of Queen Rweej, who could not tolerate the rule of mulopwe Tshibunda. Kinguri became the title of kings of states founded by Queen Rweejās brother. The Luena (Lwena) and Lozi (Luyani) in Zambia also claim descent from Kinguri. During the 17th century, a Lunda chief and warrior called Mwata Kazembe set up an Eastern Lunda kingdom in the valley of the Luapula River. The Lundaās western expansion also saw claims of descent by the Yaka and the Pende. The Lunda linked Central Africa with the western coast trade. The kingdom of Lunda came to an end in the 19th century when it was invaded by the Chokwe, who were armed with guns.[22]
Kingdom of Kongo[edit]
Main article: Kingdom of Kongo Ā§ History
Kongo in 1711
By the 15th century AD, the farming Bakongo people (ba being the plural prefix) were unified as the Kingdom of Kongo under a ruler called the manikongo, residing in the fertile Pool Malebo area on the lower Congo River. The capital was Mābanza-Kongo. With superior organization, they were able to conquer their neighbors and extract tribute.[citation needed] They were experts in metalwork, pottery, and weaving raffia cloth. They stimulated interregional trade via a tribute system controlled by the manikongo. Later, maize (corn) and cassava (manioc) would be introduced to the region via trade with the Portuguese at their ports at Luanda and Benguela. The maize and cassava would result in population growth in the region and other parts of Africa, replacing millet as a main staple.[23]
By the 16th century, the manikongo held authority from the Atlantic in the west to the Kwango River in the east. Each territory was assigned a mani-mpembe (provincial governor) by the manikongo. In 1506, Afonso I (1506ā1542), a Christian, took over the throne. Slave trading increased with Afonsoās wars of conquest. About 1568 to 1569, the Jaga invaded Kongo, laying waste to the kingdom and forcing the manikongo into exile. In 1574, Manikongo Ćlvaro I was reinstated with the help of Portuguese mercenaries. During the latter part of the 1660s, the Portuguese tried to gain control of Kongo. Manikongo AntĆ³nio I (1661ā1665), with a Kongolese army of 5,000, was destroyed by an army of Afro-Portuguese at the Battle of Mbwila. The empire dissolved into petty polities, fighting among each other for war captives to sell into slavery.[24]
Kongo gained captives from the Kingdom of Ndongo in wars of conquest. Ndongo was ruled by the ngola. Ndongo would also engage in slave trading with the Portuguese, with SĆ£o TomĆ© being a transit point to Brazil. The kingdom was not as welcoming as Kongo; it viewed the Portuguese with great suspicion and as an enemy. The Portuguese in the latter part of the 16th century tried to gain control of Ndongo but were defeated by the Mbundu. Ndongo experienced depopulation from slave raiding. The leaders established another state at Matamba, affiliated with Queen Nzinga, who put up a strong resistance to the Portuguese until coming to terms with them. The Portuguese settled along the coast as trade dealers, not venturing on conquest of the interior. Slavery wreaked havoc in the interior, with states initiating wars of conquest for captives. The Imbangala formed the slave-raiding state of Kasanje, a major source of slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The birth of Islam opposite Somaliaās Red Sea coast meant that Somali merchants and sailors living on the Arabian Peninsula gradually came under the influence of the new religion through their converted Arab Muslim trading partners. With the migration of Muslim families from the Islamic world to Somalia in the early centuries of Islam, and the peaceful conversion of the Somali population by Somali Muslim scholars in the following centuries, the ancient city-states eventually transformed into Islamic Mogadishu, Berbera, Zeila, Barawa and Merka, which were part of the Barbar (the medieval Arab term for the ancestors of the modern Somalis) civilization.[26][27] The city of Mogadishu came to be known as the City of Islam [28] and controlled the East African gold trade for several centuries.[29]
Almnara Tower, Mogadishu.
During this period, sultanates such as the Ajuran Empire and the Sultanate of Mogadishu, and republics like Barawa, Merca and Hobyo and their respective ports flourished and had a lucrative foreign commerce with ships sailing to and coming from Arabia, India, Venice,[30] Persia, Egypt, Portugal and as far away as China. Vasco da Gama, who passed by Mogadishu in the 15th century, noted that it was a large city with houses four or five stories high and big palaces in its centre, in addition to many mosques with cylindrical minarets.[31]
In the 16th century, Duarte Barbosa noted that many ships from the Kingdom of Cambaya in modern-day India sailed to Mogadishu with cloth and spices, for which they in return received gold, wax, and ivory. Barbosa also highlighted the abundance of meat, wheat, barley, horses, and fruit in the coastal markets, which generated enormous wealth for the merchants.[32] Mogadishu, the center of a thriving weaving industry known as toob benadir (specialized for the markets in Egypt and Syria),[33] together with Merca and Barawa, served as a transit stop for Swahili merchants from Mombasa and Malindi and for the gold trade from Kilwa.[34] Jewish merchants from the [Strait of ####################################################### brought their Indian textiles and fruit to the Somali coast to exchange for grain and wood.[35]
Trading relations were established with Malacca in the 15th century,[36] with cloth, ambergris, and porcelain being the main commodities of the trade.[37] Giraffes, zebras, and incense were exported to the Ming Empire of China, which established Somali merchants as leaders in the commerce between the Asia and Africa[38] and influenced the Chinese language with borrowings from the Somali language in the proc#### ############################################ merchants from Surat and southeast African merchants from Pate, seeking to bypass both the Portuguese blockade and Omani meddling, used the Somali ports of Merca and Barawa (which were out of the two powersā jurisdiction) to conduct their trade in safety and without any problems.
Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen were long already well established south of the Limpopo River by the 4th century CE, displacing and absorbing the original Khoisan speakers. They slowly moved south, and the earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal Province are believed to date from around 1050.[ambiguous] The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier Khoi-San people, reaching the Great Fish River in todayās Eastern Cape Province.[67]
Great Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe[edit]
Main articles: Great Zimbabwe Ā§ Description, and Kingdom of Mapungubwe Ā§ Origin
Further information: List of rulers of Mutapa
Towers of Great Zimbabwe.
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first state in Southern Africa, with its capital at Mapungubwe. The state arose in the 12th century CE. Its wealth came from controlling the trade in ivory from the Limpopo Valley, copper from the mountains of northern Transvaal, and gold from the Zimbabwe Plateau between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers, with the Swahili merchants at Chibuene. By the mid-13th century, Mapungubwe was abandoned.[68]
After the decline of Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe rose on the Zimbabwe Plateau. Zimbabwe means stone building. Great Zimbabwe was the first city in Southern Africa and was the center of an empire, consolidating lesser Shona polities. Stone building was inherited from Mapungubwe. These building techniques were enhanced and came into maturity at Great Zimbabwe, represented by the wall of the Great Enclosure. The dry-stack stone masonry technology was also used to build smaller compounds in the area. Great Zimbabwe flourished by trading with Swahili Kilwa and Sofala. The rise of Great Zimbabwe parallels the rise of Kilwa. Great Zimbabwe was a major source of gold. Its royal court lived in luxury, wore Indian cotton, surrounded themselves with copper and gold ornaments, and ate on plates from as far away as Persia and China. Around the 1420s and 1430s, Great Zimbabwe was on decline. The city was abandoned by 1450. Some have attributed the decline to the rise of the trading town Ingombe Ilede.[69]
A new chapter of Shona history ensued. Nyatsimba Mutota, a northern Shona king of the Karanga, engaged in conquest. He and his son Mutope conquered the Zimbabwe Plateau, going through Mozambique to the east coast, linking the empire to the coastal trade. They called their empire *Wilayatu 'l ############## ## mwanamutapa (Lord of the Plundered Lands), or the Kingdom of Mutapa. Monomotapa was the Portuguese corruption. They did not build stone structures; the northern Shonas had no traditions of building in stone. After the death of Matope in 1480, the empire split into two small empires: Torwa in the south and Mutapa in the north. The split occurred over rivalry from two Shona lords, Changa and Togwa, with the mwanamutapa line. Changa was able to acquire the south, forming the Kingdom of Butua with its capital at Khami.[70]
The Mutapa Empire continued in the north under the mwenemutapa line. During the 16th century the Portuguese were able to establish permanent markets up the Zambezi River in an attempt to gain political and military control of Mutapa. They were partially successful. In 1628, a decisive battle allowed them to put a puppet mwanamutapa named Mavura, who signed treaties that gave favorable mineral export rights to the Portuguese. The Portuguese were successful in destroying the mwanamutapa system of government and undermining trade. By 1667, Mutapa was in decay. Chiefs would not allow digging for gold because of fear of Portuguese theft, and the population declined.[71]
The Kingdom of Butua was ruled by a changamire, a title derived from the founder, Changa. Later it became the Rozwi Empire. The Portuguese tried to gain a foothold but were thrown out of the region in 1693, by Changamire Dombo. The 17th century was a period of peace and prosperity. The Rozwi Empire fell into ruins in the 1830s from invading Nguni from Natal.
Madagascar was apparently first settled by Austronesian speakers from Southeast Asia before the 6th century AD and subsequently by Bantu speakers from the east African mainland in the 6th or 7th century, according to archaeological and linguistic data. The Austronesians introduced banana and rice cultivation, and the Bantu speakers introduced cattle and other farming practices. About the year 1000, Arab and Indian trade settlement were started in northern Madagascar to exploit the Indian Ocean trade.[100] By the 14th century, Islam was introduced on the island by traders. Madagascar functioned in the East African medieval period as a contact port for the other Swahili seaport city-states such as Sofala, Kilwa, Mombasa, and Zanzibar.[citation needed]
Several kingdoms emerged after the 15th century: the Sakalava Kingdom (16th century) on the west coast, Tsitambala Kingdom (17th century) on the east coast, and Merina (15th century) in the central highlands. By the 19th century, Merina controlled the whole island. In 1500, the Portuguese were the first Europeans on the island, raiding the trading settlements.
By 1000 AD, numerous states had arisen on the Lake Plateau among the Great Lakes of East Africa. Cattle herding, cereal growing, and banana cultivation were the economic mainstays of these states. The Ntusi and Bigo earthworks are representative of one of the first states, the Bunyoro kingdom, which oral tradition stipulates was part of the Empire of Kitara that dominated the whole Lakes region. A Luo ethnic elite, from the Babito clan, ruled over the Bantu-speaking Nyoro people. The society was essentially Nyoro in its culture, based on the evidence from pottery, settlement patterns, and economic specialization.[104]
The Babito clan claim legitimacy by being descended from the Bachwezi clan, who were said to have ruled the Empire of Kitara.
The Songhai people are descended from fishermen on the [Middle ##### ################################################## They established their capital at Kukiya in the 9th century AD and at Gao in the 12th century. The Songhai speak a Nilo-Saharan language.[119]
Sonni Ali, a Songhai, began his conquest by capturing Timbuktu in 1468 from the Tuareg. He extended the empire to the north, deep into the desert, pushed the Mossi further south of the ###### and expanded southwest to Djenne. His army consisted of cavalry and a fleet of canoes. Sonni Ali was not a pious Muslim, and he was portrayed negatively by Berber-Arab scholars, especially for attacking Muslim Timbuktu after having protected and saved them from the Tuareg occupation. After his death in 1492, his heirs were deposed by his nephew a General Askia Mohammad I, son of kassey, a Sonni Ali sister.[120]
Muhammad Ture (1493ā1528) founded the Askiya dynasty, askiya being the title of the king. He consolidated the conquests of Sonni Ali. Islam was used to extend his authority by declaring jihad on the Mossi, reviving the trans-Saharan trade, and having the Abbasid āshadowā caliph in Cairo declare him as caliph of Sudan. He established Timbuktu as a great center of Islamic learning. Muhammad Ture expanded the empire by pushing the Tuareg north, capturing AĆÆr in the east, and capturing salt-producing Taghaza. He brought the Hausa states into the Songhay trading network. He further centralized the administration of the empire by selecting administrators from loyal servants and families and assigning them to conquered territories. They were responsible for raising local militias. Centralization made Songhay very stable, even during dynastic disputes. Leo Africanus left vivid descriptions of the empire under Askiya Muhammad. Askiya Muhammad was deposed by his son in 1528. After much rivalry, Muhammad Tureās last son Askiya Daoud (1529ā1582) assumed the throne.[121]
In 1591, Morocco invaded the Songhai Empire under Ahmad al-Mansur of the Saadi dynasty in order to secure the goldfields of the Sahel. At the Battle of Tondibi, the Songhai army was defeated. The Moroccans captured Djenne, Gao, and Timbuktu, but they were unable to secure the whole region. Askiya Nuhu and the Songhay army regrouped at Dendi in the heart of Songhai territory where a spirited guerrilla resistance sapped the resources of the Moroccans, who were dependent upon constant resupply from Morocco. Songhai split into several states during the 17th century.
Traditionally, the Yoruba people viewed themselves as the inhabitants of a united empire, in contrast to the situation today, in which āYorubaā is the cultural-linguistic designation for speakers of a language in the ################################################################ family. The name comes from a Hausa word to refer to the Oyo Empire. The first Yoruba state was Ile-Ife, said to have been founded around 1000 AD by a supernatural figure, the first oni Oduduwa. Oduduwaās sons would be the founders of the different city-states of the Yoruba, and his daughters would become the mothers of the various Yoruba obas, or kings. Yoruba city-states were usually governed by an oba and an iwarefa, a council of chiefs who advised the oba. by the 18th century, the Yoruba city-states formed a loose confederation, with the Oni of Ife as the head and Ife as the capital. As time went on, the individual city-states became more powerful with their obas assuming more powerful spiritual positions and diluting the authority of the Oni of Ife. Rivalry became intense among the city-states.[132]
The Oyo Empire rose in the 16th century. The Oyo state had been conquered in 1550 by the kingdom of Nupe, which was in possession of cavalry, an important tactical advantage. The alafin (king) of Oyo was sent into exile. After returning, Alafin Orompoto (c. 1560 ā 1580) built up an army based on heavily armed cavalry and long-service troops. This made them invincible in combat on the northern grasslands and in the thinly wooded forests. By the end of the 16th century, Oyo had added the western region of the ##### to the hills of Togo, the Yoruba of Ketu, Dahomey, and the Fon nation.
The Kwa ################################################################ speaking Edo people had established the Benin Empire by the middle of the 15th century. It was engaged in political expansion and consolidation from its very beginning. Under Oba (king) Ewuare (c. 1450 ā 1480 AD), the state was organized for conquest. He solidified central authority and initiated 30 years of war with his neighbors. At his death, the Benin Empire extended to Dahomey in the west, to the ###### ################################################# in the east, along the west African coast, and to the Yoruba towns in the north.[citation needed][135]
Ewuareās grandson Oba Esigie (1504ā1550) eroded the power of the uzama (state council) and increased contact and trade with Europeans, especially with the Portuguese who provided a new source of copper for court art. The oba ruled with the advice of the uzama, a council consisting of chiefs of powerful families and town chiefs of different guilds. Later its authority was diminished by the establishment of administrative dignitaries. Women wielded power. The queen mother who produced the future oba wielded immense influence.[136]
Benin was never a significant exporter of slaves, as Alan Ryderās book Benin and the Europeans showed. By the early 18th century, it was wrecked with dynastic disputes and civil wars. However, it regained much of its former power in the reigns of Oba Eresoyen and Oba Akengbuda. After the 16th century, Benin mainly exported pepper, ivory, gum, and cotton cloth to the Portuguese and Dutch who resold it to other African societies on the coast. In 1897, the British sacked the city.
This is all the information there is about possible African civs (medieval obviously)ā¦
The only civilization that can be split would be the saracens as they are a civilization that is presenting a very huge landscape/people/times and in a sense it does make the same sense as the indians. And even then, splitting is not fun to me as a saracens fan.
The team wonāt run out of civilizations in a 100 years of designingā¦ so better include more people rather than split civz.
1 Like