MC_A Concise History of Africa

Cradle of Mankind?

century. Ghana declined and was superseded by Mali, under whose empire the ancient trading cities of Djenné and Timbuktu became centers of both trade and Islamic learning. Little is known of Africa’s history in the interim, but it is recorded that Vasco da Gama explored East Africa’s coast in 1498, establishing what would be centuries of European domination and exploitation. Precolonial Africa possibly possessed as many as 10,000 states, characterized by many different kinds of political organization and rule. These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers, such as the San people of southern Africa;

16