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History of Africa

The History of Africa Podcast

100 episodes

Take a deep dive deep into African history with this in-depth podcast. From Casablanca to Cape Town, tune in to this podcast to learn about the magnificent and oft-forgotten history of Africa. To access more free resources about African history, provide feedback, or support the show, check out our associated website at https://historyofafricapodcast.blogspot.com

Episodes page 1 of 2

  1. Season 7 Episode 2: Looking for Takrur

    · 32 min · Episode 60

    In this episode, we explore the history of the medieval Western Sahel, and examine what Arabic language sources tell us about the Senegal River Valley during the rise of its first major empire - the Empire of Takrur.

  2. Season 7 Episode 1: Welcome to Senegambia

    · 25 min · Episode 59

    Explore the history of the Wolof Empire with us this season. In this episode we set the stage for what is to come by examining the geography and prehistory of Senegambia. From the evolution of its archaeological…

  3. Season 6 Episode 18: The Omani Empire

    · 25 min · Episode 57

    Kilwa is brought to its knees by one final foreign invasion, which leads the island into an irreversible decline and the eventual dissolution of the sultanate.

  4. Season 6 Episode 17: The (Brief) Portuguese Conquest of Kilwa

    · 23 min · Episode 56

    The Portuguese have conquered Kilwa. Let's see how much pain their victory causes them in the long run.

  5. Season 6 Episode 16: The Portuguese Arrive

    · 20 min · Episode 55

    The Portuguese arrive in Kilwa. This should go well.

  6. From the Vault: Zengjiani, the Zanzibari Traveler in China

    · 12 min · Episode 54

    As my voice recovers, please enjoy this "from the vault" episode about Zengjiani, a famous East African traveler who reached numerous impressive destinations.

  7. Season 6 Episode 15: The Unstable 15th Century part 2: Emir Muhammad the Powerful

    · 20 min · Episode 53

    After decades of civil strife and conflict, a powerful leader finally emerges in Kilwa Kisiwani as the 14th century reached its climax. With the power of the sultanate waning, a powerful judge named Muhammad Al Kawab…

  8. Season 6 Episode 14: The Unstable 15th Century Part 1: Age of the Viziers Arrives

    · 19 min · Episode 52

    Today, we enter into an age of transformation. For a prominent period in Kilwa's history, the city and its many satellites will no longer be under the reign of the centuries-old monarchy. Instead, a new apparatus of…

  9. Season 6 Episode 13: The Stone City of Songo Mnara

    · 20 min · Episode 51

    Urban sprawl and social instability leads Kilwa to develop a sister city on a nearby peninsula. Songo Mnara grows rapidly to become a major urban center on the Eastern Coast of Africa.

  10. Season 6 Episode 12: Ibn Battuta’s Kilwa Vacation

    · 23 min · Episode 50

    The great traveler Ibn Battuta arrives in Kilwa, and paints a tale of a country at the peak of its power, wealth, and prestige...but with a potentially bleaker future awaiting.

  11. Season 6 Episode 11: The Father of Gifts

    · 21 min · Episode 49

    Every historic civilization has one or two famous leaders who rise above all others in their fame and prestige. Kilwa's most famous ruler was certainly Abu al Mawahib, the Father of Gifts.

  12. Season 6 Episode 10: The Mahdali Coup

    · 21 min · Episode 48

    The Sultanate of Kilwa influenced Zanzibar. Today, Zanzibar influences Kilwa back.

  13. Season 6 Episode 9: The height of the Shirazi Dynasty

    · 30 min · Episode 47

    In today's episode, we examine the height of the Shirazi Dynasty - with Kilwa's absorption of several nearby islands and territories, as well as the transformation of Kilwa from an island of wooden buildings to an…

  14. Season 6 Episode 8: The Age of Rebellions

    · 21 min · Episode 46

    The 11th century: a period of tumult in Kilwa's history. The sultanate overthrows the yoke of the Xanga, only to find that this rebellion is not the last.

  15. Season 6 Episode 7: Kilwa is Conquered

    · 23 min · Episode 45

    In today's episode, a mysterious conqueror from the mainland captures the island of Kilwa. In this episode, we examine the story of the matata mandalin, and the mysterious kingdom of Xanga, a mysterious great power…

  16. Season 6 Episode 6: Lime, Iron, and Salt

    · 21 min · Episode 44

    In today's episode, we chart the growth of Kilwa as a major economic center, from its growth as a manufacturer of lime and iron, to its rise as a middleman in the trade of gold from Africa's southern reaches, as well…

  17. Season 6 Episode 5: Make Way for Prince Ali - The Mysterious Kilwa Chronicle

    · 28 min · Episode 43

    It seems unlikely that he had 75 golden camels, but it's hard to say much else about Prince Ali of Shiraz. This historical figure has semi-historical origins, attested to in a mysterious document known as the "Kilwa…

  18. Season 6 Episode 4: Second Fiddle In East Africa

    · 17 min · Episode 42

    Throughout the early middle ages, Kilwa remained a small settlement, laying in the shadow of the much greater city of Mogadishu.

  19. Season 6 Episode 3: The Lost Cities of Azania

    · 27 min · Episode 41

    Hidden in the brackish estuary of the Rufiji River, one of the greatest archaeological finds of the modern era might be waiting: the remains of a still poorly understood ancient trade hub referred to in ancient texts…

  20. Season 6 Episode 2: The World's Oldest Trade Route?

    · 21 min · Episode 40

    In this episode, we explore the origins of farming in East Africa, as well as some of the oldest evidence for long-distance trade reaching the region.

  21. Season 6 Episode 1: The Swahili Coast

    · 22 min · Episode 39

    Despite being the most widely spoken African language on Earth, KiSwahili originates from a people who are shockingly small in number. However, what the Swahili lacked in numbers, they made up for in influence and…

  22. Season 5 Episode 7: The Fezzan After the "Collapse"

    · 24 min · Episode 38

    Most histories of the Garamantian kingdom end after its political collapse in the 4th century. However, the archaeological and written record seem to indicate that while the Garamantian kingdom may have died, the…

  23. Season 5 Episode 6: The Mysterious Garamantian Collapse

    · 26 min · Episode 37

    Pop histories of the Garamantian civilization often posit that Garama died of thirst: the Garamantes used up the fossil water reserves they had depended on for centuries, sealing the destruction of their advanced…

  24. Season 5 Episode 5: Life During the Garamantes' Golden Age

    · 28 min · Episode 36

    As trade intensifies across the Sahara, the Garamantes become an ever-wealthier civilization. This episode examines how the growth of the Garamantian kingdom influenced the architecture, living standards, religion, and…

  25. Season 5 Episode 4: The Roman Invasion of the Sahara

    · 16 min · Episode 35

    When Garamantian raids and control of trade routes become too much to bear, the Romans do what they do best: invade their neighbors. In this episode, Roman administrator Lucius Balbus leads a series of legions against…

  26. Season 5 Episode 3: Trans-Saharan Trade in the Garamantes Civilization

    · 21 min · Episode 34

    Horses, carbuncles, gold, salt, and more. What do all these things have in common? They were first traded across the Sahara by the Garamantes. Today's episode discusses the earliest rise of Garamantian trans-Saharan…

  27. Season 5 Episode 2: Fossil Water Farming

    · 23 min · Episode 33

    Brought to the Sahara following the Persian conquest of Egypt, the spread of a new irrigation technology allowed Garamantian civilization to expand dramatically The earliest evidence of a unique Garamantian culture…

  28. Season 5 Episode 1: Paintings in the Libyan Sahara

    · 22 min · S5 E1

    Today we begin our journey into the history of the Garamantes, a civilization from the Libyan Sahara. This fascinating civilization transformed the barren wasteland of the Idehan Ubari into an impressive metropolis of…

  29. What Does Bantu Mean: A Historiography of Bantu Linguistics and History (Part 2)

    · 31 min · Episode 32

    The Bantu Migration is one of the most important and seminal events in the history of the African continent. But what if this theory of Bantu origins, concocted by a European colonial administrator trying to understand…

  30. What Does Bantu Mean: A Historiography of Bantu Linguistics and History

    · 29 min

    Bantu is a term which has become one of the most contentious in the study of African history. The name of a language family stretching across much of the southern half of the African continent, the term has been used…

  31. Season 4 Episode 29: The Fall of the Twelve Hills

    · 29 min · S4 E29

    In a betrayal of previous commitments to Madagascar, Britain revoked its recognition of Malagasy sovereignty in a deal with France, in exchange for French recognition of a British protectorate over Zanzibar. Soon after…

  32. Season 4 Episode 28: The Malagasy Gold Rush

    · 17 min · S4 E29

    Rainilaiarivony makes a desperate bet to try and repair his nation's floundering economy following the end of the French blockade of Madagascar. His desperate solution: to open Madagascar's long dormant gold mines for…

  33. Season 4 Episode 27 Madagascar’s Independence (Partially) Defended

    · 25 min · S4 E27

    As the French begin their invasion of Madagascar's major ports in 1883, the queen of Madagascar falls deathly ill. In this atmosphere of chaos, the prime minister Rainilaiarivony must mount a desperate attempt to…

  34. Season 4 Episode 26: The Malagasy Take Manhattan

    · 32 min · S4 E26

    As Malagasy prime minister Rainilaiarivony tries to distance his kingdom from French commercial interests, the French strike back. Eager to avenge his country's recent defeat in Europe, the French head of state becomes…

  35. Season 4 Episode 25: Ranavalona II - Madagascar’s Christian Queen

    · 29 min · Episode 25

    As Rainilaiarivony radically reforms the government, educational system, and economy of the Kingdom of Madagascar, queen Ranavalona II radically reforms its religion when she officially converts the Merina Kingdom to…

  36. Season 4 Episode 24: The Brother’s Coup and Malagasy Constitution

    · 38 min · S4 E24

    In the aftermath of the controversial coup against Radama II, the new head of state, prime minister Rainivoninahitriniony, was in a tumultuous position. He and the fellow orchestrators of the coup had committed the…

  37. Season 4 Episode 23: Radama II

    · 38 min · Episode 23

    Radama II had a short reign over Madagascar, and his legacy is heavily debated. Charitable accounts of his reign paint him as a forward-thinking and humanitarian reformer, the "Renaissance Prince of Madagascar."…

  38. Season 4 Episode 22: The Lambert Coup

    · 48 min · S4 E22

    Ranavalona reluctantly begins to thaw the relations between her island kingdom and her long-time French adversaries. However, when a French businessman immediately tries to take advantage of the thaw, and prepares a…

  39. Season 4 Episode 21: How Mad was the ”Mad Queen” of Madagascar?

    · 47 min · S4 E21

    Ranavalona has a reputation that precedes her as Madagascar's most unhinged and cruel despot. However, while this narrative is based in some truth, it severely lacks in an understanding of the nuances of her reign.…

  40. Abraham Samuel: From Lowly Pirate to King of Madagascar - FROM THE VAULT

    · 15 min

    Due to sickness, I'm releasing a premium episode from the vault while I take the time to recover. This premium episode focused on Abraham Samuel, a mixed-race Caribbean man who joined a pirate crew seeking adventure,…

  41. Season 4 Episode 20: Progress for the Few, Misery for the Many

    · 34 min · S4 E20

    The economic progress made under Ranavalona's early reign was seemingly awe-inspiring. The country had rapidly transformed from a feudal state pumping endless sums of cash into perpetually failing companies, into a…

  42. Season 4 Episode 19: Western Technology, Malagasy Spirit

    · 35 min · S4 E19

    Ranavalona hires a new group of foreign artisans like Jean Laborde and James Cameron to hasten the transformation of Madagascar into a modern, industrialized economy. Will the Merina Kingdom become the first…

  43. Season 4 Episode 18: The Rise of the ”Mad Queen” of Madagascar

    · 34 min · S4 E18

    When Radama I died without a clear heir, his wife, Ranavalona I, allied with a group of military officers to secure her place as the new queen of Madagascar. Almost immediately, she was faced with numerous challenges,…

  44. Season 4 Episode 17: The Forges of Amoronkay

    · 36 min · S4 E17

    An industrial revolution in Southeast Africa? Following the abolition of the slave trade in 1817, the future of the economy of Imerina was in flux. Looking for a replacement for the system of slave trading, the Merina…

  45. Season 4 Episode 16: The Conquest of Toamasina

    · 40 min · S4 E16

    Prior to his coronation, the king of Imerina, Radama, promised to his father that he would expand the kingdom towards the coast. In 1817, he accomplished this goal, conquering the largest port on Madagascar's eastern…

  46. Season 4 Episode 15: Radama the Great

    · 30 min · S4 E15

    If his father is the most remembered king in Madagascar, Radama is probably the best-known Malagasy king in the rest of the world. Radama is famous not only for leading the first major push to unify his home island but…

  47. Season 4 Episode 14: Andrianampoinimerina and the Birth of The Merina Empire

    · 36 min · S4 E14

    In our last episode, Andrianampoinimerina reunited the warring kingdoms of Imerina after seven decades of intermittent civil war. While this alone is a significant achievement, Andrianampoinimerina also had to shoulder…

  48. Season 4 Episode 13: Andrianampoinimerina - The True Prince

    · 34 min · S4 E13

    Andrianampoinimerina is the most famous monarch in Malagasy history, and for good reason. At a young age, Andrianampoinimerina, still then known by his birth name Rambosalamarazaka, quickly emerged as the favorite to…

  49. Season 4 Episode 12: The Crisis of the 18th Century part 2: The Merina Civil War

    · 30 min · S4 E12

    After Andriamasinavalona's passing, his sons' feud will blossom into a 70-year long civil war. Communities will tear each other apart, slave raiding will reach new heights, and famine will re-emerge as a new threat.…

  50. Season 4 Episode 11: The Crisis of the 18th Century Part 1 - Andriamasinvalona’s Blunder

    · 33 min · S4 E11

    The 18th century will be a painful time for the people of Imerina. The once proud kingdom will devolve into a deadly multilateral civil war, splitting into dozens of smaller kingdoms, each suffering from intermittent…

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