Greatest African Empire/Kingdom?

This poll is for the greatest empires or kingdoms made by Africans instead of the European colonial empires

Of the Above. Probally Ethopia due to the fact that it was able to resist colonialism for some time and beat Italy in war

You say that like beating Italians in a war is hard

I'm gonna say Mali, with honorable mentions to Zulu and Kush.

Zedphyr wrote:You say that like beating Italians in a war is hard

Italians due suck at Modern War yes but them losing against a undeveloped African Nation in the 19th century is embarrassing

> but them losing against a undeveloped African Nation in the 19th century is embarrassing

(Sorry for pack of proper quote formatting. I'm on mobile)

if I remember correctly, Ethiopia was actually fairly advanced at the time the Italians came by. Emperor Tewodros II really helped modernize the country after the Zemene Mesafint.

1. Ethiopian empire : because of their fairly, modernized technology
2. Zulu kingdom (honorable mention) : victory against the british in isandlawana

Zulu. Zulu wins every time.

Where're Carthage and Egypt?

Crazy Boris wrote:> but them losing against a undeveloped African Nation in the 19th century is embarrassing

(Sorry for pack of proper quote formatting. I'm on mobile)

if I remember correctly, Ethiopia was actually fairly advanced at the time the Italians came by. Emperor Tewodros II really helped modernize the country after the Zemene Mesafint.

They had done some yes but compared to a 19th industrial European nation like Italy, they should of been at a disadvantage in the war against italy but Italy still lost

Ethiopian Empire by far, Ethiopia being the only African country not colonized, and not even conquered ever (I think). It was also the example for the independence of so many other nations around the continent.

I will say Aksum due to their "economical power" in Africa before the rise of the Caliphate.


But definitely should be Egypt... and why is not in the poll?

Mali followed by Ethiopia.

The Mali Emprie was just so rich. They had so much gold it caused them to have an over abundance of gold and collapse their empire.

Zedphyr wrote:You say that like beating Italians in a war is hard

How about never being colonized? Sure, beating Italy might have been easy, but that was just the final hurdle.

BasqueHistorian wrote:Ethiopian Empire by far, Ethiopia being the only African country not colonized, and not even conquered ever (I think). It was also the example for the independence of so many other nations around the continent.

Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1936 but it was liberated just 5 years after by the allies in world war 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War

Commie_China_Champ wrote:

BasqueHistorian wrote:Ethiopian Empire by far, Ethiopia being the only African country not colonized, and not even conquered ever (I think). It was also the example for the independence of so many other nations around the continent.

Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1936 but it was liberated just 5 years after by the allies in world war 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War

Conquered, but not colonized.

Cold War Communist wrote:

Commie_China_Champ wrote:

BasqueHistorian wrote:Ethiopian Empire by far, Ethiopia being the only African country not colonized, and not even conquered ever (I think). It was also the example for the independence of so many other nations around the continent.

Italy conquered Ethiopia in 1936 but it was liberated just 5 years after by the allies in world war 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War

Conquered, but not colonized.

Nope it was colonized as well https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italians_of_Ethiopia

Commie_China_Champ wrote:Nope it was colonized as well https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italians_of_Ethiopia

Very interesting. It does not read as being "colonized", but rather conquered with numerous abuses. Sort of like the German invasion of Poland. I do however recognize that historians, at least on Wikipedia, are referring to Ethiopia as a "colony", but for the record I disagree strongly with that notion. I will continue to look into this topic, though.

I love the idea of this poll, though I would personally have voted for the Dervish State in addition to the Ethiopian Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate.

I am inclined to pick the Zulus simply because of Sabaton, but to be honest Ethiopia is pretty cool. The amount of Green, Yellow, and Red on African flags all originated from Ethiopia's successes. It is also cool how it was an isolated kingdom of Christians surrounded by Muslims in Nubia and Somalia for centuries, and also one of the first Christian kingdoms.

Zulu best kingdom

I pick Songhai.

Mali and Ethiopia second. The Mali empire managed to become a very rich empire (the richest man in the world is from Mali), and Ethiopia Managed to stay un-colonized and keep it's culture intact, unlike many african civilizations.

I really like the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, as they were able to import luxury items from the Middle East and East Asia. The also controlled a great amount of the gold trade from the Southern-African region.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Zimbabwe