As a six-year-old boy named Quetto, Michele Amatore witnessed his village of Commi in the Nuba Mountains of southern Sudan decimated by Egyptian soldiers and their leaders who profited from the slave trade. The oldest of four children, his father was a village chief named Bolingia; … Read MoreMichele Amatore (1826?-1883)
Renowned African novelist Nuruddin Farah was born in Baidoa, Somalia in 1945, a time when Somalia was still an Italian colony. His father Hassan Farah was a translator for the colonial government and his mother Aleeli Faduma was recognized throughout Somalia for her prose writing. … Read MoreNuruddin Farah (1945- )
Khartoum, the capital of the modern state of Sudan, is located in an area of rich farmland where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet. Khartoum initially grew because of the Turko-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1821. Mohammed Ali Pasha (1769-1849), nominally an Ottoman … Read MoreKhartoum, Sudan (1821- )
Islamic preacher, reformer, scholar, and statesman, Usman dan Fodio was born on December 15, 1754 in the village of Maratta, in the Hausa city-state of Gobir, in what is today northern Nigeria. He was a descendant of the early Fulani settlers in Hausaland in the … Read MoreUsman dan Fodio (1754-1817)
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (or Umar Hassan Ahmad el-Bashir) became president of Sudan in 1993 but first gained military power in 1989 during an Islamist-backed coup. He was born in the northern Sudan village of Hosh Bonnaga in 1944. Bashir’s military training began in 1960 … Read MoreOmar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (1944- )
The Mahdist Revolution was an Islamic revolt against the Egyptian government in the Sudan. An apocalyptic branch of Islam, Mahdism incorporated the idea of a golden age in which the Mahdi, translated as “the guided one,” would restore the glory of Islam to the earth. … Read MoreMahdist Revolution (1881-1898)
Benin, a pre-colonial kingdom in what is now southwestern Nigeria, is believed to have been established before the eleventh century. It was founded by Edo-speaking peoples, but became more ethnically diverse when invaders from the grasslands of the Sudan settled and intermarried with local women. Based … Read MoreKingdom of Benin
Children in Darfur Refugee Camp, 2007 International Rescue Committee Image Ownership: Public Domain While the country of Sudan has experienced a number of violent conflicts since its independence from Great Britain in 1956, the region of Darfur, which is located in western Sudan, caught the … Read MoreDarfur Genocide (2003- )
Warrior king, empire builder and hero of the resistance against the French colonization of West Africa during the 19th century, Samori Touré was born around 1830 in the Milo River Valley in present-day Guinea. His father was a trader, leading Touré to follow his family’s … Read MoreSamori Touré (1830-1900)
Deval L. Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts, was elected in 2006. He became at that time the second African American elected as a state Governor in the history of the United States. Patrick was born on July 31, 1956 in Chicago to Laurdine “Pat” Patrick and … Read MoreDeval L. Patrick (1956- )
