Chronology

1400–1600s Salt trade dominates West African economy
ca. 1464–1591 Songhai kingdom dominates the western Sudan
1485 Portuguese and other Europeans first appear in Benin
1493–1528 Muhammad Toure governs and expands kingdom of Songhai
1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sails around Africa
ca. 1500–1900 Era of transatlantic slave trade
1502–1507 Portuguese erect forts at Kilwa, Zanzibar, and Sofala on Swahili coast
1529 Adal defeats Ethiopian emperor and begins systematic devastation of Ethiopia
1543 Joint Ethiopian and Portuguese force defeat Muslims in Ethiopia
1571–1603 Idris Alooma governs kingdom of Kanem-Bornu
1591 Moroccan army defeats Songhai
1658 Dutch East India Company allows importation of slaves into Cape Colony
1680s Famine from Senegambian coast to Upper Nile
1738–1756 Major famine in West Africa
1789 Olaudah Equiano publishes autobiography
Table : CHRONOLOGY