c. 3rd century – c. 11th century
The Soninke Ghana Empire (Wagadu) flourished in what is now Mauritania and Mali, growing rich from control of the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade.
Approximate date.
King Ezana of Aksum, in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea, adopted Christianity under the influence of Frumentius, making Aksum one of the first Christian states.
The Nubian Kingdom of Kush, whose capital Meroë was famed for ironworking and pyramids, came to an end around the mid-4th century amid campaigns by Aksum.
Great Zimbabwe, a city of mortarless stone enclosures, was the centre of a powerful state that prospered from cattle and the gold trade with the Swahili coast.
Under King Gebre Meskel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, eleven monolithic churches were carved out of the rock in Ethiopia; they are now a World Heritage Site.
After defeating the Sosso king Sumanguru at the Battle of Kirina, Sundiata Keita founded the Mali Empire, which became one of the largest empires in West Africa.
Mansa Musa of Mali made the pilgrimage to Mecca with a vast retinue, spending so much gold in Cairo that its value fell, spreading Mali's fame across the Islamic world and Europe.