By Kaedin Janvier
Re-examining Kingdoms in History
Media has lied to you once again. This time about royalty.
There have been so many kingdoms, royal families and heritages throughout history. Take 5 seconds or more right now to think of at least one. More than likely you thought of some European royal family, fictional, or real. If they were not, that’s incredible!
Unfortunately, however, most people, at least in Western countries like the USA, have only been taught about European kingdoms, like the British Royals. The amount that Black and Brown people in the US have to be reminded of these specific royals everytime they look at the magazine section of a grocery store is horrible considering how much trauma these royal families have put Africans, Asians, Native Americans, and Indigenous people from across the world through. This is along with their part in colonization. India is one of the many examples of the places that the British royal family had some part in the unjust colonization of. Queen Victoria did at one point call herself “the Empress of India.”
What exactly is this article about?
This article’s purpose is to share information about six incredible kingdoms that were ruled by Black or Brown people. This article is meant to crush the stigma that many people hold about Black and Brown people having been weak and insignificant since… forever. In reality Black and Brown people have had some of the strongest empires. This article is meant to break the stereotypes of what a kingdom is.
While reading this article please be aware all of these kingdoms are ancient empires. There are many kingdoms that are run by Black and Brown people that still exist today. For example Eswatini is a kingdom/country in southern Africa. We should always be mindful that even after the effects of colonization, Black and Brown people have a huge importance and beautiful societies in the modern world.
1) The Aymara Kingdom
The Aymara was a South American Native society of political lake kingdoms. It flourished beautifully around the late intermediate period. Though the Aymara kingdom disappeared due to conquest of the Inca Empire its impacts can still be seen widely. There are still Aymara populations living throughout Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia. In fact there are an estimated 2 million descendants still around and keeping their culture strong in their hearts and livelihoods. The European Colonizers, who were horrible to the Aymara people, were the first to call the Aymara by their current name (Aymara) . Previously they were made up of tribes named Canchi, Colla, Lupaca, Collagua, Ubina, Pacasa, Caranga, Charca, Quillaca, Omasuyo, and Collahuaya. It is important to pay homage to these names. The Aymara originally came out of the current day Argentina area, but some from Lima.
2) The Kingdom of Kush and the Kushites
The oldest Sub-Saharan African Kingdom, the kingdom of Kush, came from Sudan, an often overlooked country. They were known for their beautiful dark skinned features. They made some of the finest pottery ever to be seen in their time and outs! An example of this beautiful pottery is the Kerma beaker. They are small, clay beakers that were often marbled black, gray, and orange. Like Sudan, the Kingdom of Kush had many natural resources. THese resources attracted Egyptians and sparked conflicts between the two nations, Egyptians and the Kush. The Kush were powerful. They usually won. British and Egyptian forces poached pottery and resources from Sudan and they ended up in British museums. They are still there to this day and haven’t been returned to the people they belong to. In their time, the Kush were the most powerful state on the Nile valley. They were very dominant and stretched beyond the reaches of Egyptian forces. Egypt did not like their power and tried to overtake them multiple times without success. After battles between Egypt and the kingdom of Kush, Egypt pulled back and the Kushite king grew more powerful. In the eleventh century B.C.E the Kush invaded Egypt and ruled as Pharaohs for many centuries. They extended across and united the Nile valley for many years. At one point they were kicked out of Egypt by people from the civilization of Assyria.
3) The Maʿīn Kingdom
The Minaeans inhabited the Kingdom of Ma ‘īn in modern day Yemen. Though not as much is known about them as many other empires, we know that they were located along a strip of desert, Ṣayhad. They flourished in the 4th-2nd BCE. This was before they fell to the sabeans. They were very important and ahead of their time because they used a very modern form of democracy, or at least they had features of democracy in their system. During their golden age they had a large impact across three other cities along the incense trail. They were extended as far as the red sea so they conducted a lot of sea trade. 'Ammyitha Nabat was the first king and author of the first Minean inscription.
4) The Mandinka/Mandingo/Malinke Empire
The Mandinka Empire was spread across modern day Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau making its cultural and historical influence on this chunk of Africa strong. It is the most well known ethnicity in the various groups of Mande peoples. The Mandinka empire’s population was 11 million people. An incredibly significant amount. It was an incredibly strong empire whose glory was known across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. As the descendants of the great Mali Empire, the Mandinka empire already had a powerful history. This empire is still noted in many modern history accounts because of how prominent it was. Starting in the 16th century, when the slave trade began to boom, huge amounts of Mandinka people were enslaved and brought to various places in the Americas. Many Black people in the diaspora today, whether they are from the US or South/Central America, are descendants of Mandinka peoples. A large 95% percent of Mandinka people were Muslim. They had traditional customs and many lived in rural villages. They were beautiful architecturally and culturally. They were an extremely rich empire. Their most famous leader was Mansa Musa. He brought lots of money to himself and his nation and was, in fact, the richest person to ever live! Richer than the richest person alive right now!
5) The Maurya Empire
Maurya ruled throughout ancient India, their territory centered around Pataliaputra/Patna, two locations near the Son and Ganges rivers. Their history and rulership spanned from 312 to 185 BCE. Maurya was the first empire to rule over the mass of the Indian subcontinent, which is incredible because India is huge! They set up what would much later become what we know as India today. They were very well ruled and were a great autocracy. They had an army that was well prepared for battle at any moment. They also had an important political economy that was modeled in the modern political concept of Artha-Shastra. Ashoka, a ruler of the empire, added Kalinga to their incredibly large Kingdom. This made them even more powerful than they previously were, showing their dominance. Ashoka also embraced Buddhism, throwing the kingdom into a Buddhist era. After his death the empire began to shrank because of invasion. Brihadratha was the last ruler and was killed by his own commander in chief who started the Shunga Dynasty! Mauryans were responsible for some of the most beautiful Indian art in the history of ancient India.
6) The Ethiopian Empire/Ethiopia/Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire was an incredibly powerful and historically prominent sovereign state that covered modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea. Known as Abyssinia, it was founded by a ruler, Yekuno Amlak, who claimed himself a descendant of King Soloman and the Queen of Sheba. Abyssinia was so powerful that it Gained regions as time went on. Their largest expansion was in 1952 with the federation of Eritrea. Abyssinia saw its expansion against other forces through its ancient and important form of Christianity whose bible is older than all other bibles. It is the most complete bible in the world. The Ethiopian Empire fought against the powerful forces of the horn of Africa, the region in which Ethiopia is a part of. Adal Sultanate, A Muslim kingdom, threatened to, and at one point actually invaded Ethiopia. After various events Ahmed Gran came into power. He was defeated in 1543 with assistance from the Portuguese. Though a small section of the north had become Eritrea, the Ethiopians had managed to keep the Ottoman Empire at bay and the Italians weren’t able to colonize. It was an incredible victory that continues to show the power of Ethiopia to this day. In the 1630s a new golden age of Ethiopia began as its flourishing culture continued to glow. After a large battle against the Italian they were able to keep the Italalians confined to Eritrea. Later there was another war against Italy. Though for a short period of time Ethiopia became occupied by the Italiana and merged with Eritrea, Ethiopia rebelled again and drove the Italians out.
7) The Mughal Dynasty
The Mughal Dynasty was a powerful Muslim Dynasty in South Asia. The Mughals ruled over north India for over two centuries. They had lots of significance and impact on modern day society and political systems. The Mughal Dynasty was founded by a prince named Bābur. He ended up being the one to conquer most of India under Mughal rule. His son, Humāyūn’s, tomb in Delhi was built many years after he died. It is important because it is the first of the great Mughal architectural masterpieces; in 1993 it was made a UNESCO World Heritage site. Humāyūn was important in keeping the Afghans and Rajputs out of the territory. After Humāyūn’s death the dynasty lost many major cities due to the governor’s faulty rule. A later ruler, Akabar, was very powerful. He also pushed Mughal India into an era of diversity, especially religiously. He ensured made it so that prisoners were not forcibly converted to Hinduism. The Mughal Dynasty was now a diverse set of states with religions spanning from Hinduism, to Christianity, to Jain, and Parsi. They all became an intertwined and united government. This is one of the many reasons why the Mughal Dynasty was so significant. Many generations later, after many decades of an influential empire with strong rulers, the leader, Marathas of the Decca, fell and his power was disputed throughout different areas. This was the beginning of the fall of the Mughal Dynasty. They became more vulnerable and their revenue began increasing. After the ruler, Muḥammad Shah, was exiled by the British for his involvement in the Indian Mutiny, the dynasty was overrun by the Marathas. The Indian Mutiny was an unfortunately unsuccessful yet important and large rebellion against the spreading British rule of India. This only proves western civilizations' part in colonizing and destroying Black and Brown empires, which there would be much more of if Europeans hadn’t brutally seized control.