Encyclopaedia Africana history

Charles Smart (18?-circa early 1900s) was an ambitious member of the Loko Smart family which held a high position in Mahera, near the mouth of...

Tengey Dzokoto I (187-1911) was a warlike chief of Anyako, a town on the northern shore of the Keta lagoon that formed part of the...

Prester John is the name given to a mythical medieval Christian priest-king of a vast empire in Central Asia, who was later identified with the...

Walter Chichele Plowden (August 3, 1820-March 13. 1860) was the first British consul to Ethiopia and was a friend of Emperor Tewodros II  (reigned 1855-68]....

Malangi a Phumba (circa 1915-1964) was a celebrated expert in Pende oral tradition and also a trusted and effective political leader. Born in Kasanji village,...

Malanga (circa 1880-1965), served as chief of the Bodjinga division of the Lobo (Balobo) ethnic group, living just north of Makanza (formerly Nouvelle-Anvers) about 180...

Muhammad ibn al-Mustafa and ‘Umar Kunandi ibn ‘Umar, (who both lived in the 18th century), were Dyula scholars from Gonja (Ngbanya), a state located in...

Chitapankwa (d.1883) was one of the greatest Chitimukulus (paramount chiefs) of the Bemba people in north-east Zambia. The first Chitimukulus is a legendary figure, who...

Frederick Victor Nanka-Bruce (October 19, 1878-July 12, 1953) was one of the first African medical doctors on the Gold Coast. He was also a newspaper...

Johan Hendrik (Henry) de Villiers (June 15, 1842-September 2, 1914), first Baron de Villiers of Wynberg, South Africa, was the first colonial-born chief justice of...