Armies of Ancient Africa

[anastasiaescrava]

Bump

[anansi]

An Ashanti commander. of the 1800

"Adoo Quamina "; showing him mounted on a horse. This hand-colored illustration is in the French translation of Hutton's "A Voyage to Africa, including a narrative of an embassy to one of the interior Kingdoms in the year 1820" (London, 1821). Hutton was the British government's consul to Ashanti."

[zarahan]

That's one badddddd... cavalryman..

[anastasiaescrava]

Apr 22, 2014 2:16:06 GMT -5 anansi said:

An Ashanti commander. of the 1800

"Adoo Quamina "; showing him mounted on a horse. This hand-colored illustration is in the French translation of Hutton's "A Voyage to Africa, including a narrative of an embassy to one of the interior Kingdoms in the year 1820" (London, 1821). Hutton was the British government's consul to Ashanti."

Links?

[anansi]

Originally I sourced the first Horseman from here But pic no longer available. however both can be found here
link


Btw this is a great link an entire book www.unz.org/Pub/HuttonWilliam-1821

[anastasiaescrava]

Apr 24, 2014 3:14:47 GMT -5 anansi said:

Originally I sourced the first Horseman from here But pic no longer available. however both can be found here
link


Btw this is a great link an entire book www.unz.org/Pub/HuttonWilliam-1821

Thanks! I really love stuff like this

[zarahan]

Adding to the kitty:
African army attacks against slavers or foreign intruders




^^Of note is the substantial force mustered to take on
the trapped vessel. Also note the wide-ranging
mobilization across the region, with couriers
carrying news. Recon parties must have kept tabs on
the European intruders across a wide zone, then relayed
the info for a final mobilization order by the appropriate
war chiefs/leaders/councils, who put some 1500-3000 warriors
on the floor for battle. I find the African response
and organization here impressive. This was no mere
local village turning out a light posse to rescue
some local victims.

One thing missing here from the African arsenal is the
archery of poisoned arrows. These were effective in 15th century
battles that repulsed European slave traders.

-------------------------------------------------
In the 15th century for example the Portuguese engaged in a series of ruthless raids against the Senegal coast, hunting for slaves. While powerful on the open sea, the Portuguese ships were less impressive in the shallow waters near to shore. Using war canoes the African tribes of the coast fought back with lance, club, sword, and especially poisoned arrows. Poisoned missile fire from fast moving canoes neutralized Portuguese armor and decimated the European naval crews. The Portuguese were eventually forced to abandon raiding and set up peaceful trading arrangements with local African rulers using diplomacy.
books.google.com/books?id=S42CypbRTlQC&pg=PA9

------------------------------------

One question: Muskets may have helped in this era but
did the African weapons kit in this instance lack enough
firepower by not using indigenous firepower- i,e. the poisoned
arrow archery barrage that had proven effective before?
Anyone have more info On poisoned arrow archery in African
militaries? Anastasia? Time to contribute some actual data, no?
rather than simply agree with every post. Not pushing, just sayin..
Some SPECIFIC contributions would be nice..

[anansi]

Zarahan

One question: Muskets may have helped in this era but
did the African weapons kit in this instance lack enough
firepower by not using indigenous firepower- i,e. the poisoned
arrow archery barrage that had proven effective before?

Well It maybe that in this general area the local military did
not employed the use of poisoned tips seen in use on the Senegalese coast
However many of the large kingdoms and empires were active participants in
the trade,if there was a budding abolitionist movement by smaller kingdoms
they would have to take on powerful African adversaries one of the better known
cases would be Nzinga

Nzinga first appears in historical records as the envoy of her brother, the ngiolssa Ngola Mbande, at a peace conference with the Portuguese governor João Correia de Sousa in Luanda in 1599.
In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, states on the Central African coast found their economic power and territorial control threatened by Portuguese attempts to establish a colony at Luanda (in present-day Angola). Many of these states had become regional powers through trade in African slaves. It was the growing demand for this human labor in New World colonies such as Brazil that ultimately led Portugal to seek military and economic control of this region. Old trading partners came under military attack by Portuguese soldiers and indigenous African raiders in search of captives for the slave trade, and rulers were forced to adapt to these new circumstances or face certain destruction. One leader who proved to be adept at overcoming these difficulties was the queen of Ndongo, Ana Nzinga.

In 1624, Ana Nzinga inherited rule of Ndongo, a state to the east of Luanda populated primarily by Mbundu peoples. At that moment, the kingdom was under attack from both Portuguese as well as neighboring African aggressors. Nzinga realized that, to remain viable, Ndongo had to reposition itself as an intermediary rather than a supply zone in the slave trade. To achieve this, she allied Ndongo with Portugal, simultaneously acquiring a partner in its fight against its African enemies and ending Portuguese slave raiding in the kingdom. Ana Nzinga's baptism, with the Portuguese colonial governor serving as godfather, sealed this relationship. By 1626, however, Portugal had betrayed Ndongo, and Nzinga was forced to flee with her people further west, where they founded a new state at Matamba, well beyond the reach of the Portuguese. To bolster Matamba's martial power, Nzinga offered sanctuary to runaway slaves and Portuguese-trained African soldiers and adopted a form of military organization known as kilombo, in which youths renounced family ties and were raised communally in militias. She also fomented rebellion within Ndongo itself, which was now governed indirectly by the Portuguese through a puppet ruler. Nzinga found an ally in the Netherlands, which seized Luanda for its own mercantile purposes in 1641. Their combined forces were insufficient to drive the Portuguese out of Angola, however, and after Luanda was reclaimed by the Portuguese, Nzinga was again forced to retreat to Matamba. From this point on, Nzinga focused on developing Matamba as a trading power by capitalizing on its position as the gateway to the Central African interior. By the time of her death in 1661, Matamba was a formidable commercial state that dealt with the Portuguese colony on an equal footing.

Read more: egyptsearchreloaded.proboards.com/thread/1379/kingdom-kongo#ixzz2zsGdYv3f

Notice she used military as well as diplomatic maneuvers to get her way often skillfully playing one European power against the other she used the Dutch then then turned on them,but as you can see a smaller state going up against one of the African giants would have been a tough call especially for a leader of lesser abilities.
Btw on a side note when those African states involved in the trade were displeased for any reason they simply turn of the tap and the trade came to an immediate halt as happened sometimes,for they until the repeating rifles could not simply bullied their way into the interior snatching Africans as they pleased they had huge well organized armies to oppose them.

[anastasiaescrava]

Here's a website on Poison use in South Africa but not for military use.
poison

Meh, I don't think you will find much...
This is not my strong point.
Pictures and folklore are more my thing.
You would need a book for more info but you know how that is when it comes to African history....

[zarahan]

Credits: Originally posted by mena7 at ES:


Kingdom of Benin sword


Kingdom of Benin Opia sword


Benin Ada sword


Benin short sword


Benin sword


Benin sword


Akan Akrafena sword


Akan Akrafena sword


Akan Akrafena sword


Black African or American with Akrafena sword


Akrafena sword

Akrafena (Akan sword) is an Akan sword, that was originally meant for warfare, but has also assumed other certain functions. They carry adinkra symbols that evoke specific messages. The sword has three parts: a blade, usually made of some metal such as iron; the hilt, made of carved wood or metal; and the sheath, usually made of animal hide. The blade in ritual swords may not have a sharp cutting edge. It often has incised lines or Akan symbolic designs on it. Some swords have double (afenata) or triple (mfenasa) blades. The hilt may be wrapped with gold leaf with various Akan symbols worked onto it. The hilt itself may be carved to encode an Akan symbol. The sheath may carry an embossment (abosodee) that comprises Akan symbols meant to evoke certain expressive messages. The mpomponsuo (responsibility) sword of the Asantehene, for example, has an embossment of a coiled snake with a bird in its mouth. This conveys the Akan message: nanka bobonya mede asase anya onwam – the puff adder that cannot fly has caught the hornbill that flies. This is used to symbolize patience, prudence, and circumspection

[zarahan]

There is also the whole naval area a well. The Moors of course ranged widely from the African Mediterranean coast, but inland states also rose to prominence where stretches of navigable river permitted.

[Tukuler al~Takruri]

Useful data mining from a hostile witness

[zarahan]

Great harvest Takuri!

[anansi]

Bump for Shadow.