List of Kingdoms in Pre-colonial Africa - List of African Kingdoms - Empires of Transition Age Africa - West Africa

West Africa

• The Kingdom of Nri (1043 - 1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri-Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over much of Igboland, and was administered by a priest-king called the eze Nri. The eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Igbo people, and was the possessor of divine authority in religious matters.
• The Oyo Empire (1400 - 1895) was a West African empire of what is today western Nigeria. The empire was established by the Yoruba in the 15th century and grew to become one of the largest West African states encountered by colonial explorers. It rose to preeminence through wealth gained from trade and its possession of a powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over other Yoruba states, but also over the Fon kingdom of Dahomey (located in the state now known as the Republic of Benin).
• Benin Empire (1440 - 1897), a large pre-colonial African state of modern Nigeria.
• The Kingdom of Dahomey (1600 - 1900) was a West African kingdom in part of modern Benin.
• Kaabu Empire (1537 - 1867), a Mandinka Kingdom of Senegambia (centered on modern northeastern Guinea-Bissau but extending into Casamance, Senegal) that rose to prominence in the region thanks to its origins as a former province of the Mali Empire. After the decline of the Mali Empire, Kaabu became an independent kingdom.
• Aro Confederacy (1690–1902), a slave trading political union orchestrated by the Igbo subgroup, the Aro people, centered in Arochukwu in present day Southeastern Nigeria.
• Asante Union (1701–1894), a pre-colonial West African state of what is now the Ashanti Region in Ghana. The empire stretched from central Ghana to present day Togo and Côte d'Ivoire, bordered by the Sahelian Dagomba kingdom to the north (a sub-state of the Mossi), and Dahomey to the east. Today, the Ashanti monarchy continues as one of the constitutionally protected, sub-national traditional states within the Republic of Ghana.
• Kong Empire (1710–1894) centered in north eastern Côte d'Ivoire that also encompassed much of present-day Burkina Faso.
• Bamana Empire (1712–1896) based at Ségou, now in Mali. It was ruled by the Kulubali or Coulibaly dynasty established c. 1640 by Fa Sine also known as Biton-si-u. The empire existed as a centralized state from 1712 to the 1861 invasion of Toucouleur conqueror El Hadj Umar Tall.
• Sokoto Caliphate (1804–1903), an Islamic empire in Nigeria, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar. Founded during the Fulani Jihad in the early 19th century, it was one of the most powerful empires in sub-Saharan Africa prior to European conquest and colonization. The caliphate remained extant through the colonial period and afterwards, though with reduced power.

• Toucouleur Empire (1848–1893), established as a jihadist stete bu Al hajj Umar Tall in present Mali, upon the conquest of the kigdoms of Segu and Masina.
• Wassoulou Empire (1878–1898), a short-lived empire of built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Ture and destroyed by the French colonial army.
• Kingdom of Bamum - northwest Cameroon