Hi, I'm a history buff and I need the help of my fellow african historians as well. I'm not from mother africa ,I'm from the caribbean. I've searched high and low for accurate depictions or descriptions of african arms and armour pre colonial, before the Europeans came into the picture.Ive seen a few depictions of the christian nubian kingdom of Makuria, Ethiopia, The Islamic kingdoms of Mali Songhai, Kanem-Bornu and Kilwa. Ive seen depictions of makurian era knights and Sultunate of sennar era knights.
The nobles who could afford it were well armoured with chainmail and plate armour in both eras. The gentry or middle class had padded armour or leather armour. Ive seen one or two depictions of mali, wagadougou, baguirmi and kanem horsemen. Some wore just their garments(eager for those virgins, eh), others padded armour , some had serious chainmail. What I also liked was to see some of the horses were armoured as well

While Ethiopia is known to have been a strong military force throughout its history and they could afford good equipment in arms and armour, the records I have come across mostly colonial era depictions of their military kits especially the Adowa campaign where they first decisevly defeated a more modern Italian army.Before this they halted ottoman expansion in the red sea, cementing their place in africa as the only african nation to have never been colonized and deafeating colonial powers so badly. In World war two when the Italians tried again they succesfully invaded ethiopia and captured Addis Abeba. All of this with blessing from the league of nations who did nothing as fascist italy invaded a member of the league. They could not subjugate the guerrilla war that followed however and were once again defeated. But the record is suspiciously quiet concerning their pre-colonial weapons and armour.


What I'm really getting at is that everywhere you search online, for african armour you get back half clad men with just a shield and mostly a spear. Now I will admit this was the case for good set of african nations but a good set also had decent armour and a kit with more than a sheild and spear. Unless you knew about some of these kingdoms you'd be lead to believe africans went to war half clad.

Also what was the frequency of use of the african elephants by africans in war. I know the makurians and ethiopians imported war elephants from india and sri lanka, but what of the use of the native elephant species. Their not good just for their tusks, they were a source of tsetse proof steed/mount. Asia has domesticated their elephants to a certain degree.

I do not expect European or Asian sources to do our job for us so lets get the ball rolling. I've come to the source ,the very africans themselves for the peices of the puzzle that are missing. Thank you in advance, and remember pre-colonial meterial and depictions eg. 1000ad to 1600ad is the time frame I want, Medieval.

Try and check the history of Amina of Zaria and go deep in kanem history.

Ibrahim mr fish: Try and check the history of Amina of Zaria and go deep in kanem history.

Will do , and thanks for the reply, the silence was a bit too deafening. Come on folks and fellow historians, share your knowledge of our african past.

Igala, Nupe, Oyo, Bornu, Benin, Sokoto, Baguirmi, the Borgu states, Owo, the Hausa states, Kwararafa, Mali, Songhai, Denanke/Great Fulo, and perhaps Bamum (in Cameroon) or Asante are groups you might want to find out more about as far as finding out about formal military armor in pre-colonial Africa (there are probably some others I missed though). Books on these kingdoms would give more details on their armor and weaponry than what's already known or easily available online, so I suggest tracking down whatever historical books you can on these groups to find out more about their armor.

There's also this book Yoruba warfare in the nineteenth century



that you might want to look at. I checked it out from a library once, but only skimmed through it since I had a lot of other books that I was looking at and reading at the time.

This review of the book:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1966.68.6.02a00380/pdf

suggests that it probably has some of the information that you're looking for, as far as the Yoruba in particular are concerned, although it's not dealing with the more medieval time frame that you needed.


Oh yeah, and could you post an image (with a source) of the Ouagadougou horsemen that you saw?

Oh yeah, and could you post an image (with a source) of the Ouagadougou horsemen that you saw?

source---->Heroes of the Dark Continent and How Stanley Found Emin Pasha

Thanks.

Can you also post images with a source or sources of the Makurian soldiers that you saw?


Here are some images of the bronze statue of a medieval archer that was found in Jebba, Nigeria:



[img]http://images.library.wisc.edu/ArtHistory/S/52/t/165140t.jpg[/img]



It's not clear to me what the material underneath his outer tunic would be made of or even what the outer garment itself was made of, but as an archer, he would probably only be lightly armored. Presumably, there are books out there where this piece of art has been studied by experts that would yield more information on what exactly it is that he is wearing, but I can't recall any at the moment.

The first pic is from 3rd century nubia, the dawn of makuria which was a federation of Makuria , Alwa and Nobatea. Notice the king has some decent chainmail armour.


The second pic is of the famous makurian royal spearmen, in makuria blue was a royal color. The quilted cotton armour he is wearing may deceive many into thinking it was weak but it could stand up to sword slashes, moderate thrusts and most arrowheads, only strong thrusting attacks and ironheaded arrows fired from a strong longbow or composite bow could penetrate this armour.It was equivelant to leather armour only lighter with about the same level of protection.So the wearer was protected but had to be agile. It was also light and cool, a boost for hot african climates. The european version of this was quilted linen, which was not as cool and breathable as cotton.Beneath this was worn another all white layer of hardened cotton. The archers of nubia also wore this kit.

The third pic depicts a meeting of some sort between makurian men

The last pic depicts horsemen from the Islamic era of nubia that followed the fall of makuria. Alwa which was in south sudan was not fully conquered and maintained it's christian identity. Under the sultanate of sennar it was semi autonomous.Alwa was also famous for supplying makuria with it's horses and cavalry. As you may notice they had chainmail and vambrace plate armour for their lower arms and plate greaves with a knee guard to protect their lower legs. Notice also the color blue which they wear.

What irks me is that it's very hard to find much of these things online.Where are all the griots(storytellers/historians). Most of these came from osprey military books. Still although this may show medieval africans had armour, this depicts the sudan and sahel, not bad. What about closer to home as in south of the sahel like guinnea, and the forest regions? What about Kilwa?

I'm not going to expect medieval armour from the Kongo, Kalihari and zulu; but if there is, I'd like to be proven wrong.

Most of these came from osprey military books.

Oh. That's too bad. I was hoping for more authentic pics, rather than just fact-based Osprey/Angus McBride reconstructions.

Still although this may show medieval africans had armour, this depicts the sudan and sahel, not bad. What about closer to home as in south of the sahel like guinnea, and the forest regions?

Well, that's what my response earlier was getting at. All of those places in Guinea (the 'Guinea coast') that I mentioned (except maybe Asante (where the soldiers may have just dressed like civilians but packed European guns), which was not really a significant military force in more medieval times anyway) and even Bamum (which had a cavalry force inspired directly by Hausa attire/style, that they came across through trade connections), had formal military wear. If you read books on Benin, Igala, Nupe, Oyo etc. and the other places that I mentioned, this becomes abundantly clear from the information collected from various scholars. For example, Robert Smith, a historian of West Africa, published an article on two chain mail hauberks that are preserved in the palace of Owo to this day. Other books on Oyo, Benin, Nupe, Bornu, and the other places that I mentioned make it clear that they had formal military armor.

Now in terms of actual images: In the case of Benin we have many images (from the art) of Benin armor and even a few images of the attire of certain high ranking enemy soldiers (probably Igala) that they captured in war. From Owo, we have images of how Yoruba horsemen dressed from at least two different pieces of art in wood and ivory, and also there are several pieces of wooden art from a later date from different places that depict other modes of dressing for the horsemen. Those horsemen would probably be Oyo horsemen specifically.

What about Kilwa?

Kilwa, as far as I'm concerned, was a Persian and later Arab transplant onto a geographically African area. The Kilwa probably dressed exactly however Arabs dressed whenever they had to fight.

As for the Zulu, no, their attire was not much different from the "half clad men with just a shield and mostly a spear" that you mentioned in the opening post.

For Kongo, when the Portuguese originally arrived in Kongo, they found an already powerful/developed kingdom. I don't recall whether they made any comments on what the soldiers looked like or what they wore extensively, because I have only looked at a few of the primary sources for information on the Kongo.

http://www.africafederation.net/Kongo_History.htm

^^^^

This page, which also includes an article on the Kongo by John Henrik Clarke, is very informative.

This is apparently something close to how they dressed:

These are probably the best two books you can read as far as information on the pre colonial armies of West Africa:

Robert Smith - Warfare and Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa



John Thornton - Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500-1800




I read both of these several years ago. They're really informative.

Even Ancient Egyptian infantry were 'half naked'. There aren't many images from the time span you specified. I posted some images below even though they're not that old and many don't have the complete look of a medieval warrior.



Female Amazon of the Fon, Dahomey, 1840s

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/Norman14.JPG[/img]

Dahomey, 1890s

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/VILE-120.JPG[/img]

Horse-Mounted Soldier, Senegal, 1780s

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/wag-6.JPG[/img]

Mandingo Soldiers, Western Africa, 1860

[img]http://1.bp..com/-2bjZv71sUOw/TdQ1tQ1dcsI/AAAAAAAAAXc/aksyYmR9Y9o/s1600/Ibo%2BWarfare.jpg[/img]

Igbo local defence, 19th century (they're holding guns).

[img]http://4.bp..com/-9KmUZ8x2LpU/TcB_-bas6cI/AAAAAAAAAVY/1b-jGvL9H84/s1600/Igbo%2Bhelmets.jpg[/img]

Their helmets.

edited

"Male Soldiers, Dahomey, 1890s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/Norman05.JPG[/img]

"Source
Henri Morienval, La guerre du Dahomey (Paris, 1898), p. 79

Comments
Trio of soldiers, armed with rifles, spears, swords, and shields."

"Horse-Mounted Soldier, Sierra Leone, early 1820s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/LCP-26.JPG[/img]

"Source
Alexander Gordon Laing, Travels in the Timannee, Kooranko, and Soolima countries in Western Africa (London, 1825), facing p. 230. (Copy in Library Company of Philadelphia)

Comments
Caption, "Yarradee, War-Master of the Soolimas"; shows cavalryman with his weapons. The author traveled in Sierra Leone in the early 1820s, and describes at length a mock-battle he witnessed involving Yarradee and a large group of his soldiers."

"Weapons, Gold Coast, late 17th cent."

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/2-693.JPG[/img]

"Source
From Jean Barbot, A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea, in Thomas Astley (ed.), A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels (London, 1745-47), vol. 2, plate 69, facing p. 693. (Copy in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)

Comments
Various types of swords, shields, bows and arrows, spears, knives and daggers, axes; some of these items were also used in agriculture. A number of these items, but arranged differently on the page, are also shown in Awnsham and John Churchill, A Collection of Voyages (London, 1732; vol. 5, plate 22, p. 251) in the translation of Barbot's late 17th century account."

"Ashanti Nobleman, Gold Coast, 1820"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/Hutton02.JPG[/img]

"Source
William Hutton, Nouveau voyage dans l'interieur de l'Afrique, ou, Relation de l'ambassade anglaise envoyée en 1820 , au royaume d'Ashantée (Paris, 1823), facing p. 201. (Copy in Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library)

Comments
Caption, "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."

Images of the Wadjagga of east Africa. The people at the top are obviously warriors.

"Procession with Women Warriors, Dahomey, 1790s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/B008.JPG[/img]

"Source
Archibald Dalzel, The History of Dahomey: An Inland Kingdom of Africa (London, 1793), facing p. 55.

Comments
Caption: "armed women with the king at their head, going to war."


[Obviously not everyone in this picture is actually a woman. The author probably assumed they were because the Dahomeans were famous for using women soldiers in particular. Also, the most interesting thing to me about the picture, if it's an accurate depiction, is not the soldiers, but the part of a building in the background.]

"Ceremony and Military Parade, Dahomey, 1790s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/B010.JPG[/img]

"Source
Archibald Dalzel, The History of Dahomey: An Inland Kingdom of Africa (London, 1793), facing p.136.

Comments
"Public reception of the king's women"; "amazons" and other troops with guns parading in front of the king and his European visitors (slave traders?)."

"Ceremony of Swearing Loyalty to British Government, Ashanti, 1824"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/B023.JPG[/img]

"Source
Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1824).

Comments
Caption, "Representation of the court of select audience-costume, and the ceremony of swearing fidelity to the British Government"; detailed court scene. Dupuis was the British government envoy to Ashanti."


[Multiple Ashanti spearmen can be seen in the court if one looks closely]

"Muslim Men, Gold Coast, 1824"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/B024.JPG[/img]

"Source
Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1824), facing p. 72.

Comments
Caption, "Moslems of Dagombah and Salagha in the Costumes of their Countries" shows three men, two carrying weapons. Dupuis was the British government envoy to Ashanti."

"A Kong Soldier, Ivory Coast, 1824"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/B027.JPG[/img]

"Source
Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1824); facing p. xxxvii, in Part II, "On the Geography of Western Africa".

Comments
Caption, "a Moslem of Kong, in military costume"; lance-armed soldier. Dupuis was the British government envoy to Ashanti; Kong an important commercial center by the Niger River."

"Clothing Style, Wolof Man, Senegal, 1850s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/Boilat02.JPG[/img]

"Source
P. David Boilat, Esquisses Sengelaises (Paris, 1853), plate 4 (Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)

Comments
Captioned, "Mari de la Reine du Walo" (Husband of the Queen of the Walo), the plate shows the "Marosso" or the Queen's husband, who was also the head general of the Walo army. He is in full regalia or formal attire, holding his rifle "of honor" and wearing various ornaments, including a bead necklace, earrings, anklets, and, on his left arm, "an enormous silver bracelet, the emblem of his office" (p. 9). Walo was a pre-colonial Wolof state. Boilat made his drawings from life; his 24 plates are explained in an accompanying text. Born in Senegal of a French father and a bi-racial mother ('metisse signare'), Boilat left Senegal at around the age of 13, was educated in France and became ordained as a Catholic priest. He returned to Senegal in 1842, lived there for ten years as an educator and, after returning to France, completed his Esquisses Senegalaises; he also authored the first comprehensive grammar of the Wolof language. He died in France in 1901, at the age of 84."

"Soldiers on the March, Senegal, 1850s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/Raffenel5.JPG[/img]

"Source
Anne Raffenel, Nouveau voyage dans le pays des negres, suivi d'études sur la colonie du Sénégal . . . (Paris, 1856), vol. 1, facing p. 444.

Comments
Caption: "Une armée Bambara en marche," shows a group of Bambara/Bamana foot soldiers, led by three horse-mounted "officers" who are followed by two musicians; shown are arms, musical instruments,clothing styles, and the horse's gear."

"Soldier with Weapons, Senegal, 1780s"

[img]http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/SlaveTrade/collection/large/VILE-36.JPG[/img]

"Source
René Claude Geoffroy de Villeneuve, L'Afrique, ou histoire, moeurs, usages et coutumes des africains: le Sénégal (Paris, 1814), vol. 3, facing p. 36. (Copy in Special Collections, University of Virginia Library)

Comments
Caption, "Soldat Negre" (black soldier); holding lance/spear, with sword, pistol, wearing beads and amulets. Villeneuve lived in the Senegal region for about two years in the mid-to-late 1780s. The engravings in his book, he writes, were made from drawings that were mostly done on the spot during his African residence (vol. 1, pp. v-vi). The same illustration appears in color in the English translation of Villeneuve; see Frederic Shoberl (ed.), Africa; containing a description of the manners and customs, with some historical particulars of the Moors of the Zahara . . . (London, 1821), vol. 2, facing p. 41."

If u are really looking 4 body armor try 2 google,songai empir,borno empir,hausa state and Gao.Does,are d heavy users of carlvery force and body armor,in black history.Try and read about d fulani jihad and their battles with hausa forces.U are going 2 read,how d hausa carlvery were all wearing strong body armor and how hard it's 4 them 2 move,as fast as d fulani who are not wearing any.

Looking back through this thread, it's clear why the OP was interested in medieval armor from a specific time frame. All around the world, as you move away from the medieval period into the late 1700s and then the 1800s, you begin to see armies abandoning body armor because guns made body armor basically irrelevant. In fact, since an armored and an unarmored person would both die from a gunshot (although the unarmored person may die a bit more quickly), the person with the armor is more encumbered and therefore probably significantly slower moving/less agile. Basically armor was reduced or eliminated completely because it became little more than a burden. Unfortunately for those of us that like cool looking armor, this means that the time period during which outside observers really started making detailed drawings of some of these African societies and their soldiers is exactly the time period when armor would have been mostly obsolete.

Unfortunately, like ezeagu said, there aren't many images of armor from West Africa from that medieval time period so we have to go mainly by the art or by actual material evidence of the armor, which is limited to certain places.

Benin has a lot of images of soldiers wearing armor, so if you want to know what Benin armor looked like, I recommend looking at these books:

Antiquities from the City of Benin & from Other Parts of West Africa in the British Museum by Ormonde M. Dalton and Charles H. Read

Bronzes and ivories from the old kingdom of Benin by Louis Carré

Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria by Barbara Plakensteiner (Editor) and O.J. Eboreime (Foreword)

Antique works of art from Benin by Pitt Rivers

Die Altertumer von Benin (The Antiquities of Benin) by Felix von Luschan

The art of Benin by Nigel Barley


The first book, in bold, is not easy to find anywhere other than at a university library and has only a short selection of images of the art, but it has some of the most interesting and impressive looking individuals to be seen in all of the Benin art - figures which, to the best of my knowledge, have not been shown in any other books or museum exhibits. A while back, I was looking at flickr and when looking through some pages which showed Benin art, among other African art, at a museum, I came across a comment that claimed that the museum officials don't even exhibit a lot of the best Benin art, but instead keep a lot of it stashed away in a storeroom. I thought that the comment was merely conspiracy theorist talk until I saw that book by Read and Dalton and also the book by von Luschan. I guess they feel that they don't have to exhibit the art based merely on the impressiveness of the figures and objects in the art but instead based on what pieces of art they can explain/give more background to, or based on presenting exhibits with the greatest diversity of themes/figures. Another problem is that some of the best pieces of African art are held in private collections in Europe and the U.S. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation, but I think it's a shame that images of such impressive looking African soldiers, dignitaries, royalty, etc. are hidden in such obscure places.

@ PhysicsQED

Yes , that is why I chose 1000ad to 1600ad when guns really took off with flintlock technology. Any period after that time frame and heavy armour would be redundant and useless, unless you fought an enemy who had no firearms or had very little. And then in those cases the lighter hardened cotton/linen or hardened leather gave some protection in melee combat, while not hindering the wearer too much. Your army would still be at an advantage with guns though , more range and stopping power.


I'm Currently reading Warfare in Atlantic Africa 1500-1800, thanks.

Here some examples of steel swords used in the congo. The big one is an execution sword.

You can actually find examples like these for sale, in Abuja i found quite a few autentic hausa swords. Quite expensive tho.



oriental arms is a website that sells authentic weapons from africa and asia.

As far as i know swords were never the primary weapon in civilizations south of the shahara. Most you will find are extreamly ornate, like the executions sword, and werent used for fighting. In west Africa you will find solid gold swords with spherical hilts especailly in ghana. These were used in processions for tribal cheifs and kings.

The swords that were actually used for combat were probably used with a sheild, or as a hacking wepon, but probably not for dueling. This can be figured by the handle design. Their lack of crossguards show that this was a weapon not designed to be used single handedly against other swords.

pleep: As far as i know swords were never the primary weapon in civilizations south of the shahara.

Well, where were swords ever the primary weapon? The only place I can think of is ancient Rome, and even then they made heavy use of spears/pikes anyway.

I think spears and projectile weapons were the primary weapon for almost all nations, though I could be wrong.

Most you will find are extreamly ornate, like the executions sword, and werent used for fighting. In west Africa you will find solid gold swords with spherical hilts especailly in ghana. These were used in processions for tribal cheifs and kings.

The swords that were actually used for combat were probably used with a sheild, or as a hacking wepon, but probably not for dueling. This can be figured by the handle design. Their lack of crossguards show that this was a weapon not designed to be used single handedly against other swords.

I've seen many images in Benin art of swords that either have a large or small crossguard and I've seen other West African swords that had crossguards.

A Benin victory scene with enemy captives (probably Igala, based on the particular scarification marks on the face and the use of horses):



Benin man with twin daggers:




The sword in this image also has a crossguard:



Benin man, probably a hunter, holding a sword with a crossguard:



Benin soldiers holding an enemy military leader captive:



A similar scene is shown in the attached picture and the sword there also has a crossguard: