African Kings

AFFONSO I
KING OF THE KONGO (1506-1540)Affonso I was a visionary, a man who saw his country not as a group of separate cultures, but as a unified nation fully equipped with advance knowledge and technology. He was also known as the first ruler to resist the most despicable act ever known to man, the European slave trade.

ASKIA TOURE
KING OF SONGHAY (1493-1529)Askia Toure united the entire central region of the Western Sudan, and established a governmental machine that is still revered today for its detail and efficiency. He divided his country into provinces, each with a professional administrator as governor, and ruled each fairly and uniformly through a staff of distinguished legal experts and judges.

KHAMA
THE GOOD KING OF BECHUANALAND (1819-1923)Khama distinguish his reign by being highly regarded as a peace loving ruler with the desire of advancing his country in terms of technological innovations. He instituted scientific cattle feeding techniques which greatly inproved his country's wealth and prestige. During his reign crimes were known to be as low as zero within his country.

MANSA KANKAN MUSSA
KING OF MALI (1306-1332)A scholar, a great economists and a true man of the arts, Mansa Mussa is well known for the impact he created with his flamboyant style. In 1324 he led his people on the Hadj, a holy pilgrimage from Timbuktu to Mecca. His caravan consisted of 72 000 people whom he led safely across the Sahara Desert and back, a total distance of 6,496 miles. So spectacular was this event that Mansa Mussa gained the respect of scholars and traders throughout the world. Also during his reign, Mali was one of the most prestigious and wealthiest empires in the world. This empire at this time also contain one of the worlds most prestigious university in Timbuktu.