European colonization of Africa in the context of John II of Portugal

African historiography is a branch of historiography involving the study of the theories, methods, sources, and interpretations used by scholars to construct histories of Africa. Most African societies recorded their history via oral tradition, resulting in a lack of written records documenting events before European colonialism. African historiography has therefore lent itself to contemporary methods of historiographical study, the utilisation of oral sources, and the incorporation of evidence derived from various auxiliary disciplines, differentiating it from other continental areas of historiography due to its multidisciplinary nature.

Oral historians utilised various sources from their communities in crafting socially-consolidated histories which were then passed down through generations, with traditions serving as contemporary documents of messages from the past. Early written history about Africa was largely undertaken by outsiders, each of which had their own biases. Colonial historiography was Eurocentric and propagated racist theories such as the Hamitic hypothesis. African historiography became organised in the mid-20th century, and initially involved the refutation of colonial narratives. Nationalist histories sought to generate patriotism and sustain the multi-ethnic nation states, and African historiography saw a movement towards utilising oral sources in a multidisciplinary approach alongside archaeology and historical linguistics. Following growing pessimism about the fate of the continent, Marxist thought became popular, and contributed to a more critical study of colonialism. From 1981 UNESCO began publishing the General History of Africa, edited by specialists from across the continent. The 1980s saw universities struggle amid economic and political crises, resulting in the migration of many scholars (largely to the United States), and the discipline remains critically underfunded. Historians of Africa in the 21st century focus more on contemporary history than precolonial history, and are less ideological than their predecessors as the discipline has taken on a more pluralist form.

Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa. It is bordered to the north by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe and Botswana to the south, Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west. The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka, located in the south-central part of Zambia. The population is concentrated mainly around Lusaka in the south and the Copperbelt Province to the north, the core economic hubs of the country.

Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the thirteenth century. Following European expeditions in the eighteenth century, Britain colonised the region, forming the British protectorates of Barotziland–North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia towards the end of the nineteenth century. These were merged in 1911 to form Northern Rhodesia. For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company.

The Kingdom of Dahomey (/dəˈhoʊmi/) was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau among the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic coast, which granted it unhindered access to the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Ending tributary status to the Oyo Empire, Dahomey became a key regional state for much of the middle 19th century. European visitors extensively documented the kingdom, and it became one of the most familiar African nations known to Europeans. An important regional power, it had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade, diplomatic relations with Europeans, a centralized administration, taxation, and an organized military. Notable were significant artwork, an all-female military unit called the Dahomey Amazons by European observers, and the elaborate religious practices of Vodun.

Yorubaland (Yoruba: Ilẹ̀ Káàárọ̀-Oòjíire) is the homeland and cultural region of the Yoruba people in West Africa. It spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Togo and Benin, and covers a total land area of 142,114 km (54,871 sq mi). Of this land area, 106,016 km (74.6%) lies within Nigeria, 18.9% in Benin, and the remaining 6.5% is in Togo. Prior to European colonization, a portion of this area was known as Yoruba country. The geo-cultural space contains an estimated 55 million people, the majority of this population being ethnic Yoruba.

The Kingdom of Dahomey (/dəˈhoʊmi/) was a West African kingdom located within the present-day Republic of Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau among the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic coast, which granted it unhindered access to the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Ending tributary status to the Oyo Empire, Dahomey became a key regional state for much of the middle 19th century. European visitors extensively documented the kingdom, and it became one of the most familiar African nations known to Europeans. An important regional power, it had an organized domestic economy built on conquest and slave labor, significant international trade, diplomatic relations with Europeans, a centralized administration, taxation, and an organized military. Notable were significant artwork, an all-female military unit called the Dahomey Amazons by European observers, and the elaborate religious practices of Vodun.