Category Archives: Niger River

An Account of the Plague in Barbary, North Africa, 1799 – Part I

Posted on 10/02/2015 by dianabuja

Plagues have been important – and often deadly – aspect of long distance trade and travel for millennia.   As we enter into the 21st century plague that is now gripping West Africa, what can be learned from reports of ‘the plague’ … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, Caravan routes, Colonialism, Indigenous crops & medicinal plants, Niger River | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sahelian City-States in the Western Sahel: Part 2

Posted on 24/01/2014 by dianabuja

Recent and ongoing events in the Sahel by way of food crises, religiously based conflict, ethnically based conflict, and military coups are intertwined.  They are the most recent iterations of  interdependent political, economic, religious, social, and cultural changes that have … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, Agriculture, Arab traders, Caravan routes, Colonialism, Ethnicity, History, Ivory, Niger River, Religion, Sahel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

City States in the Sahel: Pre-European Kingdoms of West Africa – Part 1

Posted on 14/01/2013 by dianabuja

With the recent efforts of France to address the efforts of Islamists in northern Mali – and Nigeria and its neighbours to confront the Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria- I am revising and reposting this blog on Sahelian history.    Introduction: … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, African rice, Arab traders, Caravan routes, Niger River, Sahel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

West African Cuisine and Hunger Crops, 1800s

Posted on 15/05/2011 by dianabuja

The kinds of food consumed by local people were often a great surprise to European explorers travelling in Africa.  Here are several passages from the journals of Mungo Park regarding crops and foods that he found singularly weird. Mr. Park was one … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-Central, Africa-West, Colonialism, Cuisine, Explorers & exploration, Food, Indigenous crops & medicinal plants, Niger River, Sahel | 3 Comments