African Cavalry
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Regional History or Period History
Forum Name: African History
Forum Discription: Talk about African History
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11924
Printed Date: 28-Apr-2024 at 19:03
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: African Cavalry
Posted By: Temujin
Subject: African Cavalry
Date Posted: 17-May-2006 at 14:30
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i've waited for Tobodais return to open this, I hope he can contribute... ;)
Mossi cavalry:
a force of cavalryman under emperor Moronaba subdued what is modern day Burkina Faso with a force of light Horse lancers and created an empire. the Mossi cavalry was also able to withstand the Fulani cavalry who was aggressively spreading Islam in West-Central Africa from horseback. on a less glorious note, due to the superiority of their cavalry the Mossi raided surrounding tribes that had no protection against their mounted force and ended up being sold to european slave traders....and now some pics to enjoy!     |
Replies:
Posted By: Tobodai
Date Posted: 17-May-2006 at 17:03
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Thats hot. I TOLD YOU ALL there were African steppe(ish) empires. I wasnt aware the Mossi could actually beat the Fulani forces though. Quite impressive, though Ill have to do more research to see how they compare with my current favorite African cavalry forces, that of Kanem-Bornu. ------------- "the people are nothing but a great beast... I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value." -Alexander Hamilton |
Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 18-May-2006 at 15:07
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i was trying hard to find more information on the Fulani army but wasn't really successfull, all i found was a scan from an osprey book but could you give me more information about them and how far they've expanded? and i've never heard about Kanem-Bornu, please tell me more. ------------- |
Posted By: Tobodai
Date Posted: 18-May-2006 at 17:12
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Kanem-Bornu was based around lake Chad. They adopted Islam as an excuse to subjigate their neighbors. They had a mostly cavalry army and were very adaptive to flintlock firearms in the late 18th century. But they were around starting in 1300 or something (with an oddly phallic shaped empire) and expanded and contracted until they collapsed in the early 19th century. Their offshoot was the Sokoto raiders in northern Nigeria. ------------- "the people are nothing but a great beast... I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value." -Alexander Hamilton |
Posted By: Soul Blader
Date Posted: 23-May-2006 at 15:53
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More images!
    Begharmi
 Hausa
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Posted By: Jalisco Lancer
Date Posted: 24-May-2006 at 12:11
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great pics and info.
Tobodei, Glad to see you around. |
Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 24-May-2006 at 14:45
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awesome pictures & excellent contribution Soul Blader, welcome to the Forum! :) ------------- |
Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 24-Jun-2007 at 15:54
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for anyone other than me and Tobodai who is interested, there is now a book about western African cavalry (not Mossi though) available: http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/books/cairns1.asp about the cavalries of Sokoto, Kanem-Bornu and Bagirmi. btw, why is this still in the Americas Forum? ------------- |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 24-Jun-2007 at 22:41
Yes, wrong forum.
The only cavalry of pre-contact Americas were these llama caravans
 :  |
Posted By: tommy
Date Posted: 25-Jun-2007 at 10:46
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But not joking, I read a book about the ancient contact of China and america , the writer talked about an academic research, it stated that atomb of about 500 ad was found in America, the skeleton of house was found, but I forgot the name of the researchers, but the writer stated that this research was from a famous Us university, anyone knows anything ------------- leung |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 25-Jun-2007 at 10:57
Horses in the America? Hardly. Horses went extinguished in the americas by the time man can in (20.000) years ago. All chronicles of the time of the conquist show clearly the impact the horse produced on Natives, because they didn't know that animal.
Cute llama carivans where also replaced by mules less that two decades after the Spaniards arrived.
Pinguin
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Posted By: tommy
Date Posted: 25-Jun-2007 at 13:42
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may you think , was it possible Vikings took horse to America? ------------- leung |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 25-Jun-2007 at 15:25
Nope. Horses came with the Spaniards.
Pinguin
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Posted By: Decebal
Date Posted: 28-Jun-2007 at 10:28
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I have moved this very interesting topic to its rightful place. The steppe empires of Africa are certainly an overlooked subject. While we're on the topic, I have a suspicion that the Sahel may have played a somewhat similar role as a trade and travel conduit for Africa as the Eurasian steppes had in Asia and Europe. I think that it is very possible that trade routes ran along its length, from the Nile to the civilizations on the banks of the upper Niger, and from the Sahara to the forest kingdoms of Benin, Dahomey, Igbo and others. It is well known that the Hausa were great traders, who travelled as far the Senegal in the West, and Darfur in the East; moreover, the very existence and location of the trading Husa city states in northern Nigeria suggests the existence of trade routes along the Sahel. Seen in this respect, kingdoms such as Kanem-Bornu, Mossi, Ouaddai, Fulani kingdoms such as Sokoto, and even an empire such as Songhay could be seen as the equivalent of the Turkish and Mongol kingdoms in Central Asia, who used their military might to control trade routes and extort tribute from their settled neighbors. ------------- What is history but a fable agreed upon? Napoleon Bonaparte Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.- Mohandas Gandhi 
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Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 28-Jun-2007 at 14:56
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yes i agree pretty much, but the Sahara desert played a more crucial role, the trade routes through the Sahara were made only possible after the Arabs introduced the Camel to Northern Africa which only made the travel through the Sahara possible. Deserts like the Taklamakan were mostly bypassed if possible. ------------- |
Posted By: Malik
Date Posted: 29-Jun-2007 at 19:44
very interesting ! 
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Posted By: Sikander
Date Posted: 10-Aug-2007 at 08:32
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Hi all!
I found this thread just amazing! I know there were heavy cavalry in Africa, but I thought I was in Sudan only.
The "cataphract" pictures remind me of a documentary from the 30's, I think it was a African travel made with special Citroen vehicles' caravan, but perhaps I'm wrong about it.
Do you have any info regarding when did these African peoples adopted this style of cavalry warfare and their heavy equipment?
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Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 11-Aug-2007 at 16:16
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the ruler Kanijeji of Kano, a Hausa city state brought in first quilts, mail and iron helmets around 1400 and was the first to use it. by 1800 armoured horsemen were the distinctive feature of east Savannah warfare.
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Posted By: Sikander
Date Posted: 14-Aug-2007 at 08:42
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Huuummm, where did you read that? I would like to learn a little bit more. Nevertheless, I think I'll just buy the book refered above. It looks like a nice, very nice adition to my library on military history subjects. |
Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 14-Aug-2007 at 13:02
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i read it in the book i posted above ;)
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Posted By: Sikander
Date Posted: 16-Aug-2007 at 12:31
| Great, it seems that we'll both have the chance to read first-hand: I've just ordered the book myself! |
Posted By: Sikander
Date Posted: 26-Sep-2007 at 12:53
| Just to tell you I've got the book. Great stuff: detailed in every aspect lots of pictures (though B&W only), etc. It was a great buy, only 21 euros from Foundry Miniatures. And they have a few more book about Burmese and Central Asian subjects as well. |
Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 26-Sep-2007 at 20:38
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yes, they are expensive as hell but i highly recommend them. i also have the books on Central Asia & Himalayan kingdoms as well as the China volume.
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Posted By: Sikander
Date Posted: 27-Sep-2007 at 08:54
| Huuummm, that adds to my interest! Of course, I don't expect those book to cost 21 euros as the "African" one... |
Posted By: andrew
Date Posted: 27-Sep-2007 at 11:49
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Nice! Those definitely look like steepe Africans considering they're using horses instead of camels. Africans who live in the desert, Trauregs, could only use camels.
Also on one of the African shields I notice a cross.
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Posted By: Temujin
Date Posted: 27-Sep-2007 at 19:54
note, those books only cover the 19th century, but they are extremely comprehensive studies, the best you'll find anywhere.
all african "cavalry nations" were Muslim except for the Mossi which were pagan. so the cross has no meaning. ------------- |
Posted By: andrew
Date Posted: 28-Sep-2007 at 03:05
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Then what's the second picture under Soul Balder, the shield of the infantrymen? Can someone tell me? Also I notice the cavalry seems high tech and modern whereas the infantry looks like naked savages. Is there a reason for this? |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 28-Sep-2007 at 14:59
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Very interesting story.
Perhaps someone could put a thread on the weapons they and other SS Africans used, and people like the Zulus that won battles with that. They were made of iron.
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Posted By: jdalton
Date Posted: 03-Oct-2007 at 00:02
Cross-like symbols have been used by all sorts of cultures throughout history. If you think about it, two perpendicular lines that intersect is a pretty basic design. I've seen it used in Mesoamerican art (as a symbol for the four directions), Chinese writing (it's the character for the number ten!), and even in our own alphabet (lowercase t, the letter x). I don't know much about the Mossi. It could mean anything to them. Or nothing. The nearest example I can think of is the Asante- they have a cross-like symbol used to represent the word "house" or "family." But even with two such nearby cultures, it's probably only a coincidence. ------------- http://www.jonathondalton.com/mycomics.html - Lords of Death and Life (a Mesoamerican webcomic) |