1117 City of Lalibela becomes the capital of Christian Ethiopia.

1143-47 Berber Almohad dynasty overthrows the Almoravids in NW Africa.

1171 Turkish general Saladin (1138-931) overthrows the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and establishes the Ayyubid dynasty.

Angkor Wat Created by Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat was the ritual centre of his kingdom. The outer cloister enclosed a complex of buildings, the main group arranged as a square of four at the corners and one in the centre. All were covered in exquisite low relief with divine dancers, plants, birds and animals.

c.l200 Kingdom of Mwenemutapa is established In Zimbabwe.

1203 Samanguru establishes himself as ruler of the remnants otthe kingdom of Ghana.

1212 Thousands of children who joioed the Children`s Crusade are sold into slavery in Alexandria, Egypt.

1219 Fifth Crusade captllres the Egyptian port of Oamietta, but fails to take Cairo.

1340 Portuguese sailors discover the Canary Islands.

1344 Canary Islands are allocated to Castile by the pope.

1348 Black Death devastates Egypt


1349 Moroccan traveller Ibn Battutah (1304-68) returns home after a 25-year journey to India and China.

1365 Crusade led by the king of Cyprus sacks the city of Alexandria in Egypt

1375 Kingdom of Songhai breaks away from the empire of Mali.

"Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary. " William of Occam`s statement of the rule of economy that has come to be known as Occam`s razor

1382 Burji Mamluks seize control from the Bahris in Egypt

1415 Portuguese under King John I (1357-1433) capture the town of Ceuta on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.

1416 Portuguese explorers reach Cape Bojador on the w coast of Africa.

15th-century fashion In Europe, both men and women wore formal gowns, often with long, trailing sleeves. Men wore a turban-like hat, called a chaperon. Women wore impractical headdresses.

1420 Portuguese occupy the island of Madeira.

1421 Ships from Ming China establish direct contact with the Islamic towns of E Africa.

1424 Chinese ships again visit E Africa.

1425 Portuguese fail to conquer the Canary Islands from Castile.

1430 Portuguese discover the Azores.

1433 Chinese ships make a final visit to E Africa.

1433 Desert nomads capture the city of Timbuktu in the sw Sahara desert.

1434 Zara Yaqob Id.14681 becomes king of Ethiopia.

1437 Portuguese make a disastrous attemptto capture Tangier, Morocco.

1440 Walled enclosure and tower are built at Great Zimbabwe, capital of the Mwenemutapa kingdom.

1445 Portuguese explorers reach Cape Verde, w Africa.

1448 Portuguese establish a settlement on Arguim Island off the coast of Mauritania.

1455 Portuguese explorers discover the Cape Verde islands.

1463 Portuguese capture Casablanca in Morocco.

1464 King of Songhai, Sonni Ali (d.1492), begins campaigns to overthrow Mali; start of Songhai empire.

1468 Songhai empire conquers Timbuktu.

1469 Portuguese explorers cross the Equator.

1471 Portuguese establish a trading post at EI Mina on the coast of present-day Ghana.

1471 Portuguese capture the city of Tangier on the N coast of Morocco.

1478 Portuguese ships defeat a fleet sent from Spain and establish supremacv along the w African coast

1480 Under the treaty otToledo, Portugal gets exclusive trading rights in Africa in return for agreeing to Spanish control of the Canary Islands.

1482 Portuguese build the fort of Sao Jorge to protect EI Mina in Ghana.

1483 Portuguese explorers make contact with the w African kingdom of Kongo.

1487 Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Oiaz (c.1450-1500) sails around the s tip of Africa into the Indian Ocean.

1489 Portuguese explorers sailing from the Red Sea visit E Africa.

1490 Nzinga Nkuwu (d.c.l506), king of Kongo, converts to Christianity.

1493 Muhammad Askia becomes emperor of Songhai, with the city of Gao as his capital.

1496 Spanish capture the town of Melilla on the N coast ofMorocco.

1498 Sailing from Portugal, Vasco da Gama calls at the E African port of Mombasa en route to India.

1501 Portuguese attempt to close the Red Sea to Islamic shipping.

1504 Christian kingdom of Saba in Nubia is conquered by Islamic forces.

1505 Portuguese under Francisco de Almeida (1450-1510) sack the Islamic ports of Kilwa and Mombasa in E Africa.

Spanish capture the town of Melilla on the N coast of Morocco.