The Assassins are systematically destroyed by Baybars, the Mameluke sultan of Egypt

Islam replaces Christianity as the religion of the kings of Dongola, in present-day Sudan

Mansa Musa, sultan of the gold-rich African state of Mali, is so lavish in Cairo (on his way to Mecca) that the value of Egyptian gold slumps

Ibn Batutah leaves his home in Morocco to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, and continues travelling for 24 years

A friar, who has failed to find Prester John in the east, publishes a book proving that the fabulous king lives in Ethiopia

Portugal claims ownership of the region of Guinea, subsequently the centre of their slave trade on the west African coast

Coffee, derived from wild plants in Ethiopia, is cultivated in Arabia

The Portuguese settlers on the Cape Verde islands are granted a monopoly on the new slave trade

The Maravi Confederacy is formed by Bantu tribes and soon wins control over a large region between Lake Nyasa and the Zambezi

An increase in trade through the central Sahara benefits the Songhay, with their capital at Gao, at the expense of Mali

The Portuguese establish a further presence on the west coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Congo river

Bartolomeu Dias, sailing for the king of Portugal, becomes the first European navigator to round the Cape of Good Hope

A French privateer off the west coast of Ghana is the first to plunder a Portuguese vessel carrying home African gold

The Portuguese establish trading posts in east Africa, on the coast of Mozambique

The Portuguese set up a trading post on the east African island of Zanzibar

The Ottoman sultan, Selim I, captures Cairo and ends Mameluke rule in the middle east

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim leads Muslim Somalis in a holy war against Christian Ethiopia, destroying churches and shrines

Africans, bought in the Portuguese trading posts of west Africa, are shipped across the Atlantic as slaves

The Ashanti establish a powerful kingdom in present-day Ghana, with their capital at Kumasi

The Yoruba develop an extensive empire centred on Oyo in southern Nigeria

A law is passed expelling the Moriscos from Spain, with the result that some 300,000 are shipped to north Africa

Three brothers among the Dahomey people establish a long-lasting kingdom in the Bight of Benin

The French build a trading station on the estuary of the Senegal river in west Africa

Jan van Riebeeck establishes a Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope

The Dutch in South Africa purchase slaves to do domestic and agricultural work