African Women in Diplomacy and War
5 women in the archive worked for diplomacy & military strategy. They came from different countries and different centuries, but each of them saw a wrong that others accepted and set out to change it. Read their stories to see how the same cause looked from very different lives.
5 women in the archive
Pre-ColonialKandake Amanirenas
Queen of the Kingdom of Kush who led her armies against the Roman Empire, famously defeating Roman forces in battle and negotiating a peace treaty that kept her kingdom independent for generations.
Pre-ColonialManthatisi
Warrior queen and regent of the Batlokwa who led tens of thousands through the upheaval of the Difaqane, becoming the most feared military leader in the southern African interior. Legend turned her into a one-eyed giant; history records a shrewd ruler who once bluffed an entire army into retreat.
Pre-ColonialNzinga of Ndongo and Matamba
Queen of Ndongo and Matamba who resisted Portuguese colonisation and the slave trade for four decades through diplomacy, alliance-building, and military leadership.
ColonialSarraounia Mangou
Azna warrior-queen and priestess of Lougou who, in 1899, stood against one of the most violent French military columns ever sent into Africa and refused to surrender her people. Her defiance became a Nigerien legend and an award-winning film.
Pre-ColonialYennenga
Legendary warrior princess remembered as the mother of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso. A horsewoman and soldier who refused the life mapped out for her, she rode into the wilderness and into the founding story of a nation.