My History | Benin - Togo Ancestry

[infopane color="6" icon="0182.png"] My History explores recent DNA revelations concerning Black Sovereign's genetic past.

Black Sovereign's DNA Test Results

[one_third] AFRICA (86%)

• Nigeria - 57%


• Mali - 17%


• Southeastern Bantu - 3%


• Senegal - 3%


• South-Central Hunter-Gatherers - 3%


• Cameroon - 1%


• Benin - less than 1%


• Ghana - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third] EUROPE (13%)

• Britain - 6%


• Europe West - 5%


• Italy - less than 1%


• Iberian Peninsula - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third_last] PACIFIC ISLANDER (< 1%)

• Melanesia - less than 1%

[/one_third_last] [/infopane]

---

 

Benin/Togo

Primarily located in: Benin, Togo

Also found in: Ghana, Nigeria, Mali

For years, anthropologists and others looked at African ethnic groups as being mostly solitary and static. However, historians now know that huge empires and kingdoms, with administrations and armies, diplomatic corps and distant trading partners, have long been part of Africa’s fabric. This is especially true of West Africa, where migrations, conquests and intermarriage within allied kingdoms help explain why, for example, 43% of people from the Benin/Togo region have DNA that looks similar to the profile for the Ivory Coast/Ghana region, and 28% similar to the profile for Nigeria.

How Black Sovereign compares to the typical person native to the Benin/Togo region

[infopane color="1" icon="0101.png"]Black Sovereign : <1% ... ... ... Typical native : 82%[/infopane]

 

Genetic Diversity in the Benin/Togo Region

The people living in the Benin/Togo region are admixed, which means that when creating genetic ethnicity estimates for people native to this area, we sometimes see similarities to DNA profiles from other regions. We’ve found that approximately 82% of the typical Benin/Togo native’s DNA comes from this region.

We have used our reference panel to build a genetic profile for Benin/Togo. The blue chart above shows examples of ethnicity estimates for people native to this region. For Benin/Togo we see a fairly wide range: for some natives, as little as 28% of their DNA comes from the region, while for others, 100% looks similar to the profile. For Benin/Togo natives with DNA from neighboring regions, we most commonly see the Ivory Coast/Ghana region. About 43% of Benin/Togo natives have DNA from Ivory Coast/Ghana, while another 28% have DNA similar to the profile for Nigeria. (See the green chart above.)

Population History

Benin sits just west of Nigeria, and west of Benin is Togo. Benin has a population of 9.88 million that is growing at an annual rate of 2.84%. Togo is only slightly behind with a growth rate of 2.73% and 7.15 million people. Both countries’ populations are largely rural, but more densely concentrated along the coast. Though tied closely together by history, geography and religion, the inhabitants of Benin and Togo are ethnically quite different.

Women paddling a boat near Ganvie, Benin

Benin’s largest ethnic group is the Fon (39%), followed by the Adja (15%), Yoruba (12%) and Bariba (9%). Togo’s largest ethnic groups are the Ewe (21%), Kabye (12%), Mina (3.2%) and Kotokoli (3.2%). Benin has more ethnic ties to its neighbor Nigeria; Togo has more links to Ghana. These ethnic ties are the result of long-standing kingdoms that flourished before European colonists created new borders.

Considering their small size, both countries have great ethnic diversity, especially in the north. Some populations there are related to ethnic groups farther north in Burkina Faso, and the small but influential Hausa population is largely responsible for bringing Islam to Togo. In the south of Benin, the Fon people are dominant. They are descendants from the powerful African kingdom of Dahomey that ruled the region from about 1600 to 1900.

Most northern Beninese and Togolese practice herding, fishing and subsistence farming. Trade is limited in the north, where neither country has much in the way of navigable waterways or viable roads. In the more urbanized south, however, people have greater social and physical mobility. Most urban Africans in the Benin/Togo region work at a trade or sell goods at local markets. In the past, the proximity to the coast spawned trade relationships with Europeans, other Africans and with slave traders. The countries on the Bight of Benin were part of the so-called “Slave Coast” and in the late 1600s became the top suppliers of slaves to the New World. As a result, the genetic footprint of the Benin/Togo region can be found across much of the Western Hemisphere.

Dahomey

Many people in Togo and Benin speak one of about 20 related Gbe languages. Linguistic evidence indicates that most of the Gbe people came from the east in several migrations between the 10th and 15th centuries. The Gbe were pushed westward during a series of wars with the Yoruba people of Nigeria, then settled in Tado on the Mono River (in present-day Togo).

Around 1600, Fon emigrants from Tado established the Kingdom of Dahomey, a Fon monarchy that ruled Benin for some 300 years. Its standing army, an aggressive economic model that relied on slavery for export and labor, and its “Amazon” warriors (elite troops of fierce, female combat soldiers) made the Kingdom of Dahomey a powerful regional threat. It was also the top trading partner with the Europeans. Other contemporary kingdoms in Benin included Porto-Novo, as well as smaller northern states. In Togo, the Kabye and Lamba (or Lama) peoples migrated to the north between 600 and 1200 A.D. Many other groups who settled in Togo were refugees of wars in Dahomey and what is now Ghana.

Gezo, King of Dahomey. Image from Dahomey and the Dahomans, by Frederick E. Forbes, NYPL

Slave trade

European slave traders first became a force on the coast of West Africa. By 1475 Portuguese traders had reached the Bight of Benin, and by the mid-1500s Spain and England had also legalized the slave trade. As the demand for slaves grew, the Kingdom of Dahomey (and others in the region) provided European traders with a constant supply in exchange for goods and firearms. Dahomey, which had long paid tribute to the Yoruba Empire of Oyo, used its new weapons and power to throw off that yoke.

More than 2 million slaves were sent from the Bight of Benin to the New World, and among them were many from Benin and Togo’s major ethnic groups. The Adja, Mina, Ewe and Fon groups of this region were the third-most enslaved groups sent to the New World. A great number of these went to Haiti and Brazil, where they established their traditional religious practices and ancestor worship, better known today as Voodoo, Santería or Macumba.

Colonization

With the end of slavery, the Kingdom of Dahomey lost its revenue source and began an economic decline. The French defeated Dahomey in a series of wars between 1890 and 1894, and eventually, both Benin and Togo (minus an area under British control) became part of French West Africa. One result of the French colonial period was that, in many cases, French West Africans had certain citizenship or other rights under French law; over time, African communities sprang up in France and other parts of Europe. In 1960, both Benin and Togo declared independence.

Combat de Dogba, 19 Septembre, 1892, by Alexandre d'Albéca, depicting a battle during the Second War of Dahomey.

 

Note that genetic ethnicity estimates are based on individuals living in this region today. While a prediction of genetic ethnicity from this region suggests a connection to the groups occupying this location, it is not conclusive evidence of membership to any particular tribe or ethnic group.

Did You Know?

Benin’s village of Ganvie stands on stilts in the middle of Lake Nokoué. Tradition says the village was built on the lake to protect the Tofinu people from slave traders because Fon warriors, who captured slaves for Portuguese traders, were not allowed to fight on water.

Ganvie, Benin

My History | Cameroon Ancestry

[infopane color="6" icon="0182.png"] My History explores recent DNA revelations concerning Black Sovereign's genetic past.

Black Sovereign's DNA Test Results

[one_third] AFRICA (86%)

• Nigeria - 57%


• Mali - 17%


• Southeastern Bantu - 3%


• Senegal - 3%


• South-Central Hunter-Gatherers - 3%


• Cameroon - 1%


• Benin - less than 1%


• Ghana - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third] EUROPE (13%)

• Britain - 6%


• Europe West - 5%


• Italy - less than 1%


• Iberian Peninsula - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third_last] PACIFIC ISLANDER (< 1%)

• Melanesia - less than 1%

[/one_third_last] [/infopane]

---

 

Cameroon/Congo

Primarily located in: Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Republic of Congo

Also found in: Angola, Chad

Because they lie near or on the equator, these nations typically include tropical rainforest and humid savanna. While the Congo takes its name from the old African kingdom of Kongo, Cameroon gets its name from the first Europeans to arrive in the area in 1472. Portuguese sailors found crayfish in the Wouri River and started calling the land the Rio dos Camarões, or River of Shrimp. Eventually, the word Camarões became Cameroon.

How Black Sovereign compares to the typical person native to the Cameroon/Congo region

[infopane color="1" icon="0101.png"]Black Sovereign : 1% ... ... ... Typical native : 92%[/infopane]

 

Genetic Diversity in the Cameroon/Congo Region

People living in the Cameroon/Congo region today are less admixed than people in most other regions, which means that when creating genetic ethnicity estimates for natives to this area, we sometimes see small similarities to DNA profiles from other nearby regions. We’ve found that approximately 92% of the typical Cameroon/Congo native’s DNA comes from this region.

Examples of people native to the Cameroon/Congo region

 

We’ve used our reference panel to build a genetic profile for the Cameroon/Congo region. The blue chart above shows examples of ethnicity estimates for people native to the region. For Cameroon/Congo we see a fairly narrow range: for most people native to the area, between 83% and 100% of their DNA looks similar to the profile. However, we also found people with as little as 45% of their DNA coming from the region. The other regions most commonly found are the neighboring Nigeria and Africa Southeastern Bantu regions. About 21% of people from the Cameroon/Congo region have at least some DNA from these regions. (See green chart above.)

Population History

The Congo River Basin has been home to human populations for at least 30,000 years. The first settlers in Cameroon were probably the Baka, groups of Pygmy hunter-gatherers who still inhabit the forests of the south and east, as well as neighboring Gabon and the two Congos. This small group (some 40,000) is actually more closely related to groups found in the deserts of the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region.

Two Baka men in the dense forests of Cameroon

Baka Pygmy collecting honey in the rainforest, Cameroon

In north-central Cameroon, a high range of rugged mountains stretches across the country from west to east. To the far south and east, in the vast Congo River Basin, the environment consists of dense rainforest and wide waterways. These features have created a degree of isolation and served as a barrier to frequent or large-scale migrations or conquests.

Although the Cameroon/Congo region is incredibly diverse, with more than 200 different ethnic groups, our genetic profile for the region is primarily represented by samples from the Cameroon Grasslands, where the largest populations are subgroups of the Bamileke and Bamum peoples. These tribes’ origins are not known, but it appears that in the 17th century, they moved south into Cameroon in a series of migrations to avoid enslavement—and, in some cases, forced conversion to Islam—by the Fulani peoples. Cameroon’s west and northwest provinces are the country’s most densely populated regions. The populous Bamileke tend to be Christian and live in small fons, or chiefdoms, in highly organized villages led by local chiefs. The less populous Bamum tend to be Muslim and have a more centralized social structure under a high king.

Bamileke dancers in Batié, West Province, Cameroon. Photo by Anya Lothrop.

Besides the Grasslands tribes, a smaller number of people live in the southern and central regions of Cameroon and in Congo-Brazzaville (Republic of Congo) and Congo-Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo). However, many of the ethnic groups found in the two Congos are of Bantu origin—meaning they share a common ancestral language and an ancestral homeland on the western border of modern Cameroon and Nigeria. The Bantu peoples began migrating from Cameroon in about 1000 B.C. Some went east across Africa and then south; some settled the Congo River Basin; and some went south along the coast to Angola. These Bantu groups have a genetic ethnicity better represented by the Southeastern Bantu region profile.

Bantu Cradle

The slave trade

The international slave trade in this region began with the Portuguese on Cameroon’s west coast, though it became the practice of many European countries. The threat of malaria prevented any significant settlement or conquest of the interior prior to the 1870s—when an effective malaria drug (quinine) became available. So the Europeans initially focused on coastal trade and acquiring slaves. Most slaves were captured by African middlemen from the interior and taken to port cities to be sold, and the flow of human traffic from many ethnic groups was constant. Around 1.5 million slaves left Africa from this region of Cameroon; combined, nearly half of all slaves destined to work in the Western Hemisphere came from Cameroon and the Congo River Basin. Many slaves from the coastal regions of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea ended up in Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina.

Slaves being transported, 19th-century engraving

The 19th and 20th centuries

Cameroon escaped colonial rule until 1884, when treaties with tribal chiefs brought the area under German domination. After World War I, the League of Nations gave the French a mandate over 80% of the area and the British control of the remaining 20% (the area adjacent to Nigeria). After World War II the country came under a United Nations trusteeship and self-government was granted. Independence was achieved in 1960 for French Cameroon and in 1961 for British Cameroon.

Note that genetic ethnicity estimates are based on individuals living in this region today. While a prediction of genetic ethnicity from this region suggests a connection to the groups occupying this location, it is not conclusive evidence of membership to any particular tribe or ethnic group.

Did You Know?

DNA indicates that John Punch, the first African man documented to have been enslaved for life in the early American Colonies, likely came from the Cameroon region.

My History | SC Hunter Gatherers Ancestry

[infopane color="6" icon="0182.png"] My History explores recent DNA revelations concerning Black Sovereign's genetic past.

Black Sovereign's DNA Test Results

[one_third] AFRICA (86%)

• Nigeria - 57%


• Mali - 17%


• Southeastern Bantu - 3%


• Senegal - 3%


• South-Central Hunter-Gatherers - 3%


• Cameroon - 1%


• Benin - less than 1%


• Ghana - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third] EUROPE (13%)

• Britain - 6%


• Europe West - 5%


• Italy - less than 1%


• Iberian Peninsula - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third_last] PACIFIC ISLANDER (< 1%)

• Melanesia - less than 1%

[/one_third_last] [/infopane]

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Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers

Primarily located in: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Congo

Also found in: Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya

The Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region is made up of ancient hunter-gatherer and pastoral groups who, though small in number and physical height, are considered the wellspring of human populations around the world. Increasingly, southern African Khoe-San groups and Central Africa’s Mbuti and Baka (Pygmy) groups are drawing the attention of scholars and researchers for their genetic diversity, ancient origins and unique cultural traditions.

How Black Sovereign compares to the typical person native to the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region

[infopane color="1" icon="0101.png"]Black Sovereign : 3% ... ... ... Typical native : 86%[/infopane]

 

Genetic Diversity in the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers Region

Individuals from the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region are admixed, which means that when creating genetic ethnicity estimates for people native to this area, we frequently see similarities to DNA profiles from other nearby regions. We’ve found that approximately 86% of the typical South-Central Hunter-Gatherer’s DNA comes from this region.

Examples of people native to the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region

 

We have used our reference panel to build a genetic profile for the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region. The blue chart above shows examples of ethnicity estimates for people native to this region. For this region we see a substantial range: for most natives to this area, between 74% and 100% of their DNA looks similar to the profile. However, for others, as little as 62% of their DNA comes from this region. The other region most commonly found is the neighboring Cameroon/Congo region. About 54% of people from the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region have at least some DNA from Cameroon/Congo. (See the green chart above.)

Population History

Geography as destiny

The Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region includes much of southern Africa (Namibia, Botswana and South Africa) and the heart of Central Africa (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or Congo-Kinshasa). Individuals with this genetic ethnicity may also be found in Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.

There are two geographic features important to understanding the peoples native to this region. First is the Kalahari Desert, the second-largest desert in the world, which spans a large part of five countries. Despite having no water source beyond seasonal rainfall, the Kalahari is home to a rich variety of plants and animals that have made life possible for the Khoe-San peoples spread across it. The second important feature is the Congo River Basin; the river drainage and massive rainforests provide a home to the Baka and Mbuti and other Pygmy groups.

Life in the Kalahari Desert and Congo forests was fraught with risks and dangers that could only be overcome by cooperation. Harmony in the group was the highest cultural goal for people native to these regions.

Kalahari Desert in Namibia

Village Ndobo on the shoreline of the Congo River

The Khoe-San

The southern portion of this region has been home to the nomadic Khoe-San peoples for thousands of years. The pastoral Khoe, or Khoi (“the people”), rely on herds of livestock for sustenance. The San people, often referred to as “Bushmen,” are hunter-gatherers who forage for plants, insects, roots, game and water. Both groups comprise many smaller groups and clans. Though distinct culturally and linguistically, the Khoe and San have a common genetic origin. The fact that the Khoe-San have among the highest levels of genetic diversity in the world has led researchers to believe that the Khoe-San are one of the world’s most ancient human populations.

A San tribesman in Namibia. Photo by Ian Beatty.

Though the Khoe tend to have hierarchical cultures based on livestock wealth, the San have no hierarchy, share all things and make all decisions by consensus, even if reaching agreement takes a long time. Both cultures are oral in nature—they have no written language—but have distinctive art forms and language. The Khoisan languages are known for their distinctive clicks; however, their languages are unrelated to nearby Bantu languages such as Zulu and Xhosa, which have adopted some Khoisan click consonants.

Because the Khoe-San groups have no written language, their history is based on archaeological findings, oral tradition and DNA studies. The great Bantu migrations from eastern Africa brought successful ironworking, animal husbandry and farming to southern Africa, creating fast-growing populations that displaced the Khoe-San peoples. From the 16th through the 18th centuries, Bantu groups pushed the Khoe-San farther south and west toward modern-day Botswana and South Africa, while Dutch and French settlers of the Cape region pressured Khoe groups to move farther north. Although they had been spread thinly across southern Africa for thousands of years, the Khoe-San population ultimately concentrated in the arid Kalahari and areas they occupy today.

The Baka and Mbuti

The rainforests of the Congo River Basin, especially those of the north and east, are home to Pygmy groups such as the Baka and Mbuti. They live in small, nomadic groups, eating fish, bushmeat and foraged fruits and plants. The Baka and Mbuti groups are also communal, egalitarian and make decisions by consensus.

Of the early history of the Baka and Mbuti and other Pygmy groups, even less is known than about the Khoe-San people’s history. The tropical rainforests tend to swallow up their artifacts and habitations, which are made of natural materials that decompose quickly. Archaeological evidence indicates that human populations have lived in the Congo River Basin for some 30,000 years. Genetic evidence points to all Pygmy populations coming from a common ancestral group about 3,000 years ago.

Portrait of a Baka man, 1879. Photo by Richard Buchta. Courtesy of Pitt Rivers Museum in southern Sudan.

Colonial and modern eras

Because of their small populations, isolation, nomadic lifestyle and the largely inaccessible and inhospitable areas they lived in, the Khoe-San and Baka and Mbuti people were less afflicted by the slave trade than other African populations. The Colonial Era, however, had numerous long-range effects. As the newcomers came into contact with the native peoples, they altered migration patterns, introduced Christianity, made certain lands off-limits and changed the hierarchies and relationships among tribes and clans. Ultimately, the nations that were formed in the aftermath of colonization continued to disenfranchise nomadic peoples, using their traditional lands for resources such as diamonds, gold, platinum and strategic minerals.

Note that genetic ethnicity estimates are based on individuals living in this region today. While a prediction of genetic ethnicity from this region suggests a connection to the groups occupying this location, it is not conclusive evidence of membership to any particular tribe or ethnic group.

Did You Know?

Many consider the San to be the best trackers in the world. In fact, scientists have recently recruited San trackers to help decipher prehistoric human footprints that have been preserved in caves.

A San hunter in the Kalahari Desert

My History | Senegal Ancestry

[infopane color="6" icon="0182.png"] My History explores recent DNA revelations concerning Black Sovereign's genetic past.

Black Sovereign's DNA Test Results

[one_third] AFRICA (86%)

• Nigeria - 57%


• Mali - 17%


• Southeastern Bantu - 3%


• Senegal - 3%


• South-Central Hunter-Gatherers - 3%


• Cameroon - 1%


• Benin - less than 1%


• Ghana - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third] EUROPE (13%)

• Britain - 6%


• Europe West - 5%


• Italy - less than 1%


• Iberian Peninsula - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third_last] PACIFIC ISLANDER (< 1%)

• Melanesia - less than 1%

[/one_third_last] [/infopane]

---

 

Senegal

Primarily located in: Senegal, the Gambia

Also found in: Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania

Africa’s westernmost nation, Senegal, lies about 1,000 miles above the equator and boasts miles of beaches along the Atlantic. It’s bordered by Mauritania, Mali, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau and almost completely encircles the Gambia. The country’s current population is just about evenly divided between urban and rural dwellers, with more than 2 million Senegalese now living in and around the capital city of Dakar. Senegal is widely known for its music, including mbalax (“rhythm” in Wolof, the working language of Senegal) and dazzling sabar drumming.

How Black Sovereign compares to the typical person native to the Senegal region

[infopane color="1" icon="0101.png"]Black Sovereign : 3% ... ... ... Typical native : 100%[/infopane]

 

Genetic Diversity in the Senegal Region

People living in the Senegal region are not very admixed, which means that when creating genetic ethnicity estimates for people native to this area, we don’t often see similarities to DNA profiles from other nearby regions. We’ve found that about 100% of the typical Senegal native’s DNA comes from this region.

We have used our reference panel to build a genetic profile for Senegal. The blue chart above shows examples of ethnicity estimates for people native to this region. For Senegal, we see a very narrow range. For most natives, between 80% and 100% of their DNA looks similar to the profile. However there are some exceptions, and we see some with as little as 52% of their DNA from this region. For those who show similarity to DNA profiles from neighboring regions, about 46% have at least some DNA from the Mali region. (See green chart above.)

Population History

Archeological findings indicate that the Senegal area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. For the last millennium at least, trade routes have helped shape the area. Trans-Saharan trade flowing to and from the interior of Africa helped establish and maintain the Ghana, Mali, and Wolof (or Jolof) Empires, each of which bordered or included portions of modern-day Senegal. Trade and conquest brought wealth, Islam and people into the region—and sometimes pushed people out.

Portuguese traders reached the estuary of the Senegal River in the mid-1400s. Over the next four centuries the direction of trade shifted. Instead of heading inland, toward the Sahara, it began to flow outward, toward the European traders on the Atlantic Coast. As colonial powers began to push farther inland themselves in the 19th century, they eventually brought an end to local kingdoms and actually furthered the spread of Islam, which became a way of uniting against the European invaders.

Slave raiding and trading were major sources of revenue for the region’s kings, and the island of Gorée (just a mile off the coast of Senegal, opposite Dakar) became the largest slave-trading center in Africa. Controlled at various times by the Portuguese, Dutch, English and French, the island served as a warehouse where, over a 200-year period, millions of slaves were taken from their homeland. The island, with its House of Slaves museum and memorial, is now a pilgrimage destination for the African diaspora from the slave trade.

House of Slaves on Gorée Island

View of Gorée Island off the coast of Senegal

The French took control of Senegal in the 19th century, while the Gambia became a British colony. Senegal gained independence in 1960; the Gambia, in 1965.

Migrations and ethnic groups in the Senegal region

Senegal’s current population is believed to be a mixture of peoples who moved into the region from the north and the east. Despite its relatively small size, the area is home to several ethnic groups. Today, the predominant population groups are the Wolof (43%), the Fula (23%) and the Serer (14%). Others include the Jola and the Mandinka.

Wolof

Many believe the Wolof (or Jolof) people migrated into Senegal from the northeast sometime around the 11th century. By 1350, they had established their own empire, a federation of several Wolof kingdoms, or states. The Wolof Empire came to an end when the French took control of the interior during the 19th century. Most Wolof identify themselves as Muslim. Their culture once had a three-tiered caste system—freeborn, of slave descent, and artisans—though this has broken down somewhat in recent times. The Wolof language has become the lingua franca of Senegal.

Fula

Historically, the Fula (Fulani, Fulbe, Peul) were a nomadic people known for keeping cattle. Some evidence suggests that their presence in West Africa goes back centuries, possibly including North African and Middle Eastern ancestry. They spread outward from Senegal, through western and central Africa and east to the Sudan. They are also strongly linked to Islam, and some Fulani led jihads in West Africa as late as the 19th century. In modern Senegal, they primarily live in the Fouta Toro area, in the northeastern part of the country; and near Casamance, south of the Gambia.

Wolof in war costume

Serer

Some scholars believe that the Serer people have the oldest roots in the region, and Serer oral traditions claim their original ancestors came from the Upper Nile area. The Serer people resisted Islam for centuries, and some still practice their traditional religion of Fat Rog (or Fat Roog). Many also speak one of the Serer languages, and most occupy the west-central part of modern Senegal. Although the Serer are a minority in the country, Senegal’s first and second presidents were Serers. Senegalese wrestling also has roots in Serer forms of wrestling, which was once used to train warriors for combat.

Senegalese wrestling. Photo by Pierre-Yves Beaudouin

Mandinka

The Mandinka are a minority population in Senegal, but a significant one because of their experience with the slave trade. The Mandinka group is a branch of the Mandé peoples, who came south into the areas of Senegal and Mali and were instrumental in founding the Ghana and Mali Empires. During the slave trade era, up to one third of the Mandinka people were enslaved and shipped to the New World. (Mandinka make up more than 40% of the population in neighboring Gambia.)

Note that genetic ethnicity estimates are based on individuals living in this region today. While a prediction of genetic ethnicity from this region suggests a connection to the groups occupying this location, it is not conclusive evidence of membership to any particular tribe or ethnic group.

Did You Know?

Senegal’s famous sabar drums, played with one hand and one stick, were once used to communicate among villages and could be heard for miles.

Two sabar drums from Senegal. Photo by Michael Brouwer.

My History | SE Bantu Ancestry

[infopane color="6" icon="0182.png"] My History explores recent DNA revelations concerning Black Sovereign's genetic past.

Black Sovereign's DNA Test Results

[one_third] AFRICA (86%)

• Nigeria - 57%


• Mali - 17%


• Southeastern Bantu - 3%


• Senegal - 3%


• South-Central Hunter-Gatherers - 3%


• Cameroon - 1%


• Benin - less than 1%


• Ghana - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third] EUROPE (13%)

• Britain - 6%


• Europe West - 5%


• Italy - less than 1%


• Iberian Peninsula - less than 1%

[/one_third][one_third_last] PACIFIC ISLANDER (< 1%)

• Melanesia - less than 1%

[/one_third_last] [/infopane]

---

 

Africa Southeastern Bantu

Primarily located in: South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda

Also found in: Nigeria, Congo

Extending through the heart of Africa, the vast region now inhabited by the Bantu was the stage for one of the greatest migrations in human history. In time, that migration would become the seedbed for a broad family of related ethnic groups and languages that would wield enormous influence on the ancient and contemporary history of Africa: from kingdoms and trade networks to colonial independence movements and Nobel Prize-winning leaders.

How Black Sovereign compares to the typical person native to the Africa Southeastern Bantu region

[infopane color="1" icon="0101.png"]Black Sovereign : 3% ... ... ... Typical native : 72%[/infopane]

 

Genetic Diversity in the Africa Southeastern Bantu Region

Individuals from the Africa Southeastern Bantu region are admixed, which means that when creating genetic ethnicity estimates for people native to this area, we frequently see see similarities to DNA profiles from other regions. We’ve found that approximately 72% of the typical Southeastern Bantu region native’s DNA comes from this region.

Examples of people native to the Africa Southeastern Bantu region

From a collection of 18 people:

Other regions commonly seen in people native to the Africa Southeastern Bantu region

From a collection of 18 people:

We have used our reference panel to build a genetic profile for the Africa Southeastern Bantu region. The blue chart above shows examples of ethnicity estimates for people native to this region. For most natives, between 58% and 100% of their DNA looks similar to our profile. It’s also possible, however, to find people whose DNA shows very little similarity, some as little as 14%. For people with DNA from other regions, the most common is the neighboring Cameroon/Congo region—about 44% of people from the Africa Southeastern Bantu region have at least some DNA from Cameroon/Congo. In addition, about 39% of people from the Africa Southeastern Bantu region have some DNA from the Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers region. (See green chart above.)

Population History

Oddly, the Africa Southeastern Bantu region has its roots in West Africa, an area that includes Nigeria and Cameroon. In that area, perhaps 3,000 years ago, a group of Niger-Congo languages called Bantu (meaning “people”) had their origins. As West Africa’s population grew, members of the Bantu-speaking group migrated in two directions. Some went south along Africa's west coast. Others headed east across the continent, north of the Congo River and its dense forests—a formidable natural barrier. Then they turned south. These migrations spread the Bantu languages—and the population’s genes—over a wide swath of the continent.

The Africa Southeastern Bantu region is enormous, extending more than 2,500 miles north to south. It stretches from modern-day Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania in the north; encompasses Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in its center; and finally opens into Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Angola.

Not only is it large, but this region also exhibits almost unparalleled ethnic and linguistic diversity. The Bantu language group is among the world’s most diverse, comprising more than 500 languages. All of them, from Bemba to Zulu, share linguistic features (some 250 are mutually intelligible) that originate from a common ancestral language. All told, more than 240 million people speak a Bantu language, and many more use a Bantu tongue (such as Swahili) as a second or third language.

The Bantu migrations

The earliest Bantu people arose in modern-day Cameroon and Nigeria. A Neolithic people who farmed yams and oil palms (but not grains), they lived on the edges of forests where resources were richer and they could supplement their diet with bushmeat. No archaeological evidence of metallurgy appears in the region, but a stable and somewhat varied food supply led to population growth and expansion to the east and the south.

The Eastern Bantu acquired grains and learned how to grow them as they migrated east toward the Great Lakes region—modern-day Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. There they learned how to smelt iron and make a kind of steel. The combined assets of reliable tools and the addition of cereals to the simple farming and herding skills they had practiced in Cameroon and Nigeria gave rise to large communities. Growing populations—and the mobility that herding, farming and metal-smithing provided—kept Bantu groups moving south and, in some cases, back west toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Bantu Cradle

The Western Bantu are part of the same great swath of Bantu who inhabit eastern and southern Africa. They moved south from Cameroon along the west coast of Africa in the same time frame as the Eastern Bantu (beginning about 1000 B.C.), ending up in what we know today as Angola and Namibia. As some groups moved deeper into central Africa’s rainforests and riverine environments, they added fishing to their skills.

Bantu kingdoms

A 19th-century illustration of a traditional village of Zulus, a Bantu group in southern Africa.

Bantu communities flourished and became powerful over time as people began to specialize in trades, engage in commerce with Arabs and other merchants, and develop standing armies. Chiefdoms turned into kingdoms as power was centralized among clans and other groups. The Baganda state in the Great Lakes region became so powerful by 1000 A.D. that, some 900 years later when the British took control of Uganda, they made the Baganda their colonial administrators and overlords of smaller kingdoms in the area.

To the south lay the Great Zimbabwe civilization, with its fortress architecture and wide reach, formed by early Shona settlers. The Shona were another Bantu group whose successful use of resources and strong organization displaced the hunter-gatherer Bushmen tribes. Great Zimbabwe was dominant for about 1,000 years, from 500 to 1500 A.D. Even farther south, Zulu clans consolidated into a kingdom under the military leadership of Shaka and his successors, battling the Afrikaners and holding the British at bay for a time during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879.

Many of the kingdoms along Africa’s east coast or with river access developed sophisticated networks of trade with Portuguese, Arab and Indian traders. Landlocked kingdoms exchanged goods with other African kingdoms and groups, many of which had embassies and ambassadors to facilitate military alliances and trade relationships.

Ruins of the Great Zimbabwe civilization

The Defence of Rorke's Drift 1879 by Alphonse de Neuville. The Battle of Rorke's Drift took place during the Anglo-Zulu War.

European colonization

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Bantu kingdoms that spanned eastern and southern Africa fell to relentless European colonization backed by armies, money and the technology to exploit African resources. Britain controlled the largest chunks of the Southeastern Bantu region, including South Africa, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar. Britain tried to exploit divisions between groups and manipulate existing native administrations as part of a policy called “indirect rule.”

Portugal, Germany and Belgium had much more centralized colonial administrations. Portugal colonized Mozambique and Angola. Germany claimed German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania, minus Zanzibar), German West Africa (Namibia), Rwanda and Burundi. Belgium claimed the Congo and, after 1916, Rwanda and Burundi.

African independence movements

After a long period of resistance to the colonial regimes, a wave of independence movements swept Africa in the 1960s and ’70s. Freedom, along with new roads, trains and planes, improved the mobility of many Africans and connected them to the world. As a result of post-colonial trade and cultural relationships, many African communities have been established in European cities. With those emigrations came the spread of Bantu genes far beyond Africa’s borders.

The region today

The countries in the Southeast Bantu region are culturally vibrant, highly diverse, resource-rich and hungry for opportunity. However, Africa’s progress is curbed by struggles with poverty, war, corruption, political and ethnic strife, disease, indebtedness, limited access to education and medical care, and undiversified economies driven by subsistence or cash crops.

Yet there are bright spots. Uganda managed to turn around one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates through education. South Africa is a country with modern banking, transportation and manufacturing sectors that can build nearly everything it needs. Namibia has remained a peaceful multiparty democracy since its independence from South Africa in 1990. Angola and Mozambique, not many years free from brutal civil wars, have economies growing at double-digit rates.

Cape Town, South Africa

The Southeastern Bantu region shares a genetic thread spanning thousands of miles and several thousand years. Part of that genetic inheritance, as the region’s history shows, is a deep resilience.

Note that genetic ethnicity estimates are based on individuals living in this region today. While a prediction of genetic ethnicity from this region suggests a connection to the groups occupying this location, it is not conclusive evidence of membership to any particular tribe or ethnic group.

Did You Know?

During the transatlantic slave trade, more than 1 million slaves were sent from Angola to the New World.

Random Reflections | Never give up your pursuit

My History | Malian Ancestry

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My History explores recent DNA revelations concerning Black Sovereign's genetic past.

Black Sovereign's DNA Test Results

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AFRICA (86%)

• Nigeria - 57%


• Mali - 17%


• Southeastern Bantu - 3%


• Senegal - 3%


• South-Central Hunter-Gatherers - 3%


• Cameroon - 1%


• Benin - less than 1%


• Ghana - less than 1%

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EUROPE (13%)

• Britain - 6%


• Europe West - 5%


• Italy - less than 1%


• Iberian Peninsula - less than 1%

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PACIFIC ISLANDER (< 1%)

• Melanesia - less than 1%

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Mali

Primarily located in: Mali, Guinea

Also found in: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal

Mali’s modern boundaries were drawn in 1890, when French Sudan was created, and united two very different regions: the Sudanian savannas in the south and the Sahara Desert to the north. These manmade borders make modern Mali a multi-ethnic country of diverse peoples as well, but geography has always played a key role in Mali’s history and people. The savannas at the edge of the desert made the area a natural locus for trans-Saharan trade, which connected western Africa with Europe and Asia in precolonial times. For centuries, Mali was a fabled land of gold, scholarship and empires.

How Black Sovereign compares to the typical person native to the Mali region

[infopane color="1" icon="0101.png"]Black Sovereign : 17% ... ... ... Typical native : 39%[/infopane]

Genetic Diversity in the Mali Region

People living in the Mali region are quite admixed, which means that when creating genetic ethnicity estimates for people native to this area, we frequently see similarities to DNA profiles from other nearby regions. In fact, we’ve found that only approximately 39% of the typical Mali native’s DNA comes from the Mali region.

Examples of people native to the Mali region

From a collection of 16 people:

Other regions commonly seen in people native to the Mali region

From a collection of 16 people:

We have used our reference panel to build a genetic profile for the Mali region. The blue chart above shows examples of ethnicity estimates for people native to the area. For this region we see a very wide range: for natives of the region, anywhere from 14% to 100% of their DNA may look similar to the profile. It is unclear whether this wide range should be attributed to the sample size tested or to normal genetic diversity in the area. The typical person native to this area displays an ethnicity estimate of only 39%, which means 61% of his or her DNA is more similar to other regions, such as the neighboring Ivory Coast/Ghana and Senegal regions. About 69% of people from the Mali region have at least some DNA similar to profiles from these two regions. (See green chart above.)

Population History

A land of empires

Historically, parts of Mali fell within three great West African empires: the Ghana, the Mali, and the Songhai.

Ghana Empire

The modern country of Ghana (which actually lies miles to the southeast of modern-day Mali) takes its name from the ancient empire of Ghana. Founded by the Soninke people, the Ghana Empire lay between the Senegal and Niger rivers and dominated trans-Saharan trade from about 700 to 1100 A.D. Ghana was rich in gold, and gold, salt, ivory and slaves all moved along the trade routes. Ghana also amassed wealth by taxing commodities that passed through its territory. Muslim traders from North Africa introduced Islam to the region, and today, more than 90% of Malians identify themselves as Muslim.

Mali Empire

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After Ghana’s decline, the Mali Empire, founded by Sundiata Keita in about 1230 A.D., rose to take its place. Like Ghana, Mali had gold mines, and the empire’s wealth also came from trade, which included gold, salt and agricultural products from the fertile lands around the upper Niger River. Islam’s influence grew as the empire’s royalty adopted the religion, and at its height, the Mali Empire was a center of Muslim scholarship, with a famous university at Timbuktu.

Arab writers told of Mali’s fabulous wealth, and Mali began to appear on European maps in the 14th century.
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Sundiata Keita

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Songhai Empire

The Mali Empire was supplanted by the Songhai (or Songhay) Empire in the 15th century after the Songhai people rebelled against Mali. Led by Sonni Ali, who came to power in roughly 1464, the Songhai began expanding their holdings, taking Timbuktu, Gao and Jenne (or Djenne). By about 1530 the Songhai Empire had become the largest empire in West Africa and ruled an area larger than Europe. Like the empires before them, their strength and wealth lay in gold and trans-Saharan trade.

After the Empires

As empires expanded and contracted, conquest and trade resulted in migrations to and from regions throughout western Africa. With the dissolution of the Ghana Empire, Soninke people dispersed through what is now Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Traders from Mali extended their reach south into the areas of modern-day Ghana and Ivory Coast. As the Songhai Empire collapsed, and as trade shifted toward the Atlantic Coast, many migrated in that direction.

The Mali Empire was originally founded and ruled by kings from the Malinké, or Mandinka, people, a branch of the Mandé ethnic group. Later, between 1500 and 1900 during the height of the slave trade, up to one-third of the Mandinka were enslaved and shipped to the New World. As a result, many African Americans in the United States are descended from Mandinka ancestors.

Ethnic groups of modern Mali

Half of Mali’s population today belongs to the Mandé ethnic group—comprising the Bambara, Malinké and Soninke. The Fula (Fulani, Fulbe, Peul) account for 17% of Mali’s modern population. Historically, the Fula were nomads, known for keeping cattle. Some evidence suggests their presence in West Africa goes back centuries and possibly includes North African and Middle Eastern ancestry. They are also strongly linked to Islam, and some Fulani led jihads in West Africa as late as the 19th century.

Voltaic ethnic groups, named for the Volta River Basin, account for another 12% of Mali’s population. Another important group is the Tauregs, a Berber people who live primarily in the north and have traditionally been nomadic herders. (“Berber” is the name given to the indigenous people of North Africa.)

While each group has its own language, most Malians can speak a dialect of Bambara.

Modern people of Mali, courtesy of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation

 

Note that genetic ethnicity estimates are based on individuals living in this region today. While a prediction of genetic ethnicity from this region suggests a connection to the groups occupying this location, it is not conclusive evidence of membership to any particular tribe or ethnic group.

 

Did You Know?

During his epic hajj (1324–1325), Mali emperor Mansa Kankan Musa I spent so lavishly on his way to Mecca that the worth of gold in Cairo dropped and didn’t regain its value for several years.

Depiction of Mansa Musa from the 1375 Catalan Atlas, drawn by Abraham Cresques