British Cape Colony

State · 1796–1884 CE · at its largest around 1877 CE

The British colony at the southern tip of Africa, taken from the Dutch and centred on Cape Town, which later became part of the Union of South Africa.

On its lands while it lasted

Kingdom of Kongo (c. 1390–1914 CE): Central African kingdom with its capital at Mbanza Kongo; after Portuguese contact in 1483 its rulers adopted Christianity, and it later became deeply entangled in the Atlantic slave trade.
Slave trade, Angola to Brazil (c. 1550–1850 CE): The largest single branch of the Atlantic slave trade carried millions of captives from West Central Africa, above all Luanda, directly to Brazilian ports such as Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, until Brazil ended imports in 1850.
Kingdom of Dahomey (c. 1600–1904 CE): Fon kingdom centred on Abomey in present-day Benin, known for its female soldiers and its role in the Atlantic slave trade; conquered by France in 1894.
Oyo Empire (c. 1600–1836 CE): Yoruba state that rose to dominate much of present-day western Nigeria and Benin from the 17th century using cavalry, before collapsing in the 1830s.
Ashanti Empire (1701–1901 CE): Akan state founded by Osei Tutu with its capital at Kumasi, which grew wealthy on gold and trade and resisted British expansion in a series of wars.
Shaka (c. 1787 CE – 1828 CE): King who transformed the Zulu into a powerful military kingdom in the 1810s–1820s; assassinated by his half-brothers in 1828.
Sokoto Caliphate (1804–1903 CE): Islamic state founded after Usman dan Fodio's jihad against the Hausa kingdoms, one of the largest states in 19th-century Africa until British conquest in 1903.
Mfecane (c. 1815–1840 CE): Period of widespread warfare and population upheaval in southern Africa linked to the rise of the Zulu kingdom and other states.
Banjul (1816 CE): Capital of Republic of The Gambia (1967–today).
Founding of Liberia (1822 CE): The American Colonization Society began settling freed African Americans at Cape Mesurado (Monrovia) in 1822; Liberia declared independence in 1847.
Monrovia (1822 CE): Capital of Republic of Liberia (1848–today).
Malabo (1827 CE): Capital of Guinea (1968–today), Equatorial Guinea (1969–today).
Abuja (1828 CE): Capital of Federal Republic of Nigeria (1991–today).
Samori Ture (c. 1828 CE – 1900 CE): Founder of the Wassoulou Empire in West Africa who resisted French colonial conquest for nearly two decades before his capture in 1898.
Scramble for Africa (1881–1914 CE): Invasion, occupation and partition of almost all of Africa by European powers between the 1880s and 1914, formalised in part at the Berlin Conference of 1884–85.