In African history, we have had historical rulers who did everything to benefit their kingdoms. In this article, we look at five powerful ancient African queens; some you know about and some you don’t.
Queen Makeda:
Queen Makeda was the Queen of Sheba, Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s 14th-century royal epic recognizes Makeda to have been a queen of incredible strength after surviving a battle with the serpent king Awre.
Makeda, one of the great African queens, became the Queen of Axum after emerging victorious in a battle with the serpent king Awre who had been troubling Axum.
She is famous for her story related to the biblical figure, King Solomon of Jerusalem. They had a son together and named him Menelik 1, meaning son of the wise. Menelik 1 became the first imperial ruler of Ethiopia and the first of the Aksûmite kings’ line, through which the lineage of the great East African and Nubian kings was established.
Queen Nefertiti:
An epitome of beauty, strength, and power, Queen Nefertiti was the Queen of Ancient Kemet, Egypt and one of the great African queens from ancient Egypt.
She was born in the town of Akhmim, a state located in modern-day Syria.
She married Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt from 1353 to 1336 B.C. They had six children, including the famous King Tutankhamun. She and the king were behind the expansion of the Egyptian nation. They also established the cult of Aten, the Egyptian culture, promoting the country’s language and artwork.
Queen Nefertiti was a woman of great power and authority.
Queen Moremi:
Queen Moremi, the infamous Queen of Ile-Ife Kingdom, Nigeria, was a courageous woman who contributed to the liberation of the Yoruba tribe from oppression.
She willingly surrendered to the invaders, married the enemy king, and seized the opportunity to discover the secrets of the group’s military strategy. She revealed that secret to the Ile-Ife people after she had managed to escape. She also helped to devise a plan that led to Ile-Ife’s resounding victory over the invaders.
Kandake Amanirenas:
Empress Candace or Kandake Amanirenas was a queen of the ancient African Kingdom of Kush who pushed back the rule of the Roman Empire in her Kingdom, a feat that very few men could boast of achieving.
She was regarded as one of the most dreaded war generals of her time. Historians said she was a fierce, tactical and uniting military leader. She was known to have excellent military commanding skills, which saw her become one of the strongest and most fierce female military tacticians.
Amina Mohamud:
Amina Mohamud, the Queen of Zaria Nigeria, was a Hausa warrior queen of the city-state Zazzau, presently in the North-West region of Nigeria. At a very young age, her grandfather discovered her leadership skills and, as a result, allowed her to attend state meetings.
Born into a royal family, she chose to embrace her military skills and became one of the greatest warriors in her Kingdom. She increased Zazzau’s borders and made the city a trade centre in the West African and Saharan regions through her wisdom and intelligent tactics.
The Queen was also the brains behind Hausaland’s fortified walls. She ruled for over three decades and, in that period, led her people to war and victory.
