Some San in the northern parts of present-day Botswana acquire fat-tailed sheep and
long-horned cattle in approximately 500 BCE, perhaps through trade with people from
the north and the east, and became pastoralists.

Their descendants, called "Hottentots" by early Dutch settlers, are now more accurately termed Khoikhoi, "men of men," or Khoi, in their own language.

Europeans often considered San and Khoikhoi distinct races culturally and physically, but scholars now believe they are essentially the same people, distinguished only by their occupations.

Differences in size—Khoikhoi are generally taller than San—are now attributed to the greater protein intake of pastoralists.

Moreover, occupational status can often change in an individual's lifetime: San hunter-gatherers
who find a particularly well-watered and fertile area might well acquire livestock through trade, settle down, and become relatively sedentary Khoikhoi pastoralists; pastoralists in times of drought or other ecological disaster might turn to hunting and gathering to survive.

Khoikhoi have settled in the fertile and well-watered southern Cape along the coast between the Orange River and the Great Fish River.

Khoikhoi, with the greater and more regular supplies of food that they derive from their herds, live
in larger settlements than those of the San, often numbering several hundred people in a single community.

Still, as pastoralists, Khoikhoi move with the seasons among coasts, valleys, and mountains in search of pastureland.

Such movement contributes to the fissiparous nature of Khoikhoi society, in which groups of people, usually in patrilineally related clans, periodically break away and form their own communities. The
larger size of Khoikhoi communities as compared with those of the San does, however, lead to the development of more hierarchical political structures.

A Khoikhoi group is generally presided over by a khoeque (rich man). The khoeque is not an autocrat, but rather can only exercise power in consultation with other male elders.

Bantu-speaking Africans, whose descendants make up the overwhelming majority of the present-day inhabitants of South Africa, had moved south of the Limpopo River by about fifteen hundred
years ago.

Farmers who combine knowledge of cattle-keeping and slash-and-burn (swidden) cultivation with expertise in metal-working, the Bantu speakers come from West Central Africa north of the Congo River near present-day Cameroon.

Historians and archaeologists now argue that this movement took place not in any single great migration but rather in a slow southward shift of people throughout sub-Saharan Africa that resulted from the gradual drying up of the Sahara beginning about eight thousand years ago.

The southward movement involved not the conquering hordes previously imagined but rather a moving frontier of farmers seeking new fields and pastures who interact with pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, sometimes trading, sometimes incorporating people in client relationships, sometimes fighting for access to the same crucial resources.

The Bantu-speaking farmers settle throughout southern Africa east of the 400-millimeter rainfall line and as far as the southwestern limits of cropping along the Great Kei River.

The farmers choose to minimize risks rather than to maximize production in their use of the environment.

They keep large herds of cattle and invest these animals with great material and symbolic value.

Cattle provide a means to acquire and to display considerable wealth, and they are used for significant social and political transactions, such as bridewealth compensation (lobola) and tribute demands.

Cattle are also valued for their milk and for their hides, but they are seldom killed for their meat except on ceremonial occasions.

Hunting of game continues to provide a major source of protein, while additional supplies come from domesticated goats and sheep.

Bantu speakers also cultivate a range of indigenous crops, including millet, sorghum, beans, and melons along with other grains and vegetables.

Those close to the sea fish and collect shellfish.

By utilizing such a great range of food sources, the farmers spread their risks in a difficult ecological system constantly subject to drought, disease, and crop failure.

The Bantu speakers' accumulation of large herds and the cultivation of extensive fields produces greater concentrations of population and considerably more stratification among them than among their San and Khoikhoi neighbors.

Archaeologists have found evidence of settlements established more than fourteen hundred years ago comprising several thousand people each.

Toutswe, in eastern Botswana, consists of a series of communities built on large flat-topped hills with fields cultivated below and cattle pastured locally.

The residents smelt iron and engage in extensive trade with people as far east as the Indian
Ocean.

Tropical West Southern Africa (820 – 963 CE): Wetland Abundance and Desert Fringe Adaptations

Geographic and Environmental Context

Tropical West Southern Africa includes far-northern Botswana and Namibia — the Caprivi Strip, the Okavango Delta, the Etosha Pan, and the Skeleton Coast.

• Anchors: the Okavango inland delta, the Zambezi–Caprivi wetlands, the Etosha Pan basin, and the Namib’s Skeleton Coast.

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• During the Medieval Warm Period, rainfall was relatively stable.

• The Okavango Delta flourished as a wetland ecosystem supporting rich fisheries and fertile floodplain soils.

• The Caprivi Strip sustained grasslands for cattle and mixed farming.

• The Etosha Pan alternated between shallow lakes and saline flats, with grazing cycles around its margins.

• The Skeleton Coast remained arid, used seasonally for marine resources and salt collection.

Societies and Political Developments

• Bantu-speaking communities farmed millet and sorghum in the Caprivi wetlands and herded cattle along savanna margins.

• San hunter–gatherers thrived in drier Etosha and Skeleton Coast zones, specializing in mobility and hunting.

• Interaction zones developed between foragers and farmers, with exchange of hides, salt, and iron.

Economy and Trade

• Okavango–Caprivi corridor: surpluses of millet, sorghum, and cattle.

• Etosha Pan: seasonal salt and grazing grounds.

• Skeleton Coast: small-scale marine harvesting of seals, fish, and shellfish.

• Regional trade linked ivory and copper southward into inland exchange networks.

Belief and Symbolism

• Rainmaking rituals central to farming communities in Caprivi and Okavango.

• San spiritual cosmologies tied to trance dances, animal spirits, and sacred waterholes.

Long-Term Significance

By 963, Tropical West Southern Africa was a landscape of wetland farming, cattle herding, and forager mobility, with Okavango and Etosha as ecological anchors.

Large Bantu-speaking communities similar to the Toutswe settlement in what is today Botswana emerge at least a thousand years before the present just south of the Limpopo River where Bambandyanalo, then Mapungubwe arise as significant early states (both situated at the intersection of the present-day borders of Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa).

Cultivating extensive fields and holding large numbers of cattle, the residents of these states also produce finely worked gold and copper ornaments, hunt for ivory, and engage in extensive long-distance trade.

They are generally presided over by chiefs who hold considerable—although never total—power; elders always have to be consulted about major decisions.

Compared with the smaller-scale communities of San and Khoikhoi, the Bantu-speaking societies are marked by greater degrees of stratification: of old over young, men over women, rich over poor, and chiefs over commoners.

Bantu-speaking peoples begin to move into the region of present South Africa from the northeast in about 1000, gradually displacing the San and Khoikhoi hunters and gatherers.

There are significant differences between the settlement patterns and the degree of political centralization established by Bantu speakers who settle inland and by those who live closer to the coast.

The inland Bantu speakers, termed Sotho-Tswana on the basis of their dialects, concentrate in greater numbers around water sources and trading towns.

Middle Africa (1252–1395 CE): Dynastic Turmoil, Bilala Incursions, and the Emergence of Borno

Between 1252 and 1395 CE, Middle Africa—encompassing modern Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Congo, and Angola including its Cabinda enclave—experiences intense dynastic turmoil, devastating external incursions, and significant political realignments focused primarily on the Kanem Empire.

Dynastic Instability and Internal Strife in Kanem

Following the zenith under Mai Dunama Dabbalemi (ca. 1221–1259), the Kanem Empire falls into prolonged instability and internal conflict. The previously established practice of granting military commanders governance over conquered peoples increasingly evolves from merit-based positions to hereditary titles. This shift weakens central authority and fosters deep internal divisions, exacerbating rivalries within the ruling Sayfawa Dynasty. Following Dabbalemi’s death, dynastic feuds escalate into widespread civil war, fracturing Kanem and severely diminishing its imperial cohesion.

Bilala Incursions and the Shift to Borno

Towards the latter half of the 14th century, Kanem faces intense pressure from external forces. The Bilala, originating east near Lake Fitri, conduct repeated raids and invasions. Between 1376 and 1400, they prove particularly devastating, killing five of the six reigning mais during this period. These relentless assaults and ongoing dynastic conflicts culminate around 1380, when Mai Umar Idrismi is compelled to abandon Njimi, Kanem’s capital.

In a dramatic geographic and political shift, Idrismi and the Kanembu people relocate westward to Borno, establishing themselves on the western fringes of Lake Chad. This migration significantly reshapes regional demographics, with the intermarriage between Kanembu settlers and local inhabitants giving rise to a new ethnic and linguistic group—the Kanuri.

Persistent Instability in Early Borno

The establishment of the Kanuri in Borno does not immediately resolve the dynasty’s instability. The Sayfawa Dynasty remains plagued by internal power struggles, demonstrated by rapid leadership turnovers throughout the remainder of the 14th century. The continuous internal feuds hamper any effective consolidation or administration, leaving the region politically fragmented and vulnerable.

Southern Shifts and Bantu Expansions

While northern political upheavals dominate this period, southern Middle Africa witnesses ongoing demographic shifts due to the continuing Bantu migrations. Indigenous Khoisan peoples, comprising the hunter-gatherer San and pastoral Khoi, are increasingly displaced into the less fertile and less accessible territories of present-day Angola and the broader southwestern region. These movements reshape the region’s cultural and ethnic landscapes profoundly, influencing interactions and sociopolitical developments for generations to come.

This era thus marks a critical transitional phase in Middle Africa’s history, characterized by shifting political centers, dynastic instability, external pressures, and transformative migrations that significantly shape the future cultural and political trajectory of the region.