Season 7 Episode 2: Looking for Takrur

Explore the history of the Wolof Empire with us this season. In this episode we set the stage for what is to come by examining the geography and prehistory of Senegambia. From the evolution of its archaeological cultures to the famous Senegambian megaliths, let's encounter this f ... Show More

Kilwa is brought to its knees by one final foreign invasion, which leads the island into an irreversible decline and the eventual dissolution of the sultanate. 

The Portuguese have conquered Kilwa. Let's see how much pain their victory causes them in the long run. 

Divisions within the community only grew as the struggle between its two main parties persisted, almost pushing the goal of reuniting the umma out of the realm of possibility. This episode charts the evolution of this civil war, the disintegration of the norms islam had recently ... Show More

Synopsis:  In the 4th century AD, the Ethiopian kingdom of Axum converted to Christianity even as the neighboring Himyarites of Yemen converted to Judaism.  Centuries later, Axum’s invasion of Yemen to stop the persecution of Christians triggered a conflict with Persia. Map of ... Show More

Now that we’ve covered Haroon al Rashid’s foreign wars, we can get started with the messy conflicts which took place within the umma, and within his administration itself. The caliphate’s distant west slowly broke away during his reign, but his armies faced off and defeated vario ... Show More

With the Sassanian Empire defeated and the Byzantine Empire exhausted, there is a power vacuum in the centre of the world. Both of these superpowers have drained their resources fighting each other over the past 30 years, consuming many of the great cities of antiquity. To the so ... Show More

Yemen’s once flourishing fishing industry is now on the rocks as the country’s conflict has turned previously tranquil shores into a warzone. 

The second fitna revealed the unprecedented level of division within the umma, divisions which only grew as the civil conflict ground on for a decade. Under Abdulmalik’s leadership, the Umayyads managed to slowly grow their power until they found themselves in a position to chall ... Show More

This is the story of late antique Britain. How in the 3rd to 5th centuries, Britain went through two waves of economic dislocation and transformation, that changed the face of British society.For maps, resources, transcripts or to become a member, head for https://thehistoryofeng ... Show More

<p>Muslims spilled a lot of ink pondering what good government should look like, what a wise ruler should be like, and why it mattered for society. And this is the type of political intrigue that makes Baghdad, the city of Peace, into a place of civil war. The War of the Two Brot ... Show More

The Abbasid fall from grace was long and messy. It’s been a while since the dynasty produced a powerful caliph, the last one being the almighty restorer al Mu’tadid who reigned until the opening years of the 10th century. The subsequent decades saw a sustained and accelerating er ... Show More

John returns from his humiliating defeat at Bouvines to an unhappy kingdom. His barons have finally reached their limit, sick of John’s extortionate taxes, failed campaigns and vicious vendettas. They demand he changes his ways, or else it’s war. This is History is a Sony Musi ... Show More