Warrior and Rain Queens

When I decided to create the African Queens series, I began with two areas that I knew: Egypt and Nubia. I knew of one Nubian kandake and a handful of Egyptian queens. I like that advice. Start with what you know.

Researching Nubia led me down a research rabbit hole that led to gathering names and information for the Queens of Ethiopia which actually led to me towards information for a few extra queens in Africa. Amina was one. Nzinga was another. But what was the connection between these two women that could be packaged together into a resource for teachers?

They were both warrior queens.

Amina was a Hausa Mulsim who lived in the city-state of Zazzau in Nigeria. She was the actual ruler not just married to the king and she fought fiercely to expand the borders of her kingdom. She may also be mythological.

Nzinga was the queen of Ndongo and Matamba. She fought colonialism and also engaged in the slave trade but she definitely held off the European influence in her kingdom at least during her lifetime.

Both women are shrouded in sexist writings by male historians throughout the centuries which leads to the widely held belief that both women were violent and uncontrollable. This is definitely one of the reasons why these women are left out of history books and students never learn about them.

The Rain Queens was an unexpected surprise when I was learning about queens in Africa. I included a brief history of this role as well.

This TpT resource is a print-and-go resource. All you have to do is print the workbook (readings and summaries) and hand them out. By doing so, you are engaged in learning about the history of Africa (something most classrooms do not spend time on) while learning about female rulers in history.

Stop perpetuating the myth that women weren’t important. Women are just left out of the history textbooks provided by publishers. A male-only approach has been the way for too long. Add more women to your history classes.

Blogs about the series