Who Ruled in Year X

African women in power · year lookup

Who ruled in 5 BCE?

1 documented African woman ruler in these records held office in 5 BCE.

5 BCE falls in the 1st century BCE. See this era on the timeline

Documented history In office this year

Amanishakheto

Ruling Kandake of Kush

late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE Kingdom of Kush Northeast Africa & the Nile Valley

A ruling Kandake attested by inscriptions and royal material from Meroë; the chronology and detailed political outline of her reign remain limited.
Sources
1. British Museum — Amanishakheto collection biography
2. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology — Meroe and Egypt

Before 5 BCE

Documented history Office ended about 5 years earlier

Amanirenas

Qore and Kandake of Kush

late 1st century BCE Kingdom of Kush Northeast Africa & the Nile Valley

A ruling Kandake associated with Kush’s war against Roman Egypt and the peace settlement that followed; the exact boundaries of her reign remain approximate.
Sources
1. British Museum — African kingdoms timeline
2. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology — Meroe and Egypt

After 5 BCE

Contested reconstruction Office began about 14 centuries later

Amina of Zazzau

Sarauniya of Zazzau in historical tradition

15th or 16th century Zazzau West Africa

Hausa chronicles and oral tradition remember Amina as a ruler and military leader of Zazzau, but surviving sources disagree over whether she belongs to the 15th or 16th century.
Sources
1. Ahmadu Bello University scholar — History and Folklore: Amina Sarauniyar Zazzau
2. AfricaBib — The Zazzau Tradition on Queen Amina: History or Myth?

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