The Arabs establish a garrison town at Kairouan, as a base for the conquest of northwest Africa

Carthage is captured from the Byzantines by the Arabs and is finally destroyed, though Tunis will later rise nearby

The African slave trade through the Sahara is so extensive that a new town, Zawila, is established as a trading station

The ancient kingdom of Ghana is the first to be established at the southern end of the Saharan trade routes

Muslim Arabs cross from north Africa into Spain and drive the Visigoths from Toledo

Islam reaches Shanga, off the east coast of Africa, with the building of a tiny wooden mosque

The Venetians, acquiring from Alexandria some bones believed to be those of St Mark, build St Mark's to house the valuable relic

During refurbishment of the mosque at Kairouan, in north Africa, a high fluted dome is added

Ahmad ibn Tulun, a Mameluke, seizes power in Egypt - establishing his own Tulunid dynasty

The Fatimids establish a new capital city on the Nile, calling it Al Kahira ('the victorious'), which becomes reduced to Cairo

The salt mines of the Sahara provide a staple commodity in the African caravan trade

A trading centre at Mapungubwe, on the Limpopo, evolves into a state ruled by a king in a zimbabwe

Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad

A Muslim dynasty is established at Kilwa, on the east African coast

Ife emerges as a powerful kingdom in the equatorial forest of the lower Niger

Berber tribesmen, the Almoravids, establish a base at Marrakech from which they conquer northwest Africa and move into Spain

Rival Berber tribesmen, the Almohads, evict the Almoravids from Marrakech and soon conquer the whole north African coast

Saladin deposes the Fatimid caliph and brings Egypt back to orthodoxy, acknowledging the rule of the Sunni caliph in Baghdad

In Cairo the Jewish philosoper Moses Maimonides writes, in Arabic, a much translated text with the endearing title Guide to the Perplexed

Terracotta heads and figures are buried in graves in the region of Djenné in modern Mali

St Francis of Assisi joins a crusading army in Egypt and attempts to convert the sultan Melek-el-Kamel and his followers to Christianity

A warlord, Sundiata, conquers Ghana and establishes the kingdom of Mali

The kingdom of Great Zimbabwe displaces Mapungubwe as the dominant Shona power in this region of southern Africa

The Yoruba people of Ife create extraordinary sculptures in brass

The last sultan of Saladin's dynasty is murdered by slaves in the palace guard, and Mameluke rule is reintroduced in Egypt