History of Nigeria city-states. A state council (the "Oyo Mesi") named the "Alaafin" (king) and acted as a check on his authority. Their capital city was situated about 100 km north of present-day Oyo. Unlike the forest-bound Yoruba kingdoms, Oyo was in the savanna and drew its military strength from its cavalry forces, which established hegemony over the adjacent Nupe and the Borgu kingdoms and thereby developed trade routes farther to the north. The Benin Empire (1440–1897; called "Bini" by locals) was a pre-colonial African state in what is now modern Nigeria. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin,
Army of the Ethiopian Empire region. A recent convert to Judaism, he had become a client of the Sassanian Persians, avowed enemies of the Western Roman Empire. appealed for the Ethiopian Emperor. Ethiopian Imperial Army existed in one form or another since the founding of the Ethiopian Empire in the 13th century. During the First Italo–Ethiopian War, the Army of the Ethiopian Empire was able to defeat the army of the Kingdom of Italy at the battle of Adwa. During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Army of the Ethiopian Empire consisted of the Imperial Bodyguard, a central army, and several armies of provincial forces. The