The History of Indigenous African Religions

Just like large-scale world religions, religions in sub-Saharan Africa have developed historically and accommodated cultural changes. Individual African religious traditions have unique histories that would be impossible to explore fully in a single chapter. The task is made more difficult because, in many parts of Africa, there are few surviving written records documenting the histories of these religions before the modern period. However, we can identify some key events, people, and places that tell us something about African religions in the premodern period.