The Portuguese in Africa, 1415–1600 | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

[The Portuguese] encountered urban centers in West Africa comparable to those back in Europe, governed by elaborate dynasties, organized around apprenticeship-based artistic guilds, and with agricultural systems capable of feeding their large populaces.

— Read at www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/agex/hd_agex.htm