Henry Ritmo, who lived in Africa, Quora
Since there are so many ways this question could be answered I decided to use pictures. Many of these would be shortly before or shortly after colonization began seeing as the camera was not invented until the late 19th century and colonization in most of Africa started within that period but they come the closest to capturing what pre-colonial Africa looked like.
ARCHITECTURE
Bamum architecture (present-day Cameroon)
Merina Kingdom (present day Madagascar)
Hausa architecture (present day Northern Nigeria and Niger)
Tunisia
Fulani architecture
Asante architecture (present day Ghana and Ivory Coast. Last picture has been colorized)
Igbo Ọdịnanị temples (majority of the Igbo people like most other African nations that did not already follow an Abrahamic religion were converted to Christianity during colonization and indigenous spirituality is now relegated mostly to pockets of rural areas)
Igbo architecture
Yoruba architecture
Mali architecture (first one is University of Timbuktu, one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Africa)
Nubian architecture
Burkina Faso architecture
Tripoli
Egypt
Buganda tomb (present day Uganda)
Somalia
Zanzibar
Kilwa
Musgum architecture
Ethiopian architecture
Senegal straw architecture
African towns and villages
Zulu architecture
Sudan
Marrakesh
Ndebele houses (South Africa)
Illustration of Edo architecture (the kingdom got burned down and looted during the British invasion of 1897)
Ruins of Edo after the expedition (present day Southern Nigeria)
PEOPLE and EVERYDAY LIFE
Sultan of Zanzibar’s children with guards
Colorized Bamum festival
Textile weavers
Crafts people
Hausa people
Emir of Kano
Currencies
Pipe smoking (an art that was enjoyed throughout the continent)
Moroccans
Mauritania people
Bamum people
Maasai people
Queen Ranavalona III (last monarch of Merina kingdom)
Yoruba monarchs (the Yoruba people being one of the largest West African ethnic groups were divided into several kingdoms, empires and polities. Each kingdom had their own leaders and structures of government but often cooperated with each other especially on external matters)
Yoruba People
Afro-Brazilian Yoruba woman (beginning in the early 19th century freed slaves from Brazil began to return to their homelands in present-day Benin Republic and South-West Nigeria, many of them being of Yoruba descent)
Igbo people
Igbo priestly figures (These figures such as the Dibias or the Osu served as diviners, teachers, healers and advisors of their communities. The roles were sometimes hereditary)
Illustration of Igbo burial chamber (the Igbo people had a custom of burying their high ranking figures in underground chambers dressed in their full regalia and surrounded by relevant material possessions from when they were alive)
Nubians
Tunisians
Bonny water festival
Merina kingdom people
Yoruba bride and groom on their wedding day
Kikuyu people
Herero woman
Metal workers
Farmers
People of the Swahili coast (some have been colorized)
Egyptian snake charmer
Tutsi people
Indigenous African medicine
Surgical tools of the Kisii people (Kenya)
Palm wine (this was/is the most popular alcoholic beverage across several African cultures)
Palm wine tappers
Oba Ovonramwen, king of Benin kingdom shortly after the invasion of Edo, the capital city. He was exiled soon after (late 1800s)
Queen of Benin
Asante goldweights
Xhosa people
Zulu people
Bamum ceremonial throne
Ethiopian Emperor Melenik II
Musical instruments
Mwanga II last monarch of Buganda
Eritreans
Sudanese people
Egyptians
Wolof woman
Writing systems
West African Griot (people whose job was to document and pass down historical information from one generation to the next. The stories were usually told through song)
Artifacts from one of West Africa’s ancient iron civilizations, the Nok culture which dates back to at least 1500 BC (discovered in present day Nigeria)
Somalis
Samori Toure (founder of the short lived Wassoulou empire before his capture and exile in 1898)
Two West African women holding an object that I can’t identify (if anyone knows what those objects are help me out in the comments. Edit: Kelechi Wachuku has pointed out in the comments that it is a musical instrument which was used by several African cultures. Igbo people call it ụbọ akwara and the French call it pluriarc)
Asante people
Illustration of Asante soldiers
Illustration of Egyptian soldiers
Illustration of Zulu soldier
Illustration of Ethiopian soldiers
Casablanca soldier (Morroco)
Malian horsemen
Market
Entertainers with their instruments
Efik ceremony
Ibibio woman
Building a thatched house
Akan king and subjects
Akan sacred place
Kongo people
Dahomey people
Fulani people
Mandinka family
Egyptians in the Nile
Kanuri women
Kente (worn by Akan people)
Akwete (worn by Igbo people)
Dahomey warriors
Women’s Hairstyles (Women across African cultures held their hair in high regard and some of the very elaborate ways it was styled reflected this)
ART
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