Editing Chad (section)

=== Early history ===
In the [[7th millennium BC]], ecological conditions in the northern half of Chadian territory favoured human settlement, and its population increased considerably. Some of the most important [[African archaeology|African archaeological]] sites are found in Chad, mainly in the [[Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region]]; some date to earlier than 2000 BC.<ref>[[#Decalo|Decalo]], pp. 44–45</ref><ref name="Collelo">S. Collelo, ''Chad''</ref>

[[File:Group of Kanem-Bu warriors.jpg|thumb|Group of Kanem-Bu warriors. The [[Kanem–Bornu Empire]] controlled almost all of what is today Chad|left]]

For more than 2,000 years, the Chadian Basin has been inhabited by agricultural and [[sedentism|sedentary]] people. The region became a crossroads of civilisations. The earliest of these was the legendary [[Sao civilisation|Sao]], known from artifacts and oral histories. The Sao fell to the [[Kanem Empire]],<ref name=Lange88>D. Lange 1988</ref><ref>[[#Decalo|Decalo]], p. 6</ref> the first and longest-lasting of the empires that developed in Chad's [[Sahel]]ian strip by the end of the 1st millennium AD. Two other states in the region, [[Sultanate of Bagirmi]] and [[Wadai Empire]], emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries. The power of Kanem and its successors was based on control of the [[trans-Saharan trade]] routes that passed through the region.<ref name="Collelo"/> These states, at least tacitly [[Islam in Africa|Muslim]], never extended their control to the southern grasslands except to raid for slaves.<ref>[[#Decalo|Decalo]], pp. 7–8</ref> In Kanem, about a third of the population were slaves.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 |title=Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=29 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131931/https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>