Il y a 500 millions d'années
The primary era
The oldest traces of primitive life have been found in Ordovician and Devonian sandstones (periods of the Primary Era) in Borkou, Tibesti and Ennedi. They are therefore between 570 and 300 million years old. They are the footprints of the first organized forms of life on Earth.
The age of the dinosaurs
At the end of the secondary era, Chad was covered by immense lakes bordered by tropical forests that were home to the ancestors of conifers, cypresses and araucarias, with undergrowth of tree ferns. Numerous wood fossils have been found in the Pala region, dating from 65 to 95 million years ago. These are rootless trunks that did not grow there, but were probably carried by ancient watercourses. More recent petrified wood is also found in the Angamma cliffs and in Bahr el-Ghazal. Dinosaurs once inhabited these forests, although no traces of them have yet been discovered in Chad. Their existence has already been attested in neighboring Cameroon, as well as in Niger, in the Bénoué basin.
Il y a 95 millions d'années
95 million years ago, the lakes began to slowly fill in, and around 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs disappeared under the impact of huge meteorites and/or major volcanism (according to the current theory on the disappearance of the great saurians).
Il y a 8 millions d'années
The great climate change
The plateaus of East Africa gradually rose, causing the climate to dry out and temperatures to drop, thus wiping out the equatorial forests that had been an easy place for great apes to live. A new savannah environment, more open and therefore more dangerous, selected the hominoids and gave rise to the australopithecines, the first prehumans, around 4.5 million years BC. They weighed between 40 and 50 kg and were between 1 and 1.30 m tall.
Contemporaries of Toumaï, the first hominid whose skull was discovered in Chad, making it de facto one of the cradles of humanity, existed around 7 million years ago.
Il y a 8 000 ans
Civilization
Chad is home to numerous relics of this crucial period for mankind, during which agriculture developed and man became sedentary. Dormant millstones (stone millstones used to pound grain, still in use today), arrowheads, bone hooks, lightning stones (small axes), ceramics... The oldest ceramic fragments date back to 5,230 BC; they were found at Délébo in the Ennedi. In the Tibesti region, numerous stone burials have been found, the oldest dating back to 4900 BC.
Finally, the Chadian desert is a treasure trove of rock art, with hundreds of sites of engravings and paintings, scattered in caves and cliffs in the Ennedi and Tibesti.
2 000 av J.C.
Iron Age
With the retreat of the Paleochadian waters, numerous blacksmiths appeared in the Djourab, taking advantage of the ore deposits discovered. These were the Haddads, who made weapons, throwing knives and harpoons, setting up an embryonic barter economy with tribes who did not possess iron.
At the same time, horses and dromedaries appeared, introduced from the Sudano-Nilotic desert around 2,000 BC. In Chad, dromedaries are of the mehari type, slender and high-legged (as opposed to Maghrebian). They are depicted in rock paintings, ridden by riders with the same two-forked saddles as today's Sudanese bassours.
600-1900
The great Sahelian kingdoms
The northern two-thirds of present-day Chad saw the rise of three large, highly organized and hierarchical Muslim kingdoms, deriving their wealth from the trans-Saharan caravan slave trade. At the same time, in the south of the country, small groups lived more or less self-sufficiently, competing with their neighbors. These groups were organized into chiefdoms, but the traditional chiefs often had only ritual and legal powers. Among these groups are the Sara, who also came from the east and settled in their present area in the 17th century. The Moundang of Léré often came into conflict with the Sara.
Kingdom of Kanem Bornou. This is the oldest and most powerful kingdom, whose origins date back to the 7th century. Kanem reached its apogee in the 13th century with the maï (king) Dounama, who extended the borders of his kingdom into Bornou (northeast of present-day Nigeria), Fezzan and Ouaddaï. The Bornou empire declined from the 18th century onwards, as its rulers were no longer conquerors but literati confined to their courts, while the Baguirmi and Ouaddaï sultanates were consolidated.
Kingdom of Baguirmi. The Kingdom of Baguirmi was an ancient Sahelian state southeast of Lake Chad, with Massenya as its capital. Founded in 1522, it became a French protectorate in 1897. Although it no longer exists as an independent political entity today, the sultanate survives as a traditional chieftaincy linked to the Chadian administrative authorities.
Sultanate of Ouaddaï. The present-day Ouaddaï region in eastern Chad, whose capital is Abéché, was for a long time part of a powerful kingdom, the Sultanate of Ouaddaï, founded in 1635 and greatly expanded in the 19th century with the discovery of new trans-Saharan trade routes.
1814
Abéché, capital of Ouaddaï
Foundation of Abéché by Sultan Mohamed Chérif.
1890
Creation of the Bulletin du Comité de l'Afrique française
It was at this time that French colonial ambitions began to focus on Chad, and the BCAF became an essential colonialist propaganda organ, financed by subscriptions and funding the first missions to Africa, including that of Paul Crampel, the renowned explorer who was murdered in the Ouaddaï in 1891 while attempting to reach Lake Chad from Brazzaville in the Congo.
1898
Paris Agreements
they give the Gentil mission France's rights to the right banks of the Chari and the north of Lake Chad.
1899
Construction of Fort-Archambault
Situated in the south of the country, it is now the country's third-largest city, and changed its name to Sahr in 1972 to coincide with President Tombalbaye's campaign for authenticity. Gustave Archambault was a young French officer who died in battle that year, and it was to honor him that the company captain named the fort he built after him.
22/04/1900
The battle of Kousséri
The battle between the French colonial army and the forces of Rabah, a Sudanese warlord and slave trader, was a success for the colonial army, which took advantage of the opportunity to cross the Chari from Cameroon, where the town of Kousséri is located. However, Major Lamy was killed there, as was the leader of the opposing troops, Lord Rabah.
29/05/1900
Fort-Lamy Foundation
It was in memory of its deceased leader, Commandant Lamy, that Lieutenant Gentil named present-day N'Djamena, which remained known as Fort Lamy until 1973. Fort Lamy was founded on the site of a small Kotoko village. Today, this town at the confluence of the Chari River, which separates Cameroon from Chad and the Logone, is the country's capital.
1900-1913
The military conquest of the country
While the south, harassed by northern raids, was won over to the French cause, the Muslim east and north of the country took a very dim view of the arrival of infidels. A protectorate was therefore offered for Ouaddaï, to free the country from the Senoussist threat in Borkou. In 1902, the Bir Alali zaouïa was stormed, followed by Faya in 1907. In Ouaddaï, the French had their pretender to the throne: Acyl, son of Sultan Ali, who had fled to avoid being blinded at the enthronement of Doudmourah in 1902. They entered Abeche in 1909. But Doudmourah allied himself with the Massalit sultan, Tadj el Din, and attempted to reclaim his throne at the battle of Doroté, on November 8 and 9, 1910. Tadj el Din was killed and the power of Doudmourah, who was able to resettle in Ouaddaï after an exile of over a year, was significantly reduced. Doudmourah finally surrendered in October 1911, when he was replaced by Acyl.
Having pacified the East, Largeau undertook the definitive occupation of Borkou. He conquered the Aïn Galaka zaouïa on November 27, 1913, putting a definitive end to the fighting. In the immediate aftermath of the conquest, the French were the military allies of the Baguirmians, having helped them defeat Rabah, who had razed their capital, Massenya. They were the friends of the Sara peoples, whom they freed from the constant threat of slave raids from the north. But among the Ouaddaïans, they embodied an unfaithful power, imposing its foreign force through Sultan Acyl, a usurping puppet, on a proud and unconquerable kingdom. Finally, the French put a stop to Turkish designs on the country: the Turks had garrisons in Bardaï and Sherda, but had to withdraw after their 1911 defeat in Tripolitania against Italian troops.
1920-1960
Chad, a French colony
On March 17, 1920, Chad became a civilian colony directly attached to the General Government of French Equatorial Africa (AEF). Its borders were identical to those of today. However, due to the vicissitudes of Franco-German relations, they were not definitively established until 1936. In the south, the boundary was defined with Oubangui-Chari, which was also an AEF territory. The same borders were later maintained with the Central African Republic. In the west, borders were delimited according to Franco-German agreements, which had more the appearance of bargaining; for example, the demarcation line between Chad and Cameroon arbitrarily separated the same peoples (e.g. the Kotoko, the Moundang...). The border with Niger marked the boundary between AEF and French West Africa. The border with Sudan was negotiated in 1923. After conquering Chad, France lost interest. Indeed, the country was poor compared to other colonies. To be a colonial administrator in Chad was the lot of novices, or tantamount to punishment.
1940-1944
World War II
Chad was the first territory to join the Free French on August 26, 1940, at the instigation of its governor, Félix Eboué, and Lieutenant-Colonel Marchand. On December 2, 1940, Colonel Leclerc was appointed military commander of Chad. The Leclerc column, made up mainly of Chadians and Ubangians, liberated Paris and Strasbourg, and captured Berchtesgaden.
1944-1960
Towards emancipation and independence
In 1944, the Brazzaville conference took place. It brought together de Gaulle and all the colonial governors. The Code de l'indigénat was abolished, along with forced labor. It was decided that the population should participate in their own affairs. The colony becomes an overseas territory integrated into the AEF federation. Chad appointed a deputy to the National Assembly and elected a Territorial Assembly to manage local affairs. By 1945, Chadians were able to vote in France's National and Constituent Assemblies, as well as in referendums. In 1946, the first political parties appeared. They were soon numerous, frequently reorganized, and influenced by ethnic and religious cleavages
11/08/1960
Independence
On June 23, 1956, the Defferre framework law, which granted internal autonomy to the former French colonies in Black Africa, abolished the double college system, which over-represented whites, developed the powers of local authorities and prepared them for independence. On November 28, 1958, the Republic of Chad was proclaimed. On March 31, 1959, the first constitution was adopted. François Tombalbaye, a former schoolteacher, was appointed Prime Minister. On August 11, 1960, the Republic of Chad became independent. François Tombalbaye became President; there was no Prime Minister.
1960-1969
Tombalbaye's drift from power
The Head of State will gradually establish his personal power. The National Assembly had only limited legislative power. Opponents were expelled, imprisoned or executed; the secret police infiltrated everywhere; the cult of the leader was organized. A new constitution was passed on April 16, 1962, putting an end to freedom of expression and further strengthening the powers of the head of state. The President was elected for a seven-year term; a sham election was held in 1969, with the incumbent President, the only candidate, being re-elected with a record 99.6% of the vote
1966 - 1969
The first protests
On June 22 1966, the National Liberation Front (Frolinat) was created. It became the party of Muslim opponents from the East and North. Its leaders were Abba Siddick and Goukouni Oueddeï. It was a movement of armed struggle that crystallized popular opposition and exploited it politically. At the time, the central government was isolated, with a weak army exhausted by incessant guerrilla warfare against the Frolinat. President Tombalbaye called on France, under the defense agreements signed at independence, to intervene militarily from April 14, 1969, to push the Frolinat's rebel armed forces back into pockets of resistance.
1973-1975
Chaditude, a cultural revolution
The cultural revolution initiated by President Tombalbaye was designed to purge Chad of French colonial imperialism. Thus, all French-sounding names were changed: Fort-Lamy became N'Djamena; Fort-Archambault, Sarh. What's more, all the former Christianized names and surnames of the southern populations had to be Islamized or "ethnicized" overnight. The president himself changed his French first name (François) to Ngarta, a Sara word meaning "chief". In short, President Tombalbaye claimed "Chaditude".
Assassination of President Tombalbaye
On April 13, 1975, young officers overthrew the government and killed President Tombalbaye, seeking to avenge their elders whom the president had imprisoned on the pretext that they were plotting a coup d'état. Following the coup d'état, a Military High Council (CSM) was set up, headed by General Félix Malloum. Political prisoners were released; investigations into corruption and disappearances were ordered; the cultural revolution was halted, and a call for national reconciliation was launched. Nevertheless, no other political parties were authorized and the press was controlled by the CSM. On September 27, 1975, General Malloum decided to end the French military presence in the country, which he did in October. All parties joined the CSM, except the Forces armées du Nord (FAN) (a faction of the Frolinat) of Hissène Habré and Goukouni Oueddeï, who had taken refuge in Tibesti.
1978-1982
From Malloum through Goukouni Oueddeï to Hissène Habré
Within the CSM, dissension arose between General Malloum, a former prisoner whose main concern was to maintain civil peace, and the fiery young Colonel Kamougué, who had led the coup d'état on April 13. Disagreements also broke out within the FAN (Forces Armées du Nord), which split into two factions; Hissène Habré was rejected from Tibesti by Oueddeï, and formed a new FAN group in Sudan, as their views differed on relations with Libya and the fate of Françoise Claustre, still held hostage. After Hissène Habré's departure, Goukouni Oueddeï had Françoise Claustre released and the CSM, eager to calm the Frolinat's ardor, negotiated with the FAN of Hissène Habré, who became Prime Minister on August 28, 1978, following the Khartoum agreements signed a year earlier. On September 25, 1978, the Prime Minister, Hissène Habré, launched an administrative reform which aimed to ethnically proportion the distribution of posts, to the detriment of competence, in order to combat southern hegemony in the administration. An acute political crisis and complete paralysis of the state ensued. Extremist provocations on both sides multiplied, and on February 12, 1979, civil war broke out: a war of unprecedented brutality that left an indelible mark on the minds of Chadians. The Christian population fled the capital in a vast exodus to the south of the country or to Cameroon. A period of uncertainty followed, lasting until 1982. Under the aegis of Nigeria, various attempts at reconciliation were made. In the end, Oueddeï became president, Kamougué vice-president and Habré minister of the interior. But the dissensions between these three men proved insurmountable, and Hissène Habré took power by force, secretly aided by France, forcing Oueddeï into exile in Cameroon.
1982-1990
Hissène Habré, a ruthless dictator
On September 29, 1982, Hissène Habré promulgated the Fundamental Act of the Republic, making Chad an indivisible secular republic. On October 18 1982, the Third Republic was proclaimed. On October 21, Hissène Habré became the new president. Hissène Habré's regime was one of terror. The single party, the UNIR, controlled everything through its secret police. Any individual who opposes, or may oppose, the regime is imprisoned, tortured and eliminated. In 1987, the president even launched a victorious war against Gaddafi's Libya to recover the Aozou strip, a Libyan-controlled but historically Chadian territory. He was assisted in this task by a certain Idriss Deby, father of the current president in 2024.
In 2006, he was charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. His trial, which began in Dakar in 2015, marks the first application of universal jurisdiction in Africa. According to Human Rights Watch, his regime is responsible for the deaths of 1,200 people and the torture of 12,000 others. Sentenced to life imprisonment on appeal in 2017, he died in prison as a result of Covid-19 four years later.
1989-1990
The fall of a dictator
In 1989, as Hissène Habré began a rapprochement with the United States against his former ally France, he was abandoned by Idriss Déby, one of the two heroes of the war against Libya. Déby was accused of plotting against Hissène Habré with his Zaghawa ethnic group. In April 1989, Hissène Habré launched an operation against the Zaghawa and Idriss Déby withdrew to Sudan. There, he trained Zaghawa troops, supported by the French secret services and Libya. On March 11, 1990, several underground parties met in Bamina and founded the Mouvement patriotique du salut (MPS). Idriss Déby left his Sudanese retreat and launched Operation Rezzou, a battle in the Ouaddaï region. Government troops suffered defeat after defeat. Idriss Déby - accompanied by Maldoum Abbas, the Hadjeray leader who had been massacred - began his march on N'Djamena, as Hissène Habré had done in 1982. On December1 , 1990, he entered the capital, protected by the French army, without encountering any resistance; the day before, Hissène Habré had crossed the Chari with a Zairian passport and the country's foreign currency. He had just ordered the execution of 300 political prisoners, leaving behind thousands of dead..
1990-2021
The reign of Idriss Déby
Idriss Deby, son of a shepherd from the Zaghawa ethnic group, Idriss Deby Itno is a career military man trained partly in France as a troop transport pilot. He distinguished himself throughout his life by a pugnacity that brought him to supreme power in 1990, when he took the title of President of the Council of State. He organized the country's multi-party system, but was re-elected 6 times, in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. He was killed in action in northern Chad during a rebellion by a front from Libya.
2021-2024
Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, the son, retains power
After his father's death, Mahamat Idriss Deby, who also embarked on a military career after studying at the Aix-en-Provence military academy, will become president of the transitional military council, then transitional president until 2024, when, in democratic elections, he will be elected president of the Republic of Chad. The country's future is now in his hands, just as it was for over 30 years in his father's.
