Chad has a long and rich history.A humanoid skull was found in Brkou more than 3 million years old . Because in ancient times the Saharan area was not totally arid. Its population was more evenly distributed than it is today. For example, 7,000 years ago, the north central basin, now in the Sahara, was still filled with water, and people lived and farmed around its shores.The cliff paintings in Borkou and Ennedi depict elephants, rhinocesoses, graffes, cattle, and camels. Only camels survive there today. The regions was known to the traders and geographers from the late middle ages. Since then , Chad has served as a crossroads for the Muslim peoples of the desert and savanna regions,and the animist Bantu tribesof the tropical forests.Sao people lived along the Chari riverfor thousands of years , but their relatively weak chiefdoms were overtaken by the powerful chiefs of what were to become the Kanem-Bornu and Baguirmi kingdoms. From 1500 to 1900, arab slave raids were widespread the French first pentrated Vhad in 1891, establishing their authority through military expeditionsprimarily against the muslim kingdoms. The first major colonial battle for Chad was fought in1900 between the French Major Lamy and the African leader Rabah,both of whom were killed in the battle. Although the French won the battle , they did not declare the territory pacified until1911;armed clashes between colonial troops and local bandscontinued for many years thereafter.
