Was Europe ever colonized and ruled by non-white people?

by akhbox

I'm familiar with the Moors but this kinda interests me. We have this societal image of white people always colonizing and ruling over black and brown people. Even when it's condemned, people still see white people as ambitious achievers which furthers white supremacy.

Before about the 1500's all the great ancient civilizations except the Greco-Roman empire were ruled by black and brown people. I'm interested to learn about the reverse colonialism.

holytriplem

It depends on who you classify as 'white'. because there was the Ottoman Empire ruled over most of what is now South-Eastern Europe for around 500 years, and post-migration period you also had various Iranian tribes like the Avars and the Scythians who ruled over much of what is now Eastern Europe.

Also mustn't forget the Mongol empires of Genghis Khan, as well as the Huns who also (possibly) originated in Central Asia.

pucklermuskau

what do you mean by 'white'?

keepthepace

The problem is that skin color changes as you settle on lands closer to the poles. People with black skin suffer from vitamin D insufficiency when the sun is rare. This is the trade-off of a better protection. A black settlement in northern Europe with medieval medicine would suffer higher mortality and would gradually see its population become lighter-skin.

Skin color adaptation happened in several separate lines of human genetics. Current European have black ancestors, as Asians do. And IIRC, Melanasians, with black skins descend from Asians.

So, basically, if you settle north of the Mediterranean sea, you will gradually get a whiter skin.