bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Aspects de L'Archeologie Ethiopienne
Authors: Anfray Francis
Published: January 2009

Au premier millénaire avant notre ère, l'Ethiopie entre en contact avec la culture sémitique. Cette recontre donne lieu à l'élaboration assez rapide d'une synthèse où l'élément aborigène — les Proto-Ethiopiens — s'assimile une religion, des usages étrangers et se crée de nouveaux modes d'existence. Les plus anciens monuments archéologiques témoins de ce fait, trouvés sur les hauts plateaux du nord, datent des environs du cinquième siècle avant J.-C. Ce sont essentiellement des statues, un trône sculpté en pierre, des inscriptions ,des autels votifs. La culture éthiopienne de cette période dérive de la culture sudarabique, et s'en distingue. Un processus d'évolution est alors amorcé dont l'aboutissement sera l'instauration du pouvoir axoumite aux premiers siècles de l'ère, et la fondation d'Axoum comme capitale d'un royaume dont la durée s'étendra sur un millénaire.

On peut diviser en trois périodes le déroulement de l'antiquité éthiopienne: période sudarabisante, période intermédiaire, et période axoumite. Deux sites illustrent les étapes de cette évolution: Matara, surtout par sa stratification, et Axoum où récemment une mission de l'Institut Ethiopien d'Archéologie a mis au jour les vestiges importants d'une demeure seigneuriale (château) de la période axoumite.

Dans ce bilan de l'acquis nouveau en archéologie éthiopienne, nous donnons un bref aperçu des recherches en préhistoire et protohistoire. Les faits marquants sont principalement les résultats obtenus par une mission internationale dans la basse vallée de l'Omo (notamment, la découverte duParaustralopithecus aethiopicus) et les travaux de J. Chavaillon sur le site de Melka-Kontouré oà se trouvent en stratification quasiment toute la série des industries de la préhistoire africaine depuis la Pebble Culture.
Connexions between ‘Primary Resistance’ Movements and Modern Mass Nationalism In East and Central Africa. Part I
Authors: Ranger T. O.
Published: January 2009

A recent authoritative review of developments in African historiography pointed to one 'kind of synthesis which has always seemed worthwhile undertaking’, the attempt to trace ‘an historic connexion between the last-ditch resisters, the earliest organisers of armed risings, the messianic prophets and preachers, the first strike-leaders, the promoters of the first cautious and respectful associations of the intelligentsia, and the modern political parties which (initially at least) have been the inheritors of European power’.
The Nineteenth-Century Gold ‘Mithqal’ in West and North Africa
Authors: Johnson Marion
Published: January 2009

One of the units in which prices and exchange-rates are expressed by nineteenth-century travellers is the gold mithqal. This paper is an attempt to discover, and if possible to make some sense of, the various values of the gold mithqal at different times and places in West and North Africa during the nineteenth century.
Kanem, Bornu, and the Fazzān: Notes on the political history of a Trade Route
Authors: Martin B. G.
Published: January 2009

The Chadian Muslim states of Kanem, and later Bornu, have been linked throughout their history to North Africa by an important trade-route across the Sahara, from the Libyan coast to Lake Chad. The popularity and permanence of this route throughout the centuries have been detennined by the economic needs and specialities of the N. African littoral, as well as of the Western Sudan. This route, first controlled by Ibāḍī Muslim Berbers from Zawīla from the eighth to the twelfth centuries, then briefly by the Ayyubids of Cairo, came under the control of Kanem, which was expanding northwards in the thirteenth century. The Fazzān (and Zawīla) then came under the control of Kanem, which seems to have maintained friendly relations with the Hafsid dynasty of Tunis. After the thirteenth century, independent states arose in the Fazzān. Then, after the establishment of an Ottoman Turkish province in Libya, the Turks and the Mais of Bornu were soon in contact, probably from about 1555, and certainly in the time of Mai Idrīs of Bomu (on the throne in 1557–8), as some newly found correspondence from the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul makes clear. There was certainly a friendly association between Bornu and the Turks at this period, if not an actual alliance, as Mai Idrīs hoped to obtain arms and perhaps Turkish troops as well to use against his enemies of the W. Sudan, principally the Hausa state of Kebbi. However, Idris's hopes were deceived, and the Ottoman Sultan Murād III did not provide what was wanted, causing Idrīs to turn to the Sa'dī Sharifian ruler of Fās, Aḥmad al-Manṣūr al-Dhahābī, with a similar request.
Oral Tradition and the History of Igala
Authors: Boston J. S.
Published: January 2009

A wide range of contact with other peoples has tended to produce variety and divergence in Igala traditions concerning the origin of the kingship. To select one or other of these traditions for special emphasis, as was done in the past, is to misrepresent the nature of the corpus as a whole. Analysis of this complex body of tradition can be simplified by concentrating on three problems, the problem of divergence, the question of chronology, and the need to distinguish between the historical and the political functions of oral tradition. Divergence in Igala tradition reflects divisions within the clan system on which Igala political structure is based. But these differences of emphasis can be resolved if the time span covered by the legends is properly understood. These traditions open with a mythical or quasi-mythical period in which events are placed without reference to their sequence in time. Mythical thought is concerned with structure in the abstract, with form rather than with process. Thus it is argued that the early period of Igala history, where most of the divergence occurs, demonstrates the interaction of different principles of political growth and change, the time span being defined conventionally by associating each major development with one reign or generation. Dating from archaeological and ethnographic material suggests that a much longer time span is involved in Igala history than might be indicated by a superficial analysis of the oral traditions, based on genealogical counting.
Madagascar and Africa III.The Anteimoro: A Theocracy in Southeastern Madagascar
Authors: Kent R. K.
Published: January 2009

The Anteimoro, last of the overseas migrants to settle in Madagascar, conclude the essential formation of the Malagasy people. From genealogies and early European accounts, it is estimated that two initial contingents of the Anteimoro reached Madagascar around 1490 and settled at Matitana by 1512. The last and final one arrived by 1540. As agroup, the Anteimoro were able to impose their own political and social structure on thetompontanyof Matitana. Through intermarriage, the Anteimoro adopted the Malagasy language while moving toward endogamy to preserve their distinct identity as well as aristocratic position.

Alone in Madagascar, the Anteimoro developed a scribal tradition, manifested in countless Arabico-MalagasySora-bémanuscripts. One appears to antedate the 1600s, most were composed in the nineteenth century, but some are undoubtedly copies of earlierSora-bé. An old Anteimoro vocabulary reveals a much higher percentage of Arabic words than are found today. While Islam is now extremely diluted among them, due to the complete isolation of the Anteimoro, there is no doubt that they were once zealotic Muslims.

The problem of their origin, explored by Grandidier, Ferrand and Julien, has been suspended between Arabia and the Swahili coast. Neither can be accepted. At least one genealogy shows a ‘pause’ of ten generations between the great ancestor of the Anteimoro in Madagascar and the last descendant of a line that had fled from Arabia. While there is no plausible alternative for this ‘pause’ other than Africa, the Swahili coast must be discounted in the absence ofanyarchitecture among the Anteimoro and of Swahili loan-words, phonemes and calligraphy. Attempts to see the etymon of Anteimoro (phon.temūrū) as Malagasy or as Swahili ‘Mahūrū’ (slaves) are also unsatisfactory. Imperfect as it may be, partial evidence points toTemur, a people of eastern or southern Ethiopia who vanished locally in the fifteenth century. It is also suggested that there were connexions with the Qadiriyyatarika, which Anteirnoro religious specialists sought to extend into Madagascar without success.
The Wandering Capitals of Ethiopia
Authors: Horvath Ronald J.
Published: January 2009

The purpose of this essay has been twofold: first, to describe the wandering capitals of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Ethiopia, and secondly, to offer an explanation for the pattern of movement.

Ethiopian wandering capitals possessed many of the characteristics that are often used to distinguish cities from other forms of settlement. Roving capitals were large and densely populated enough to qualify for city status, they performed an essentially urban role of administration, the capitals were heterogeneous socially, and representatives of the Ethiopian literati were present. The population of these capitals were for the most part only seasonally urban and seasonally rural. And yet, these capitals were not permanent.

The explanation offered may be succinctly summarized as follows. Initially, military motives prompted the Ethiopianéiteto change their capitals from fixed to mobile settlements. These guerilla cities were adapted to in several ways. First, capitals moved to food supplies rather than supplies being moved to the capital. Secondly, capitals impoverished their current hinterlands. And thirdly, political integration of Ethiopia came eventually to depend on a mobile centre of polity. These three factors not only represent adaptations to nomadic capitals, but they in turn made a stabilization of capitals difficult. In other words, the very adaptations to the wandering capitals themselves had a feedback effect on the pattern of movement, and therefore contributed to a continuation of capital movement.
The Fall of the Bapedi of the North-Eastern Transvaal
Authors: Smith K. W.
Published: January 2009

When the remnants of the Bapedi returned to their country after they had been driven from it by the Matabele, Sekwati strengthened the tribe so that attacks by the Boers, Zulus and Swazis were repulsed.

When Sekhukhune succeeded to the chieftainship in 1861, his attempts at expanding Bapedi influence caused the South African Republic to declare war in 1876.

After the annexation of the Transvaal by Great Britain, Sekhukhune resumed his empire building, and in March 1878 the Bapedi went on the warpath. Groups of hastily raised volunteers managed to contain the Bapedi in their strongholds, but after the failure of a British expedition in October 1878, offensive operations were abandoned until the end of the fever season in April–May 1879. Patrols were then once again active, when Sir Garnet Wolseley ordered a halt to all offensives; Sir Garnet himself arrived in the Transvaal in September 1879, and personally directed operations against Sekhukhune. A massive assault was made on the Bapedi stronghold on 28 November 1879; the Bapedi suffered a crushing defeat and the chief himself was captured.
The Trade in African Slaves to Rio de Janeiro, 1795–1811: Estimates of Mortality and Patterns of Voyages
Authors: Klein Herbert S.
Published: January 2009

Despite its basic importance for an understanding of African History, the Atlantic slave-trade still remains one of the most unexplored aspects of modern African development. Except for a few pioneer works, there have been no systematic studies of numbers, origins, mortality, routes and volume of traffic. The present study is based on archival material in Brazil and is an exploration in depth of one major route, the West African to Rio de Janeiro shipping route in the period 1795–1811. During this time some 170,000 African slaves were shipped from Africa, suffering a mortality rate of 95 per thousand.
Africa and the Southern States of The U.S.A.: Notes on J. H. Oldham and American Negro Education for Africans
Authors: King Kenneth J.
Published: January 2009

This paper attempts an outline of the Pan-African aspect of British colonial education policies during the inter-war years. In particular, it analyses the role of the missionary statesman, J. H. Oldham, in securing the adoption of a certain style of Negro education in the Southern States of America (one based on the work of the Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes) both by the International Missionary Council and by the Colonial Office Advisory Committee on Education, of which he was a member. Oldham's interest in transferring the primarily agricultural and technical insights of the Hampton-Tuskegee model to Africa was developed in close collaboration with the Phelps-Stokes Fund of New York, and together they were responsible for directly exposing large numbers of missionaries and colonial officials to these emphases in the Southern States. The attempt to suggest the relevance to Africa of institutions which had long traditions of compromise with white supremacy in the American South inevitably cut across the Pan-African programmes of such New World Negroes as W. E. B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey, and had the effect of transplanting to the African continent some of the bitter disputes about the educational and political status of Negroes that had been common in America from the late nineteenth century conflict between DuBois and Booker T. Washington. While the article is primarily concerned with the formation of a missionary and Colonial Office consensus on the preferred Negro education for Africans, some attention is also paid to the extent to which the Hampton-Tuskegee model actually took root in Africa.
The Chronology of the Kings and Queenmothers of Bono-Manso: A Revaluation of the Evidence
Authors: Flight Colin
Published: January 2009

The formation of Bono-Manso appears to date from the early fifteenth century, perhaps c. 1420. It is concluded that it was not until the late sixteenth century, during the reign of the ninth king, that the procedures still in use at Takyiman for recording reign-length were first introduced. Muslim influence is strongly to be suspected. Perhaps at the same time, perhaps later, factitious records of reign-length were supplied for earlier generations of the dynasty, on the assumption that three generations make 100 years. Fairly accurate dating is possible for the kings and queenmothers of Bono-Manso during the period 1577–1723, and of Takyiman since its formation in the 1740s. It is no part of this paper to explore the implications of the shortened chronology suggested here, but a date in the early fifteenth century for the establishment of Bono-Manso seems to square well with current thinking.
Long-Distance Trade and States in the Niger Delta
Authors: Alagoa E. J.
Published: January 2009

European trade in slaves from at least the seventeenth century, and in palm oil during the nineteenth century, has become established as a crucial factor in the development of states in the Niger Delta. However, there is already a dangerous tendency to see these external factors as the only forces responsible for the creation of states in the area. Oral traditional evidence is marshalled to show that internal long-distance trade with these states as focal points existed before European trade. Internal long-distance trade consisted of (i) a north-to-south axis mainly for the supply to the states of agricultural produce, for which salt and fish were exchanged; and (ii) an east-to-west axis between these states and places as far west as Lagos and the Ijebu country for trade in specialist goods produced in various localities.

It is therefore stressed that the discussion of the admittedly great influence of European trade on the internal development of states in the Niger Delta needs to be qualified by an understanding of the prior existence of these states in some form, and of the internal long-distance trade that might have exercised similar great influence in the distant past.
African Nationalism in South Africa: Origins and Problems
Authors: Williams Donovan
Published: January 2009

Many of the characteristic strains of African Nationalism in South Africa, as were manifest during its peak in the 1950s, may be traced back to the historical situation on the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony in the early nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, the Port Elizabeth–East London–Alice triangle remained a highly significant area for nationalist ideas and action, and this derived from the effects on the Xhosa of the Black–White confrontation which began here 150 years earlier. In the early part of the nineteenth century the fundamental competition for land and cattle led to White military and missionary actions which, coupled with the preaching of Christianity, promoted attitudes among the Xhosa which may be seen in all subsequent African Nationalism.
Politique Et Economie Dans L'empire Français D'afrique Noire 1870–1914
Authors: Brunschwig Henri
Published: January 2009

Pour comprendre les rapports de la politique avec l'économie au temps de la constitution de l'empire français d'Afrique noire, un coup d'çeil est indispensable sur les relations entre l'Occident et l'Afrique de 1815 è 1870. On s'aperçoit alors que les facteurs économiques en jeu étaient essentiellement Ie commerce d'exportation de quelques produits industriels ’de traite’ européens, les tissus, armes, perles, alcools, tabacs, etc.,
Firearms in the Central Sudan
Authors: Fisher Humphrey J. , Rowland Virginia
Published: January 2009

The earliest mention of firearms in the central Sudan appears to be from the time of Idris Alooma, ruler of Bornu in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Ibn Fartuwa says of Alooma:

Among the benefits which God (Most High) of His bounty, beneficence, generosity, and constancy conferred upon the Sultan was the acquisition of Turkish musketeers and numerous household slaves who became skilled in firing muskets.
Population Density and ‘Slave Raiding’—A Reply
Authors: Mason Michael
Published: January 2009

I rejoice with Messrs Gleave and Prothero in the opportunity for interdisciplinary discussion of a problem which is of interest to both historians and geographers. Before replying to their lengthy ‘Comment’ I feel that an explanatory note regarding the genesis of my article might remove any misapprehensions that it was done as a simple exercise in cavil.
Portuguese Musketeers on the Zambezi
Authors: Gray Richard
Published: January 2009

The Portuguese historian of Mozambique, Alexandre Lobato, has referred to the ‘arms and powder, which guaranteed an overwhelming military superiority’ in the Zambezi hinterland, but a rapid survey of the evidence most easily available would suggest that, until the introduction of the maxim gun, the use of firearms seldom, if ever, constituted a decisive military advantage in Central Africa. Guns might sometimes decide the fate of battles, but by themselves they were insufficient to win a campaign. Yet cannon and muskets were undoubtedly the most valuable, and probably the most envied, commodity possessed by the Portuguese on the Zambezi, and the political and commercial role of firearms may well have been quite considerable.
Firearms in South-Central Africa
Authors: Atmore Anthony , Chirenje J. M. , Mudenge S. I.
Published: January 2009

Any survey of the effects of the possession and use of firearms among the Tswana and, to the north of them, the Ndebele and Shona peoples, must start with a brief investigation of firearms among the Khoikhoi and the mixed Khoikhoi-white groups. The latter were in some respects the vanguard of the expansions of the white frontier in southern Africa. They originated in unions between Khoikhoi and white hunters, traders and farmers, and probably never existed without firearms; from an early date they also acquired horses. In the middle years of the eighteenth century the Khoikhoi-whites and the Khoikhoi peoples, whose economic basis and political structure had been broken by various aspects of white settlement amongst them, were being armed by the whites to take part in commando expeditions against the San. There is evidence that some Khoikhoi trekked from the colony to avoid this service.
The Maasai Warriors: pattern maintenance and violence in colonial Kenya
Authors: Tignor Robert L.
Published: January 2009

This article attributes early twentieth century Maasai conservatism to the Maasai social structure and in particular to the warrior (moran) age-grade. Modernizing changes meant different things to different groups. To some Maasai elders they meant increased political power and wealth. But to the warriors they constituted a threat to their already declining status and entailed new and onerous obligations like road work. Governmental efforts to transform and modernize the Maasai were met by small-scale warrior rebellions. There were three such uprisings–in 1918, 1922 and 1935. All three were carried out by the warriors in defiance of the wishes of the elders and occurred at times when the government was seeking to alter Maasai society. The 1918 rebellion was over the recruitment of children for school; that of 1922 over attempts to do away with essential features of themoransystem; and that of 1935 in opposition to road work. The Maasai warriors were effective resisters of change because of their considerable autonomy within their society and theiresprit de corps.
Sir Philip Mitchell and ‘Protected Rule’ in Buganda
Authors: Morris H. F.
Published: January 2009

Mitchell maintained that the relationship between the Protectorate Government of Uganda and the Native Government of Buganda was that of protected rule rather than of indirect rule. In order to implement his policy of protected rule, he planned a reorganization in Buganda, involving the substitution of a Resident for a Provincial Commissioner and the withdrawal of district officers to the centre, where the Resident and his staff would offer advice to the Kabaka. Mitchell did not envisage that the Protectorate Government's influence would thereby be weakened, since he assumed that the Kabaka would be obliged to follow advice which was given to him. Under the Agreement of 1900, however, the Kabaka was specifically required to act upon such advice only in the case of the implementation of Lukiiko resolutions. Relations between the Kabaka and both the Protectorate Government and his own Ministers steadily deteriorated during Mitchell's governorship, and the deposition of the Kabaka was even considered. For these reasons, Mitchell proceeded cautiously with his reorganization and it was left to his successor, Dundas, to complete it. Owing largely to the restricted power of the Governor under the Agreement to impose his wishes upon the Kabaka, the changes introduced resulted in a steady decline in the influence which the Protectorate Government could exert in Buganda.
Historical Notes on the Kisama of Angola
Authors: Heintze Beatrix
Published: January 2009

Although the territory of the Kisama was involved in military conflicts with the Portuguese from the very beginning, because of its geographical situation it was not subjugated permanently until the twentieth century. A few chiefdoms, which are traceable through the centuries in the sources, played an important role (Ndemba, Kimone kia Songa, Kafushe Kambare, etc.). A number of different factors were favourable to the resistance of the Kisama. The Portuguese were never really interested in this province, apart from the safeguarding of shipping on the Kwanza. No mineral wealth tempted them there. Even the conquest of the salt mine of Ndemba was undertaken mainly to clear and secure the way to the hoped for silver mines of Cambambe. On the one hand, the great lack of water during the dry season made the provisioning of an army there difficult. On the other hand, at least in the Kwanza region, the dreaded tropical diseases were endemic. For the slave trade, the interior, especially Kasanje, was more profitable. Later, when the neighbouring Libolo increased in importance because of the new trade centres in the Ovimbundu territory (Bihe, Bailundu, etc.), Kisama remained off the beaten track. It is only now that the seclusion of this province, which has one of the game parks of Angola within its borders, will in all probability come to an end because of the discovery of a series of oil fields.
The Origin, Formation and Early History of the Chikunda of South Central Africa
Authors: Isaacman Allen
Published: January 2009

Although historians have examined the process of pre-colonial political integration, little attention has been paid to the complementary patterns of ethnic and cultural assimilation. The Chikunda, who were initially slaves on the Zambezi prazos, provide an excellent example of this phenomenon. Over the course of several generations, captives from more than twenty ethnic groups submerged their historical, linguistic, and cultural differences to develop a new set of institutions and a common identity. The decline of the prazo system during the first half of the nineteenth century generated large scale migrations of Chikunda outside of the lower Zambezi valley. They settled in Zumbo, the Luangwa valley and scattered regions of Malawi where they played an important role in the nineteenth-century political and military history of south central Africa.
Reactions to Rinderpest in Southern Africa 1896–97
Authors: van Onselen C.
Published: January 2009

Rinderpest, a highly contagious cattle disease which swept through southern Africa in 1896–7, has attracted little interest from historians. A more detailed consideration of its effect on a cattle-keeping peasantry within the context of an industrializing economy assists in illuminating some of the socio-economic and political forces operative in the 1890s.

The spread of rinderpest was acompanied by widespread suspicion and rumour. Some Europeans thought that the disease was spread by Africans. Many Africans, for their part, were convinced that rinderpest was a product of the white man's malice. Over large areas rinderpest was accepted with an attitude of fatalism and resignation. In Basutoland and East Griqualand, however, local leaders emerged who were willing to utilize grievances and rumours stemming from rinderpest for attempts at mobilization for the wider objective of revolt.

The loss of large numbers of cattle caused considerable social and economic distress in African communities. The transport system was paralysed in an economy dependent on the extensive use of the ox-wagon, and this resulted in price rises and profiteering in more remote areas. With the disappearance of the source of meat and milk Africans experienced considerable hardship and in some cases starvation. Forced into taking contingency action, activities ranged from planting vegetables to stock-thieving. Generally, however, the impoverishment of Africans caused by rinderpest contributed to the growing proletarianization of Africans and the process of labour migration. Rinderpest did not produce fundamental structural changes in Southern African society, but it did emphasize the processes which were to characterize industrial South Africa of the twentieth century.
Problems in the Interpretation of the History of the Maghrib in the Light of some Recent Publications
Authors: Brett Michael
Published: January 2009

Caught between schools of sociogy, historians of North Africa over the past twenty years have concetrated on the first century of European colonization, 1830–1930. The previous thousand years of the Muslim period remain enigmatic, their interpretation still heavily dependent upon the work of Ibn Khhaldūn. In conclusion to his volume of the 1952 edition of Ch.-A. Julien's Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord, R. Ie Tourneau characterized this ‘medieval’ period as one of political failure. With particular reference to Morocco, Gellner and more recently Abun-Nasr have, in their various ways, sought to explain an absence of effective government in terms of Ibn Khhaldūn's cyclical theory of the rise and fall of dynasties, taking the traditional Moroccan distinction between a Bilād al Makhzan and a Bilād al-Sība to represent the antithesis between the civilized and the primitive on which that theory rests. Islam is seen as a positive influence on behalf of central government. Neither scheme is satisfactory, perhaps because like Ibn Khhaldūn they are both too concerned with the central power. Taking North Africa as a whole, it seems better to begin with a division of authority in the pre-colonial period into the secular and the religious, the first represented by tribes and local lordships (as well as cities) and by the central government itself, the second by the men of religion, ‘ulamā’ and murābiṭūn. From a position protected by reverence and sustained by endowments, the latter operated as consultants rather than commanders, with the proviso that it was always open to the man of religion to use his prestige and wealth to step across into the realm of secular power. Progress from there to the top, on the other hand, was exceptional. The control of the central government was a great prize, and for that reason the system normally restricted competition by reserving it to the members of an exclusive group, whether a royal family as in Morocco and Tunisia or a regiment of soldiers as in Algiers. The overthrow of that ruling group was difficult, achieved in any given instance only after years of preparation. It is hard to infer a general rule. Islam was employed to justify the claimant as occasion offered, the justification(s) advanced becoming in the event an historical myth on behalf of the successful candidate and – his dawla, his dynasty or state. Any residual Islamic content inherent in the throne as distinct from its occupant can scarcely be isolated as an independent factor. In practice it may have amounted to little more than acceptance of government, whether Muslim or Christian, as a necessary evil.
The Imbangala and the Chronology of Early Central African History
Authors: Miller Joseph C.
Published: January 2009

Articles by Vansina and Birmingham in the J.A.H. have explored the possibility of deriving the chronology of state-formation in central Africa from the date when warrior armies known as Imbangala (also, erroneously, as ‘Jaga’) appeared in Angola. This article, drawing on new traditions collected in Angola during 1969, shows that the figures described by the oral histories are permanent named titles in systems of positional succession and perpetual kinship; they therefore contain no implicit chronology based on assumed human life spans. The new evidence suggests that many years elapsed between the origin of one Imbangala title in the nascent Lunda empire and its successors' appearance on the coast. Although documents establish the Imbangala presence in Angola as early as 1563, this date reveals little about preceding events in Katanga, which may have taken place many decades, or even centuries, earlier. Finally, by extending the methodological techniques developed for the Imbangala traditions to published Lunda histories, it is suggested that the Luba and Lunda kingdoms may have passed through several periods before the stage previously assumed to have initiated the development of states in central Africa. The article concludes by suggesting that formation of (probably very small-scale) states began much earlier than previous analyses have demonstrated.
Dating Problems at Igobo-Ukwu
Authors: Lawal Babatunde
Published: January 2009

This paper reviews the results of the recent excavations at Igbo-Ukwu, from which large quantities of copper and bronze objects, glass and stone beads as well as highly decorated pottery were recovered. Although four out of five radiocarbon dates fall in the middle of the ninth century a.d., while the fifth one falls in the middle of the fifteenth century, other dating evidence—like the presence of European-type manila and beads, and the preservation of highly perishable materials—such as textiles, thread and wood fragments—seem to suggest a much later date. Consequently, until some concrete evidence can be produced to support the ninth century date, we cannot jettison the fifteenth century date, which seems to be corroborated by the evidence of the manillas and beads.
Aspects of the use of copper in pre-colonial West Africa
Authors: Herbert Eugenia W.
Published: January 2009

Copper and its alloys were for centuries staples of the import trade of West Africa, first across the Sahara, then by sea after the opening up of the Guinea Coast. However, little attention has been paid to the reasons behind this ancient and sustained demand. Although the uses of copper were many and changed from time to time and from place to place, the evidence of written, archaeological and artistic sources suggests that they fall largely into four broad and overlapping categories: a medium or standard of exchange, ornamentation, insignia of rank and power, and objects of cult and magic in a narrower sense. The preference for copper and brass over other metals for many purposes appears to have been determined by magic and the ritual properties ascribed to it, as well as by scarcity and practical and aesthetic considerations. Myth and legend may help to elucidate the uses of copper and brass by fitting them into a cosmological framework: thus along the Middle Niger copper is explicitly linked with the génie de l'eau and with myths of creation, while in the Niger Delta brass is frequently associated with the water spirits.
The heritage of Oduduwa: traditional history and political propaganda among the Yoruba
Authors: Law R. C. C.
Published: January 2009

According to Yoruba traditions, the royal dynasties of all the principal kingdoms in the area were descended from the children of Oduduwa, the founder and first king of Lle Ife. This tradition implied, or could be represented as implying, that the various kingdoms formed a political unit, a ‘family’ of related dynasties. The article considers the political implicatins of the Yoruba traditions of origin, and seeks to relate the existence of certain variants of the tradition to the use of it for purposes of political propaganda. In particular, it is suggested that the tradition was manipulated and modified in an attempt to support the claims to paramountcy of the king of Oyo, when this kingdom became the most powerful state in the Yoruba area during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The case illustrates, it is argued, the intellectual problems involved in altering received traditions, and suggests the inadequacy of those views which see the process of the modification of traditions as a simple and unobtrusive response to changing political needs.
Djibo Bakary, the French, and the referendum of 1958 in Niger
Authors: Fuglestad Finn
Published: January 2009

This article concentrates on the events of 1958 in Niger. It tries to show that Djibo Bakary's power-base was a very weak one. This could be the reason why Djibo decided to opt for ‘No’ at the Referendum, namely that he needed command of the whole state machinery in order to crush his enemies, especially the chiefs. The French were bent on thwarting Djibo for geo-political reasons (e.g. the nearness of Algeria), but did so in a rather lighthanded way. In fact, Djibo brought about his own downfall through a number of miscalculations and blunders.
Madzi-Manga, Mhondoro and the use of oral traditions—a chapter in Barue religious and political history
Authors: Isaacman Allen
Published: January 2009

This study seeks to redefine the ritual significance of the madzi-manga through the use of Barue oral traditions. It goes beyond a redefinition of the ritual to study the entire process of investiture, the role of the senior mhondoro in Barue society, and the exact nature of the relationship between the Barue and the Portuguese. It concludes that the madzi-manga represented neither a Catholic baptism nor a syncretic religious practice, as has been previously argued. Rather, it was the traditional medium through which the sacred qualities of kingship were transrnitted.
Progress and decline in the Kat river settlement, 1829–1854
Authors: Kirk Tony
Published: January 2009

The Kat River Settlement was established in the eastern Cape Colony in 1829 as a measure of frontier defence. In 1851 many of its coloured inhabitants rebelled against the colonial government. The rebels' motives were beyond the comprehension of contemporary officials, and no thorough investigation of them has since been made. All accounts agree that the Settlement initially thrived, despite the harmful effects of a frontier war in 1835. In later years, however, the government used the Settlement as a dumping ground for coloureds and tribesmen dispossessed elsewhere. The coloureds' system of economic clientship was simultaneously challenged by the extension of commercial farming techniques in the eastern Cape. Coloured people failed to obtain credit to enable them to adapt. Overcrowding and insecurity bred discontent, particularly among certain coloureds of Gonaqua (Khoi) origin, who remembered suffering earlier injustices at the hands of the whites. Unsympathetic colonial officials and the declining military importance of the Settlement compounded these basic grievances. In 1851, under cover of another frontier war, numbers of Settlement coloureds rebelled. The rebellion failed and the government appropriated the land belonging to the rebels, thus dispersing the last concentration of Gonaqua Khoi.
Colonial chiefs in a stateless society: a case-study from Northern Uganda
Authors: Tosh John
Published: January 2009

From the point of view of both practical administration and Indirect Rule theory, non-centralized peoples posed acute problems for British administrators in Africa. The Lango people of Uganda were an especially difficult case, since their social organization was highly fragmented and lacked even the cohesiveness of a segmentary lineage system. The first government chiefs, appointed from 1912 onwards, represented a measure of continuity with the pre-colonial order, since they were nearly all drawn from the ranks of the clan leaders. But a chief's territory seldom corresponded to any pre-colonial entity, while his wide-ranging executive and judicial powers were a complete novelty. During the period 1920–33 the majority of chiefs in all except the most senior county grade ceased even to be natives of their chiefdoms; this was due partly to the European preoccupation with bureaucratic standards, and partly to the success of the county chiefs in establishing patronage networks of their own placemen. As a result, abuse of chiefly power increased, while the ordinary population became more estranged from the colonial administrative structure. An exposé of maladministration in 2933 highlighted the contradictions of British policy in Lango, but it was not until the 1950s that radical reform along democratic lines was attempted.
A Survey of recent results in the radiocarbon chronology of Northern and Western Africa
Authors: Flight Colin
Published: January 2009

The number of radiocarbon dates relating to Africa has increased rapidly during the last twelve years, as a glance through the back numbers of thisJournalwill show; and the increase reflects quite accurately the growth in our knowledge of later African prehistory. Almost 200 dates are given in this article which have not been quoted before, but even so the list is incomplete. It seems clear that a more and more selective approach will have to be adopted, and perhaps that is a desirable policy in any case. A paper of this kind does not reach a conslusion: it just comes to an end. However, there are some points which deserve particular attention. The thermoluminescence measureents from sites in Cameroun are of interest from a technical point of view, though they seem to be without historical calue. The Dynastic Egyptian dates are important historically as well as technically, and so are the dates from shell middens in Ivory Coast. Indication of contact across the western Sahara during the first millenniumb.c.are reinforced by additional dates for copper mine in Mauritania. One final points is worth repeating. There is evidence, by now amounting almost to proof, that pottery was present in the central Saharan highlands at an earlier date than in the Nile valley or North Africa; and this should affect out ideas about the whole configuration of later African prehistory.
The peoples of Southern Mozambique: an historical survey
Authors: Smith Alan K.
Published: January 2009

The purpose of this article is to attempt to clarify some of the outstanding controversies in the historical and ethnographic literature on southern Mozambique. It contends that by the eighteenth century, three distinct ethnic groups— the Tsonga, Chopi, and Tonga—lived in the area. It seeks to demonstrate how and why these groups differed from each other, and how these differences affected the ethnographic map. It argues that state formation among the Tsonga began at an early date, largely because of influences emanating from the adjacent western plateau regions of south-central Africa. Most of the neighbouring Tonga peoples, however, were shielded from these influences, and did not evolve political units larger than the village authority. The exception to this generalization occurred in the south of the Tonga-speaking region, where peoples were subject to an invasion by groups of Shona origin. The resultant differences between the two Tonga-speaking groups were to be of extreme importance when both subsequently would be invaded by peoples of Tsonga origin. In the south the arrival of Tsonga speakers resulted in the formation of the Chopi; in the north Tsonga speakers absorbed and assimilated the Tonga, who might have disappeared as a distinct cultural entity had other factors not intervened before the process had been completed.
The Kambarin Beriberi: the formation of a specialized group of Hausa Kola traders in the nineteenth century
Authors: Lovejoy Paul E.
Published: January 2009

The origins of the Kambarin Beriberi and their conscious development of a corporate identity provides a valuable insight into the emergence of a Muslim mercantile class in the northern savanna region of Africa. Theoretical studies by Abner Cohen and others have drawn attention to the maintenance of economic and social diasporas which have permitted the creation of commercial monopolies, but the explanation that these diasporas have been ‘ethnic’ organizations has obscured a fundamental feature of their historical development. Not all Hausa have participated in the kola trade, nor have the majority of professional merchants resided along the commercial avenues outside of the Hausa homeland. As the case of the Kambarin Beriberi well documents, the origins of many traders who became identified as Hausa were as immigrants from other parts of Africa, and any understanding of the formation of commercial diasporas must consider the possible distinction between the various components of a trading system. Only then can a fuller understanding of the interaction between the different commercial segments be reached. The diasporas which Cohen has documented for the Hausa, and which others have analysed for the several Mande networks, represent but one level of commercial cooperation in the continental trade patterns of Africa. The fusion of such disparate groups as the Kambarin Beriberi and other Hausa merchants into a confederation of traders with common interests remains an important aspect of commercial development which has not been fully explored.
Iron Age History and Archaeology in Zambia
Authors: Phillipson D. W.
Published: January 2009

Developments since 1968 in the study of the Zambian Early Iron Age are discussed, with emphasis both on the Lubusi site near Kaoma, which provides the first dated occurrence of Early Iron Age artefacts from western Zambia, and on material from the Eastern Province, which is closely related to contemporary finds from Malawi. Knowledge of the post-Early Iron Age archaeology of Zambia has hitherto been largely restricted to the Southern Province; here, for the first time, an archaeological evaluation of the later Iron Age of other regions has been attempted, and three major pottery traditions are described. In the northern and eastern areas the Luangwa tradition appears to have been established by the eleventh or twelfth century A.D., making a sharp typological break with the preceding Early Iron Age traditions. In the west, the Lungwebungu tradition shows a greater degree of continuity from the Early Iron Age, but in much of the Zambezi valley and adjacent areas it has been supplanted by the sharply-contrasting Linyanti tradition for which a Kololo origin is postulated. The inception of the Luangwa tradition is attributed to the arrival of a new population element ancestral to most of the peoples who inhabit northern and eastern Zambia today, but there is in the archaeological record of this region little discernible trace of later migrations associated with the state-formation process recalled in the extant oral traditions. The implications of these observations for the interpretation of both archaeological data and of oral traditions are discussed and tentative conclusions are proposed concerning the inter-relationship of these two methodologies.
De La Résistance Africaine à l'Impérialisme Européen
Authors: Brunschwig Henri
Published: January 2009

Le terme de ‘résistance’ est ambigu à cause de l'écho qu'il éveille dans l'esprit des Européens qui ont vécu la deuxième guerre mondiale. Des ‘mouvements de résistance’ se sont alors organisés dans les états vaincus. Fondés sur le droit des peuples à disposer d'eux-mêmes, sur le sentiment national et sur l'égalité civile, us s'opposaient à la domination étrangère qui limitait la souveraineté de l'État.
Prelude to Scandal: Liberia and Fernando Po, 1880–1930
Authors: Sundiata I. K.
Published: January 2009

In 1923–30 the League of Nations investigated the shipment of migrant labour between Liberia and the Spanish island colony of Fernando Po. Although the League concentrated its attention on Liberia, a closer examination reveals labour abuse as very much the product of conditions on Fernando Po itself. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, black planters on the island shifted from palm oil trading to cocoa cultivation. Dependence on migrant labour and increasing competition from Europeans resulted in economic crisis in the first years of the twentieth century, with detention of labour and the nonpayment of contracts as the outcome. The eventual investigation of the trade was the product of a desire to conserve Liberian labour for use on the African mainland, rather than an attempt to relieve its abuse.
The Lagos Consulate, 1851–1861: An outline
Authors: Smith Robert
Published: January 2009

The British reduction of Lagos in 1851, their establishment of a semi-protectorate under the consuls, and the annexation of 1861 were due to a complex of causes, partly British, partly African: the movement to suppress the slave trade and to prevent its revival under the guise of contract labour; the encouragement of legitimate trade; the need to protect British and immigrant interests; missionary ambition; French rivalry; the rift in and subsequent weakness of the monarchy; the disordered state of the interior; the Dahomean threat to Abeokuta. Benjamin Campbell, the first substantive consul, laid the foundations of British rule, while his short-lived successors Brand and Foote helped to persuade the British Government that it was desirable and feasible to effect the transition to a colony. The consular decade at Lagos was a time of change which foreshadowed many of the issues of the Partition and was the first step in the making of Nigeria.