page_title: Monarchies in Africa
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Monarchies in Africa / History
caption_attribution_description: This is an image of Cultural Fashion or Adornment from Ghana
context_page_description: There are several monarchies in Africa, defined as either actually or nominally self-governing states, territories, or nations on the continent of Africa where supreme power resides with an individual who is recognized as the head of state. All are similar in that the sovereign inherits their office and typically keeps it until their death or until their abdication. However, only three are currently sovereign, while the remaining are sub-national monarchies. Two of these are constitutional monarchies, in which the sovereign is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of his or her powers, and one is an absolute monarchy, in which the sovereign rules without bounds. The sub-national monarchies are not sovereign, and exist within larger political associations. In addition to these, there are also three dependencies of two European monarchies.
  Another subnational monarchy in Africa is Buganda kingdom of Uganda. The kingdom was formed in Early 14th century with highly decentralized system. It is now a constitution monarchy with its King titled KABAKA and elected prime minister.
  The kingdom has a parliament called Lukiiko.
context_section_description: The need for an identity prompted the early settlements of West Africa and the largely nomadic community in North Africa to form states as they had the capacity, due to the trans-Saharan trade,  to support formal establishments. In response to this, a strong leadership with authority developed to meet the need for them. This explains the emergence of the monarchy of Mali in the 1200s, a political system which was pioneered by Sundjata Keita. Kingdoms of Takrur in Senegal and Kanem on the banks of the Lake Chad were also founded. Apart from this indigenous development of kingdoms in Africa that happened in relative isolation, other monarchies came to be established with foreign interventions. One such intervention was by Rome in North Africa. The Kingdom of Numidia (in what is present-day Algeria) came to be established around 200 BC with Masinissa as the first king; he was one of the many kings who headed large indigenous communities in the North African coastal belt who had exploited the trans-Saharan trade route for their sustenance. With the tacit strategic support of Rome, Masinissa took control of all the nomadic communities and had them crown him king.
  To exercise rights as a king or queen in most cases, the monarchs in Africa created superiority myths through rituals and symbolism, practices that were intended to encourage their being seen as mediators between the gods and the people. They placed themselves in a privileged position above the common man by doing so, and brought about a feeling among people that they represented peoples' interests and were above favoritism and  prejudices.
  Monarchical privileges were established in the form of sovereign rights and prerogatives by way of regal costumes, ornamented crowns, jewelry, personal weaponry, and armaments. They established special thrones or golden stools, and commissioned the building of shrines for their ancestors, as was the case of the Lozi people of Zambia.
caption: A Queen Mother in Africa.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL T5", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.3 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2015:09:14 08:50:19", "Image Artist": "courage ahiati", "Image ExifOffset": "2344", "Image SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "Image RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "Image XPAuthor": "courage ahiati", "Image BodySerialNumber": "062072035932", "Image LensSpecification": "[18, 55, 0/0, 0/0]", "Image LensModel": "EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II", "Image LensSerialNumber": "00000cc62a", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:09:12 03:31:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:09:12 03:31:42", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "870723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2827819/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "55", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "35", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "35", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}