African Kingdoms
African Kingdoms were powerful and influential states that existed in various regions of Africa before the colonial period. They were characterized by strong political structures, advanced trade networks, and rich cultural traditions. Some notable African Kingdoms include the Kingdom of Aksum, Ghana Empire, Mali Empire, and the Kingdom of Kongo. These kingdoms played a significant role in shaping the history and development of Africa.
7 Key excerpts on "African Kingdoms"
eBook - ePub- Michael Banton, Michael Banton(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The Political Structure of African Kingdoms An Exploratory Model Peter C. Lloyd DOI: 10.4324/9780203715208-3 It is now nearly twenty-five years since Fortes and Evans-Pritchard (1940) gave us our first classification of African political systems – into hunting bands, segmentary lineage societies and centralized states. Other social anthropologists have subsequently offered improvements on these categories; yet few have attempted to define the basic differences between kingdoms as varied, for instance, as those of the Yoruba, Benin, and the Hausa-Fulani emirates, to cite but some Nigerian examples. Historians still tend to seek a common origin for, and consequent similarity in, African Kingdoms. Thus Fage and Oliver (1962, pp. 44, 49) postulate the spread of a Sudanic civilization across Africa: ‘The central feature of this civilization was the incorporation of the various African peoples concerned into states whose institutions were so similar that they must have derived from a common source.’ Later they add ‘that the formation of states … was a process which involved the deployment of a considerable fund of common political ideas’. One common feature of African Kingdoms is their complexity and this has undoubtedly contributed to the failure to differentiate between them. As we know them, most kingdoms have evolved during several centuries of existence. In most cases the divine or sacred king is hedged about with archaic rituals; a multitude of office-holders surround his throne, some wielding political power, others having merely ceremonial duties. In the colonial territory and the modern independent state it is often the rituals and ceremonies which have survived, while the traditional decision-making processes have been irrevocably changed. Yet to the historian a knowledge of those processes is vital...
eBook - ePub- Vincent B. Khapoya(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Graham. 3. Large-scale empires sometimes “rose” out of such kingdoms by expanding through military or diplomatic leadership, but they invariably “fell” (fragmenting into their component parts) at some later time. 4. Large-scale empires usually recognized the legitimacy and autonomy of local kings or chiefs. 5. The political traditions of such local communities usually remained vital and resilient, even during serious disruptions when the bureaucratic traditions of imperial civilizations were abandoned or destroyed. These general historical tendencies have been illustrated through the specific examples of political development emphasized in this chapter, and it is helpful to keep these general themes in mind while reading about the various particularities of Africa’s historical heritage. The following historical synthesis is designed to provide some minimal information about the political history of African civilizations prior to colonial times. While it does not include all such civilizations and presents some of them in more detail than others, this chapter places important “basic facts” about Africa’s political development (prior to 1900) into appropriate historical contexts. These historical contexts include four conventional periods—ancient, medieval, early modern, and nineteenth-century history. In prehistoric times (before the beginnings of written records), there were no known civilizations (in which people lived in cities); but early hunters and gatherers gradually developed those physical, mental, technical, cultural, and political qualities that later enabled ancient human beings to build cities and create large and complex systems of governance...
eBook - ePubWorld History
An Introduction
- Eric Vanhaute(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...5 A political world Governance and rulers The empire of Ghana in West Africa grew and flourished from the eighth to the eleventh century ce. This empire was dominated by the Soninke, which placed diverse tribes and cities located in a vast region (present-day Mauritania and Mali) under one government. The Soninke called their empire Wagadu, land of herds. The Ghana (king-warlord) resided in the capital Kumbi Saleh on the border of the Sahara desert. At its peak, the city had 30,000 inhabitants. It was constructed around a royal centre with ramparts. The empire flourished as a trading centre. It was part of a larger commercial system in which trans-Saharan trade with the Arabs (and Berbers) played a major role. The most important commodities were gold and ivory from the south, and salt from the north. Due to growing wealth and power, the kingdom’s influence was enlarged via a tribute system. Islam was not the state religion, but it was tolerated. Ghana was one of the strongest and most prosperous empires in the world in the eleventh century. It started to decline after the eleventh century due to a combination of factors: the advancing desert and increasing food provisioning problems, a drop in trade and the jihad by Islamic Almoravids advancing from the north. What is the strength of ancient Ghana’s political organizational model? The empire was centrally controlled and led by a royal family. Control was indirect outside the vicinity of the capital. Remote cities and tribes became members of the empire by paying tributes, but they had a lot of autonomy. Governors were responsible for contacts with the centre. Control was efficient, as was the system of taxation. This enabled the king to keep the multi-ethnic empire together. Legitimacy and cohesion were guaranteed thanks to economic success. This rested on a welldeveloped agricultural system that concentrated on cattle breeding...
eBook - ePub- Cheikh Anta Diop, Harold Salemson(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Lawrence Hill Books(Publisher)
...Chapter Five POLITICAL ORGANIZATION POWER OF THE AFRICAN EMPIRES Before undertaking a detailed analysis of the political organization of precolonial Africa, we must show the actual power and the extent of the African empires. These factors are often minimized, or left vague. Insofar as there exists a certain persistent tendency to allude to more or less mythical White conquerors to explain African civilizations, it is worthwhile to reestablish the truth strictly based on facts and documents, with regard to the relationship between White and Black cultures toward the close of the First Millennium—when Africa’s history was beginning just about everywhere. 1 Delafosse, quoting Ibn Khaldun, relates that, as early as the eighth century, after the conquest of North Africa by the Umayyads, Arab traders crossed the Sahara as far as the Sudan. STRENGTH AND EXTENT OF THE EMPIRES Ghana Henceforth new connections, never again interrupted, were being forged with the outside, particularly the Arab Orient and the Mediterranean world. These first traders discovered that the Sudan was governed by a Black emperor whose capital was Ghana. The empire at its highest point extended from Djaka on the west of the Niger River to the Atlantic Ocean and, north to south, from the Sahara to the edge of Mali. The gold-rich region of Upper Senegal, centered around Gadiaru, Garentel, and Iresni, belonged to the Empire. In Bakri’s day the outlying village of Aluken was an Eastern border territory governed by the son of the late Emperor Bessi, uncle of the reigning Tunka Min. The white populations then inhabiting the land were under the strict authority of the Blacks...
eBook - ePubThe Meanings of Things
Material Culture and Symbolic Expression
- I. Hodder, I. Hodder(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Vansina (1961, p. 25) has defined African Kingdoms as ‘sovereign political groups, headed by a single leader who delegates authority to representatives in charge of the territorial units into which the country is divided’. In a divine kingdom the king is thought of as a supernatural being whose power is unlimited, at least in theory. His doings and his views and ideas express, confirm and maintain the religious foundation of his kingdom. The king prays not only to the spirits of his fathers, but also to his own spirit (Frazer 1932, p. 48). In African divine kingdoms there is believed to be a mystical connection between the physical and moral well-being of the king and the prosperity and success of the people of the kingdom (Gluckman 1965, p. 38). The time of election of a new king is a time when the kingdom is threatened. A divine king is an incarnation of the legendary founder of the kingdom, and the death of a king means disorder in society: it is of vital importance to re-establish social order. This is only done when a new divine king is installed. The death of a village chief also means social chaos, and also within this level of social organization it is important to bring back social order as soon as possible. Myth, ritual and social organization In the present context myth and ritual are discussed as sociocultural systems of communication underlining, reinforcing or perhaps even determining social organization within a society. Divine kingdoms are associated with a political power where the sanctions for maintaining law and order are beyond this world, but in the myths it is explained that people central in the mythical tradition had a former life in this world a long time ago. This applies, for example, to the founder of a particular royal lineage. How many generations ago a particular event took place is manifested in the genealogy. For most African Kingdoms the royal genealogies are generally taken back in time to about AD 1500 (Vansina 1966, p. 32)...
eBook - ePubMobutu's Totalitarian Political System
An Afrocentric Analysis
- Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...The primary mission of political power was the survival of the group as an economic, spiritual, political, and military unit. The nature of each ethnic group dictated the system of government. One clear feature of traditional African political institutions was the lack of a written constitution. Instead, customs and traditions determined governmental procedures. 5 There were two distinct types of traditional political organizations: Stateless societies. Tribal groupings were led by chiefs or chiefdoms. The chief and his attendants were in charge of administrative and judiciary institutions. Some tribes were without chiefs, yet governed themselves peacefully. Kingdoms and empires. This second category was composed of conquered tribes. These were further distinguished by differing forms of imperial rule. The first and most common allowed a certain autonomy and local independence to the vassal states—the Asante and Zande empires of the 19 th century illustrate this type of political subculture. The second type of imperial rule required conquered tribes or vassal states to assimilate in an allegedly superior foreign culture—among these vassal states were the 18 th and 19 th centuries’ Mandinka, Fulani, Hausa, and most (if not all) of the Islamic empires of West Africa. Other elements that entered into consideration of traditional African political organizations included, lineage, age, maturity, relation to ancestors, and wealth. Lineage, the foundation of most political organizations, was the most powerful and effective force for unity and stability in early Africa. Differing criteria determined lineage. However, of age, maturity, and relation to ancestors, age seemed to be the favorite criterion in most political structures, as it represented wisdom according to African tradition...
eBook - ePubBalancing Written History with Oral Tradition
The Legacy of the Songhoy People
- Hassimi Oumarou Maiga(Author)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...On the other hand, there were tradesmen, farmers, free peoples, and artisans as well as griots and captives, or prisoners captured during various wars. The Black Empire of Ghana was very prosperous. It had developed commercial relationships with Berbers in the north and with Mandinka people in the south. Ghana’s economy was the foundation of its prosperity. This prosperity was based on agriculture, which was abundant in the south where it was more humid. The people of Ghana produced mostly rice, millet, cassava, and potatoes. In the north, where wheat and dates were harvested, the people also raised cattle and sheep. Ghana was also known for its gold, silver, and copper mines; salt and iron were also in great abundance. Ghana’s gold mines were located in Bambuk, Buré, and Galam, and iron was extracted from the mines of Mena. Gold powder commerce was free for all but solid gold was reserved exclusively for the Emperor. Leather production and commerce were very important because leather was exported. Bricklayers, jewelers, and blacksmiths, etc., were valued craftsmen and artisans. Captives served as porters, and donkeys and horses provided the main form of transportation during this era. However, camels were used chiefly for long distance travel. 2.2 GHANA’S POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANISATION The Emperor Diabe Cise divided Ghana into manageable units: regions, sub-regions, headquarters, and villages. Each village was led by a chief. This meant people who were in charge of these various administrative units were not the Emperor’s family members. However, everyone paid taxes to the Kaya Maga, like the Niakate clan from Diara, the Diarisso from Sosso, and the Dukure from Diafunu. On the other hand, the Emperor himself ruled certain kingdoms that were also part of the Empire. Moreover, the strength of the Ghana Empire resided in the way the army was structured and organized...
