Niumi: A Nineteenth-Century Mandingo Kingdom

Africa ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-455
Author(s):  
Charlotte A. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Small River ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphBy the middle of the nineteenth century Niumi, a small Mandingo kingdom at the mouth of the Gambia river in West Africa, was on the verge of profound social changes. Until almost the end of the century it was swept by secular and religious warfare, important segments of its population were displaced, many members of its ruling clans were killed or driven into exile, and the state itself was divided to be later reconstituted under European colonial rule. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the social-political organization of Niumi in the 1850s before the traditional political system which had existed for over two centuries was destroyed. Niumi was one of fourteen small river kingdoms, ruled by Mandingo, some more clearly defined and centralized than others, together comprising one of the major areas of Mandingo settlement in West Africa. Although Niumi enjoyed a favoured economic position among these Mandingo states of the Senegambia its institutions were typical of Mandingo organization in the area and its history has proceeded along lines similar to the rest.

Chiefship and Politics in the Mlanje District of Southern Nyasaland

Africa ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-45
Author(s):  
R. L. Wishlade
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Administrative District ◽  
Southern Province ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphMlanje is an Administrative District in the Southern Province of Nyasaland. It is densely populated compared with other parts of Central Africa, having a population of 209,522 in 1945, which represented a density of 138 per square mile. The population is tribally heterogeneous, and was composed, in 1945, of 71 per cent. Nguru, 21 per cent. Nyanja, and 5 per cent. Yao people. The Nguru are the most recent arrivals, having immigrated into Nyasaland mainly during the present century. The term Nguru is used to refer to the representatives in Nyasaland of a number of tribes inhabiting that part of Portuguese East Africa which Lies to the east of Nyasaland; these immigrants call themselves Lomwe and in Mlanje are mainly Mihavani and Kokola. The Nyanja are the indigenous inhabitants of the area, who were living there before the invasion of the Mangoche Yao during the nineteenth century. Although they are linguistically distinct, the social organization of these three groups is markedly similar, and there has been a great deal of intermarriage between them, particularly between the Nyanja and the Nguru. No one of them is in sole occupation of a continuous stretch of territory, even the smallest residential groups are often tribally heterogeneous, the similarity of the social organization enabling Nyanja to be absorbed into Nguru hamlets and vice versa. For this reason it is impossible to use a tribal unit as a unit of reference in a discussion of the political organization of this area.

An Outline of the Traditional Political System of Bali-Nyonga, Southern Cameroons

Africa ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. Kaberry ◽  
E. M. Chilver
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
The West ◽  
Tax Assessment ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphA survey of the traditional political organization of a number of chiefdoms in the Bamenda Grassfields of the Southern Cameroons was made by the writers from May to mid-September 1960. Bali-Nyonga (sixteen miles to the west of Bamenda Station) was one of the chiefdoms studied. Our inquiries were directed mainly to situations and events in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, within the living memory of a few aged informants and of the parents of present title-holders. A few contemporary accounts of conditions exist for Bali-Nyonga for the last decade of the nineteenth century: those of Zintgraff (who was the first European to reach Bali-Nyonga), Hutter, Esser, and scattered notices in administrative, scientific, and missionary publications. These provide a rough chronological framework for Bali-Nyonga affairs for 1889–1914. British administrative officers in the course of tax assessment, the establishment of native courts and the resolution of land cases, collected oral traditions from the Mfon (Chief) of Bali-Nyonga and his elders, and accounts of earlier judicial and executive institutions from informants who had experienced them before the establishment of the German Imperial Military Station at Bamenda in 1902. We are not directly concerned in this paper with the expansion of the German administrative, trading, labour-recruiting, and missionary frontier, but with Bali interpretations of their own constitution at the period of contact (1889) and a little before and after. We hope to show that this constitution developed in intelligible circumstances which its special characteristics reflect.

scholarly journals Libya – Road to Dysfunctionality

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (56) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Wiesław Lizak
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Military Coup ◽  
Current Regime ◽  
International Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The Arab Spring

The developments of the Arab Spring of 2011 extended, among others, to Libya. As a consequence of the armed anti-government uprising supported militarily by the air forces of the Western powers (under the auspices of NATO), the regime of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, who has controlled the state since the 1969 military coup, was overthrown. The collapse of the current regime has initiated the path to the social, political and economic transformation of the Libyan state. However, the rivalry of local political forces which is a reflection of tribal, regional and ideological divisions, prevented the emergence of an effective political system. As a result, Libya has evolved into a dysfunctional state and the processes of internal destabilization and lack of state borders control generate threats also for the international environment of the country (West Africa, East Africa, Europe).

scholarly journals Functions of ‘Madrasas’ in the Ottoman Period

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-73
Author(s):  
Ayla Akbash
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Large Majority ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Architectural Characteristics ◽  
And Training

In this study certain educational institutions such as madrassahs, kulliyes and mosques that contributed to environment in terms of education in the Ottoman period (middle of the fifteenth century-beginning of the nineteenth century)are researched with regards to educational system, curriculum, mudarrises, students and training. The functions and effects of the madrassahs at that time as well as their reflection in our time are dealt with. In this context, some educational institutions included by certain Anatolian madrassahs such as darulkurra, darulhadith, sahnıseman and schools, which are currently existed and not, have been taken in examination. Incorporating madrassahs, which are public instutions in the Ottoman period, in the state organisation has been started with the Fatih madrassahs that were established by Fatih (Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror) and structuring of madrassah order was quickened after the conquest. In time, the cities such as İstanbul (capital city), Edirne, Bursa, İznik, Trabzon, Konya and Diyarbakır have had the most madrassahs. The large majority of madrassahs of Sinan the Architect have been built in Anatolia and in other cities of the Empire. The first Ottoman madrassah was established in İznik and has become widespread in time. In consequence of being institutions in which training was giving according to the curriculum and ratification of mudarris and having distinctive architectural characteristics in their cubicles, porches, classes, iwans and şadırvans gave rise to them having a respectable position in the society. It is commented that the madrassahs that are the symbol of classical Ottoman arcitecture have been retrograded later on. In the scope of madrassahs located in the Antalya region the importance and contribution of them, which have been improved as the reflection of the social changes and have been opened to changes with their internal/external dynamics, and their capability of being met the requirements of society have been examined and explained descriptively together with their contributions to educational mantality in our time.

The socio-ecology of firewood and charcoal on the Freetown peninsula

Africa ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Akindele Cline-Cole
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Wood Fuel ◽  
Western Area ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Political Economic

Opening ParagraphIn a country which in the last 200 years has undergone continuous and often momentous political, economic and social changes, few things are capable of conveying as strong an impression of stability and changelessness as wood fuel (charcoal and firewood) consumption and production; and nowhere is this more striking than on the Freetown or Western Area (formerly Colony) peninsula. In this region, which has always accounted for the major share of national electricity, kerosene and cooking gas (LPG) consumption, not only is current percentage household firewood consumption only fractionally lower than in the nineteenth century but a much higher proportion of households consume charcoal now than at any time in the last two centuries (Cline-Cole, 1984a). Today firewood and charcoal combined supply a minimum of 80 per cent of total peninsula energy demand for both domestic and non-household uses (Davidson, 1985). Freetown's firewood consumption also represents some 10 per cent of the national total (Atlanta, 1979).

Patterns of Authority in West Africa

Africa ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Brown
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
West African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Size And Structure

Opening ParagraphThe development of large centralized states in West Africa has long been recognized. The complexity of organization of the few well-known kingdoms, but not their differences in size and structure, is constantly emphasized in the literature. The number and variety of West African groups which have not developed states have, on the other hand, frequently been underestimated. In a comparative review by Professors Fortes and Evans-Pritchard two types of political system, centralized and segmentary, have been described for Africa as a whole, with examples of each in West Africa. A survey of West African societies suggests, however, that finer distinctions are possible and that not all these societies can be placed in one or other of these two categories. In particular, this classification omits consideration of ‘stateless’ societies in which associations, rather than a segmentary lineage system, regulate political relations; and it fails to distinguish different types of authority and political structure in states.

Feudalism and the Tatar Polity of the Middle Ages

1958 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Krader
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nomadic Pastoralists ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cultural World ◽  
The Middle Ages

During the first millenium A.D. a series of states were formed by Turkic and Mongol peoples, the nomadic pastoralists of the Asian steppes - the Tatars of European and Chinese record. These political enterprises enlarged their scope and power during the period of a millenium, reaching a climax in the empire of Chingis Khan in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; from this climactic achievement they have since declined. The social and political organization as well as the economy of these peoples are at once simple and complex, primitive and advanced. The characterization of this cultural world has been given focus in a sharp controversy, the controversy over the establishment and internal ordering of the political system.

Modern Political Movements in Somaliland. II

Africa ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Political Organization ◽  
Northern Province ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
Present Position ◽  
Group Affiliation ◽  
Religious Ideology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Traditional Organization ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Constitutional Changes

Opening ParagraphIn a preceding article I discussed the organization and aims of modern Somali political movements in the light of the traditional political structure. Three types of political organization were distinguished: clan, regional (or tribal), and nationalist. These three types reflect traditional variations in the social structure and culture of different regions of Somaliland and also varying degrees of political evolution. I drew attention to the extent to which all parties—especially those with nationalist aims—have adopted a religious ideology and pointed out that Islam, through the traditional organization and aims of the Sufi Dervish Orders (ṭariiqas), has provided a precedent for pan-Somali solidarity. I now attempt to assess the extent of nationalist feeling in the different Somali territories, and examine the degree to which recent constitutional changes in government and administration have recognized the growth of nationalist aspirations and promoted their extension. I discuss first the present position in the five Somali territories: French and British Somaliland; Harar Province of Ethiopia; Somalia; and the Northern Province of Kenya. Finally, I consider the importance of Islam in furthering nationalism and in helping to overcome the cleavages of clan and Dia-paying group affiliation which oppose the formation of a unified Somali nation.

The Influence of Ecological Factors and External Relations on the Mbembe Tribes of South-East Nigeria

Africa ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Harris
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
External Relations ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Arrival ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Political Differences ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThis paper is concerned with the significance of environmental factors for the reconstruction and interpretation of the history of the Mbembe tribes during the period immediately prior to the first arrival of the Europeans in the late 1880's. It seems probable that developments occurring mainly during the nineteenth century led to differences between the tribes, both in the distribution of their populations and in the character of their villages. These in turn resulted in considerable divergences in political organization despite the fact that the tribes remained adjacent and culturally very similar, and that the main principles and assumptions on which their organization was based remained essentially similar. It would be possible to discuss these political differences simply in terms of the present variations in demography and village structure. But an attempt to discover the processes by which they came about will, I think, increase our understanding of the development of these divergent political structures.

scholarly journals The Singapore Rickshaw Pullers: The Social Organization of a Coolie Occupation, 1880–1940

1985 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Warren
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Malay Peninsula ◽  
Southeast China ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

This article integrates the history of the experience of rickshaw coolies into the larger history of Singapore in the period from 1880 to 1940. These were decisive years. They witnessed the extraordinary economic development of the vast potential for tin, rubber, oil palm, and tobacco in the Malay peninsula and on the east coast of Sumatra under colonial rule, and the evolution of Singapore as a “coolie town”, with a colonial administrative heart and an entrepôt port, with the birth of the rickshaw and a stream of emigrants from China who poured in faster and faster to pull it. This floodtide ofsingkeh singkeh (newcomers from China) came to Singapore with the hope of forming a foundation for a new and prosperous life. Expanding Singapore, especially at this stage of its growth from the third quarter of the nineteenth century, was often considered by the migrants as a place of hope and betterment. There were in Singapore tens of thousands of Cantonese, Hengwah, Hockchia, and Foochow sojourners who hoped to find a pipeline to prosperity since the second half of the nineteenth century, when dire poverty and overpopulation plagued Southeast China.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document