The Slave-Trader as Historian: Robert Norris and the History of Dahomey

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 219-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Law
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
The West ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
West African State ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Own Name

The Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadee, King of Dahomy of Robert Norris, first published in 1789, is a history of the west African kingdom of Dahomey during the reign of Tegbesu (“Bossa”), dated by Norris to 1732-1774 (though the correct dates are now known to be 1740-1774). In addition to its separate publication in 1789, Norris' material was also included, in a revised form, in the more comprehensive History of Dahomy compiled by Archibald Dalzel, published in 1793. This second version incorporates numerous detailed alterations and elaborations, mainly stylistic but occasionally relating to matters of substance; according to the Editor of Dalzel's History, these revisions were the work of Norris himself, although he had died before the work was brought to publication. This incorporation of Norris' work into that of Dalzel has had the effect of diminishing his reputation and perceived importance, since his material has usually been cited through (and by implication attributed to) Dalzel, rather than directly under his own name. His Memoirs, however, clearly have immense historiographical significance, as the first serious attempt by a European to write the history of a west African state.In addition to its purely historiographical interest, Norris' work remains an important source for the history of eighteenth-century Dahomey. Its value as a historical source, however, is problematical. On the one hand, Norris, as a slave trader who had operated in Dahomey for several years, had claims to be an exceptionally well-informed observer of Dahomian affairs.

Politics and Society in Post-War Liberia

1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Ahmadu Sesay
Keyword(s):  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
Indelible Mark ◽  
Fire Monitoring ◽  
Complete Destruction ◽  
Physical Infrastructure ◽  
West African State ◽  
History Of ◽  
Monitoring Group ◽  
Post War

The brutal civil war that engulfed Liberia, following Charles Taylor's invasion in December 1989, has left an indelible mark in the history of this West African state. The six-year old struggle led to the collapse of what was already an embattled economy; to the almost complete destruction of physical infrastructure built over a century and half of enterprise and oligarchic rule; to the killing, maiming, and displacement of more than 50 per cent of the country's estimated pre-war population of 2·5 million; and to an unprecedented regional initiative to help resolve the crisis. Five years after the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) intervened with a Cease-fire Monitoring Group (Ecomog), an agreement that was quickly hailed as the best chance for peace in Liberia was signed in August 1995 in the Nigeriancapital, Abuja.

Legitimising State Capitalism: Malian Militarism in Third-World Perspective

1980 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles D. Wolpin
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
State Capitalism ◽  
West African State ◽  
Unusual Occurrence ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Military ◽  
World Perspective

Although the analysis which follows centres upon the West African state of Mali, much of what is said applies in varying measure to other examples of military state capitalism in Africa and elsewhere. Its importance is underscored by the fact that this is an increasingly common régime variant in the Third World. Similarly, domestic militarism has been transformed from an unusual occurrence to a phenomenon which evokes little more than a déjà vu response. Today nearly half of the governments of the ‘South’ are directly or indirectly dominated by the military, whereas three decades ago little more than 15 per cent could be so classified.

Liberia' Never–Die Christians

1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-358
Author(s):  
Paul Gifford
Keyword(s):  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
True Believer ◽  
The West ◽  
Jehovah’S Witness ◽  
Jehovah's Witness ◽  
West African State

In Monrovia, the capital of the West African state of Liberia, Richard K. Sleboe, a Kru tribesman from Sinoe County and previously a Jehovah's Witness, founded in June 1970 the Kingdom Assembly Church of Africa. This came to be popularly known as the ‘Never—Die Church’ from its most distinguishing belief, namely that a true believer will never physically die but will live on this earth forever.

scholarly journals From ‘warlord’ to ‘democratic’ president: how Charles Taylor won the 1997 Liberian elections

1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Harris
Keyword(s):  
African State ◽  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
Peace Accord ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
International Reputation ◽  
West African State ◽  
Research Show

For the best part of seven years, an increasing number of warring factions fought a vicious civil war for control of the West African state of Liberia. In August 1996, the fourteenth peace accord led to presidential and parliamentary elections in July of the following year. Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party (NPP), formed out of the original invasion force, emerged victorious with a landslide 75 per cent of the vote. Given the international reputation of Taylor as a brutal warlord whose sole aim had never wavered from the capture of power in Monrovia, Taylor's across-the-board victory appears difficult to explain. Having concluded that, despite problems and allegations, the election did seem more free and fair than not, the article examines the factors that probably influenced the electorate's choices. The results of this research show an election heavily dependent on an uncertain security situation. However, it suggests that, although a former ‘warlord’ has been rewarded, the voting was a reasoned ploy by the electorate to maximise the possibility of improved living conditions.

Some Eighteenth Century Ferryhouses in Appin, Lorn, Argyll: the Development of the Single-Storeyed Mortared Stone Cottage in the West Highlands

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 243-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan W. MacKie
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Architectural History ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
North Side ◽  
Piped Water ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Made In

The evolution of the single-storeyed mortared stone cottage in the western highlands of Scotland seems to mirror that of the upper strata of late seventeenth and eighteenth century clan society in the region, and in particular to reflect a little of the disintegration of that society after the two failed Stuart uprisings and its consequent gradual integration with the lowland economy. An analysis of the architectural history of the Ferry House (let to the ferryman as a combined inn and home for his family) at Port Appin provides a foundation for the survey. The earliest part of the building, probably thatched, may well date from the 1740s but already it had lintelled hearths with flues in each gable wall - a lowland urban feature. A major extension with a slate roof was built in about 1770 and the earlier part was probably also slated at this time and subdivided inside to provide rooms for wealthier guests. Thereafter only relatively minor internal improvements were made, in the newer half, until the early 1950s when piped water was introduced and a separate bathroom and kitchen built. The cottages were sold to incomers not long after.A study of other ferries in the area confirms that mortared cottages almost identical to those in Port Appin, and in identical situations, are still to be found at two of these. The one on the south side of the abandoned Rugarve ferry over Loch Creran can also be dated to between about 1750 and 1770 from historical evidence. Also at Rugarve, on the north side, are the remains of a more primitive thatched drystone cottage, probably an early ferry house, which is smaller than the others and lacks hearths with chimneys.

scholarly journals “The adventure is not easy.” The Discretionary Politics of Social Suffering and Agency in Post-Deportation Narratives in Southern Mali

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Susanne U Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
African State ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
West African ◽  
Social Suffering ◽  
North African ◽  
The West ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
West African State

Drawing on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in the West African state of Mali (2014–2016), this article delves into the local, national, and transnational effects of (externalized) European and North African deportation regimes and reactions to them by civil society actors and deportees themselves. This work aims to contribute to a better understanding of how geographical, physical, social, and psychological spaces are reshaped through interactions with bordering practices. Deportation generally takes the form of (il)legal, bureaucratic measures and violent interventions that are perceived as deeply unjust. They generate anger, alienation, and uncertainty among those deported and their families and associates. By seeking patterns in the accounts of social suffering in deportees’ narratives, the article seeks, empirically and analytically, to unravel multilevel bordering practices through examining localized, agentic forms of bordering power. The post-deportation context involves southern Mali, an area subject to dramatic desertification and loss of sustainable livelihoods.

Intelligence in the West African State of Benin

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92
Author(s):  
Salaheldin Farah Attallah Bakhiet ◽  
David Becker ◽  
Huda Fadlall Ali Mohamed ◽  
Hamissou Arouna Abdoulaye ◽  
Salaheldin Abdelrahman Elrasheed Seed Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
West African State

Maî Idrîs of Bornu and the Ottoman Turks, 1576–78

1972 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
African State ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
West African State

In the course of a visit to Libya in 1964, the writer was informed by the Archivist at the Libyan Government Archives in Tripoli, Sayyid Muhammad al-Usta, of the existence of Ottoman documents in Istanbul concerning a sixteenth-century embassy to Turkey from the West African state of Bornu.

May God Repay You: The Tenet of Baraji in Southern Mali, West Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-169
Author(s):  
Dianna Bell
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Social Life ◽  
African State ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
West African ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
The West ◽  
West African State ◽  
Ritual Practices

Muslims in the West African state of Mali usebaraji, which translates from Bambara as ‘divine reward’ or ‘recompense’, as a criterion for understanding proper religious practice. The concept also drives Muslims’ lifelong aim to acquire the unspecified amount of merit that God requires for a person to enter paradise. Drawing from life history and ethnographic research, this piece deepens understanding of West African Islam by exploring the Qur’anic basis ofbarajiand situates the concept as a form of value through which Muslims discern the complementary places of different ritual practices and daily choices in their lives. In order to understand the ways that Malian Muslims seek measurable units ofbarajito benefit both the living and the dead, this study also shows how kin earnbarajion one another’s behalf, especially through posthumous sacrifices. By doing so, the article highlights death as a process in which the acquisition ofbarajicontinues through kin and sacrifices, revealing West African Islam as embedded in daily social life and relations with one’s ancestors.

The Ashanti Kings in the Eighteenth Century: A Revised Chronology

1960 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Priestley ◽  
Ivor Wilks
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
West Indies ◽  
West African ◽  
Early History ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
Detailed Nature

In studying the early history of the West African states, one of the difficulties encountered is that of establishing a reasonably precise framework of chronology. Eighteenth-century Ashanti, however, would appear to be an exception to this in that the reigns of its kings are dated, although with some degree of variation, in all the standard works dealing with the area. Their authors, from this point of view, have followed either Thomas Edward Bowdich or Joseph Dupuis, both of whom were in Kumasi, the Ashani capital, in the early part of the nineteenth century. In their treatment of traditions and customs, the writings of Bowdich and Dupuis are of great interest and value; the chronologies of the two authors, however, although they contain major differences, can in neither case be regarded as reliable. Fortunately there are in existence written records, hitherto little used, which make it possible to draw up a new and amended chart of the reigns of the eighteenth-century kings, and which furthermore give rise to interesting questions. These are the records of the various European companies engaged in trade on the coast, notably the English Royal African Company (1672–1750), its successor the Company of Merchants trading to Africa (1750–1821), and the second Dutch West Indies Company (1674–1791). Their agents in the forts and settlements were much interested in local developments especially in so far as trade might be beneficially or adversely affected. As a part of their duties, they kept diaries of events and dispatched reports, often of a very detailed nature, to their Companies in London and Amsterdam.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document