Prior to Africa's colonization, there were several large empires that were ruled by overpowered, totalitarian-esque governments; or kings, rather. Such was the commonplace of most empires of the time. All the power rested within the king's hands, along with his council, thus classifying these empires as centralized, or centralized states. In addition, there were several smaller kingdoms, or city states. But statistics say that around one-third of pre-colonial Africans lived devoid of any such kingdoms. So why were historians so slow to study these stateless-civilizations, when they so clearly made up a large portion of the country? And just what were these forgotten societies all about?
As you can see in the picture, a rather large portion of the country was not actually part of a kingdom. And certainly most of those areas were populated. Why is so little information available about these societies? First, it's important to understand what set them apart from the kingdoms of Africa. Even the smaller kingdoms had some sort of ruling government or hierarchy system in place. These smaller civilizations didn't. They lacked kings, chiefs, or any complex form of government. Many chose to let the elders of their communities make all of the economical and social decisions. So without any real form of governmental rule, there was no need for written, or even oral, documentation of what went on, as well as expectations for living, in these small civilizations. What we do know is that they placed less emphasis on family connectivity and more on age when choosing their "leaders."
Perhaps it didn't occur to historians to study these societies. Of course their first priorities would be to study the governmental entities the reigned supreme over pre-colonial Africa. But with such a large portion of the country residing outside of kingdoms, is it really so wise, or even fair, to overlook the rest? In all fairness, the lack of written documentation from these societies makes it a little more challenging to extract the very essence of their existence. And the collapse of these seemingly better-off communities was as undeniable as it was for the rest of Africa as soon as Western countries began to colonize.
Now here's a question: Out of the large empires, the smaller kingdoms, and the stateless societies, which was quintessentially what comes to mind when thinking of pre-colonial Africa? Because I would have never guessed that they had such complex forms of government prior to colonization. Would anyone else agree? Or perhaps you know more about Africa than I do?
More info on the different forms of governmental societies.
More info on the more prominent African Empires.
Perhaps it didn't occur to historians to study these societies. Of course their first priorities would be to study the governmental entities the reigned supreme over pre-colonial Africa. But with such a large portion of the country residing outside of kingdoms, is it really so wise, or even fair, to overlook the rest? In all fairness, the lack of written documentation from these societies makes it a little more challenging to extract the very essence of their existence. And the collapse of these seemingly better-off communities was as undeniable as it was for the rest of Africa as soon as Western countries began to colonize.
Now here's a question: Out of the large empires, the smaller kingdoms, and the stateless societies, which was quintessentially what comes to mind when thinking of pre-colonial Africa? Because I would have never guessed that they had such complex forms of government prior to colonization. Would anyone else agree? Or perhaps you know more about Africa than I do?
More info on the different forms of governmental societies.
More info on the more prominent African Empires.
1 comment:
Way to post complicated questions, its the weekend and I actually have to think. To start, many historians, until recently, marginalized African kingdoms, part of this was to make the slave trade seem less human. You never want to think a person that you buy and sell comes from a society just like yours.
Lots of text was lost from some of the great kingdoms when they were taken over, a conqueror often destroys anything that will remind the people of how things used to be, this goes with Islam and colonization as well.
And really, try and convince the text book companies in Texas that it is more important to learn about the Mali Empire over their great European ancestors.
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