African Civilisazition Dr Kra

7/30/2019 African Civilisazition Dr Kra

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AFRICAN CIVILISAZITION

NIVEAU : Licence 3

ANNEE : 2012-2013

TEMPS CONSACRE : 5H CM et 5H TD

PREREQUIS : Civilisation Africaine ; Systmes Politiques Licence 3RESPONSABLE : Dr KRA KOFFI JEROME

CHARGE DE COURS: Dr KRA KOFFI JEROME

Ecole Normale Suprieure

Centre Formation Continue

(CFC)

UNIVERSITE DE VACANCES

(UNIVAC)

Universit de Cocody


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This course intends to study African civilization especially the political

organizations in Anglophone Africa it will show the way they were structured,

their forces but also their weaknesses faced with British imperialism.

Apart from the general case, we will be here concerned with the main

organizations in this area namely the centralized states, the uncentralised ones

and the theocracies.

Objective of the course

To show that African countries in general and Anglophone African

countries in particular had their own institutions (be they social, cultural,

religious or political). In short, it means to show the world that oral tradition

doesnt necessarily rime with disorder, incapacity or anarchy. Finally, the course

aims at proving that Anglophone African countries had got strong political

systems (in the light of two of them, namely Ghana and Nigeria) which , most of

the time had led the colonists to defeats at war level.

Plan of course

Introduction

Political Organization

A. Centralized states

- Kingdoms (the Asante empire)B. Uncentralised states

- Acephalon societies or stateless societies ( Ibo)C. Theocracies

D. Religion and politics

E. Trade and Industry

Conclusion


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Introduction

The political systems in Africa are strongly based on the social

organization from which they originate. As such, social classes influence the

establishment of such systems. In the course of this study, we will briefly

comment upon Africas social organizations before coming to the political

organizations.

Chapter I:Social Organization

1- The familyThe basic social unit was the patrilineal family. The Yoruba, the Igbo, the Bini,

the Adja, the Ewe and the Ga traced descent through the male line. Contrary to

the above, the Akan and the Ohafia Igbo were traditionally matrilineal (descent

was through the female line). Maternal grandfathers, uncles and brothers

therefore exercised greatest authority over a woman and her children than her

husband.

2- The clanFamilies were grouped into clans. Members of a clan regarded themselves as

relatives. They believed they descended from the same ancestor. In the Akan

Society there were seven or eight matrilineal clans called Abusua and seven

patrilineal groupings called ntoro or kra. An Akan by birth belonged to the

Abusua of his mother, but inherited the ntoro or kra of his father.

3- The Social classThree distinct social groups could be identified in the states of the West

African forest and coastal zones.

a) The aristocracy or the ruling group was at the top of the social ladder. This

class was made up of the royals, councilors and other political office holders.


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b) Below the aristocracy was the class of the commoners. They were freeborn

people.

c) The third class was made up of domestic slaves and pawns. Contrary to the

status of slaves sent out of the continent, domestic slaves were treated well. It

was possible for a slave to move up the social ladder and enter the commoner

class. He then became a full citizen with privileges to enjoy. Some domestic

servants (like those among the Akans) could even marry their masters

daughters. They could even inherit property or office. As the African cherished

large families, slaves and pawns became a source of prestige and power among

especially the Akan because they helped enlarge the size of families.

4- MarriagesThe West African societies were polygamous. The Oba of Benin in Nigeria for

instance had so many wives that they had to be put under a state official. This

official (the ibiwe as he was called) supervised these women in their harem.

The West African in fact placed high premium on large families. The larger onesfamily, the more dignified one became in the society. To marry more women

was surely the means of acquiring such respectable position in the society.

Women were also seen as the weaker sex and needed protection and economic

support from the men, especially in a period of strife, Women were also needed

to assist the men in their agricultural activities just as the large number of

children were expected to do. It therefore came as no surprise that apart from the

kings of the West African forest and coastal societies, ordinary citizens also

married several wives.

Again, marriage in the coastal and forest Societies was seen as a union

between two families. Marriages were normally contracted on behalf of the

would-be couples not only by their parents, but extended family members

equally had a say in it. Marriage was contracted only when the two families

were satisfied about the character of each partys candidate after a thorough


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investigation. The investigation must also delve into the health of the family to

avoid transmitting into offsprings any family health problem.

Chapter II: Political Organization

Traditional political governments among the people were either

centralised or uncentralised. A centralised state was that state with a political

system which confined the reins of government in a single authority. In this

political system all authority and policy emanated from a central administrative

point. All other political wings or divisions subordinated entirely their sovereign

powers to the centre. Any authority that might be used by a local political wing

would be for local development only, and even this would have been prescribed

by the central authority.

Among the forest and coastal West Africans, the kingdoms of Asante,

Dahomey, Benin and Oyo were centralised states because they had centralised

political systems, and clearly defined territorial boundaries.

The political system among the Asante was a hierarchy of heads from thefamily at the bottom, to the Asanteman (the council of eiders) at the top. The

Abusua panin was the head of the family or the lineage head. Next, and above

the Abusua panin was the village head known as the Odikro and then above

the Odikro was the Ohene or the divisional head. The next in importance was

the Omanhene (the head of a state within the Asante Kingdom). Finally, and at

the top of the political hierarchy, was the Asantehene. Among the Asante

therefore, the political structure was a net-work of centres of authority that

began at the lineage village level, and ended in the confederacy council with the

Asantehene as the intimate focus of power. He was the most powerful political

figure as he was the custodian of the ancestral stool.

- The symbol of unity, continuity and integration of the community. A councilof elders (the Asanteman) assisted the Asantehene in the administration of the


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kingdom. The Asantehene was the chief judge, the chief administrator and the

commander-in-chief of the states armies.

Although rulers of centralised states enjoyed extensive powers they were

not autocrats. Several checks existed in the political system to prevent the ruler

from arbitrary use of power. The Asantehene had to rule with a Council of

eiders - the Asanteman. He could not ignore the advice of the Asariteman and he

could be destooled if he failed to take the advice of this council. In the kingdom

ofBenin, the king ruled with a similar council. The Council, known as uzama,

expressed its opinion publicly on all major affairs of state. Again, the same role

was played by the Oyo Mesi, in the Oyo kingdom. This council was a

watchdog over the peoples interest against the arbitrariness of the king (the

Alafin). They shared the judicial authority of the Alafin, appointed and

promoted officers of the army and had a say in the declaration of war and peace.

The Bashorun (the spokesman of the Oyo Mesi) could declare a harsh and

tyrannical ruler deposed. It is interesting to note that even though these kings

were supposed to be divine, yet the political structure had put checks on them.Administratively, a bureaucracy of civil servants was used. In the kingdom of

Oyo there was the Chief Judge (ona efa) and the controller of palace finances

(osi efa). There was also the administrator of the Shango cult. They were all top

civil servants in the government. In the kingdom of Dahomey there was the

prime minister (the migan), the collector of revenue (the mewu), the chief

magistrate and superintendent of police (the mingi), and the minister of

agriculture (the topo).

Again for the purposes of administrative efficiency, the kingdoms were

divided into provinces and districts. They had expanded beyond the direct

administration of the centre. Dahomey was for instance divided into six

provinces. Provincial rulers served as the link between the various provinces and

the King at the centre. Offices were created at the kings court, or in the central

government to supervise the activities of the provinces. In Benin for instance


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palace officials wereplaced in charge of the provinces who acted as protectors

of the provinces and intermediaries between the Oba and the provincial

governors.

The states were supported by well-built military forces: Armies were

however assembled only in time of war. The Oyo army had both cavalry and

infantry wings, while the Asante and Dahomey armies were solely infantry.

Bows and arrows, and firearms were used as weapons. It is important to note

that Dahomey was able to build a standing army which was commanded by the

migan (the highest ranking minister of state). This army consisted of infantry

armed with firearms. It comprised of 3,000 regulars and 10,000 militia in 1776.

The army included womens corps (the famous Amazons). Uniform, food

rations and arms were adequately supplied by the state.

In uncentralised states however, sovereignty was not vested in a single

political authority or individual. A council of eiders administers such societies.

They were also referred to as stateless societies. The Kru and the Igbo for

instance were uncentralised states.Apart from these two major political systems (centralised and

uncentralised political systems) there were few theocracies. Theocratic political

systems are social and political systems which operate on the basis of religious

order. Those who hold public office are from the priestly class who maintain

that their power and influence is from their priestly functions rather than secular

ones. The Ga belonged to this group. They initially formed six towns which

were like large villages. Each town was independent of the other and had its

own strip of farming land in the vicinity. The high priests and hunters were the

principal leaders of a town.

The military threats of expansionist neighbours eager to take advantage of

the coastal trade compelled the Ga to adopt some pseudo-centralized and

militaristic form of government to meet the challenges of especially the


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Akwamu and the Fante who were already centralized and were using the

advantage of concerted front against the Ga.

In the Ga political system priests remained in charge of civil matters while

the hunters became captains of new military organizations or companies called

asafo. Farming settlements came together in times of war to defend their town.

The priestly class was represented by the position of the Wulomo. He

was interpreter and the intermediary between the community and the gods.

Traditionally the Wulomo exercised extensive power and influence and in

many respects acted as a ruler and head of state in most political divisions of the

Ga. All land disputes and settlements received the blessing of the Wulomo,

who also acted as a judge over a variety of issues although the Mantse (the

political leader) had authority over ail civil matters. The office of the Wulomo

was an elected one but the Ga believed there was always a spiritual intervention

in the election process.

It is important to note that political office derived their legitimacy from

the religious beliefs and practices of the people. The smallest descent unit(Shiahousehold) or lineage among the Ga was also the basic political unit. It

comprised three or four generations of descendants of a paternal grandfather (Ga

being a patrilineal society).

Beyond the Shia was the corporate unit called We which had a name,

an estate, including lands and titled offices.

Essential to this group was the responsibility for the gods who mediated

relations between family members and the Supreme being. Commitment to

divine intervention in human affairs regulated political authority and power in a

corporate group.

The Ga believed that their social, economic and political actions would

have to be sanctified by the gods and religious ceremonies were organized to

ensure that.


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The Mantse or father of the town was created and assumed to have

possessed supernatural powers to bring victory in war. He was however not a

military leader; he was really a religious symbol ofhis towns military strength

and was closely guarded in battle by the real warriors - the captains and their

asafo. In times of peace the Mantse had no political powers of any kind, so

he was not really a political ruler or chief, but the religions figure-head of his

town.

Many of the states began as inland states but expanded towards the coast

later due to the trade opportunities offered with the advent of Europeans. The

societies were largely rural and agricultural. The village was the basic political

unit.

Unlike many of the states which were rural based, the Yoruba were town

dwellers. This was perhaps because the Yoruba practiced a variety of crafts and

also engaged in trade.

Towns that developed along the coast were villages that had exploited the

advantages of trade along the coast involving Europeans. The Ga for instancewere first eight miles away from the sea at Ayawaso but had to move to their

present site to take advantage of trade with the Europeans.

Chapter III: Religious Development

The people believed in the existence of the Supreme Being - God the

Creator of the World. They believed it was he who controlled all things in

heaven and on earth.

Many local names and attributes were given to God by the local people.

The Yoruba called him Olorun; the Igbo called him Chuku or Chineke; the

Akan as Onyankopon; the Ewe called him Mawu.

The people believed in the existence of smaller gods or deities too. They

employed these smaller gods as intermediaries between them and the Supreme

Being. They used these smaller gods mainly because they considered the


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Supreme Being himself to be too far away from them, or too revered to be

approached easily by ordinary people. These smaller gods were nature gods.

That is they manifested their presence in rivers, mountains, trees and even

animals. The Yoruba called these smaller gods Orisa.

There was also ancestral worship among the people. Ancestors were

shown great respect. The god Shango among the Oyo was actual an ancestor; the

third Alafin was deified together with his wife. At festivals these deified

ancestors were summoned, Among the Akan, it was the veneration ofthe black

stool that gave occasion to worshipping them. At this celebration the souls of

the dead were given great reverence.

Religion for the societies on the West African Coast and in the forest was

both a private and a public institution. The individual hoped to satisfy his

personal needs by personally communicating with his god. Where the larger

society was concerned however the entire community called upon their local

gods. Many community rituals and festivals illustrated this public aspect of the

peoples worship. The annubomey ceremonies of Dahomey, the odwira festivalof the Akan, the hogbetsotso festival of the Anlo were all public religious or

politico-religious festivals. At these festivals sacrifices were offered to the gods

and ancestors.

The coastal societies were introduced to Christianity by the Portuguese

early in the sixteenth century. Attempts were made to convert many kings as it

was hoped their conversion would lead to a massive conversion of their subjects.

In 1503 the king of Fetu (Cape Coast) and his chiefs were baptised at Elmina. In

1516 the son of the Oba of Benin and his councilors accepted baptism. These

earlier attempts were unable to lay fruitful marks. It was not until after 1830 that

Christianity was able to make some headway among the peoples of the coasts of

West Africa and in the forest zone.


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Chapter IV: Economic Development:

Trade and Industry

The Coastal states had developed inter-regional trade among themselves

even before the Portuguese arrived in the late fifteenth century. The people

produced a variety of goods for trade purposes. People on the sea coast caught

and dried fish for sale to inland people. Forest people traded in kola nuts and

other items. Grassland people traded in cattie and skins the people also traded in

manufactured goods: goods produced by turning raw materials into useful

things. Two such raw materials became very important - one was cotton, the

other was gold.

The Yoruba of southern Nigeria and the Akan of Ghana became experts in

the spinning and dyeing of cotton for cloth-weaving. The Guan and the Ga.

Adangbe people obtained beads and cloth from Benin which they sold to the

Akan, together with fish and salt. The Akan also obtained quaqua cloth, beads

and ivory from Ivory Coast. Other textile products and iron were again imported

from Hausaland. These items were exchanged with gold dust and kola nuts fromthe Akan.

The gold was panned from rivers in the regions of Asante and the

northern part of the modem Republic of Guinea gravels were sieved at the

riverbed for little bits of gold that it contained. Sometimes shafts were dug into

the ore at gold-bearing soils to get the ore out by hand tools. The ore was

crushed by hand and then smelted in furnaces to obtain gold.

Apart from textile products and gold, there was also the manufacture of

earthenware (pots, tobacco pipes, dishes), bamboo or raffia mats, stools,

linguists staffs and masks.

Traders from the coastal states of West Africa bought a lot of Saharan salt

and luxury goods such as silks which came from Asia. They also bought

thorough-bred horses form Egypt and Tripoli. Swords, knives and kitchen


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equipment were obtained from mainly the Arab countries of the Middle East,

Book also came in, especially for Muslim schools.

The trade was carried along a number of trade routes. Three of the

principal routes converged on Begho. The first route was the Elmina - Twifo -

Ahafo - Doma - Begho route. The second was the Cape Coast - Assin - Tafo -

wenchi- Begho. The third route was the Accra - the Volta Gorge - the Afram

plains - Begho - Hausaland and Mali route.

The inter-regional trade was dominated by the Hausa and the Mande-

Dyula from the Western Sudan. The donkey was used to carry goods along the

routes.

The Mande-Dyula traders

The Dyula were Islamised Mande akin to the Soninke. They were

enterprising merchants who became aware quite early of the gold resources

possessed by the Lobi of the Black Volta and, beyond them, of the greater gold

wealth and of the kolas available further south in what we now call Ashanti and

Gonjas Commercial movement in the region seemed to be directed towards Lobiand Ashanti from about the twelfth century through the dynamic trade activities

of the Mande-Dyula merchants. The Akan called the Mande-Dyula the

Wangara.

The Mande-Dyula began to establish merchant quarters, or even separate

townships, alongside the villages or towns inhabited by the principal pagan

Chiefs. By about the beginning of the fourteenth century, their coming, and the

opportunities for trade they brought with them, was having important effects on

the Akan peoples just north of the forest in modern Ghana. The Kingdom of

Banda had emerged, with its twin-city capital of Begho guarding a gap in the

Banda had through which the trade route ran to the southern gold-fields. A little

to the south and east, another Akan State, Bono, with its capital Bono-Mansu

(near modem Techiman), was becoming even more rich and powerful through

its control of the trade paths leading north from the gold diggings in the forest.


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The Mande-Dyula, together with the Soninke and later the Hausa were

significant as merchants of the Sudan by whose initiative the trade in the forest

was linked with the trans-Saharan trade and triumphed by their enterprising

efforts.

By A.D. 1000 most areas of West Africa had out-grown purely local trade

through the enterprising commercial activities of the Mande-Dyula. They

travelled from one area to another and bought and sold by barter.

As early as the fourteenth century, Jennes commercial contacts with

Bonduku and beyond had already developed. Trade in kola nuts was actively

pursued in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

The Mande-Dyula, with their Soninke neighbours were responsible for the

establishment of regular trade routes in the region. Notable routes were: the

route from Jenne through Bonduku to Asante; the route from Kano via Nupe to

Asante; the route from Zaria to Yorubaland at Oyo; the routes up the Niger from

Benin; and the routes from Oyo along the line of the river Ogun to the Coast.

Long before 1800 therefore the trade of the Coast was linked with that of theSavanna belt by a network of paths.

The southern extensions of the trade from such cities as Timbuktu lay

mainly in the hands of the Mande-Dyula and the Soninke. In fact the Mande-

Dyula traders had long carried goods from the Savannah to the mouth of the

Senegal river.

It is certain that cloth, salt and fish were brought from the lands east of

Benin to the Western corner of the Ivory Coast and carried by Mandingo and

Dyula traders to settlements around Kumasi At this place kola nuts, gold dust

and slaves were collected and taken north to the Savanna where they were

exchanged for Turkish, European and North African manufactured goods

Inside Ghana, Dyula traders operated from their main base at Begho in

the Banda Mils. They took forest products from this area and exchanged them

for goods from across the Sahara (as identified above). These Dyula traders also


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settled in villages and towns in the forest where they could act as middlemen

among the Akan.

They founded the commercial centres of Wa, Buna and Bole.

The prosperity conferred on the Fante and Akwamu for example, made them

seek access to the Coast so as to gain greater control over lucrative trade routes

running from the Coast to the forest region. Dyula traders were also found in

Kumasi where they activated commercial activity contributing to the economic

and artistic brilliance of this important city of the Asante, throbbing with

intellectual and political life in the nineteenth century, they imported into Ghana

salt, textiles and mohammedanism.

The Mande empire of Samori sprouted from the commercial expansion of

the Dyula. Samori Toure was himself a Dyula trader who travelled extensively

in the region; it was the exposure to the region through trade which whetted his

ambition to develop, by conquest, a new Muslim state from among the petty

Mande Chieftaincies to the southern of al-hajj Umars domains.

Through the trading activities of the Dyula therefore, economic, socialand political trans-formations took place in the vast area of the forest and coastal

zones adding fillip to their civilizations and cultures.

The origin of Gonja was linked with the Mande. The rulers of the Gonja

state maintained that they originated from a band of Mande warriors who

invaded northern Ghana from the region of the Songhai Empire under their ruler

Ndewura Jakpa. Yagbum was established as their capital city with Buipe as the

most important commercial centre of the kingdom. The language of the Gonja

showed traces of Mande words. There were also clan names and tribal marks, as

well as rules of succession and inheritance among the Gonja similar to what

pertained among the Mande.


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The trans-Atlantic trade

With the introduction of the trans-Atlantic trade from the sixteenth

century, the economies of the people were altered. The trans-Atlantic trade had

undermined the pre-colonial interstate trade. Traders of the West African

interior turned from the interior trade and the trans-Saharan trade to the trade

coming from the Sea (with the Europeans), The trans-Atlantic trade also

introduced firearms on a large scale into the West African coastal and forest

States, especially from the mid-seventeenth century. Bars of iron, rings of

copper, jewelry, hats and a host of other items which were more appealing to the

people than goods from the trans-Saharan trade were also introduced by the

Atlantic trade.

Technical Development

There was much technological progress in. the forest and coastal states

before the Europeans set foot at these places. Iron-smelting for instance dated

back to the fifth century B.C. among the people of the Nok Culture. The NokCulture was a typical African Civilization which flourished in the region north

of the Benin and the Niger Rivers between 500 BC and AD200.

The excavated site of Igbo Ukwu near Enugu (Nigeria) also revealed that people

0f this area (the Igbo) were skilled metal workers by the ninth or tenth centuries

A.D. The excavations showed bronze ornaments, shell and bowls. The people

used the lost wax (cire perdue) method in casting their objects.

The lost wax technology allegedly spread from Ife to Benin in the

fourteenth century. The technology was used by craftsmen of Ife and Benin to

produce bowls figurines and effigies of rulers.

There was also the technology of gold-working among the people. Akan

goldsmiths manufactured golden stools, linguists staffs, headgear, sword

handles and casts of animal heads.


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Narrow looms were also used to weave cotton cloths. The Ewe and the

Akan were skilled weavers with the Kente cloth as their masterpiece.

The Bini people also developed the technology of bead manufacture. They

exported this bead to Elmina, with Elmina herself setting up factories to produce

beads locally by the seventeenth century.

A careful observation of the civilizations of the West African Societies

would therefore suggest that the cultures of these societies were greatly

influenced by their natural .environment. Agricultural and industrial

development, as well as social and political institutions was determined by their

natural vegetation.

Conclusion

As it can be seen, Political organization in pre-colonial Africa was well-

structured as demonstrated above. This shows that African people were not

backward people as it was thought by Europeans. More, they had and still have a

strong cultural background as culture includes the politics but also the economyin its various forms and aspects.

PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH

1- Teaching methodThe course is given under the form of a lecture with possibility of interaction

procedure.

2- Learning processAt the end of the course, the students will be able to ask questions if necessary

and according to time availability. During tutorials, the techniques of

dissertation and text explanation will be revised, and the students will practice.

Through group work or exposes.


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3-TestingA homework is given to the students after December tutorials to be handed back

in February (1/3).

A final examination is organized in July counting for 2/3 related to the course

(lecture and tutorials)

Bibliography

1.Le Quid, 1998

2. Seth Kordzo Gadzekpo,History of African Civilisations, Accra, 1998

3. Joseph Ki Zerbo,Histoire de lAfrique Noire, Hatier, Paris, 1978

4. J.O Sagay and D.A Wilson,Africa, A Modem History, London, 1978

5. J.D Fage,A History of west Africa, Cambridge university Press, 1969

6. South Africa: Time running out: The report of the Study commission on US

Policy toward southern Africa, University of California Press, 1981.

African Civilisazition Dr Kra

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