Book
The shaping of Somali society: reconstructing the history of a pastoral people, 1600-1900
University of Pennsylvania Press • Philadelphia • Published In 1982 • Pages: xvi, 311
By: Cassanelli, Lee V..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a reconstructive and interpretive analysis of Somali history during the three centuries preceding 1900 -- the pre-colonial period. Throughout this work Cassanelli discusses social and political change, at least partly in terms of the resources that are available within the region which can be drawn upon by different corporate groups (p. 5). The study begins with a description of the basic features of Somali society as they appeared at the start of the twentieth century, with particualr reference to regional variation in culture, mode of production, and socio-political organization. Somali historiography is then reviewed as it developed in the twentieth century with a discussion of the issues that have molded our understanding of the Somali past. This information sets the stage for the remainder of the document which examines several of the processes that helped shape Somali society (e.g., pastoral power, Islamic themes in history, commerce and economy, response to colonial occupation, etc.).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Traditional history
- Pastoral activities
- External trade
- Clans
- External relations
- Prophets and ascetics
- Religious denominations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Somali
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1997
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Africa
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Eastern Africa
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ron Johnson, John Beierle ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- Dec. 1970-Nov. 1971; Sept.-Dec. 1977
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- ca. 1600-1900
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Somalia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Lee V. Cassanelli
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-299) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 81043520
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Somalis