essay
The Kingship in Bornu
west african chiefs : their changing status under colonial rule and independence • New York • Published In 1970 • Pages: 187-201
By: Cohen, Ronald.
Abstract
In this article, Cohen examines state development in the Chad basin from the first millenium A.D. up to 1968. The earliest state was a loose confederacy of clans under the leadership of a dominant lineage. The arrival of Islamic teachers at the end of the thirteenth century brought knowledge of centralized statecraft, warfare and courtly life. The Kanem confederacy was followed by the Bornu conquest state in the fifteenth century which subjugated and absorbed the surrounding tribes to form the Kanuri people. Centralization of power increased with long-distance trade and with the establishment of a tenure system of fragmented and widely dispersed fiefs whose owners resided in the capital. Dynastic changeover in the nineteenth century forced the new monarch to rely on clients and household slaves to rule. At the turn of the century the British established new administrative and taxation systems, which reduced kingship to a constitutional monarchy and created a new western-educated bureaucratic elite.
- HRAF PubDate
- 1998
- Region
- Africa
- Sub Region
- Western Africa
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field Date
- 1955-57, summers 1964-66
- Coverage Date
- 1820 - 1968
- Coverage Place
- Borno State, Nigeria
- Notes
- by Ronald Cohen
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-210)
- LCCN
- 70116638
- LCSH
- Kanuri (African people)