The Changing Political System of the Temne

Africa ◽  
1960 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon R. Dorjahn
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Political System ◽  
Administration System ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphThe purpose of this study is to consider some of the changes that have taken place in the positions of political officials and in the administrative hierarchy of the Temne of Sierra Leone, British West Africa. The time period under concern extends from approximately 1880, towards the end of the ‘tribal wars’, as they are called by the Temne, through the establishment of the Protectorate and the later introduction of the Native Administration system, to the ‘disturbances in the Provinces’, November 1955 to March 1956.

1787–1887–1987: reflections on a Sierra Leone bicentenary

Africa ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Forest Belt ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Language Pattern ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphSeen in the widest perspective, 1787 is only one date among the uncounted tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of years during which the present Sierra Leone has been inhabited. Archaeologists have done disappointingly little work there. But it is clear from their findings (and by implication from findings in the rest of forest-belt West Africa) that people have lived there a very long time. Though traditional historiography always tends to present the peoples of Sierra Leone as immigrants from somewhere else, the language pattern suggests continuous occupation over a very long period. As Paul Hair (1967) has shown, there has been a striking linguistic continuity in coastal West Africa since the fifteenth century. Nor is there evidence to suggest that before that period stability and continuity were not the norm.

Patterns of Authority in West Africa

Africa ◽  
1951 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Brown
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
West African ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Comparative Review ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Size And Structure

Opening ParagraphThe development of large centralized states in West Africa has long been recognized. The complexity of organization of the few well-known kingdoms, but not their differences in size and structure, is constantly emphasized in the literature. The number and variety of West African groups which have not developed states have, on the other hand, frequently been underestimated. In a comparative review by Professors Fortes and Evans-Pritchard two types of political system, centralized and segmentary, have been described for Africa as a whole, with examples of each in West Africa. A survey of West African societies suggests, however, that finer distinctions are possible and that not all these societies can be placed in one or other of these two categories. In particular, this classification omits consideration of ‘stateless’ societies in which associations, rather than a segmentary lineage system, regulate political relations; and it fails to distinguish different types of authority and political structure in states.

Kinship, Emigration, and Trade Partnership among the Lebanese of West Africa

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuad I. Khuri
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Kinship Structure ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
Upper Volta

Opening ParagraphThis article describes the kinship structure of some Lebanese communities in West Africa, and the resemblances they bear to the communities from which they originated in Lebanon. It also shows the extent to which kinship ties promote emigration, and the kind of trade partnership normally practised by kinsmen. Two communities are considered: the Greek Orthodox community in Ouagadougou (Upper Volta), and the Shi'ite Muslim community in Magburaka (Sierra Leone).

Niumi: A Nineteenth-Century Mandingo Kingdom

Africa ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-455
Author(s):  
Charlotte A. Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Gambia ◽  
Small River ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphBy the middle of the nineteenth century Niumi, a small Mandingo kingdom at the mouth of the Gambia river in West Africa, was on the verge of profound social changes. Until almost the end of the century it was swept by secular and religious warfare, important segments of its population were displaced, many members of its ruling clans were killed or driven into exile, and the state itself was divided to be later reconstituted under European colonial rule. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the social-political organization of Niumi in the 1850s before the traditional political system which had existed for over two centuries was destroyed. Niumi was one of fourteen small river kingdoms, ruled by Mandingo, some more clearly defined and centralized than others, together comprising one of the major areas of Mandingo settlement in West Africa. Although Niumi enjoyed a favoured economic position among these Mandingo states of the Senegambia its institutions were typical of Mandingo organization in the area and its history has proceeded along lines similar to the rest.

The Influence of Wharfs on School Children: A Case Study of Portee Wharf in Freetown, Sierra Leone

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-140
Author(s):  
Alhaji Bakar Kamara
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
School Children ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Control Problems

The focus of this research is to investigate the influence of wharfs on school children. Therefore it will report the findings of the result on the influences of wharfs on school children with specific case on Portee Wharf in Freetown, Sierra Leone in West Africa. In this regard, the introduction describes the research area, stating the statement of the problem, the overall goal and specific objectives that will be attained in this study, justification for selecting the topic, problems to be encountered during the course of carrying out this research and major influences. Besides, an indication of the methods used to investigate the topic will also be highlighted. Moreover, the studies will analyze the actual responses of the respondents of the activities of the wharf on school-going children. It will address the questionnaire in accordance with the following: Background information of respondents, this investigated areas such as sex, age, religion, occupation and tribe; It enquires about the activities of the wharfs, reasons and consequences of children engaged in wharfs and strategies to control problems that may emanate from the wharf. The paper will show the findings, gives the summary, conclusion and recommendations of problems identified while carrying out the research.

The Royal African Company of England's West African Correspondence, 1681-1699

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 173-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Law
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
West African ◽  
Gold Coast ◽  
Original Form ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
General Terms ◽  
West African Coast ◽  
African Coast ◽  
History Of

This paper draws attention to an ambitious project in the publication of source material for the precolonial history of West Africa, which has recently been approved for inclusion in the Fontes Historiae Africanae series of the British Academy. In addition to self-promotion, however, I wish also to take the opportunity to air some of the problems of editorial strategy and choice which arise with regard to the editing and presentation of this material, in the hope of provoking some helpful feedback on these issues.The material to be published consists of correspondence of the Royal African Company of England relating to the West African coast in the late seventeenth century. The history of the Royal African Company (hereafter RAC) is in general terms well known, especially through the pioneering (and still not superseded) study by K.G. Davies (1957). The Company was chartered in 1672 with a legal monopoly of English trade with Africa. Its headquarters in West Africa was at Cape Coast (or, in the original form of the name, Cabo Corso) Castle on the Gold Coast, and it maintained forts or factories not only on the Gold Coast itself, but also at the Gambia, in Sierra Leone, and at Offra and Whydah on the Slave Coast. It lost its monopoly of the African trade in 1698, and thereafter went into decline, effectively ceasing to operate as a trading concern in the 1720s, although it continued to manage the English possessions on the coast of West Africa until it was replaced by a regulated company (i.e., one open to all traders), the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, in 1750.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document