Showing papers in "The Journal of African History in 1970"

The Cowrie Currencies of West Africa Part II

Abstract: This second part of a study of cowrie currencies in West Africa deals with the value of cowries from the fourteenth century in various parts of West Africa, in terms of gold and silver, and currencies based on these, and also in terms of commodities. An attempt has been made to use this information to throw light on such problems as the effects of the slave-trade on the economy of West Africa, and also on the extent of the internal exchange economy before the beginning of the colonial period.

Long-Distance Trade and States in the Niger Delta

Abstract: European trade in slaves from at least the seventeenth century, and in palm oil during the nineteenth century, has become established as a crucial factor in the development of states in the Niger Delta. However, there is already a dangerous tendency to see these external factors as the only forces responsible for the creation of states in the area. Oral traditional evidence is marshalled to show that internal long-distance trade with these states as focal points existed before European trade. Internal long-distance trade consisted of (i) a north-to-south axis mainly for the supply to the states of agricultural produce, for which salt and fish were exchanged; and (ii) an east-to-west axis between these states and places as far west as Lagos and the Ijebu country for trade in specialist goods produced in various localities.It is therefore stressed that the discussion of the admittedly great influence of European trade on the internal development of states in the Niger Delta needs to be qualified by an understanding of the prior existence of these states in some form, and of the internal long-distance trade that might have exercised similar great influence in the distant past.

Les Fouilles De Tegdaoust

Abstract: Le territoire de la Republique Islamique de Mauritanie compte bon nombre de sites archeologiques: le plus connu et le seul fouille avant 1960 est celui de Koumbi Saleh; mais il faut signaler ceux d'Azougui, Chinguetti, Ouadane, Tichitt, Oualata, Rachid, Ksar-el-Barka qui, non travailles jusqu'a ce jour, ont en commun la particularite d'avoir ete, a des epoques differentes certes, etapes au long d's;une piste commerciale reliant a travers le Sahara occidental, selon un parcours qui a varie au cours des siecles, les pays maghrebins au Bilad-el-Sudan, le Pays des Noirs Parmi ces sites, les ruines de Tegdaoust, signalees depuis plusieurs dizaines d'annees, ont ete a plusieurs reprises identifiees a celles de la ville medievale d'Awdaghost que citent souvent les recits de voyage et les descriptions geographiques rediges par des auteurs arabes des la fin de la conquete de l'Afrique du Nord par les Musulmans

Rhodesian Ruins—a preliminary assessment of their styles and chronology

Abstract: The results of archaeological work on ruins of the Zimbabwe–Khami complex in Rhodesia are reassessed in the light of recent work. In order to provide a preliminary framework for further archaeological investigation, the surface architectural features of a large group of these ruins are analysed, and seven different styles of ruin discerned. These are interpreted as belonging to at least two separate but related cultural groups, the first extending over the whole country in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the second restricted to southern Matabeleland and flourishing during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In a correlation of the archaeological and historical evidence, it is suggested that the decline of Zimbabwe and many smaller ruins belonging to the first cultural group may be linked with the rise of the Mwene Mutapa empire, in which little building in stone took place. The second cultural group and its ruins coincide with the Rozvi state ruled by the Changamire dynasty.

The Canoe in West African History

Abstract: The canoe, carved and usually also burnt-out from a single tree trunk, played a part in the history of the coastal, lagoon and river-side peoples of West Africa similar in importance to that of the horse in the savannah states. It ranged in size from the small fishing canoe to craft over 80 ft. in length and capable of carrying, in calm waters, 100 men or more. Sails were often used, in addition to paddles and punt poles. The builders were specialists, usually living in the forests, where the most suitable trees were found.

Notes on the Later Prehistoric Radiocarbon Chronology of Eastern and Southern Africa

Abstract: THE rapidly increasing number of radiocarbon age determinations relating to the later prehistory of eastern and southern Africa is fortunately reducing the need to place undue reliance on single dates. Despite frequent attempts to emphasize the dangers of such a course, there remains a strong temptation to place too great an emphasis on single analyses which are supported neither by dates from neighbouring sites demonstrably closely related, nor by consistency with dated earlier and later stages in a stratified sequence. Fortunately the increasing number of radiocarbon laboratories (a new one has recently commenced operations in Pretoria, bringing the number of functioning laboratories on the African continent to three) and more readily available funding in many areas has meant that multiple radiocarbon analyses are now conducted as a matter of course at most suitable sites. A new precision, based on series of dates rather than on single determinations, is thus gradually becoming possible. A further hazard for the unwary historian is the generally accepted way of quoting the result of an age determination as a median age plus or minus a standard error. This has led to the unfortunate and misleading habit of quoting the date by the median age only and of regarding this as an absolute date, ignoring the standard error. Radiocarbon dates given in this paper are quoted by the range of probable ages to approximately one standard error, as it is felt that this method gives a more realistic impression of the information to be gained from the radiocarbon dating method.' Individual analyses are referred to in the text by their laboratory reference numbers, and the results of the analyses are listed in an appendix to this paper in alphabetical order of laboratories and numerical sequence of analyses.2 It should be further noted that all dates are calculated in radiocarbon

The Victoria Nyanza as a Trade route in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract: Trading in ivory occurred early in the nineteenth century in the south-eastern region of the Victoria Nyanza. An examination of Kerebe oral tradition partially reveals the extent of African initiative in the early period of the trade. With the arrival of coastal traders, African initiative was diminished, except for outstanding leaders like Mirambo of Unyamwezi and Mutesa of Buganda. Their activities restricted the traders. Mirambo's control over the Unyanyembe–Karagwe route forced both Mutesa and the merchants to make full use of the lake for transporting goods from about 1878 to 1889. Before this time, the lake was only occasionally used for transporting ivory. Canoes provided the chief mode of transport during this period, though these were supplemented by two dhows. The lack of dhows does not reflect the lack of trade on the lake, but rather the extent of reliance upon Ganda assistance in carrying on the trade. With the Ganda in large numbers in the southern lake region for commercial reasons, the people there fell within Buganda's sphere of intervention. The Sukuma chiefdoms did not rely on Ganda military power to settle local quarrels, and thereby avoided the destruction that occurred in Buzinza. Internal factors in Buganda, however, weakened their control of the southern lake region even before the arrival of the Germans.

A Survey of Interlacustrine Chronology

Abstract: The character and quality of the available evidence on the pre-colonial history of the Interlacustrine region of East Africa limit the possibilities of applying any more than roughly estimated dates or eras to events and persons of the region's pre-colonial past. By pooling and comparing the available chronological evidence (genealogies and tie-ins) relating to the dynastic units of the region, one has the means to test the accuracy of the genealogical evidence as well as the evidence linking rulers in one dynasty with rulers in others. Such pooling permits a closer examination of the ‘average dynastic generation’ which is the most useful chronological measurement for the region's past and which is the basis for the existing chronological constructions. With the available eclipse and carbon dates, it is possible to build a reasonably estimated core chronology for the region on the basis of the average dynastic generation. This core chronology may be extended to include states and dynasties—such as those in Busoga—which are connected to the core through tie-ins but for which no eclipse or carbon dates are available. The ‘average dynastic generation’ is not a useful chronological measurement in those Soga states which are marked by extended fraternal and collateral succession. By working through the tie-ins which suggest contemporaneity between certain Soga rulers and rulers in the Interlacustrine core dynasties (particularly Buganda), it is possible to extend the central chronology, and therefore credibly estimated dates or eras, to events and persons throughout Busoga.

Tile and the Thembu Church: Politics and Independency on the Cape Eastern Frontier in the Late Nineteenth Century

Abstract: This paper attempts to reassess the general significance of the Thembu church by setting it in its political context. It examines the early career of Nehemiah Tile and the origins of this earliest of independent churches in southern Africa. In the 1880s Tile was not only the leader of the church, but also the chief figure behind a movement of political protest which sought to free Thembuland from Cape magisterial control. After his death, the church continued, and whites saw it as a real threat to their interests. But in the late 1890s the history of the church became increasingly obscure. There is some evidence to suggest that the church was less completely ‘tribal’ than usually maintained. The paper concludes that the church should be seen both as an expression of African reaction to the imposition of white rule on the Cape eastern frontier and as an element in the development of African nationalism.

Tiv Economy Tiv economy . By Paul and Bohannan Laura: London: Longmans, 1968. Pp. 265 50s.

Abstract: aftermath, many survivers either fled or became landless labourers in their own country. All were deprived of the right to own cattle. For this period, Bley concentrates upon the reduction of the powers of African notables, the growth of white self-government and the controls devised to assure that Africans would be forced to work under terms favourable to the masters. It would be appropriate at this point to ask for more consideration of the various elements in white society. Dreschler follows the scattered exiles and illustrates the way which the British and South Africans aided their fellow imperialists. Historians of Namibia will appreciate Dreschler's work for its clarity of purpose and expression. He is writing explicity in support of the liberation movement. Bley represents an antidote to oversimplification and, because of his complexity of thought and language and primary concern for German conceptions, may not be read as widely as his work deserves. Taken together, these two views of SouthWest Africa complement, and balance one another. The way is now paved for more specialized studies, preferably built upon field research. Meanwhile, readers of German are enabled to construct a fairly full picture of one of the grimmest chapters in the history of colonization.

Trade and Politics in Barotseland during the Kololo Period

Abstract: The relationship of trade to politics has long been a central theme in African history. This paper analyses this relationship in the context of Barotseland during the period of Kololo hegemony (c. 1840–64). The development of long-distance trade in Barotseland is first related, and then followed by a discussion of the impact which trade had upon the politics of the area. The conclusion suggests that the relationship of trade to politics was not only important, but complex as well. Politics affected trade as much as trade affected politics.

The Early Life and Pilgrimage of Al- ājj Mu ammad Al-Amīn the Soninke (d. 1887)

Abstract: Al-Ḥājj Muḥammad al-Amīn, often known as Momodu Lamine, was a Soninke leader, engaged in political and military activity on the upper Senegal and Gambia rivers in 1885–1887. This activity, culminating in clashes with the French, has sometimes encouraged an interpretation of his career in anti-European-colonialist terms. In fact, religion and local African politics may have been more important. This study examines his life before 1885, particularly his pilgrimage. Almost all the material comes from oral tradition, both that preserved in early French publications and that collected recently in West Africa.Muḥammad al-Amīn was born about 1830 or 1840. He studied in various places in the Senegal region. Later he may have served with al-Ḥājj 'Umar. On his pilgrimage he travelled through Wadai; the report that he became a Sanūsī seems doubtful. He spent some time in the Middle East and renewed there his Tijānīya allegiance. He also apparently prepared for jihād. He may, though this is less clear, have shared in the apocalyptic expectancy of the time, centred on hopes of a Mahdi.On his way home he passed through Timbuktu and Masina and came to Segu, capital of the Tokolor empire, then under Sultan Aḥmadu the son of al-Ḥājj 'Umar. Here Muḥammad al-Amīn stopped for several years, more or less under duress, and escaped several attempts on his life. These attempts are described in miraculous terms, and sometimes parallel other episodes in the legends of Muslim West Africa.This clash between the returning pilgrim and the head of the Segu theocracy, both men devout Muslims, is curious. It resembles al-Ḥājj 'Umar's reception in Bornu on his way back from pilgrimage. The reasons for it, at least at present, can only be surmised. Muḥammad al-Amīn may have been suspected of meddling in the internal affairs of the Segu empire, for he had stopped for a considerable time in Masina, a dependency, before coming to Segu the capital. His activity in spreading the Tijānīya order, or his version of it, was resented. He may have claimed to be the spiritual heir to al-Ḥājj 'Umar; and/or he may have somehow slighted the memory of al-Ḥāajj 'Umar. He may have appeared as a Soninke patriot, championing his people against Tokolor overlordship; but the theme of tribal loyalties, though indubitably important, needs careful handling. About 1885, he returned to Goundiourou, his birthplace, near Kayes.

Patriotism and neo-traditionalism in Buganda: the Kabaka Yekka ('The King Alone') movement, 1961-1962

Abstract: In May 1961 a small group of men formed the Kabaka Yekka movement in the Kingdom of Buganda. Their simple objective was to unite the Baganda behind the throne, the symbol and guarantee of Buganda's separate identity. The great fear was that the election of a national Democratic Party government in the previous March had marked a decisive stage in the destruction of Buganda's special position within Uganda. Kabaka Yekka's appeal to Ganda loyalty was instantly successful, but it was not until the Kabaka's ministers agreed to accept membership of independent Uganda, and to support Kabaka Yekka in Buganda, that Kabaka Yekka could win popular support and deal effectively with the Democratic Party. But when Kabaka Yekka became an ‘official’ movement, its whole nature and function was changed. There had been differences at the beginning, but now the simple objective barely disguised the contradictions within the movement, while Kabaka Yekka became a means to personal promotion as well as the guardian of the ‘national’ interest. Above all, Kabaka Yekka now included the chiefs, who wanted to preserve the existing political and social arrangements within Buganda. So by February 1962 Kabaka Yekka had become the party for the Baganda and for the status quo within Buganda. It was a party which, because it was identified with the Kabakaship, was able to destroy the Democratic Party in elections for the Buganda Lukiko, and a party which, although in alliance with Dr Obote's Uganda People's Congress in national politics, had aroused sentiments and interests pointing ultimately, if not irrevocably, to Ganda separation.

African Nationalism in South Africa: Origins and Problems*

Abstract: Many of the characteristic strains of African Nationalism in South Africa, as were manifest during its peak in the 1950s, may be traced back to the historical situation on the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony in the early nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, the Port Elizabeth–East London–Alice triangle remained a highly significant area for nationalist ideas and action, and this derived from the effects on the Xhosa of the Black–White confrontation which began here 150 years earlier. In the early part of the nineteenth century the fundamental competition for land and cattle led to White military and missionary actions which, coupled with the preaching of Christianity, promoted attitudes among the Xhosa which may be seen in all subsequent African Nationalism.

Masai and Kikuyu Responses to the Establishment of British Administration in the East Africa Protectorate

Abstract: This paper attempts to study the contrasting responses of two Kenya tribes, the Masai and the Kikuyu, to the establishment of British administration. It suggests that neither reacted in the way expected of them by early British officials, who anticipated that the Masai would forcefully oppose the British entry, while little or no resistance was expected from the Kikuyu.Instead, the Masai actively co-operated with the British, through the support of a laibon, Lenana, and the provision of levies who accompanied British punitive expeditions. Although twice removed from their lands, the Masai still did not fight, but appealed to the law courts. When this failed, they showed little or no interest in further opposition. Although apparently having some cause to resent treatment received at the hands of the British, they showed virtually no interest in the protest movements of the twenties.By contrast the Kikuyu, far from standing aside as had been expected, opposed the British entry in a series of short engagements, in which they suffered considerable casualties. Soon, however, collaborators began to emerge and ‘chiefs’ such as Kinyanjui—created by the British and beholden to them–benefited considerably from the connexion. Despite this co-operation, the earlier resentments continued and were reinforced by losses of land to European settlers, and by the unsettling effects upon tribal life of the proximity of Nairobi and the teaching of the missions. When, after the acute sufferings of the war years, further demands were made by the government, the Kikuyu responded by active participation in organized political protest.Possible reasons are put forward for these contrasting responses, and the suggestion is made that differing attitudes to the protest movements of the twenties can be more fully appreciated when the history of these earlier years is taken into account.

Chronlogy of the Bamenda Grassfields

Abstract: In 1964 the Bamenda Grassfields, then composed of the three West Cameroon prefectures of Bamenda, Wum and Nkambe, had a population of almost 575,000, which was densest in the Bamenda prefecture, adjoining the populous Bamileke prefectures. By 1967 these three prefectures had been increased to five–Bamenda, Gwofon, Nso, Wum and Nkambe– by division of the former Bamenda prefecture into three (Bamenda, Gwofon and Nso) and the addition to Gwofon of the Widekum-Menka area formerly administered as part of Mamfe Division. The distribution and age and occupational structure of the population are discussed in The Population of West Cameroon: Main Findings of the 1964 Sample Demographic Survey (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning, 1966). A census was carried out by the British administering authorities in 1953, based on socalled ‘clan areas’—a misnomer. The general picture given in administrative reports and reproduced in the 1953 census ethnic categories was of the broad division of the region into Tikar, Chamba (Bali), Tiv (Munshi) and Widekum, with small refugee enclaves on the northern borders. The significance and doubtful validity of these categories will be discussed in our forthcoming contribution to the Histoire des peuples et civilisations du Cameroun (ed. Claude Tardits), and are dealt with in some detail in E. M. Chilver and P. M. Kaberry, Notes on the Precolonial History and Ethnography of the Bamenda Grassfields (cyclostyled, 1966, for the Ministry of Education, West Cameroon).

The fall of benin: a reassessment'

Abstract: The Benin kingdom did not come into the British official reckoning until well into the second half of the nineteenth century, despite the fact that various European nations had been engaged in commercial contact with Benin for four centuries. During the last decade of the nineteenth century, however, Benin City fell to British troops after a dramatic build-up of rapidly succeeding events culminating in the punitive expedition of February 1897. These events, as the evidence in this article reveals, were prompted by economic rather than humanitarian considerations.The Benin kingdom fell mainly because, in an age when the traders and the British consular officials had reasons impelling them to penetrate into the hinterland, Oba Ovonramwen was clinging to traditional policies of economic exclusiveness and monopolistic practices which inflicted economic losses on the revenues of the individual traders, the Itsekiri middlemen and the Niger Coast Protectorate government.The increasing fear of concerted European designs on his kingdom further strengthened the Oba's adherence to his closed-door policy, which in turn increased the consul' determination to bring him under their economic and political control. This situation precipitated the events which culminated in the capture of Benin City by British forces in February 1897.As with other powerful African rulers in the Niger Delta and on the West African Coast, the British had to settle accounts with the Oba of Benin, who had to be reconciled with the developments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The fall of Benin cannot therefore be rightly divorced from the general British economic imperialism on the Niger Coast during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Politique Et Economie Dans L'empire Français D'afrique Noire 1870–1914

Abstract: Pour comprendre les rapports de la politique avec l'economie au temps de la constitution de l'empire francais d'Afrique noire, un coup d'ceil est indispensable sur les relations entre l'Occident et l'Afrique de 1815 e 1870. On s'apercoit alors que les facteurs economiques en jeu etaient essentiellement Ie commerce d'exportation de quelques produits industriels ’de traite’ europeens, les tissus, armes, perles, alcools, tabacs, etc.,

The Chronology of the Kings and Queenmothers of Bono-Manso: A Revaluation of the Evidence

Abstract: The formation of Bono-Manso appears to date from the early fifteenth century, perhaps c. 1420. It is concluded that it was not until the late sixteenth century, during the reign of the ninth king, that the procedures still in use at Takyiman for recording reign-length were first introduced. Muslim influence is strongly to be suspected. Perhaps at the same time, perhaps later, factitious records of reign-length were supplied for earlier generations of the dynasty, on the assumption that three generations make 100 years. Fairly accurate dating is possible for the kings and queenmothers of Bono-Manso during the period 1577–1723, and of Takyiman since its formation in the 1740s. It is no part of this paper to explore the implications of the shortened chronology suggested here, but a date in the early fifteenth century for the establishment of Bono-Manso seems to square well with current thinking.

The Chronology of the Ovimbundu Kingdoms

Abstract: The tradition of Ngalangi sets out to relate the beginning. It was Feti who began: whence he came is not known. Seeing that he had no companion, but only a dog, he was hunting, and he went to a certain lagoon of the Kunene River and there he caught his wives as they came up out of the reeds. His wives were Tembo and Cĩvi and Coya. Thus they say, Feti wa fetika Coya woyapo , i.e. ‘Feti began, Coya completed.’ Feti and his eldest son, Ngalangi, were hunters of elephants and roan antelopes, and they continued in that wandering life. The kingdom of Ngalangi was founded by Ndumba Visoso, probably a son of Ngalangi, who assaulted and took the town from the ‘va Ngangela’, renamed it Ngalangi and there established the new kingdom. Ngola Ciluanji, another son of Feti, went, it is said, first to Wambu and later to ‘Luanda’ (meaning probably Ngola or Ndongo), establishing in turn these two kingdoms. After Feti's death his wives married: Tembo in Humbi (or Cilengi), Coya in Ndulu and Civi in Ngalangi, thus becoming the mothers of many peoples.

African and Afrikaner History

Abstract: T H E R E can be little doubt that the new Oxford History of South Africa represents a major and essential first step in the rethinking of South African history. While in the 1930s and 1940s South African historiography was in the forefront of the historiography of the continent, the major advances in reconstructing both the precolonial and colonial past which have been taking place in the rest of Africa over the past fifteen or twenty years have, by and large, stopped short at the Limpopo. South African history has continued to be the history of white settlement in the subcontinent, with little more than a cursory glance at the role of the black man except when his activities impinged on the consciousness or material welfare of his white rulers. In the Oxford History, it is only in chapter S that we arrive at 'White Settlers and the Origin of a New Society, 1652-1778'. Just how remarkable a departure this is, is strikingly revealed by the almost simultaneous publication of another history of South Africa—500 Years—edited by Professor C. F. J. Muller of the University of South Africa and written by twelve eminent Afrikaner historians. As Professor Muller points out, the principal objective of this volume is to recount' the activities and experiences of the white man over a period of nearly five hundred years in South Africa', and by so doing to discover ' how... it [came] about that so small a number of whites were able to assume such a position of power and consequently to play such an important role on the African continent and in international affairs \ 1 This is in itself a perfectly legitimate undertaking—provided the attempt does not claim, as this one does, to be a history of South Africa (following the white South African practice of regarding five-sixths of its inhabitants as non-population) ; and provided also that it does not falsify the activities and experiences of the white man by misconstruing his relationship with the other inhabitants in the country and their relationship with one another. The question set is not likely to be answered if the fundamentals of the situation are not analysed, African societies misunderstood, and the nature of white rule ignored. It is surely only within the context of the history of all the peoples of South Africa that the history of the white man can be fully understood. How, for example, can one comprehend the Great Trek, the expansion of the white man into the interior and Natal and the nature of his settlements there, unless the Mfecane and its repercussions are analysed; or the basis of the Bantustan in the Transkei if African resistance

Dynasties of the Mutapa-Rozwi complex

Abstract: The two most obvious conclusions to be drawn from this material are that interlocking relationships and reasonably accurate dating are most reliably established for the very early and the very recent periods. The eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, in particular, seem to be a period of confusion. Even in the best of circumstances this result might reasonably be expected as a consequence of the telescoping of events in a coherent body of genealogical evidence. In this instance, coincidentally, the hiatus in knowledge from traditional sources corresponds to a parallel decline in contemporary Portuguese knowledge of the region. More positively, on the basis of Abraham's scattered notes, there does seem to be a solid base line linking the ‘princely’ dynasties which were established in the eastern part of this zone to the parent Mwene Mutapa dynasty. The mfekane, too, constitutes a major point of reference in a great many of the traditions analysed above. If more dynastic traditions and genealogies can be systematically collected, evaluated, and published for the Mutapa–Rozwi complex, the original goal of this inquiry may yet be fulfilled.

Problems of African Chronology

Abstract: This paper reports the S.O.A.S. conference on African chronology of July 1966. The poor quality of much of the published work in this field posed serious problems. An analysis of the data assembled indicates 13 years as the most probable value for an average length of reign, and 30 for an average dynastic generation. The conference was, however, impressed by the limitations of this method, and emphasized the need for a many-sided approach. Chronological reconstruction is best attempted on a wide regional base to make the fullest use of both cross-traditional tie-ups and dates fixed by documentary evidence.

Felix Eboue and the Chiefs: Perceptions of Power in Early Oubangui-Chari

Abstract: Discussions about ‘direct’ administration and ‘indirect’ administration, with regard to French and British colonial policies, are less important than the question of who—local leaders or colonial administrators—had power over the lives of Africans. Monthly reports written by heads of subdivisions, the smallest French administrative units in a colony like Oubangui-Chari, are the most important written source of information for the day-to-day events of an area. They are also a source for the point of view of the administrator, often quite different from the point of view of chiefs and villagers. The European often sees himself as the central figure and colonial administrative problems as the central issues for everyone. African memories of the same period indicate that the European may have been considered less important by African peasants than their chief, whether the chief had a legitimate traditional basis or not, and that administrative issues were considered less important than certain local problems unknown to the European. This study of Felix Eboue and Raymond Sokambi, an administrator and a chief in Oubangui-Chari, shows that an attempt to examine perceptions of power—one basis for power—is a way to understand relations between the colonial administration and African society.

African Islam Islam in Africa . Edited by James Kritzeck and William H. Lewis. New York: Van Nostrand–Rheinhold Company, 1969. Pp. 331, maps and tables.

Abstract: Deux echantillons permettront d'effectuer une analyse au radio-carbone et nous l'esperons d'avoir une datation qui situera la Civilisation des Megalithes de Bouar par rapport a l'Histoire ou la Protohistoire de Republique Centrafricaine. La destination exacte de ces megalithes en est encore aux hypotheses ,de meme que leur origine. Malgre l'absence totale d'ossements dans les caveaux (l'acidite des terres de l'Afrique dquatoriale ne permettant pas leur conservation), l'auteur pense qu'il doit s'agir de sepultures. Nous avons visits les fouilles en 1967 et nous rangeons egalement a cette hypothese. Au cours de son sejour a Bouar, Pierre Vidal a fait un prospection systematique de la region et recense plus de cent monuments entre Bouar et Niem. Us sont situes exactement sur la ligne des crates separant les bassins hydrographiques du Tchad et du Congo. II ne semble pas que de tels ensembles existent au Cameroun. Tous les megalithes sont installed pres d'un cours d'eau et dans 90% des cas a la tfite mSme de celui-ci. L'auteur donne en annexe la liste des principaux gisements d^couverts, les coordonnees geographiques, les emplacements et la description sommaire de ceux qui sont facilement accessibles. Cartes, plans, coupes et nombreuses photographies donnent un apercu des travaux et des types d'architecture. On ne peut que feliciter Pierre Vidal pour son excellent travail et pour ses fouilles minutieuses menses pourtant dans des conditions materielles difficiles. Cette etude est a verser au dossier de l'Histoire ou de la Protohistoire de Republique Centrafricaine comme une contribution de premier ordre. Nous devons souhaiter que ces recherches et ces travaux soient suivis d'autres campagnes de fouilles par des dquipes plus importantes et dotees des moyens necessaires. Elles apporteront des elements permettant de definir 1'origine des populations qui ont edifie ces megalithes contribuant ainsi a mieux faire connaitre une civilisation bien localisee geographiquement dans un pays ou il y a beaucoup a chercher a decouvrir et a etudier.

The Origins of Nationalism in East and Central Africa: The Zambian Case

Abstract: This article draws attention to the comparative lack of material on the origins of African nationalism in Zambia, and suggests a framework of analysis and possible future areas of research on the subject. In contrast with some other East and Central African territories, Zambia offered little or no primary resistance to the imposition of colonial rule, but in other respects the country resembled neighbouring territories in the first three decades of colonial rule. There is a need for further study of Watch Tower and the Welfare Associations, the former in the inter-war years, the latter in the 1940s. The Copperbelt from 1930 to 1950, with its problems of urbanization and the colour bar, is a vital factor setting Zambia apart from other tropical dependencies. Here, Africans were confronted with the determination of Europeans to retain political and economic power, whatever the policy declarations of the government. The politicization of the territory can be traced from here, and the role of the Bemba-speaking peoples as the spearhead of protest had its origin in their powerful position on the Copperbelt.

Independency and Islam: The Nigerian Aladuras and some Muslim Comparisons

Abstract: These books, one presenting the Church of the Lord, the other the Cherubim and Seraphim, and the Christ Apostolic Church, together with J. B. Webster's African Churches among the Yoruba, give an unusually detailed picture of 'independent' or 'separatist' churches in Nigeria. This is valuable in itself, though there is a danger-which Turner mentions (i, xiv)-that concentration upon separatists may lead to neglect, among scholars, of the older established churches, larger and more influential. I would plead also for the Pentecostal and other similar missions, standing midway between separatists and established churches, but as yet little studied, and some comparisons are suggested in this review article. My primary purpose here, however, apart from giving Journal readers some impression of the two Aladura books, is to carry further the analysis of African Christian separatism through comparison with local Islam, which provides interesting parallels for three main Aladura themes, prayer, healing and revelation. These three churches all arose from revivals in western Nigeria in the I920S and I93os. Both books cover this introductory period, Turner somewhat more clearly. The authors then continue the history of their respective churches, down to the present. Beliefs, rites, organization and social structure are elaborated, though Turner's warning, that official publications often represent aspiration more than achievement, (ii, zo) is necessary. Both authors are deeply sympathetic towards their subjects. I would have welcomed a little more about the actual methods used to contact the churches and collect information. Peel, a sociologist, is critical of his colleagues who call the separatist churches 'syncretistic cults' and offer, instead of doctrine, superficial description of some practices. He includes a chapter on an 'intellectual system, or the attempts to make one'; this he calls-not doctrine, after all-but 'sociology of knowledge' (I I4; cf. I6-I7). The question is entirely unreasonable, since the author's intention is manifestly good, but what does a sociologist call a spade? Turner, a theologian, examines some ways in which Aladura faith and practice depart from the traditional Christian patterns. Yet there is no doubt in Turner's mind, or Peel's, that the Aladura churches are essentially Christian. The Aladura prophet is cast in a Biblical, not a Pagan,

France and the Africans, 1944–1960, A Political History. By Edward Mortimer. New York: Walker & Co.1969. Pp. 390. $8.50.

Abstract: Mr Mortimer, a young journalist based in Paris, saw a need for a political narrative of France's relations with her tropical African dependencies in the period between the liberation of the former and of the latter; in this unpretentious but important and complicated task he has succeeded brilliantly. He not only writes well (unlike some of the distinguished scholars to whom he acknowledges his debts), but he also takes meticulous care to verify his references and get his details right (unlike some more celebrated journalists who have aspired to write contemporary history). He copes admirably with the difficult problem relating events in different African countries to the central threads of French policy and politics (themselves of course extraordinarily complex); only towards the end, with the advent of the Fifth Republic, are there signs of weariness and haste. There is also new material here which usefully complements the basic researches of Ruth Schachter-Morgenthau. Mortimer has obtained access to the papers of Aujoulat, and skilfully interviewed Apithy, Buron, Jaquet and others; on such topics as D'Arboussier's attitude to the Communist apparentement and Defferre's intentions in the loi-cadre his analysis is fresh as well as lucid. He has also been able to use material collected by Franz Ansprenger, who has clearly served him as a model of scholar-journalist. Students will find the strength of the book in its careful identification of individuals and accurate recounting of their activities within the framework of Franco-African relations. The focus is kept deliberately close; there are few comparisons with contemporary developments in British West Africa, still fewer attempts to see African leaders in the longer context of their countries' history. Inevitably, there are a few slips. On p. 37 he seems to overstate the severity of penalties authorised under the indigenat; p. 69 implies that Senghor and Cesaire met only in 1945; surely neither Gueye nor Diagne were ever members of the Conseil de Cabinet (p. 116). But these are small blemishes in a book which deserves to become a standard work of reference, and can yet be read for enlightenment and pleasure.