Kategoria BISAC: History >> Africa - West

The Balogun institution is part of an elaborate chieftaincy tradition among the Yoruba of south western Nigeria, whose antiquity predates modern times. This book examines histories of origin and significance of the chieftaincy, as well as various contexts of its evolution into a formidable traditional institution in Yoruba land. In doing so, the peculiar traits and experiences of various holders of the title in select Yoruba communities are examined within specific historical contexts, drawing attention to the exploits of heroes and villains in their collective history.

Ghana-for all its notable strides toward more egalitarian political and social systems in the past 60 years-remains a nation plagued with inequalities stemming from its long history of slavery and slave trading. The work assembled in this collection explores the history of slavery in Ghana and its legacy for both Ghana and the descendants of people sold as slaves from the Gold Coast in the era of the transatlantic slave trade.

The volume is structured to reflect four overlapping areas of investigation: the changing nature of slavery in Ghana, including the ways in which enslaved...

Severine Brock's first language was Ga, yet it was not surprising when, in 1842, she married Edward Carstensen. He was the last governor of Christiansborg, the fort that, in the eighteenth century, had been the center of Danish slave trading in West Africa. She was the descendant of Ga-speaking women who had married Danish merchants and traders. Their marriage would have been familiar to Gold Coast traders going back nearly 150 years. In Daughters of the Trade, Pernille Ipsen follows five generations of marriages between African women and Danish men, revealing how interracial...

This book examines the cosmopolitanism and anticolonialism that black intellectuals, such as the African American, W.E.B. Du Bois, the Caribbeans, Marcus Garvey and George Padmore, and the Francophone West Africans, Kojo Tovalou-Houenou, Lamine Senghor, and Leopold Sedar Senghor, developed during the two world wars by fighting for freedom, equality, and justice for Senegalese and other West African colonial soldiers (known as tirailleurs) who made enormous sacrifices to liberate France from German oppression.

Focusing on the solidarity between this special group of African...

Between the Kola Forest and the Salty Sea reveals the long-hidden story of those who lived in the region before Liberia was created. Here are a few of the inspiring revelations it contains: * The different languages and ethnic groups of Liberia share a common root.* The barkless "kaykay" dog found in Liberian villages were a favorite pet of Ancient Egyptian pharaohs.* Kola - once used as an ingredient in soft drinks - was discovered by the ancestors of Liberi ans.* Early European explorers learned from early Liberian seafarers how to navigate some dangerous currents and winds of the...

For over...

In 1947 a group of Yoruba-speaking fishermen who had been persecuted because of their religious beliefs founded their own community in order to worship in peace. Although located in an impoverished part of Nigeria, within a few years the village enjoyed remarkable economic success. This was partly because the fishermen held all goods in common, pooled the profits in the community treasury, and attempted to reduce the importance of the family and marriage. After about a generation the utopia began to fall apart. The early religious zeal faded, private enterprise replaced communalism, and...

Guns are an enduring symbol of imperialism, whether they are used to impose social order, create ceremonial spectacle, incite panic, or to inspire confidence. In Guns and Society, Saheed Aderinto considers the social, political, and economic history of these weapons in colonial Nigeria. As he transcends traditional notions of warfare and militarization, Aderinto reveals surprising insights into how colonialism changed access to firearms after the 19th century. In doing so, he explores the unusual ways in which guns were used in response to changes in the Nigerian cultural landscape. More...

Guns are an enduring symbol of imperialism, whether they are used to impose social order, create ceremonial spectacle, incite panic, or to inspire confidence. In Guns and Society, Saheed Aderinto considers the social, political, and economic history of these weapons in colonial Nigeria. As he transcends traditional notions of warfare and militarization, Aderinto reveals surprising insights into how colonialism changed access to firearms after the 19th century. In doing so, he explores the unusual ways in which guns were used in response to changes in the Nigerian cultural landscape. More...

A groundbreaking history that puts early and medieval West Africa in a global context

Pick up almost any book on early and medieval world history and empire, and where do you find West Africa? On the periphery. This pioneering book, the first on this period of the region's history in a generation, tells a different story. Interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, including Arabic manuscripts, oral histories, and recent archaeological findings, Michael Gomez unveils a new vision of how categories of ethnicity, race, gender, and caste...