Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T13:44:17.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Economic Foundations of an Islamic Theocracy—The Case of Masina*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

Marion Johnson
Marion Johnson
Affiliation:
C.W.A.S., University of Birmingham
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This paper is an attempt to study the economic foundations of one African state; Masina in the interior delta of the Niger south of Timbuctu, a short lived jihad state of the nineteenth century, has been chosen because it is relatively well-documented, literate, and followed an established pattern of Islamic taxation. Some attention is paid to the special needs of public expenditure in an Islamic theocracy; the system of taxation is examined, and it is shown that the revenue from the pastoral sector was probably greater than that from trade. Each section of the economy, pastoral, cultivating, fishing and trade is considered, and some attempt is made at estimating the scale of trade. Finally the process of state formation is discussed; it is suggested that there was little change in the means of production, but radical changes in the relations of production. Religious, military and fiscal aspects of the state were intimately interconnected, with Islam providing the ideological basis. Lack of foreign exchange was a continuing weakness, and the state ultimately went down in military defeat because of its inability to import firearms.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , October 1976 , pp. 481 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Arhin, K., ‘The financing of the Ashanti expansion’, Africa, xxxviii (1967), 283–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wilks, I. (Asante in the nineteenth century, Cambridge, 1975)Google Scholar also pays some attention to revenue and taxation.

2 Law, R. C. C., ‘Slaves, trade and taxes: the material basis of political power in pre colonial West Africa’, unpublished symposium paper, ASAUK. symposium, September 1975.Google Scholar

3 Last, M., The Sokoto Caliphate (London, 1967)Google Scholar; Smith, M. G., Government in Zazzau(London 1960)Google Scholar; Hiskett, M., The Sword of Truth (New York, 1973)Google Scholar; etc.

4 Oloruntimehin, B. O., The Segu Tukulor Empire (London, 1972).Google Scholar

5 Brown, W. A., ‘The Caliphate of Hamdallahi’, Ph.D. thesis (Wisconsin, 1969).Google Scholar

6 Monteil, Ch., Monographic de Djénné (Tulle, 1903; cited as Djénné 1903)Google Scholar; revised edition with omissions and additions, Une cité soudanaise: Djénné (Paris, 1932; cited as Djénné 1932)Google Scholar. Further (unpublished) French reports are cited in Brown, W. A., ‘The Caliphate of Hamdallahi’.Google Scholar

7 Ba, A. H. and Daget, J., L'empire peul du Macina, vol. 1. (IFAN-Dakar, 1955; reprinted Paris, 1962).Google Scholar

8 Brown, W. A., ‘The Caliphate of Hamdallahi’.Google Scholar

9 Caillié, R., Journal d'un voyage à, Tombouctou et à Fenné (reprinted Paris, 1965), 3 vols.Google Scholar

10 Barth, H., Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa (3-volume English edition, reprinted 1965)Google Scholar, Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord und Central Afrika (5-volume edition, 1857)Google Scholar (contains passages not included in English edition).

11 By John Hunwick, Abdulaziz Batran, Abdelkader Zebadia.

12 E.g. Raffanel, A., Nouveau voyage dans le pays des nègres (Paris, 1856)Google Scholar; Duncan, J., Travels in Western Africa, (London, 1847)Google Scholar; see also Beaumier, V., ‘Premier établissement des Israelites à Timbouctu’, Bull. Soc. Geog. de Paris, April-May 1870,Google Scholar (account of Rabbi Mardochie Abi Serour, who visited Timbuctu, 1859–63).

13 Gallais, J., Le delta intérieur du Niger: étude de géographie régionale, IFAN-Dakar, 1967Google Scholar; Vincent, Y., ‘Pasteurs, paysans et pêcheurs du Guimballa’ (esp. pp. 53 ff)Google Scholar, and Forget, M., ‘Populations et genres de vie dans le Kounary’, in .Galloy, P, Vincent, Y., Forget, M., Nomades et paysans d'Afrique noire occidentale (Nancy, 1963)Google Scholar (cited as Galloy, etc.).

14 The account of the organization of the Masina state which follows, if not otherwise noted, is taken from Ba, and Daget, , L'empire peul du Macina, 43–83Google Scholar, and Monteil, Ch., Djénné (1932), 104–15.Google Scholar

15 Barth, , Travels and discoveries, 111, 216, 368Google Scholar; Brown, W. A., ‘The Caliphate of Hamdallahi’Google Scholar; Caillié, , Journal, ii, 168Google Scholar; cf. also the article by Stewart, Charles in this issue of the Jour. Afr. Hist., 497–514.Google Scholar

16 Caillié, , Journal, 11, 246Google Scholar; Barth, , Travels and Discoveries, iii, 216.Google Scholar

17 Brown, W. A., ‘The Caliphate of Hamdallahi’.Google Scholar

18 Monteil, Ch., Djénné (1903), 108Google Scholar suggests that it was under Tokolor rule that the mutassib became an inquisitor.

19 Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy etc. note 55Google Scholar. A similar policy was followed in the Sokoto theocracy: Last, M., ‘An aspect of the Caliph Muhammad Bello's social policy’, Kano Studies, 2 July 1966, 54Google Scholar. See also Norris, H. T.The Tuareg (Warminster, 1975), 149–50.Google Scholar

20 Ibid. 59 ff.; Ba, and Daget, , L'empire peul du Macina, 44Google Scholar; similar Fulani ‘suburbs’ were reported by Barth in the Songhai country of the Niger Bend.

21 Levtzion, N., ‘An eighteenth century chronicle by Ibn al-Mukhtar’, Bull. SOAS, xxxiv (1971). 571–93.Google Scholar

22 Monteil, , Djénné (1903) 105Google Scholar; Barth, , Travels and discoveries, 111, 394.Google Scholar

23 Sheku Ahmadu regarded towers on mosques as an ‘innovation’ (and therefore bad). Letter from Sheku Ahmadu, recovered by A. A. Batran, microfilm in Centre of West African Studies, Birmingham. I am indebted to John Hunwick for this reference.

24 Letter of al-Bakkai, quoted by Zebadia, A. ‘The career and correspondence of Ahmad al-Bakkai of Timbuctu’, Ph. D. thesis (London, 1974), 109, 122, 431.Google Scholar

25 Ba, and Daget, , L'empire peul du Macina, 44Google Scholar. Cf. Last, , ‘Aspects …’, 54.Google Scholar

26 Doutressoulle, G., L'élevage en Afrique occidental française (Paris, 1947), 64.Google Scholar

27 Monteil, , Djénné (1932), 224.Google Scholar

28 40,000 cattle and 15,000 horses and some gold and silver are given as the central government's one-fifth share of booty in a single campaign! On another occasion, booty is said to have amounted to 80,000 cattle, 6,000 horses and 15,000 arms of all kinds. Ba, and Daget, , L'empire peul du Macina, 205, 230.Google Scholar

29 Monteil, , Djénné (1902), 297.Google Scholar

30 A story related by John Duncan in the 1840s may possibly bear on this; see Johnson, M., ‘News from nowhere-Duncan and “Adafoodia”’, History in Africa, 1 (1974), 63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

31 Monteil, , Djénné (1932), 221.Google Scholar

32 Forget, , ‘Kounary’, in Galloy etc., 172 ff.Google Scholar; Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 94, 139–40.Google Scholar

33 For Hausaland, see Smith, , Government in Zazzau, 93–4Google Scholar, and Lugard, 's Taxation Report included in Colonial Annual Reports, 1905–1906Google Scholar; for the Segu Empire see Oloruntimehin, , The Segu Tukulor empire, 176–7Google Scholar; for Kaarta, see Raffanel, A., Nouvelle voyage dans lepays des nègres (Paris, 1856), 586–7Google Scholar. See also Norris, , The Tuareg, 151.Google Scholar

34 Murgu is defined as ‘extraordinary contribution to make war or refill the treasury’, Ba, and Daget, , L'empire peul du Macina, 277Google Scholar; (Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy, etc., 106, 124)Google Scholar uses morgu for the diamgal, the due payable by a serf to his master.

35 Monteil, , Djénné (1932), 110.Google Scholar

36 Monteil, , Djénné (1903), 297.Google Scholar

37 Barth, , Rosen und Entdeckungen, iv, 444 (this passage does not appear in the English edn).Google Scholar

38 Lugard, , Taxation Report.Google Scholar

39 Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 94, 119 ff.Google Scholar; Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy, etc. 55, 79–80, 129 ff.Google Scholar

40 Marty, , Etudes sur l'Islam et les tribus du Soudan (Paris, 1920), ii, 277Google Scholar; Deherme, G., L'Afrique occidentale française (Paris, 1908), 406–7Google Scholar; Monteil, , Djénné (1903), 341.Google Scholar

41 Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 129–30.Google Scholar

42 Deherme, , L'Afrique occidentale française, 404–7.Google Scholar

43 Marty, , Islam et les tribus du Soudan, 11, 277Google Scholar; Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 129–30.Google Scholar

44 Gallais, , Le delta intéieur, 144Google Scholar; cf. Deherme, , L'Afrique occidentale française, 383.Google Scholar

45 Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy etc. 55Google Scholar. The clerics in Dare, in this area, claimed descent from Askia Muhammed's pupils.

46 Barth, , Travels and discoveries, iii, 221–2, 230Google Scholar; cf. 214. 215.

47 Forget, , ‘Kounary’, in Galloy etc. 184 ff.Google Scholar; Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’ in Galloy etc. 138–9Google Scholar; Monteil, , Djénné (1932), 201 ff.Google Scholar

48 Monteil, , Djénné (1903), 297, 338Google Scholar; under Tokolor rule, all became state serfs.

49 Caillié, , Journal, ii, 210Google Scholar; cf. Monteil, , Djénné (1903), 297.Google Scholar

50 Caillié, , Journal, ii, 235, 248Google Scholar; Monteil, , Djénné (1932), 243–9.Google Scholar

51 Jaime, G., De Koulikoro à Tombouctou (Paris, 189?), 220–7Google Scholar; Jaime also notes that in the time of the Masina theocracy, tax receipts were given, to avoid double payment.

52 Barth, , Travels and discoveries, iii, 353.Google Scholar

53 Gallieni, , Bull. Soc. Géog. de Paris, 1883, 806.Google Scholar

54 Baillaud, , Sur les routes du Soudan (Toulouse, 1902), 120.Google Scholar

55 Ibid. 121.

56 Barth, , Travels and discoveries, in, 708 and mapGoogle Scholar. In Barth's time Dori was not subject to Masina, but Masina traders used the market; Meniaud, J., Haut-Sénégal-Niger (Paris, 1912), ii, 264Google Scholar, says that Dori market used the same measures as Masina because it had been subject to the empire.

57 Barth, , Travels and discoveries, iii; Jaime, De Kolikoro à Tombouctou, 229Google Scholar. Slaves, 3,000 at 12–15 bars salt = 3,600–45,000 bars; gold = 33,000 bars; total 69,000–78,000 bars, worth ca. £80,000 to £90,000.

58 Monteil, Ch., Les Khassonke (Paris, 1915), 57.Google Scholar

59 Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy etc. 87 ff.Google Scholar

60 Ibid. 134 ff.

61 Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 130.Google Scholar

62 Forget, , ‘Kounary’, in Galloy etc. 211.Google Scholar

63 Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy etc. 92–3.Google Scholar

64 Ba, and Daget, , L'empire peul du Macina, 199Google Scholar: ‘Tous ces Peuls et Touareg n'étaient pas musulmans au sens strict du mot. Hamdallay pouvait done alléguer de ce fait pout s'ingerer dans leurs affaires …’.

65 Ibid. 213. ‘Ceux qui font la prière et refusent de payer la zekkat manquent à un article de foi'.

66 e.g. Dagomba, Gonja, Borgu.

67 Goody, J., Technology, tradition and the state in Africa (London, 1971)Google Scholar. See also Law, R. C. C., ‘A West African cavalry state: the kingdom of Oyo’, Journal of African History, xvi, 1 (1975), 1–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar. I am grateful to Robin Law for discussion on these points.

68 These would correspond to the ‘cutters of grass’ in the suspect sections of Ta'rikh al-Fattäsh, who were also makers of canoes. In support of Levtzion's view, it could be argued that such workers were much more appropriate to Masina than to the Songhai of Askia Mohammed.

69 Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 96–8.Google Scholar

70 Vincent, , ‘Guimballa’, in Galloy etc.: ‘Après Cheikou Ahmadou, on laissa s'écrouler sous les coups des tornades les murs qui entouraient les villages’.Google Scholar

71 Barth, , Travels and discoveries, iii.Google Scholar

72 Cf. Gallais, , Le delta intérieur, 94Google Scholar ‘L'oeuvre de Cheikou-Ahmadou a été acceptée parce qu'elle a ete dans le sens de la gestation sociale et économique en cours’.

73 Calculated from Barth, , Travels and discoveries, i, 511–14.Google Scholar