| # | Polity | Special Purpose Site | Tags | Year(s) | Edit | Desc |
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E.g. Trading emporia. The quote below suggest that trade emporia were likely present. During the reign of Gawi Nechocho (1845CE -1854 CE) new trade routes were established. “It is said that, because of his daughter’s marriage to the king of Gera, a trade route was opened up to Gondar.”
[1]
[1]: (Orent 1970, 279) Orent, Amnon. 1970. ‘Refocusing on the History of Kafa Prior to 1897: A Discussion of Political Processes’. African Historical Studies. Vol. 3:2. Pp 263-293. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2A389XGK/collection |
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E.g. Trading emporia. The quote below suggest that trade emporia were likely present. During the reign of Gawi Nechocho (1845CE -1854 CE) new trade routes were established. “It is said that, because of his daughter’s marriage to the king of Gera, a trade route was opened up to Gondar.”
[1]
[1]: (Orent 1970, 279) Orent, Amnon. 1970. ‘Refocusing on the History of Kafa Prior to 1897: A Discussion of Political Processes’. African Historical Studies. Vol. 3:2. Pp 263-293. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2A389XGK/collection |
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Burial sites: Given the intimate connection between Islam and daily life in the Sokoto Caliphate, one would assume that the burial practices common across the Islamic world would have been followed. No source reviewed specifically mentions this in detail, but graveyards and at least one tomb are mentioned. “In this Sokoto was very different from the situation in Kano, Katsina, or Zaria where the capital city existed with well-built houses and a "palace," great long walls and political institutions. Title-holders had their large houses and areas of responsibility, Islamic courts were in place, as were great mosques, saints’ tombs, and burial sites; marketplaces were already in operation (see Moody 1969). The new jihadi authorities in the great cities thus had simply to take over the relevant offices and even move into the official residences. New clan mosques might be built locally within the city, but otherwise everything was already in place (Zahradeen 1983:57-66): only the conquered population had to be persuaded, perhaps intimidated, into accepting the new regime - and that, the shaikh in Sokoto had suggested, could if necessary be done with force or threats of force: symbolically he sent his new commander in Kano a knife (Palmer 1928:128).”
[1]
“The trees in a house’s graveyard may house cattle egrets whose droppings make excellent fertilizer for onions; small fire finches (known as bayin Allah , "slaves of Allah") come into rooms where students sit studying Islamic texts, and doves nest under the edges of thatch roofs.”
[2]
“In short, Sokoto city may have been the capital of a great polity but it was also a rural town. It lacked monuments or monumental architecture, and it was short of ceremonial space; its layout was not designed to impress or intimidate, though the streets were regularly laid out and well built - unusually so, said Clapperton (1828,ii:377). The shaikh’s tomb (hubbare) is his old, originally suburban house in which he also had a tent (laima); his mosque was nearby - low, plain, and many-pillared, so unlike the splendid mosque built in 1836 for the emir in Zaria, or the huge ancient mosque in Rano with its high, bulky minaret.”
[3]
Possibly trading emporia: “One of the most striking features of the caliphal system was the emergence of new political centres, many of which also became centres of agricultural production, manufacturing and trade. Sokoto itself was transformed from a small hamlet in 1809 into one of the largest cities in the Central Sudan, with a population of about 100,000 by the end of the century. The city became noted for its heterogeneous wards and its many celebrated artisans, traders and scholars.30 Many other cities such as Gusau, Kaura-Namoda, Gwadabawa and Illela grew up in the metropolitan region, all with substantial populations drawn from all parts of Western and Central Sudan and Sahel. Outside the Rima Basin, several new towns were built, Bauchi, Ja-lingo and Yola to name but three, all of which grew into large cosmopolitan settlements which drew traders, artisans and peasant cultivators from all over their respective regions.”
[4]
[1]: Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 11–12. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection [2]: Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 12. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection [3]: Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 12–13. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection [4]: Chafe, Kabiru Sulaiman. “Challenges to the Hegemony of the Sokoto Caliphate: A Preliminary Examination.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 99–109: 104. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZANHCUFH/collection |
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Ceremonial sites. “The sustained Tamil impetus to wholesale temple renovation may also be partly responsible for the limited number of surviving structural monument from the far south in Pandyanadu before the twelfth, or even sixteenth, centuries. The region is well known for the many substantial rock-cut caves with monumental sculpture, but though ruled over by the Pandyans from their capital of Madurai from the sixth to the early fourteenth centuries as contemporaries of the Cholas there are very few surviving structural temples from this period in Pandyanadu compared with the Kaveri region.”
[1]
[1]: (Branfoot 2013, 46) Branfoot, Crispin 2013. ‘Remaking the past: Tamil sacred landscape and temple renovations’. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Vol 76: 1. Pp. 21-47. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/392CRT4K/collection |
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Trading emporia. The following quote suggests that trading emporia was likely present. “The main trade routes throughout this period of history were the trans-Saharan caravan routes of the interior through which gold, salt, and slaves passed.”
[1]
[1]: (McLaughlin 2008, 83) McLaughlin, Fiona. 2008. ‘Senegal: The Emergence of a National Lingua Franca’. In Languages and National Identity in Africa. Edited by Andrew Simpson. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7VBFQ96V/collection |
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Quarries and enclosures are, at least, known to have been present at the site, though most other categories appear to be either absent or unknown. “…the available evidence shows that the builders of Great Zimbabwe extracted granite from quarries scattered in various localities around the site….”
[1]
[1]: (Chirikure 2021, 119) Shadreck Chirikure, Great Zimbabwe: Reclaiming a ‘Confiscated’ Past (Routledge, 2021). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MWWKAGSJ/collection |
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Dutch-managed gold mines in western Sumatra. "Besides pepper, the west coast gained in importance from 1670 to 1737 due to the gold mining in Sillida, where Saxon and Bohemian engineers working for the VOC themselves managed the gold mines and where the harsh conditions resulted in a high loss of life among the miners. Initially many of these workers were Europeans, but during the eighteenth century they were mainly slaves from Madagascar."
[1]
[1]: (Emmer and Gommans 2020: 283) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/AI9PPN7Q/collection. |
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E.g., Ceremonial site and burial site. Abdul Hakim was said to have introduced Islam to Jimma and converted the first king, Abba Jifar to Islam in 1830 CE. “Abdul Hakim settled in Jiren, near the palace of the king. His tomb (k’ubba)is still venerated by the religious.”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2001, 42) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection |
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The honouring of Islamic saints is a big part of Somali society. “Their tombs, which dot the country side, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and works of the deceased saint.”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library |
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E.g. mines. Coral mining had been commonplace for the use of housing and building materials. “Coral was transported by camel carts and burned to make lime for buildings, a wise use of traditional skills that was more economical than using imported cement.”
[1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2003, 51) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/TWITJWK4/items/J8WZB6VI/collection |
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E.g. shrines. “The Ajuran established a theocratic Islamic state based on Sharia law with its headquarters at Marka or Merca on the Indian Ocean, and the royal residence at Mungiye, about 75 miles south of Mogadishu. Marka was the home of a number of revered sheikhs, including the Afarta Aw Usman (“the four famous sheikhs named Osman”): Aw Usman Markayale, who is not only venerated in Marka, but also has a mosque named after him with a small underground chamber that, according to popular belief, formed part of a corridor that led directly to the Ka’ba in the holy city of Makkah; Aw Usman Garweyne, whose shrine is on the island of Gendershe, 20 miles north of Marka; Aw Usman Makki of Dhanane; and Aw Usman Bauasan of Jazira. Thus, Marka for the Ajuran is a religious sanctuary, and is called even today “Marka Aw Usman” (Marka, home of Osmans). At the top of the Ajuran hierarchy was the imam, a title used only by Shi‘ite Islamic administrations.”
[1]
[1]: (Mukhtar 2016, Encyclopedia of Empire) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2016. ‘Ajuran Sultanate.’ In J. Mackenzie Encyclopedia of Empire. Wiley. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5U3NQRMR/library |
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Ceremonial site and burial site. “Saints are historical personalities widely respected and even venerated by Somalis for their personal piety, miraculous works, or contribution to the spread of Islamic learning. Their tombs, which dot the countryside, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and work of the deceased saint.”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lee/titleCreatorYear/items/TKPH7Z89/item-list |
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E.g., Ceremonial site and burial site. “The original inhabitants were of Sidama stock; but although it was invaded by the Galla in the sixteenth century, the kingdom is said to have been founded by a Somali from Mogadishu. This man, Nur Husain, otherwise known as Wariko, was a worker of miracles: he could fly like an eagle, and could change men into animals […] To Wariko, however, a tomb has been assigned on the bank of the Dadesa, and Cecchi was told that it was an object of veneration.”
[1]
[1]: (Beckingham and Huntingford 1954, lxxxix) Beckingham, C.F. and Huntingford, G.W.B. 1954. Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593-1646. London: Hakluyt Society. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/F86ZNREM/collection |
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The honouring of Islamic saints is a big part of Somali society. “Their tombs, which dot the country side, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and works of the deceased saint.”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library |
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Burial site and mines. “Zekaria has made the interesting suggestion citing the existence of Arabic gravestones from the Harlaa area and other Harlaa associated sites in Eastern Ethiopia that ‘it is logical to accept the Harla connection for the name Harar,’ rather than posited alternatives based on, for example the derivation of the words ‘Ha’ ‘ra’ and ‘ra’ from the opening verse of the Quran.”
[1]
“Extensive mines have been identified at the top of the mountain opposite Harlaa, Gara Harfattu (1888m asl; 9°29′ 46.212′′ north, 41°54′ 22.68′′ east). These mines comprise both vertical and horizontal shafts, a technique for following mineral veins known in other contemporaneous Islamic contexts.”
[2]
[1]: (Insoll 2017, 210) Insoll, Timothy. 2017. ‘First Footsteps in Archaeology of Harar, Ethiopia’. Journal of Islamic Archaeology. Vol 4:2. Pp 189-215. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/VQ38B374/collection [2]: (Insoll et al. 2021, 488) Insoll, Timothy et al. 2021. ‘Material Cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia’. Antiquity. Vol 95: 380. Pp 487-507. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GGUW3WRZ/collection |
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E.g. Trading emporia, ceremonial site and burial site. Conflict between the Ifat and the Christian Ethiopian Kingdoms also revolved around trade routes. “We have already seen that Christian Ethiopia had started to make use of the caravan routes to Zeila by the middle of the thirteenth century. The rise of the ‘Solomonic dynasty’, and the resultant shift of the centre of southern Amhara and Shoa, gave a particular significance to the Zeila routes in which the Christian kings began to show an ever increasing interest.”
[1]
French archaeologists discovered mosques and a burial area that date back to the Ifat period at the site of Nora in Ethiopia. “The excavation confirmed the urban character of the Nora site and made it possible to document on an archaeological plan, structures with a religious function (two mosques partially excavated, including the Friday mosques, among the mosques found) housing sectors, several outdoor spaces, as well as a funeral area.”
[2]
“L. Traversi’s text thus testifies to what, in the eyes of the local authorities and the Muslim community of this part of Ifat, constituted the historical and memorial heritage of the region at the end of the 19th century: two ruined cities, one linked to a certain ‘Sharif Ali’ considered at the time as a sultan, son of Sa’d al-Din, and whose tomb was celebrated, the other to a certain ‘Ras Alis’.”
[2]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 143) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list [2]: (Fauvelle et al. 2017, 239-295) Fauvelle, François-Xavier et al. 2007. “The Sultanate of Awfāt, its Capital and the Necropolis of the Walasma”, Annales Islamologiques. Vol. 51. Pp 239-295. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/HJCMAMX7/library |
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The honouring of Islamic saints is a big part of Somali society. “Their tombs, which dot the country side, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and works of the deceased saint.”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. V. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TKPH7Z89/library |
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E.g. Ceremonial site and burial site. “The holy men stimulated practices of saint veneration and visits to their centers and tombs, which again led to the emergence of local cults.”
[1]
[1]: (Loimeier 2013, 150) Loimeier, Roman. 2013. Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/HJTAUHA9/collection |
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E.g., ceremonial site and burial site. “There are 356 holy sites within Harar’s walls, mainly tombs of emirs, religious preachers, and descendants of clerics who founded the city in the thirteenth century. Pilgrimage to these tombs was not necessarily connected to Sufi Ziyara tradition and was more a central custom in the daily lives of most city residents, regardless of gender, status, and ethnic background.”
[1]
[1]: (Ben-Dror 2018, 15) Ben-Dror, Avishai. 2018. Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian: Colonial Experiences in Late Nineteenth-Century Harar. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CHS87GBI/collection |
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E.g. ceremonial site; burial site. “The family of a dead man dig a circular hole close the Kabare round which they gather to pray, afterwards decorating the grave with branches or palm fronds.”
[1]
“Otherwise the dead are buried in Moslem fashion in graves known as Kabare, which fulfil the functions of both the dico and the das. The Kabare, like the das, is generally situated close to a main track. The grave is enclosed by a low circular wall, with a doorway generally flanked by two pillars.”
[1]
[1]: (Thesiger 1935, 10) Thesiger, Wifred. 1935. ‘The Awash River and the Aussa Sultanate.’ The Geographical Journal. Vol. 85:1. Pp 1-19 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/APBB7BBK/library |
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Ceremonial site and burial site. “Saints are historical personalities widely respected and even venerated by Somalis for their personal piety, miraculous works, or contribution to the spread of Islamic learning. Their tombs, which dot the countryside, are frequently the sites of annual religious celebrations held to commemorate the life and work of the deceased saint.”
[1]
[1]: (Cassanelli 1982, 120) Cassanelli, Lee. 1982. The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Lee/titleCreatorYear/items/TKPH7Z89/item-list |
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Trading emporia. "Of the various axes of Ifè.’s interaction sphere, none was as important as the northern axis. This strategic area linked Ilé-Ifè with the trade termini on the River Niger and gave the Yorùbá world access to the commercial traffic between the Western Sudan and the Mediterranean. Saharan copper and salt, as well as Mediterranean and Chinese silk and other clothing materials, were entering the Yorùbá region from across the Niger by the eleventh or twelfth century in exchange for sundry rain forest goods, of which Ifè glass beads and ivory were the most highly prized. Therefore, early in its development, Ilé-Ifè employed military and diplomatic strategies to open up and protect the trade routes to the River Niger, especially between Moshi and Osin tributaries. These efforts are encapsulated in the oral traditions regarding the activities of Òrànmíyàn, who is said to have launched military campaigns in the River Niger area. The stories of this legendary figure reveal Ilé-Ifè’s efforts to secure the safe passage of its exports and imports across the river. Indeed, Ifè trading stations were located in this zone of trading termini, in addition to several Yorùbá-speaking communities that occupied a 310-kilometer stretch of land on both banks of River Niger for most of the Classical period. This was a zone of transition in which trading stations, and port towns and villages received exports from Ilé-Ifè and other parts of the Yorùbá world and imports from the Sudan."
[1]
[1]: (Ogundiran 2020: 115) |
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Ceremonial sites, burial sites, mines or quarries.
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Burial sites, trading emporia, mines or quarries, other sites. “The distinctive characteristics of these southern Chad Basin polities are that then capitals were walled settlements and they also had extensive graveyards. Such townships included Kabe, Kala-Kafra, Maltam, Kala-Maloue, Logone-Birni, and Ngala. They buried their dead in jars and the grave goods that accompanied the burial of the elites included carnelian and glass beads and alloyed copper artifacts (Holl, 1996, p. 590).”
[1]
“One partnership in the 1790s united a trader operating at Buna and Kong, in the middle Volta basin, with another at Katsina, and the latter even had commercial ties in Borno. This is one of the earliest known examples of a practice which appears to have been common among many nineteenth- century merchants in such places as Zinder and Kano. Finally, brokerage firms in Kano, which handled the sale of various salts, provided banking facilities for their clients. These firms, some of which are still in operation after at least two hundred years of business, stored cowries obtained through salt sales while their Borno clients travelled to neighbouring towns to purchase goods. These reserves provided the salt brokers (Hausa: fatoma) with the ability to guarantee short term credit in the transactions which they managed. In some instances, too, the firms extended goods on credit to distributors who sold salt in the streets and villages.”
[2]
“By the late fifteenth century, such Central Sudan towns as Katsina, Kano, and Birnin Gazargamu had become the centres of an expanding regional economy, whose most important sectors were the production of grain and other foodstuffs, livestock breeding, the mining of numerous salts, iron, tin, and other minerals, and the manufacture of textiles, leather goods, iron ware, and other commodities.”
[3]
[1]: Ogundiran, A. (2005). Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (ca. 2000 B.C.—A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory, 19(2), 133–168: 145. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PK7F26DP/collection [2]: Lovejoy, P. E. (1974). Interregional Monetary Flows in the Precolonial Trade of Nigeria. The Journal of African History, 15(4), 563–585: 582. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/58ASG655/collection [3]: Lovejoy, P. E. (1974). Interregional Monetary Flows in the Precolonial Trade of Nigeria. The Journal of African History, 15(4), 563–585: 565. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/58ASG655/collection |
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Ceremonial and burial sites. “Burials of important people such as lamaan (lineage chief), saltigue (rainmaker) and kumax (leader of the male initiation society) involved several villages and ages, resulting in impressive earthen tumuli several metres high. The deceased was buried with his or her utilitarian possessions, and offerings were deposited on top of the graves.”
[1]
“Ethnographic and ethnohistorical literature indicate that Sereer, Wolof, and Mande speakers practiced tumuli burials until the 16th and 17th centuries, but only the Sereer continued to do so in more recent historical periods.”
[2]
The following quote suggests that trading emporia may also have been present “All three capitals: Kahone, Diakhao, and Lambaye, were established in the mid-sixteenth century when the fertile coastal provinces of the Empire of Jolof- an inland empire established in the thirteenth century-gained independence […] They prospered as independent kingdoms during the mercantilist era and, together, constituted the ‘Peanut Basin’ that developed during the colonial era. They maintained trade relations with the European and Eura-african merchants who frequented their port cities, and diplomatic relations with the Dutch, French and English/British chartered companies that claimed to monopolize trade along their coasts.”
[3]
[1]: (Thiaw 2013, 100) Thiaw, Ibrahima. 2013. ‘From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia. In Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspectives. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q2ZFJKTJ/collection [2]: (Thiaw 2013, 102) Thiaw, Ibrahima. 2013. ‘From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia. In Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspectives. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q2ZFJKTJ/collection [3]: (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection |
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Ceremonial and burial sites. “Burials of important people such as lamaan (lineage chief), saltigue (rainmaker) and kumax (leader of the male initiation society) involved several villages and ages, resulting in impressive earthen tumuli several metres high. The deceased was buried with his or her utilitarian possessions, and offerings were deposited on top of the graves.”
[1]
“Ethnographic and ethnohistorical literature indicate that Sereer, Wolof, and Mande speakers practiced tumuli burials until the 16th and 17th centuries, but only the Sereer continued to do so in more recent historical periods.”
[2]
The following quote suggests that trading emporia may also have been present “All three capitals: Kahone, Diakhao, and Lambaye, were established in the mid-sixteenth century when the fertile coastal provinces of the Empire of Jolof- an inland empire established in the thirteenth century-gained independence […] They prospered as independent kingdoms during the mercantilist era and, together, constituted the ‘Peanut Basin’ that developed during the colonial era. They maintained trade relations with the European and Eura-african merchants who frequented their port cities, and diplomatic relations with the Dutch, French and English/British chartered companies that claimed to monopolize trade along their coasts.”
[3]
[1]: (Thiaw 2013, 100) Thiaw, Ibrahima. 2013. ‘From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia. In Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspectives. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q2ZFJKTJ/collection [2]: (Thiaw 2013, 102) Thiaw, Ibrahima. 2013. ‘From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia. In Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspectives. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q2ZFJKTJ/collection [3]: (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection |
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Ceremonial and burial sites. “Burials of important people such as lamaan (lineage chief), saltigue (rainmaker) and kumax (leader of the male initiation society) involved several villages and ages, resulting in impressive earthen tumuli several metres high. The deceased was buried with his or her utilitarian possessions, and offerings were deposited on top of the graves.”
[1]
“Ethnographic and ethnohistorical literature indicate that Sereer, Wolof, and Mande speakers practiced tumuli burials until the 16th and 17th centuries, but only the Sereer continued to do so in more recent historical periods.”
[2]
The following quote suggests that trading emporia may also have been present “All three capitals: Kahone, Diakhao, and Lambaye, were established in the mid-sixteenth century when the fertile coastal provinces of the Empire of Jolof- an inland empire established in the thirteenth century-gained independence … They prospered as independent kingdoms during the mercantilist era and, together, constituted the ‘Peanut Basin’ that developed during the colonial era. They maintained trade relations with the European and Eura-african merchants who frequented their port cities, and diplomatic relations with the Dutch, French and English/British chartered companies that claimed to monopolize trade along their coasts.”
[3]
[1]: (Thiaw 2013, 100) Thiaw, Ibrahima. 2013. ‘From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia. In Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspectives. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q2ZFJKTJ/collection [2]: (Thiaw 2013, 102) Thiaw, Ibrahima. 2013. ‘From the Senegal River to Siin: The Archaeology of Sereer Migrations in North-Western Senegambia. In Migration and Membership Regimes in Global and Historical Perspectives. Edited by Ulbe Bosma. Leiden: Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q2ZFJKTJ/collection [3]: (Bigon and Ross 2020, 42) Bigon, Liora and Ross, Eric. 2020. Grid Planning in the Urban Design Practices of Senegal. London: Springer. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MM67I638/collection |
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Ceremonial and burial sites. During the king’s or brak’s enthronement ceremony he visited the tomb of his ancestors. “Once in Jurbel, the brak was led straight to the mound of earth, the jal or tumulus of his family meen, where he was coronated.”
[1]
[1]: (Barry 2012, 41) Barry, Boubacar. 2012. The Kingdom of Waalo: Senegal Before the Conquest. New York: Diasporic Africa Press. Seshat URL:https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/9KV5MEKN/collection |
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Gold mines. “With the end of the export slave trade, the commercial populations looked for new commodities to trade […]These linkages also seem to have stimulated the cultivation of cotton, the mining of gold, and the production of textiles and gold jewelry.”
[1]
Trading emporia might have also been present. “Hitherto, the trading season had been limited to the month immediately following the rains. When the season ended the traders burned their huts and returned home. The peanut trade however, gave rise to the practice of traders advancing goods on credit to subtraders who remained in business all year long.”
[2]
[1]: (Klien, 2005) Klien, Martin A. ‘Futa Toro: Early Nineteenth Century’ In Encyclopedia of African History Volume 1: A-G. Edited by Kevin Shillington. London: Taylor and Francis. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U5AI43KW/collection [2]: (Klein 1972, 425) Klein, Martin A. 1972. ‘Social and Economic Factors in the Muslim Revolution in Senegambia.’ The Journal of Africa History. Vol. 13:3. Pp 419-441. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZJRN8UJ8/collection |
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Shrine. “The relief very likely represents a local legend associated with the village Govindaputtur on the northern bank of the river Kollidam (Coleroon) in Tamil Nadu. An ancient Saiva shrine, it was visited by Appar and Sambandar, two important Saiva saints who may have lived in the seventh century. Both recorded the local tradition of a cow attaining salvation at Govindaputtur by adorning the Sivalinga of the local temple known as Tiruvijayamangai.”
[1]
The following quote also suggests that trading emporia were likely present due to the presence of trunk roads and travelling merchants who used these routes. “Transport of commodities was a problem in those days. Roads within urban limits were maintained by local authorities like ur or sabha. Trunk roads were not officially the concern of anybody but were maintained by their users especially traders. We hear of toll-gates and accountants who maintained the accounts of the tolls. The travelling merchants had their guards in arms.”
[2]
[1]: (Pal 1988, 259) Pal, Pratapadiya. 1988. Indian Sculpture: 700-1800 Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/GI668E2K/collection [2]: (Soundaram 2011, 77) Soundaram, A. 2011. ‘The Characteristic Features of Early Medieval Tamil Society: An Overview’ In History of People and Their Environs: Essays in Honour of Prof. B.S. Chanrababu Edited by S. Ganeshram and C. Bhavani. Chennai: Indian Universities Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/CISI5MVX/collection |
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Burial site. The following quote discusses the archaeological site at Kodumanal which dates from 300 BCE to 200 CE. “There are over 150 burials to the east and north-east of the habitation area at Kodumanal. The earlier ones were secondary burials in which disarticulated remains were interred inside a cist.”
[1]
[1]: (Singh 2008, 402) Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. London: Pearson Education. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/UJG2G6MJ/collection |
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The following quote discusses trading emporia known as Pattanam during the Sangam Age in Tamil Nadu. “Pattanam were the centres of long distance trade. Certain weights of gold known as Kaame and Kalanju were used as media of exchange in the Pattanam, perhaps also in certain higher transactions.
[1]
[1]: (Agnihotri 1988, 357) Agnihotri, V.K. 1988. Indian History. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/PNX9XBJQ/collection |
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Inferred from the following, which pertains to the immediately preceding period. "Specialized iron production shifted from the inhabitants of Mound 4 to those at Mound 11, and iron smelting remained set at a distance from the settlement, but now 250 m to the west of Mound 11."
[1]
[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 30) |
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“It has been hypothesized that the site of Sigiriya, a creation of Kassapa I (r. 473–91 CE) and historically a site that attracted large numbers of visitors and pilgrims, was constructed symbolically to recreate the city of Āḷakamandā, the celestial home of Kubera, god of wealth. Inscription 28 of the Sigiriya graffiti records: ‘The resplendent rock named Sighigiri captivates the minds of those who have seen [it] as if [the mountain] Mundalind, which was adorned by the King of Sages, had descended to the earth.’ Mundalind has been equated with Mount Meru and, continuing this symbolism, Paranavitana suggested that the lake at Sigiriya represented the celestial lake Anotatta, the white- washed boulders before the outcrop stood for the snow-clad Himalayas, and the royal palace pointed to the abode of Kubera on the summit of Meru. The famous Sigiriya frescoes have also been interpreted in various ways, one being that they are depictions of divine cloud damsels representing cloud and lightning, reaffirming Kassapa’s ability to control the elements. If indeed viewed as the creation of Kassapa, the graffiti and cosmological symbolism of Sigiriya produced what is argued to be the clearest example of an urban microcosm in early Sri Lanka.”
[1]
[1]: (Coningham et al. 2017, 30) Coningham et al. 2017. ‘Archaeology and cosmopolitanism in early historic and medieval Sri Lanka.’ Sri Lanka at the Crossroads of History. Edited by Zoltán Biedermann and Alan Strathern. London: UCL Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/DCQMW8E3/collection |
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Trading emporia inferred from the following quote “One of the most notable features in the economic history of the period extending from the ninth century to the end of the Polonnaruva kingdom was the expansion of trade within the country. The date available at is present is too meagre for an analysis of the development of this trade, or indeed for a detailed description of its special characteristics, but there is evidence of the emergence of merchant ‘corporations’, the growth of market towns linked by well-known trade routes, and the development of a local, that is to say, regional coinage. Tolls and other levies on this trade yielded a considerable income to the state. There was at the same time a substantial revenue from customs dues on external trade although the data we have is too scanty to compute with any precision the duties levied on the various export and import commodities. Sri Lanka was a vital link in the great trade routes between east and west, of importance in ‘transit’ trade due to her advantageous geographical location, and in the ‘terminal’ trade on account of her natural products such as gems, pearls and timber. Apart from the traditional ports of the north and north-west of the island, and on the east coast, those of the west coast too became important in this trade. Besides, the island’s numerous bays, anchorages and road-steads offered adequate shelter for the sailing ships of this period. Trade in the Indian Ocean at this time was dominated by the Arabs, who were among the leading and most intrepid sailors of the era…Luxury articles were the main commodities to this category belonged Sri Lanka’s gems and pearls.”
[1]
[1]: (De Silva 1981, 71-72) De Silva, K.M. 1981. A History of Sri Lanka. London: C. Hurst & Company, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4R6DQVHZ/collection |
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“It has been hypothesized that the site of Sigiriya, a creation of Kassapa I (r. 473–91 CE) and historically a site that attracted large numbers of visitors and pilgrims, was constructed symbolically to recreate the city of Āḷakamandā, the celestial home of Kubera, god of wealth. Inscription 28 of the Sigiriya graffiti records: ‘The resplendent rock named Sighigiri captivates the minds of those who have seen [it] as if [the mountain] Mundalind, which was adorned by the King of Sages, had descended to the earth.’ Mundalind has been equated with Mount Meru and, continuing this symbolism, Paranavitana suggested that the lake at Sigiriya represented the celestial lake Anotatta, the white- washed boulders before the outcrop stood for the snow-clad Himalayas, and the royal palace pointed to the abode of Kubera on the summit of Meru. The famous Sigiriya frescoes have also been interpreted in various ways, one being that they are depictions of divine cloud damsels representing cloud and lightning, reaffirm- ing Kassapa’s ability to control the elements. If indeed viewed as the creation of Kassapa, the graffiti and cosmological symbolism of Sigiriya produced what is argued to be the clearest example of an urban microcosm in early Sri Lanka.”
[1]
[1]: (Coningham et al. 2017, 30) Coningham et al. 2017. ‘Archaeology and cosmopolitanism in early historic and medieval Sri Lanka.’ Sri Lanka at the Crossroads of History. Edited by Zoltán Biedermann and Alan Strathern. London: UCL Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/DCQMW8E3/collection |
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E.g. trading emporia which may be inferred from the existence of long-distance caravan routes. “It was on the long-distance caravan routes to these regions that the most viable Muslim communities were established.”
[1]
[1]: (Tamrat 2008, 134) Tamrat, Taddesse. 2008. ‘Ethiopia, the Red Sea and the Horn’ In the Cambridge History of Africa: c. 1050 – c.1600 vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp 98-182. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Tamrat/titleCreatorYear/items/A68FCWWI/item-list |
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Trading emporia. The following quote suggests that trading emporia was likely present. “The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.”
[1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection |
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The following quote suggests that trading emporia were likely present in the Kingdom of Gumma. “Trade between the north and the southwest passed through Jimma, much of it carried on by Jimma merchants. Through Hirmata (where the modern town of Jimma is situated) passed caravans to the southwest (to Kafa, Maji, Gimira); the south (Kullo, Konta, Uba, and elsewhere); to the west (Gomma, Guma, Gera Ilubabor); and north to Limmu, Nonno, Shoa, Wollo, and Gondar.”
[1]
[1]: (Lewis 2001, 49) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection |
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Burial sites, trading emporia.
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Burial sites: “These references to embarkation in a canoe are usually understood to be purely metaphorical, the remains of the dead being in fact buried in the ground. A contemporary report of the funeral ceremonies for a king of Hueda in 1708, however, refers to the making of an actual model canoe (a foot and a half by two feet in size), which was carried with an image of the king, to be placed on the road to the ancestral homeland of the royal family.”
[1]
“The second letter of the third section of the 1688 Description comprises an extended description of the kingdom of "Juda" or Whydah (133-38). Barbot describes the natural resources of the country, the conduct of the European trade there, the local king and his court, the local religion (especially the veneration of snakes), the administration of justice (including a form of trial by ordeal, the accused being obliged to swim across a crocodile-infested river), burial customs (including human sacrifice), the ceremony of the blood pact, agriculture and crafts, weaponry, the local currency (of cowry shells), domestic slavery and polygamy, and much else besides.”
[2]
Enclosures: “Astley, in summarizing Desmarchais, supports such findings when he suggests that ditches/borrow pits were common in the area surrounding Savi, where: "As the ...[Huedans] build with Earth, which they dig-up as near as possible to their Habitations, their Houses are surrounded with such Holes, or Pits." Astley continues the description of the ditches to suggest that they were filled with all manner of trash and that the area surrounding Savi was so populated that the slopes of ditches were under cultivation, such that: “The Borders of the Hedges, the Sides of Ditches, and the Foot of their [enclosures, are planted with Melons of different Kinds, besides Pulse; so that not an inch of Ground lies unimproved, and that without Interruption”. Alongside their use as borrow pits, researchers argue for connections between ditches in the region of Abomey and the Savi palace zone and the Huedan python deity Dangbe, who Huedans considered to have the ability to check movement and create zones of inclusion and protection. Beyond their cosmological associations, Huedans placed structures and house compounds abutting ditches/borrow pits to maximize the defensive potential of various features. Thus, the contiguous architectural system of ditches/borrow pits together with the walls of house compounds presented an unbroken boundary between the interior of the compound and exterior spaces. As the opening paragraph suggests, these cosmological and physical attempts to bracket and buttress the Huedan countryside and palace were ultimately unsuccessful.”
[3]
[1]: Law, Robin. “West Africa’s Discovery of the Atlantic.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 44, no. 1, 2011, pp. 1–25: 12. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/WA6SG9KW/collection [2]: Law, Robin. “Jean Barbot as a Source for the Slave Coast of West Africa.” History in Africa, vol. 9, 1982, pp. 155–73: 159. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4D6NU7J/collection [3]: Norman, Neil L. “Hueda (Whydah) Country and Town: Archaeological Perspectives on the Rise and Collapse of an African Atlantic Kingdom.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 42, no. 3, 2009, pp. 387–410: 397. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5UK64SQ5/collection |
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Burial sites. Reference to bronzes comparable to burial bronzes from Igbo-Ukwa: “T. Shaw made some astonishing discoveries at Igbo-Ukwu (east of the Niger, Awka District). Prominent among the findings is the burial chamber of a dignitary which was dated to about A.D. 900 (Shaw 1979). There is no evidence of connections between the Igbo-Ukwu culture, whose origins are not known up till now, and Benin. The Igbo-Ukwu bronzes show no stylistic similarity to those known from Ife and Benin.”
[1]
[1]: Bondarenko, Dmitri M., and Peter M. Roese. ‘Benin Prehistory: The Origin and Settling down of the Edo’. Anthropos 94, no. 4/6 (1999): 542–52:549. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Y4V3D623/collection |
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Specific burial practices and places are referred to. The fact that the king’s grave is allowed to fall into disrepair implies that it is arranged in a specific way initially. “The juwe, as the principal aspect of the king’s spiritual potency, is dangerous to men and potentially harmful to the crops. The dindi, on the other hand, is magically beneficial to the crops. The most powerful physical manifestations of the dindi-hair and nails-of priests and counsellors are buried at Puje, the sacred site of the annual harvest festival. The nails and hair of the king, carefully preserved during his reign, are buried with his body, formerly alongside a slave who was called the ’attendant of the corn’.”
[1]
“The king’s bwi, unique to the individual, is separated together with the dindi when the death of the body occurs. However, in popular belief, kings do not die, they ’return to the skies ’ or simply disappear. The elaborate and highly secret preservation of the king’s body and its animated farewell to the people on its last journey is a vivid expression of the king’s personal immortality-as a god. As a man, once stripped of its titles and its kingly roles, the corpse is renamed and buried secretly with few grave goods. The grave is even permitted to fall into disrepair.”
[1]
[1]: Young, M. W. (1966). The Divine Kingship of the Jukun: A Re-Evaluation of Some Theories. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 36(2), 135–153: 148. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NTI9GQMF/collection |
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Trading emporia. The following quote suggests that trading emporia were likely present. “The Senegambia’s link to the expansive interior trade incorporated several commercial complexes that were connected to the major empires in West Africa besides Mali to the north and Jolof to the east, allowing the flow of a variety of foreign commodities into the region. Part of this conglomerate of networks made use of the Gambia River to gain salt, rice, grasses, and dried fish that would be bartered for iron, cloth, kola, and in all likelihood luxury items (a notable portion of which were of European origin) that until that time could only be obtained from interior markets.”
[1]
[1]: (Gijanto 2016, 31-32) Gijanto, Liza. 2016. The Life of Trade: Events and Happenings in the Niumi’s Atlantic Center. London: Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/7XNBIF95/collection |
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Trading emporia. The following quotes suggest that trading emporia were likely present in the Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom. “Banjaras not only carried goods across the interior on their pack bullocks but bought and sold them in their own right. They were very far from the pedlars and ‘gypsies’ depicted in colonial times. Their caravans could stretch to thousands of bullocks and they articulated the interior economy with that of the coast.”
[1]
“Parallel to, and frequently working with, the banjara caravans were specialist merchant castes, who used their own internal organizations to develop trade over long distances. Most prominent, down the south-east coast, were Telugu Komatis who specialized in chilli, turmeric, and tobacco, grown in Andhra, but were also involved in the cloth and rice trades. The spread across many of the casbahs in the Tamil and Kannada countries but kept their identity and cohesion through maintenance of their language and, also, worship at their own sectarian temples.”
[2]
[1]: (Washbrook 2010, 275) Washbrook, David. 2010. ‘Merchants, Markets, and Commerce in Early Modern South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 53:1/2 Pp 266-289. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7ZBUUSJN/collection [2]: (Washbrook 2010, 276) Washbrook, David. 2010. ‘Merchants, Markets, and Commerce in Early Modern South India’. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Vol. 53:1/2 Pp 266-289. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/7ZBUUSJN/collection |
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The following quote suggests that shrines of saints were important pilgrimage sites and were likely present in the Carnatic Sultanate. “The most significant aspect of South Indian Islam, however, is that it was predominantly influenced by Sufi mysticism. The Sufis were not as bound by doctrinal formalism as the Sunnis or the Shi’ites but were concerned with an individual, mystic devotionalism which made it easy to adapt to the existing religious environment of South India. Sufi mysticism was characterized on the one hand by centres of learning, poetry, science, and on the other hand by the centrality of the pir or saint. The saint’s devotees assembled at his shrine to partake in the sacred power which abounded in the area, thus falling into the existing tradition of sacred places and the importance of pilgrimage.”
[1]
[1]: (Bugge, 2020) Bugge, Henriette. 2020. Mission and Tamil Society: Social and Religious Change in South India (1840-1900). London: Routledge Curzon. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/9SKWNUF4/collection |
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trading emporia. The following quote suggests that trading emporia were likely present. “The Pallavas were also known for their commercial enterprise, increased production, and economic expansion. Both internal and external trade increased under the Pallavas. Internally, urban centers featured markets, while a good road system allowed villagers to transport goods to market.”
[1]
[1]: (Bush Trevino 2012, 46) Bush Travino, Macella. 2012. ‘The Pallava Dynasty’ In Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia and Africa: An Encyclopedia. Vol.4 Edited by Carolyn M. Elliot. Los Angeles: Sage. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/4RPCX448/collection |
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The following suggests that the only type of site that has been identified are homesteads. “For the first 400 years of the settlement’s history, Kirikongo was a single economically generalized social group (Figure 6). The occupants were self-sufficient farmers who cultivated grains and herded livestock, smelted and forged iron, opportunistically hunted, lived in puddled earthen structures with pounded clay floors, and fished in the seasonal drainages. [...] Since Kirikongo did not grow (at least not significantly) for over 400 years, it is likely that extra-community fissioning continually occurred to contribute to regional population growth, and it is also likely that Kirikongo itself was the result of budding from a previous homestead. However, with the small scale of settlement, the inhabitants of individual homesteads must have interacted with a wider community for social and demographic reasons. [...] It may be that generalized single-kin homesteads like Kirikongo were the societal model for a post-LSA expansion of farming peoples along the Nakambe (White Volta) and Mouhoun (Black Volta) River basins. A homestead settlement pattern would fit well with the transitional nature of early sedentary life, where societies are shifting from generalized reciprocity to more restricted and formalized group membership, and single-kin communities like Kirikongo’s house (Mound 4) would be roughly the size of a band.”
[1]
[1]: (Dueppen 2012: 27, 32) |
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The near-absence of archaeologically identified settlements makes it particularly challenging to infer most site types. "While the historical sources provide a vague picture of the events of the first 500 years of the Kanem-Borno empire, archaeologically almost nothing is known. [...] Summing up, very little is known about the capitals or towns of the early Kanem- Borno empire. The locations of the earliest sites have been obscured under the southwardly protruding sands of the Sahara, and none of the later locations can be identified with certainty."
[1]
[1]: (Gronenborn 2002: 104-110) |
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"Contexts that could shed light on the dynamics of social structure and hierarchies in the metropolis, such as the royal burial site of Oyo monarchs and the residences of the elite population, have not been investigated. The mapping of the palace structures has not been followed by systematic excavations (Soper, 1992); and questions of the economy, military system, and ideology of the empire have not been addressed archaeologically, although their general patterns are known from historical studies (e.g, Johnson, 1921; Law, 1977)."
[1]
Regarding this period, however, one of the historical studies mentioned in this quote also notes: "Of the earliestperiod of Oyo history, before the sixteenth century, very little is known."
[2]
Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable.
[1]: (Ogundiran 2005: 151-152) [2]: (Law 1977: 33) |
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Plazas; ball courts. “Tikal has inscriptions, its own emblem glyph, water symbolism, palaces, royal funerary temples, large ball courts, and tall temples facing large and open plazas (e.g., Temple IV is 65 m tall). Its monumental complexes are connected via sacbeob (causeways).”
[1]
[1]: (Lucero 2006: 162) Lucero, Lisa J. 2006. Water and Ritual: The Rise and Fall of Classic Maya Rulers. Austin: University of Texas Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/NSX2SNWU |
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