Professional Soldier List
A viewset for viewing and editing Professional Soldiers.
GET /api/sc/professional-soldiers/?format=api&page=8
{ "count": 500, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-soldiers/?format=api&page=9", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/professional-soldiers/?format=api&page=7", "results": [ { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 288, "name": "mn_khitan_1", "long_name": "Khitan I", "start_year": 907, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"The tribal home guard has formed a part of the military organization side by side with the professional army divisions of emperor and a number of eminent aristocrats and armed forces of vassal people. It is not accidental that in Laio shi it is mentioned that a banner is a distinctive attribute of a tribe (LS 49: 1b-2a).\" §REF§(Kradin 2014, 156)§REF§" }, { "id": 352, "polity": { "id": 306, "name": "fr_merovingian_emp_2", "long_name": "Middle Merovingian", "start_year": 543, "end_year": 687 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Garrisoned forces.<br>" }, { "id": 353, "polity": { "id": 620, "name": "bf_mossi_k_1", "long_name": "Mossi", "start_year": 1100, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There was never a regular Mossi army, although there were, of course, permanent military chiefs. All adult men were liable for military service and were mobilized in times of war. A small body of regular soldiers at the king’s court acted as his armed bodyguard (kambose), maintained order in the palace but never went to war.\" §REF§(Zahan 1967: 171) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/TVIRPGXD/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 354, "polity": { "id": 639, "name": "so_ajuran_sultanate", "long_name": "Ajuran Sultanate", "start_year": 1250, "end_year": 1700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Another feature of Ajuran rule was a powerful armed, mounted army that policed the state and collected taxes, or ‘tributes,’ of cereal and livestock.” §REF§(Mukhtar 2003, 35) Mukhtar, Mohamed H. 2003. Historical Dictionary of Somalia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Mukhtar/titleCreatorYear/items/J8WZB6VI/item-list §REF§ " }, { "id": 355, "polity": { "id": 642, "name": "so_geledi_sultanate", "long_name": "Sultanate of Geledi", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " In the nineteenth century, conflict broke out between Baardheere Jamaaca jihadists and the Geledi Sultanate. “The ensuing violence disrupted the peace on which the seaborne trade prospered; hence sultan Ibrahim of Gobroon decided to intervene in the war with a show of force involving 40,000 soldiers and comprising both professionals and volunteers.” §REF§ (Njoku 2013, 41) Njoku, Raphael C. 2013. The History of Somalia. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/U9FHBPZF/library §REF§ " }, { "id": 356, "polity": { "id": 661, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_2", "long_name": "Ilú-ọba Ọ̀yọ́", "start_year": 1601, "end_year": 1835 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “Apart from the officers, the army was not a standing one but always raised ad hoc.” §REF§Atanda, J. A. ‘The Fall of the Old Ọyọ Empire: A Re-Consideration of its Cause’. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria vol.5, no.4 (June 1971): 479. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NR9MAEAE/collection§REF§ “It will have been seen from the above discussion of the organization of the Oyo army that the Oyo disposed of no permanent standing force of soldiers. Even the specialist warriors such as the Eso and the military ilari in the capital served on a part-time basis, and would normally expect to return to their homes once a campaign was concluded.” §REF§Law, R. (1977). The Oyo Empire c. 1600 – c. 1836: A West African Imperialism in the Era of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Oxford University Press: 197. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SB32ZPCF/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 357, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Forbes, the English traveller, estimated in 1845 that the army consisted of twelve thousand soldiers, five thousand of whom were women.” §REF§Lombard, J. (1976). The Kingdom of Dahomey. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 70–92). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 86. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/T6WTVSHZ/collection§REF§ “The first kings had led their own armies to war. In the nineteenth century they were content to follow in the wake of the main body with their retinues, spurring on their officers from the rear. Firearms were first introduced towards the end of the seventeenth century; in the eighteenth century the army even possessed a few cannon. Rapidly a gun became the indispensable part of a Dahomean soldier’s equipment, replacing the bow and arrowentirely except for one or two companies. In the second half of the nineteenth century there were two armies: a standing army of male and female warriors, and a reserve army of all adult men and women capable of bearing arms. They were mobilized by the king in time of war. The regular army consisted of fourteen regiments of about eight hundred men strong, and three brigades of Amazons amounting altogether to three thousand. Two officers, ranked as councillors, commanded the army. The Gau, the commander-in-chief, led the right wing. During the campaign he shared the prerogatives of the king. The Kposu, second-in-command, led the left wing. In peace-time the Gau came under the Migan, on the king’s right; the Kposu came under the Meu, on the king’s left.Regular soldiers wore blue-and-white tunics and were organized into regiments and companies, under the command of an officer, each with its own drums and standard. Veterans wore indigo tunics and were called atchi. Among the others, the more numerous were the fusiliers, who fought with bayonets, and the blunderbussmen, or agbaraya. The Ashanti company was the élite corps, formed of the king’s hunters. Lastly, there were companies of archers, armed with poisoned arrows, a cavalry company, and a few artillerymen.The Amazons were organized into two separate corps: a permanent army and a reserve. The reserve company guarded the capital, and especially the palace, in war-time. In the nineteenth century the Amazons were highly organized. They wore uniforms similar to the men’s: sleeveless tunics, with blue-and-white stripes, reached to the knees; baggy breeches were held in at the waist by a cartridge belt. Members of the king’s bodyguard wore a band of white ribbon about the forehead, embroidered with a blue crocodile. Amazons lived at the palace and belonged to the king, who recruited them from free Dahomeans and captives. They were celibate and were forbidden to marry until they reached middle age, when they still needed the king’s consent. In peace-time they saw to their own needs by manufacturing pots or carving calabashes; both crafts were their exclusive monopoly.During the campaign the Amazon army was organized into three groups: the Fanti company - royal bodyguard - constituted the main body, and the left and right wings came under female officers who corresponded to the Gau and Kposu of the male army. Individual companies were distinguished by the arms they carried: bayonets, muskets (each musketeer was accompanied by a carrier), and bows and arrows (borne by the youngest recruits). The élite corps, the Fanti company, consisted of the famed elephant huntresses, the boldest and toughest of the Amazons.” §REF§Lombard, J. (1976). The Kingdom of Dahomey. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 70–92). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press; 86–88. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/T6WTVSHZ/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 358, "polity": { "id": 683, "name": "ug_buganda_k_2", "long_name": "Buganda II", "start_year": 1717, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There was no standing army in pre-colonial Buganda, although as we shall see, there was by the nineteenth century a class of chiefs associated with military duties, while a measure of what we might call ‘part-time professionalism’ lay at the heart of the Ganda military ethos.\"§REF§(Reid 2010: 51) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2H64W34U/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 359, "polity": { "id": 685, "name": "ug_buganda_k_1", "long_name": "Buganda I", "start_year": 1408, "end_year": 1716 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"There was no standing army in pre-colonial Buganda, although as we shall see, there was by the nineteenth century a class of chiefs associated with military duties, while a measure of what we might call ‘part-time professionalism’ lay at the heart of the Ganda military ethos.\"§REF§(Reid 2010: 51) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2H64W34U/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 360, "polity": { "id": 688, "name": "ug_nkore_k_1", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1749 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"For a 'conquest state', Ankole was singularly lacking in even a defensive military capacity and clearly had never developed the organized force for carrying out any but the most casual of raiding operations. The absence of a military system for the defense of the territorial integrity of Ankole further attests to the nature of the society as a congeries of pastoral clans with only the most rudimentary institutions of chieftainship down through the reign of Ntare IV.\"§REF§(Steinhart 1978: 138) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/D3FV7SKV/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 361, "polity": { "id": 700, "name": "in_pandya_emp_1", "long_name": "Early Pandyas", "start_year": -300, "end_year": 300 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “The military administration was efficiently organized and a regular army was associated with each ruler.” §REF§ (Jankiraman, 2020) Jankiraman, M. 2020. Perspectives in Indian History: From the Origins to AD 1857. Chennai: Notion Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/7F5SEVNA/items/N3D88RXF/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 362, "polity": { "id": 608, "name": "gm_kaabu_emp", "long_name": "Kaabu", "start_year": 1500, "end_year": 1867 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote--though not entirely reliable--suggests the possible existence of a standing army, which implies the existence of full-time professional soldiers. \"Labat’s account was published in 1725, but refers to events at around 1700, and though clearly drawing on second-hand information is worth citing: '[In Kaabu] at the start of this century there was a king called Biram Mansaté who lived more splendidly and magnificently than all the other kings of the region. He [...] always had six or seven thousand soldiers well armed and ready for war, through which means he harrassed all of his neighbours, making them pay regular tributes and punishing those who refused to pay with military executions, or again making them pay double. He had such a powerful control of his States, and everything was so well controlled, that merchants could easily leave their goods on the main roads without fear that anyone would touch them”.\"§REF§Green 2009: 94) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/V2GTBN8A/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 363, "polity": { "id": 626, "name": "zi_mutapa", "long_name": "Mutapa", "start_year": 1450, "end_year": 1880 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Possibly present, as comments by Mazarire clearly imply a military organization of some kind – though not necessarily a fully specialized one. Comments from Portuguese primary records analysed by Livneh seem to more clearly imply specialization, but the European pre-conceptions of the Portuguese documents these perceptions are sourced from may be distorting the reality of the situation. “Mutapa Gatsi Rusere, who succeeded to the throne in 1586, suffered a number of setbacks, among them the Maravi invasions led by Kapambo and Chikanda. These had fuelled divisions in the Mutapa army and subsequently led to a revolt by its high-ranking staff, including the general, or mukomohasha.” §REF§ (Mazarire 2009, 16) Gerald C. Mazarire, “Reflections on Pre-Colonial Zimbabwe, c. 850-1880s,” in Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from the Pre-colonial Period to 2008, eds. Brian Raftopoulos & A.S. Mlambo (Harare, Weaver: 2009). Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/B9TK7GP8/item-details §REF§ “When the Mutapa planned a military expedition, the account goes, he gathered his ‘mutumbus’, who are like dukes, marquises and barons, for a war council. The European titles would denote control over land, and high standing. These, accompanied by the ‘priest’, Simboti (Cimbote), and ‘war counsellors’ decided on the plan of the coming war. Then it was delivered into the hands of the three ‘generals’, who were responsible for carrying out the decisions.” §REF§ (Livneh 1976, 112) “Pre-Colonial Polities in Southern Zambesia and their Political Communications,” Doctoral Dissertation, University of London, 1976. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/CWC584VN/item-details §REF§ " }, { "id": 364, "polity": { "id": 637, "name": "so_adal_sultanate", "long_name": "Adal Sultanate", "start_year": 1375, "end_year": 1543 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “There seems to be no doubt now that the new Walasma rulers of the Harar plateau began to annex extensive Somali tribal areas to the east and south-east. The Somali interior of the Horn was used by them as an inexhaustible source of manpower for their growing army, which was always kept active in the perennial frontier clashes with the Christian empire.” §REF§ (Tamrat 2008, 153) 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 §REF§ " }, { "id": 365, "polity": { "id": 660, "name": "ni_igodomingodo", "long_name": "Igodomingodo", "start_year": 900, "end_year": 1450 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Unclear whether they were full-time specialists, but there was certainly an officially defined force of warriors. “We noted earlier that the creation of Odibo-Odionwere in Benin villages in the premonarchical period was the beginning of military thought for purposes of government. When the institution of monarchy was established, Igodo created Odibo-Ogiso, as a kind of military institution, apparently for fear of the threat to internal security. The idea was to ensure that a loyal fighting force will always be available to defend the king and his kingdom. The Odibo-Ogiso may not have constituted an effective fighting force, but probably suited to perform the task of internal defence and protection of the Ogiso rulers. Rather than consolidate the Odibo-Ogiso as an effective fighting force, Ogiso Ere created the Avbiogbe as a special squad within the Odibo-Ogiso with the same common task: the personal security of the king, the announcement and enforcement of royal proclamations, and the supervision of land allocation.” §REF§ Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 68. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection§REF§ “The semblance of a military institution began to evolve during the reign of Ogiso Odoligie, the twenty-fourth king of the dynasty. He is reputed to have organised the first group of Benin warriors called Ivbiyokuo. Initially, the fighting force was restricted to the Avbiogbe but it was expanded to include all the Ighele age group, and this marked the beginning of a civic militia in Benin history. Thus, Odoligie became the first ruler in Benin to succeed in organising an army of his subjects. He was not a warrior king nor did he assign himself the responsibility of being the war commander of the army, nor was the Ezomo given the responsibility to be the commander of the Benin army. Rather, he created two new war chieftaincy titles, the Esagho ‘as the greatest war chief’ and the Olou as another ‘great war chief.’ They had the responsibility to co-ordinate and command the war leaders who were called Okakuo, and to also lead the militia in war. This was, indeed the birth of a really fighting force, although the extent in which they were trained in military discipline is not well known.” §REF§ Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 69. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 366, "polity": { "id": 662, "name": "ni_whydah_k", "long_name": "Whydah", "start_year": 1671, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Reference to a “national army”: “The governors exercised an independent local judicial authority in minor cases, acted as spokesmen before the king on behalf of those under their government, and transmitted their tribute to him. They also raised contingents of soldiers for the national army, and commanded them in battle.” §REF§Law, Robin. “‘The Common People Were Divided’: Monarchy, Aristocracy and Political Factionalism in the Kingdom of Whydah, 1671-1727.” The International Journal of African Historical Studies, vol. 23, no. 2, 1990, pp. 201–29: 209. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/8JKAH2V5/collection§REF§ “Snelgrave's explanation of the unexpected defeat of the Whydahs was essentially their cowardice, which he attributed to the enervating effects of their involvement in the Atlantic trade: ‘Trade having likewise flourished for a long time, had greatly enriched the People; which, with the Fertility of their Country, had unhappily made them so proud, effeminate, and luxurious, that tho' they could have brought at least one hundred thousand Men into the Field, yet so great were their fears, that they were driven out of their Principal City, by two hundred of their Enemies...’” §REF§Law, Robin. “A Neglected Account of the Dahomian Conquest of Whydah (1727): The ‘Relation de La Guerre de Juda’ of the Sieur Ringard of Nantes.” History in Africa, vol. 15, 1988, pp. 321–38: 322. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U957EGQV/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 367, "polity": { "id": 665, "name": "ni_aro", "long_name": "Aro", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1902 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Various references to mercenaries and to military traditions. “Basden further claimed that: The chief disturbers of the peace were certain bands of raiders who either acted on their own account or, more frequently, were hired by the men of one town to help them fight against another. Such men were the dreaded Abams on the eastern side of the Niger. The way in which the Aro used warriors who were collectively called the Abam to expand in the Igbo hinterland, has engaged the attention of modern historians.” §REF§Oriji, J. N. (1987). THE SLAVE TRADE, WARFARE AND ARO EXPANSION IN THE IGBO HINTERLAND. Transafrican Journal of History, 16, 151–166; 152. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MDDKHGKD/collection§REF§ “Warfare and military training were institutionalized among the Abam. Their young men were from childhood, drilled in guerrila warfare. They were expected when they became adolescents, to behead a man in battle and return home with his head before they were granted full rights of citizenship. The youths were then called Ufiem (heros) and permitted: To don the eagle's plume and red tail feathers of the parrot in token of (their) prowess in battle. In life (they) enjoy special privileges, and in death (are) accorded the dignity of a warrior’s funeral with the special dance known as okerenkwa.” §REF§ Oriji, J. N. (1987). THE SLAVE TRADE, WARFARE AND ARO EXPANSION IN THE IGBO HINTERLAND. Transafrican Journal of History, 16, 151–166; 154. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MDDKHGKD/collection§REF§ “Some Abiriba elders stated that the people of Arochukwu came under attack by the belligerent Ibibio sometime in the late 17th century. This time the Ibibio people used masquerades (Ekpo Ibibio) to frighten and wage a guerrilla war against the Aro. Probably due to the agelong cordial relationship that had existed between Abiriba and Aro, they (Aro) asked for assistance from Abiriba to deal with the Ibibio menace and the request was granted. Abiriba sent seven warriors to fight the Ibibio masquerades called in Abiriba parlance “okiri-Ibibio”. The seven warriors were Nkuma Agbaike (leader), Owom Upko, Gbagbali Ohunnunu, Alawara Adimaribonkwu, Okoronta Agwuocha and two others whose names we cannot immediately ascertain (Chief Ejim Akuma, 1996). The seven warriors fought and defeated the Ibibio masquerades that had laid siege on Aro land. As the victorious Abiriba warriors were returning home, they were given a gift of a mirror by the Eze Aro. […] According to late Chief Ejim Akuma (a local historian), Abiriba warriors did not fight as mercenaries but fought for glory, blood heroism, to secure their homeland and protect their movement outside Abiriba and their business interest as long-distance travellers and traders. They also fought to liberate communities under siege, especially communities that share historical link or affinity with them or simply on request.” §REF§Chidume, C., & Nmaju, U. (2019). The Aro Hegemony: Dissecting The Myth And Reality. 8, 76–87: 80. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/WJ5NDV5U/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 368, "polity": { "id": 670, "name": "ni_bornu_emp", "long_name": "Kanem-Borno", "start_year": 1380, "end_year": 1893 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Turkish mercenaries. “As the promised military aid of Sultan Murad III remained a mere pledge on paper, the question arises as to how Mai Idris obtained the services of Turks who served in his entourage (for which there are various pieces of contemporary evidence). An interesting passage in a contemporary Neapolitan source throws some light on this matter: the Turks were largely adventurers and soldiers of fortune who were recruited by the Kanuri king. Because of their better discipline and superior firepower, the possession of Turkish mercenaries must have tipped the military balance very decisively in Idris's favour. One might guess that the opponents of the Kanuri rulers at this time had hand-weapons and bows and arrows, but few if any firearms, which must have been expensive and hard to obtain. Mai Idris's use of firearms in some quantity preceded by more than a decade the Moroccan invasion of Songhay under the Spanish renegade Judar Pasha. On that occasion large numbers of muskets and some artillery were employed by the conquerors.” §REF§Martin, B. G. (1969). Kanem, Bornu, and the Fazzan: Notes on the Political History of a Trade Route. The Journal of African History, 10(1), 15–27: 25-26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/PFENZUSB/collection§REF§ There was a significant military force present, including cavalry, but it’s not clear whether these were full-time specialists. “The categories of officials which the inscriptio mentions are the umara (amirs), shurta (guards), hukama (governors), \"ulama (scholars), ummal (officers), qudat (judges), wuzara (viziers), fursan (horsemen, warriors), ra’aya (subjects) and ma’shar al-muslimln (the generality of Muslims).” §REF§Bobboyi, H. (1993). RELATIONS OF THE BORNO ʿULAMĀʾ WITH THE SAYFAWA RULERS: THE ROLE OF THE MAḤRAMS. Sudanic Africa, 4, 175–204: 189–190. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/JE5VQ8NI/collection§REF§ “In 1866 at the time of Rohlfs' visit, Shehu Umar, the son of the Shehu Laminu of Denham's time, was two thirds through his long reign of 46 years. The two men got on very well, and in accordance with precedent Rohlfs was given a Muhammadan name, Idris. He gives us a careful description of Kuka, coinciding with and amplifying that of Barth. […] He went on to note that the military power, totalling 25-30,000 soldiers, was contributed on a feudal basis by the chiefs throughout the kingdom. About 1,000 foot and 1,000 horsemen were armed with flint guns and, surprisingly, there were 20 cannon of undetermined calibre which Rohlfs states were cast in Kuka.” §REF§Ellison, R. E. (1959). Three Forgotten Explorers of the Latter Half of the 19th Century With Special Reference to Their Journeys to Bornu. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1(4), 322–330: 323. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/R84SSEKK/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 369, "polity": { "id": 684, "name": "ug_toro_k", "long_name": "Toro", "start_year": 1830, "end_year": 1896 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote refers to Great Lakes in the immediate precolonial period generally. \"Thousands of people flooded the periphery of the sovereign's enclosure, as did delegations from remote regions, which added to the daily traffic of persons in the environs. Some basic huts housed many young people wanting to try their luck in the government's entourage: in this case, the \"process\" might last years because the time waiting for a favor from the king (a cow, land, or protection) was spent doing military exercises. It was from among these that elite warriors, who formed a sort of permanent guard, were recruited.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 168-169) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 370, "polity": { "id": 687, "name": "Early Niynginya", "long_name": "Kingdom of Nyinginya", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \" In time, Ndori’s army became greater than that of his enemies and ended up including from four to six times more well trained warriors than the armies of other chiefs. Moreover, younger and stronger warriors were inducted into it whenever a new company was created. Each new company was instructed by one composed of veterans and learned from their experience so that after a few years the last recruits became the shock troops. Thanks to this organization, Ndori’s army surpassed by far the intore companies of its adversaries. Even royal security and military discipline benefited from the new organization, since it was no longer possible for a company to wield more than a small parcel of military power. True, every company maintained its internal esprit-decorps, but the size of the army reduced the effects of any indiscipline. Moreover, that size encouraged the appearance of an esprit-de-corps that expressed itself through its allegiance to the commander-in-chief. And finally, a first step toward a permanent army was taken when Ndori’s successor formed his new army from the last company of the preceding one).\"§REF§(Vansina 2004: 61) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5J4MRHUB/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 371, "polity": { "id": 690, "name": "bu_burundi_k", "long_name": "Burundi", "start_year": 1680, "end_year": 1903 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote refers to Great Lakes in the immediate precolonial period generally. \"Thousands of people flooded the periphery of the sovereign's enclosure, as did delegations from remote regions, which added to the daily traffic of persons in the environs. Some basic huts housed many young people wanting to try their luck in the government's entourage: in this case, the \"process\" might last years because the time waiting for a favor from the king (a cow, land, or protection) was spent doing military exercises. It was from among these that elite warriors, who formed a sort of permanent guard, were recruited.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 168-169) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§ " }, { "id": 372, "polity": { "id": 612, "name": "ni_nok_1", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -1500, "end_year": -901 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Inferred from the following quote. \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture. [...] As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§ " }, { "id": 373, "polity": { "id": 613, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_5", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow I", "start_year": 100, "end_year": 500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " The following reconstruction of small communities consisting of extended families based in autonomous homesteads suggests minimal social diffrentiation. ”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.”§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 27, 32)§REF§ " }, { "id": 374, "polity": { "id": 615, "name": "ni_nok_2", "long_name": "Middle and Late Nok", "start_year": -900, "end_year": 0 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Inferred from the following quote. \"In sum, we have not found unambiguous evidence of social complexity and the often suggested highly advanced social system of the Nok Culture. [...] As demonstrated by the uniformity of their material culture and their presumed belief system, most prominently reflected by the terracotta sculptures, external contacts within their culture must have existed. However, such a larger social network apparently was not organised and maintained in a way as to infer social inequality, social hierarchies or other signs of internal demarcation traceable by available archaeological data. None of the numerous excavations brought to light architectural remains of specified buildings or the spatial organisation of housing areas that might have been occupied by high-ranking members of the community. Further, among the admittedly few features interpreted as graves there is no evidence of any heterogeneity pointing to a difference between burials of elite members or commoners. Nowhere, an accumulation of valuable objects neither of iron nor any other materials signifying inequality in terms of property or prosperity was found.\" §REF§(Breunig and Ruppe 2016: 252) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/ES4TRU7R.§REF§" }, { "id": 375, "polity": { "id": 624, "name": "zi_great_zimbabwe", "long_name": "Great Zimbabwe", "start_year": 1270, "end_year": 1550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists likely absent. If the various leadership and administrative functions of Great Zimbabwean society were concentrated in the hands of social leaders in a manner similar to the Karanga, as Chirikure suggests, and this was also true of military leadership, as seems likely in the absence of evidence, then it seems somewhat improbable (albeit not impossible) that a cadre of professional soldiers would exist in the society. “In general [in Karanga society], imba…, was the smallest and lowest level social unit. A collection of dzimba formed misha…. A group of misha formed dunhu…. A group of matunhu formed a state (nyika) under a chief (ishe/mambo/changamire)…. Each level performed administrative, economic, religious, and political roles consistent with rank.” §REF§ (Chirikure 2021, 267) 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 §REF§. “Great Zimbabwe is a ruined Shona city or guta which controlled a sizeable territory…. As a collection of homesteads and misha, the guta had no formalised bureaucracy, no formalised division of labour or occupational specialisations… // …In general [in Karanga society], imba…, was the smallest and lowest level social unit. A collection of dzimba formed misha…. A group of misha formed dunhu…. A group of matunhu formed a state (nyika) under a chief (ishe/mambo/changamire)…. Each level performed administrative, economic, religious, and political roles consistent with rank.” §REF§ (Chirikure 2021, 258-267) 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 §REF§. " }, { "id": 376, "polity": { "id": 655, "name": "ni_proto_yoruba", "long_name": "Proto-Yoruba", "start_year": 301, "end_year": 649 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Full-time specialists. The following quote suggests that there may have been conflict between the Proto-Yoruboid and the aboriginal populations of the lands they moved into, but the consulted literature does not otherwise provide information on military organization at this time, such as it may have been. \"The landscape that these proto-Yoruboid ancestors were moving into, however, was not devoid of human populations. The Later Stone Age (LSA) populations had occupied the region as early as the ninth millennium BC as shown by the findings at Iwò Elérú, near Àkúré. [...] Nevertheless, the proto-Yorùbá migrants seem to have gained the upper hand in their southward radiation. They displaced, and also integrated, with these aboriginal LSA populations, who were already practicing a combination of agriculture, horticulture, and hunting, similar to what the proto-Yorùbá and their descendant migrants were familiar with in their Niger-Benue ancestral homeland.\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2020: 44-45)§REF§" }, { "id": 377, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The same could not be said for the troops of the Caliphate. The emirates had no standing armies, and the troops they raised were not professional soldiers. Although some emirates had troops armed with guns, their numbers were too small and their expertise in handling their weapons too low to have any significant effect on the outcome of the engagements in which they were used. Smaldone is quite right to point out that the firearms found in the arsenals of some emirates such as Nupe and Ilorin, which did not make much use of guns in their resistance to the British invasion, probably indicated that they did not have men trained in their use. Even when firearms were used, they were not employed to good effect. The British officers who led the assaults on Nupe, Ilorin, Kano and Sokoto all reported that the defenders were poor marksmen and lacked fire discipline. Accurate fire and the efficient use of firearms required skills which could only be acquired through regular training, and this the defenders did not have.” §REF§Ubah, Chinedu N. “The British Occupation of the Sokoto Caliphate: The Military Dimension, 1897-1906.” Paideuma, vol. 40, 1994, pp. 81–97: 85. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/SQX8BRCP/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 378, "polity": { "id": 667, "name": "ni_igala_k", "long_name": "Igala", "start_year": 1600, "end_year": 1900 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The Igala kingdom had no standing army but there was initiation preparedness where adults were initiated and weapons were amassed awaiting any eventuality. Weapons such as arrows, bows, cutlasses, spears, shields and charms were abundantly stored in the armory. In the absence of standing army, servants, attendants, slaves and a large number of local farmers were mobilized and deployed for operation during wars. In the Igala political kingdom, Attah’s chief were at the head of those local armies but in serious wars such as the one between the Igalas and Jukuns, Attah himself would lead the battle.” §REF§Jacob, Audu. “Pre-Colonial Political Administration in the North Central Nigeria: a Study of the Igala Political Kingdom.” European Scientific Journal, vol. 10, no. 19, 2014, pp. 392–402: 399. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5AN8R7UW/collection§REF§ “Igala (with its capital at Idah) was another major political and commercial power in the Lower Niger. Igala's importance in the Niger trading system was based on its control of the Niger-Benue confluence. Consequently, it was the meeting-point of trade from the upper reaches of both rivers and, in the case of the Benue, this was specifically through Adda Kuddu which was its vassal. In addition, Igala had the military strength to enforce order on the Niger. In 1832, the Ata of Igala sent his gunboats to punish the Kakanda for disrupting trade; Budon was paying a tribute of one horse a year to Idah, and the Ata's word was law at Ikiri.” §REF§ Nwaubani, Ebere. “The Political Economy of Aboh, 1830-1857.” African Economic History, no. 27, 1999, pp. 93–116: 108. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZIM9AVA/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 379, "polity": { "id": 668, "name": "ni_nri_k", "long_name": "Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì", "start_year": 1043, "end_year": 1911 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " “The Kingdom of Nri (1043–1911) was the West African medieval state of the Nri Igbo, a subgroup of the Igbo people, and is the oldest kingdom in Nigeria. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects.” §REF§Ngara, C. A. (n.d.). An Ethnohistorical Account Of Pre-Colonial Africa, African Kingdoms And African Historical States. 25:11. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/UJG3ED8W/collection§REF§ “Although bloodshed is inherent in this historical charter, for many centuries the people of Nri have had a strong commitment to peace, rooted in the belief that it is an abomination to pollute the sacred Earth. “The white men that came started by killing those who did not agree with their rules. We Nri never did so”.” §REF§Isichei, Elizabeth. A History of African Societies to 1870. Cambridge University Press, 1997: 246. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z4GK27CI/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 380, "polity": { "id": 672, "name": "ni_benin_emp", "long_name": "Benin Empire", "start_year": 1140, "end_year": 1897 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " People from certain social groups were drafted in as soldiers when needed. “H. L. M. Butcher has described the organisation of village production within the Otu system as follows: ‘Those in the lowest Otu ... are called Egbonughele, sweepers of the street. Under this name are classified all the youths of the clan [village].... They perform all the ordinary communal tasks, they hew wood and carry water.... The actual tasks are apportioned among themselves, the elder boys assisting the younger. Next come the Igele, the adults in the prime of their strength, most of them with homes and families. They are called out for work when it was beyond the power of the youths. The senior Igele only went to war in major conflict, leaving minor raids to the younger men.” §REF§Sargent, R. A. (1986). From A Redistribution to an Imperial Social Formation: Benin c.1293-1536. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, 20(3), 402–427: 403. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/AUEZSTBR/collection§REF§ There was no standing army before Oba Ewedo, but there seem to at least have been people functioning as mercenaries, so it’s unclear whether some were effectively full-time soldiers. “Benin warriors played some part in the Ekiti wars, but on a freelance basis; they took advantage of the confused situation to raid for slaves and loot. They sent gifts to the Oba, for they were dependent on the Benin route for their supplies. In return he occasionally dispatched reinforcements to help them, but his control over them was minimal. In the 1880s the official Benin army, under the Ezɔmɔ, was occupied subduing rebellious villages on the very north-west borders of the kingdom itself, no more than fifty miles from the capital.” §REF§Bradbury, R. E. (1967). The Kingdom of Benin. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 1–35). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 7. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z8DJIKP8/collection§REF§ Oba Ewedo (c. 1374–1401) established a standing army, but this drew from existing structures ie conscripted people based on social position, rather than having people remain as soldiers for their whole lives/careers. “The creation of a standing army by Oba Ewedo and the development of specialised artisan communities by Oba Oguola established a significant drain on Otu productivity. It would seem, therefore, that institutions such as the \"Junior Elders,\" who had previously been exempted from communal labour, would have to contribute to the productive capacity of the vassal villages. […] The development of the military can also be seen as part of the state's exploitative character. Service in the army for extended periods removed important labour requirements from the village Otu system; service became part of the recognised obligations of certain age sets.” §REF§Sargent, R. A. (1986). From A Redistribution to an Imperial Social Formation: Benin c.1293-1536. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines, 20(3), 402–427: 409, 411 & 413. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/AUEZSTBR/collection§REF§ “The Ezɔmɔ's military power could be an important factor in succession disputes, but he had no monopoly of physical force, for there was no standing army at his command; when warriors were needed they were recruited by the Oba through his fief-holders, most of whom were Eghaɛbho.” §REF§Bradbury, R. E. (1967). The Kingdom of Benin. In West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (Repr, pp. 1–35). Published for the International African Institute by Oxford University Press: 17. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Z8DJIKP8/collection§REF§ A standing army was created at the very end of the Benin Empire, but the soldiers weren’t generally paid, so perhaps shouldn’t be considered ‘professional soldiers’. Also, this system never had time to be implemented fully before the fall of the Benin Empire. “[I]t was a significant development in the military history of Benin. For the first time, a military policy evolved which provided for both a standing army and training school. Until 1896, there was no standing army in Benin. In most pre-colonial African states and societies, there was no standing army; men were recruited from their peacetime occupations on the proclamation of war. // “ The emergence of a standing army with a training programme in 1896, marked a transformation process of the Benin army. Though it evolved as a state policy in manpower development of the army, it was influenced by the pressures of military necessity when Benin was in the last stages of decline. Details are not known of how the standing army was financed. The warriors were usually not paid by the state; for military service was a matter of honour, status and patriotism for the soldier. The organisational policy of the military school, and the programme of training were at infancy when in February 1897, Benin fell to the British.” §REF§Osadolor, O. B. (2001). The Military System of Benin Kingdom, c.1440–1897. University of Hamburg, Germany: 202. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/N4RZF5H5/collection§REF§ " }, { "id": 381, "polity": { "id": 673, "name": "ni_wukari_fed", "long_name": "Wukari Federation", "start_year": 1820, "end_year": 1899 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " Seems to have been recruitment of mercenaries: “The town of Katsena Ala is said to have been founded by a colony of Hausas from Katsina some sixty to seventy years ago; they were originally recruited to act as a \"gunmen guard\" to the Chief of Wukari (Jukon) of that date, who objected to the \" King-killing \" ritual then in force as regards Jukon royalty, whose normal term of office was nine years. The Chief in question is said to have prolonged his term of office much beyond this owing to his guard.” §REF§Duggan, E. de C. (1932). Notes on the Munshi (‘Tivi’) Tribe of Northern Nigeria: Some Historical Outlines. Journal of the Royal African Society, 31(123), 173–182: 178. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/E8PDNFTI/collection§REF§ “When Abite was installed as an Aku-Uka, he took the title Awudunanu 1. The devastating effect of this episode compelled him after his installation as the Aku-Uka to forge a closer link with Muri particularly in the military field in order to guarantee the security of Wukari.” §REF§Zhema, S. (2017). A History of the Social and Political Organization of the Jukun of Wukari Division, c.1596–1960 [Benue State University]:159. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/U667CC36/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 382, "polity": { "id": 622, "name": "bf_west_burkina_faso_yellow_6", "long_name": "West Burkina Faso Yellow II", "start_year": 501, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " The following quote suggests the emergence of social differentiation in this period, but little appears to be understood about this phenomenon apart from the appearance of specialised smiths and the formation of senior and cadet social segments. \"During Yellow II, the inhabitants of Mound 4 began a process that eventually led to centralization of iron production, as described in detail above. Iron ore extraction involves profound digging in the earth, the realm of spirits, and historically in Bwa society the practice is reserved solely for specialized smiths, who also excavate burials (see discussions below). The mid first millennium A.D. therefore witnessed a transformation from redundant social and economic roles for houses to specialization in at least one craft activity. While houses were still highly independent, even producing their own pottery, a formalized village structure was likely present with both cadet and senior social segments, founded upon common descent with a common ancestor.\"§REF§(Dueppen 2012: 28)§REF§ " }, { "id": 383, "polity": { "id": 663, "name": "ni_oyo_emp_1", "long_name": "Oyo", "start_year": 1300, "end_year": 1535 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " \"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).\"§REF§(Ogundiran 2005: 151-152)§REF§ 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.\"§REF§(Law 1977: 33)§REF§ Law does not then go on to provide specific information directly relevant to this variable." }, { "id": 384, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "“The creation of a new army and navy was an impressive achievement. During the centuries of world predominance the nation, like others in Europe, had no permanent military forces and recruited armies only when required. Now, for the first time in its history, it began to maintain a powerful standing army. The new Bourbon army, recruited with great difficulty because of the objections everywhere (especially in the Crown of Aragon) to military service, inevitably involved important administrative and fiscal reforms. We have seen that the poor condition of the Spanish forces in the War of Succession made it necessary at every stage to have the support of foreign troops and foreign generals. Philip had decreed a few limited reforms during the war, mainly in order to obtain recruits. But the problem of securing a good standing army remained unresolved. Fortunately, many of the foreign soldiers and officers who had served in the war continued their career under the Spanish crown. As a result, in the 1720s up to one third of the infantry of Spain consisted of foreigners who chose to continue the old tradition of serving the Spanish crown. In 1734 there were thirty thousand foreigners in service, mainly Belgians, followed in number by Swiss and then by Irish. In effect, the astonishing number of Belgians serving in the Spanish army meant that the famous Army of Flanders had reconstituted itself in the peninsula. The annual cost of the army in 1725 was nearly five and a half million escudos, a massive sum that had no precedent in the history of the Spanish treasury.”<ref>(Kamen 2003: 451) Kamen, Henry. 2003. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763. New York: Harper Collins. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YRK2VXUS</ref> “American defense had long been entrusted to the navy and to colonial militias commanded for the most part by Creole officers. The new orders increased the size of the militias but also created a standing army of full-time soldiers officered by professionals from Spain. New Spain eventually supported more than 6000 of these troops. A further 2000 were stationed in Peru while smaller garrisons protected the chokepoints of the American trade: Havana, San Juan, Cartagena, Portobello, and Vera Cruz. The new force proved to be both expensive and relatively ineffective. As was often the case with eighteenth-century armies, only the desperate were drawn to the low wages and harsh discipline offered by the king. Their peninsular commanders, rarely the cream of the Spanish officer corps, were resented by Creoles who wanted the commands for themselves. The expanded militias remained largely under local control, but often lacked training or decent weapons. Although colonial troops could display extraordinary courage and proved effective in suppressing colonial rebellions, they would remain vulnerable to better-trained, better-equipped forces from Europe in the event of a major crisis.”<ref>(Maltby 2009: 84) Maltby, William S. 2009. The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.zotero.org/groups/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SUSVXWVH</ref>" }, { "id": 385, "polity": { "id": 632, "name": "nl_dutch_emp_1", "long_name": "Dutch Empire", "start_year": 1648, "end_year": 1795 }, "year_from": 1648, "year_to": 1699, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "absent", "comment": null, "description": " \"An order promulgated by William III on 25 April 1701 specified that 'the captains ... [shall] be obliged to keep their companies complete and a soldier who comes to die or desert, the captain shall be obliged immediately to enlist another competent soldier in his place.' It can therefore be stated without exaggeration that the Republic's standing army was born under the captain-generalship of William III. The transformation of the Dutch army into a standing army of professional soldiers was also evident from the men's clothing.\"§REF§(Nimwengen 2010: 353-354) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/P4FWE8NE/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 386, "polity": { "id": 632, "name": "nl_dutch_emp_1", "long_name": "Dutch Empire", "start_year": 1648, "end_year": 1795 }, "year_from": 1700, "year_to": 1795, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"An order promulgated by William III on 25 April 1701 specified that 'the captains ... [shall] be obliged to keep their companies complete and a soldier who comes to die or desert, the captain shall be obliged immediately to enlist another competent soldier in his place.' It can therefore be stated without exaggeration that the Republic's standing army was born under the captain-generalship of William III. The transformation of the Dutch army into a standing army of professional soldiers was also evident from the men's clothing.\"§REF§(Nimwengen 2010: 353-354) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/P4FWE8NE/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 387, "polity": { "id": 695, "name": "ug_nkore_k_2", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1901 }, "year_from": 1750, "year_to": 1838, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"Following the Nyoro invasion, Ntare also began to engage in military innovation, organizing the first regiments (emitwe) of trained warriors rather than relying upon a hasty call-up of able-bodied men. [...] The system of standing regiments (emitwe) under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under Mugabe Mutambuka (1839-67) a century later.\"§REF§(Steinhart 1978: 138, 144) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/D3FV7SKV/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 388, "polity": { "id": 695, "name": "ug_nkore_k_2", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1901 }, "year_from": 1839, "year_to": 1901, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Following the Nyoro invasion, Ntare also began to engage in military innovation, organizing the first regiments (emitwe) of trained warriors rather than relying upon a hasty call-up of able-bodied men. [...] The system of standing regiments (emitwe) under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under the command of royal appointees begun by Ntare IV was revived by his successors and became fully operational under Mugabe Mutambuka (1839-67) a century later.\"§REF§(Steinhart 1978: 138, 144) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/D3FV7SKV/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 389, "polity": { "id": 579, "name": "gb_england_plantagenet", "long_name": "Plantagenet England", "start_year": 1154, "end_year": 1485 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Soldiers and officers were employed by Dukes in their territories and for the King’s army.§REF§Coss 2019: 40-42) Coss, Peter. ‘Andrew Ayton, the Military Community and the Evolution of the Gentry in Fourteenth-Century England’, in Military Communities in Late Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ayton, ed. Craig L. Lambert, David Simpkin, and Gary P. Baker, vol. 44 (Boydell & Brewer, 2018), 31–50, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781787442221.007. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WIE6TS8M§REF§§REF§(Simpkin 2018: 50-60) Simpkin, David. 2018. ‘Knights Banneret, Military Recruitment and Social Status, c. 1270–c. 1420: A View from the Reign of Edward I’, in Military Communities in Late Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Andrew Ayton, ed. Craig L. Lambert, David Simpkin, and Gary P. Baker, vol. 44 (Boydell & Brewer, 2018), 51–76, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781787442221.008. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4V56P62M§REF§" }, { "id": 390, "polity": { "id": 575, "name": "us_united_states_of_america_reconstruction", "long_name": "Us Reconstruction-Progressive", "start_year": 1866, "end_year": 1933 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 391, "polity": { "id": 563, "name": "us_antebellum", "long_name": "Antebellum US", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 392, "polity": { "id": 606, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_2", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England II", "start_year": 927, "end_year": 1065 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Thegns were permanent warriors who were paid and housed at the palace by the King in exchange for their pledge of loyalty. §REF§(Yorke 1990: 17) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN§REF§" }, { "id": 393, "polity": { "id": 567, "name": "at_habsburg_2", "long_name": "Austria - Habsburg Dynasty II", "start_year": 1649, "end_year": 1918 }, "year_from": 1649, "year_to": 1918, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Shortly after the Peace of Westphalia, Ferdinand III … issued a decree in 1649 announcing that … nine infantry and ten cavalry regiments were to be maintained on an enduring basis. Experts have come to regard 1649 … as the birth‑date of a standing army in Austria. \r\n§REF§John A. Mears, “The Thirty Years’ War, the ‘General Crisis,’ and the Origins of a Standing Professional Army in the Habsburg Monarchy,”.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/63FGQTXV\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 63FGQTXV</b></a>§REF§\r\n\r\n “In 1748, immediately following the War of the Austrian Succession, Maria Theresa implemented a barrage of administrative reforms to strengthen her military and to create a more effective and centralized state. Her state chancellor, Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz (1702–1765), forced the diets of the Hereditary Lands to increase their tax contributions to the military bud get, while creating a standing army of some 108,000 men.”§REF§(Judson 2016: 28) Judson, Pieter M. 2016. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, USA; London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/BN5TQZBW§REF§ “Higher incomes naturally gave the state more resources for expanding its competencies, a development easily traceable with the military. The monarchy could field around 150,000 men in 1740 and some 300,000 in 1790. Military expenditures at the end of Joseph’s reign accounted for 65 percent of the total state budget, though characteristically for Habsburg history there was never enough money to pay for it all.15 Nonetheless, the reforms undertaken in Maria Theresia’s and Joseph’s reigns made the Habsburg army the second largest in Europe after Russia’s. The increased tax revenues in turn supported massively larger conscription. That conscription itself symbolizes the augmented institutions of the dynasty’s rule, since it depended on the bureaucracy to keep track of the population eligible for military service. The army was also one of the most successful engines of centralization. More than ever before, the central state was responsible for recruiting, training, and financing the military, sidelining the estates’ former authority in those activities. The military grew to perform the crucial integrative role within the heterogeneous realms that it would fulfill until the monarchy’s end. An example is that after the 1740s Hungarian generals started rising through the ranks of the army, and Hungarian soldiers began fighting for the monarchy outside the borders of Hungary. In this way one of the least integrated parts of the monarchy became more tightly bound to the center.”§REF§(Curtis 2013: 243) Curtis, Benjamin. 2013. The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty. London; New York: Bloomsbury. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/TRKUBP92§REF§" }, { "id": 394, "polity": { "id": 295, "name": "tm_khwarezmid_emp", "long_name": "Khwarezmid Empire", "start_year": 1157, "end_year": 1231 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Soldiers were paid a salary by the diwan al-‘ard (commanding body of the army).§REF§Buniyatov 2015: 72. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SAEVEJFH§REF§" }, { "id": 395, "polity": { "id": 578, "name": "mo_alawi_dyn_1", "long_name": "Alaouite Dynasty I", "start_year": 1631, "end_year": 1727 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Criers announced in the markets, in the cities, and in the countryside that the slaves who wanted to serve the sultan [as a soldier] should come forward. This initial call brought the sultan five thousand men from the streets (‘abid az-zanqa) who were given clothes, horses, weapons, and a salary. This particular group of people appeared voluntarily to join the army likely because the offer was more promising than living in hardship on the margins of society.”§REF§(El Hamel 2014: 161) El Hamel, Chouki. 2014. Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/T9JFH8AS§REF§ “Such is the history of the formation of the Bawäkhir militia - in concise form, admittedly, but based on unique and important documents. This militia initially helped a great deal to maintain peace and security in the unified country. Mawlây Ismail had established forts and citadels (kasabas) in all parts of Morocco, from the frontier with Algeria to the southernmost limits of the Sahara. These forts were garrisoned by soldiers who lived with their families and whose sons received special training, an account of which is called for here.”§REF§(Ogot 1992: 229) Ogot, B. A. 1992. ed., General History of Africa: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century., vol. V, VII vols. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/24QPFDVP§REF§" }, { "id": 396, "polity": { "id": 797, "name": "de_empire_1", "long_name": "Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty", "start_year": 919, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Professional soldiers were present in the different nation states and could be raised to an army by the monarch/lord when needed as most rulers did not have a standing army, but they were not employed directly by the HRE which did not have a specific army of its own. §REF§Wilson 2016: 321. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA§REF§§REF§Power 2006: 21. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/4V4WE3ZK§REF§" }, { "id": 397, "polity": { "id": 360, "name": "ir_saffarid_emp", "long_name": "Saffarid Caliphate", "start_year": 861, "end_year": 1003 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Soldiers were employed full time into the Saffarid army and given a salary which was paid every three months, plus additional payments upon particular successes.§REF§Frye 2007: 110, 127. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7XE9P8HB§REF§" }, { "id": 398, "polity": { "id": 587, "name": "gb_british_emp_1", "long_name": "British Empire I", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Soldiers were posted across the empire. §REF§(Chambers and Chambers 1847: 274) Chambers, Robert and Chambers, William. eds. 1847. History and Present State the British Empire. London: W.R.Chambers. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/K77JRGEL§REF§" }, { "id": 399, "polity": { "id": 574, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_1", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England I", "start_year": 410, "end_year": 926 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Comitatus were permanent warriors who were paid and housed at the palace by the King in exchange for their pledge of loyalty. §REF§(Yorke 1990: 17) York, Barbara. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203447307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/YXTNCWJN§REF§ " }, { "id": 400, "polity": { "id": 566, "name": "fr_france_napoleonic", "long_name": "Napoleonic France", "start_year": 1816, "end_year": 1870 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Professional_soldier", "professional_soldier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null } ] }