AFRICAN HISTORIOGRAPHICAL TRADITIONS FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE

SECOND WORLD WAR: AN ANALYTICAL SURVEY

Author(s): D.I. Ajaegbo
Source: Transafrican Journal of History , 1990, Vol. 19 (1990), pp. 139-151
Published by: Gideon Were Publications

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24328680

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 AFRICAN HISTORIOGRAPHICAL TRADITIONS FROM
THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE SECOND WORLD
WAR: AN ANALYTICAL SURVEY
D.I. Ajaegbo

The study of the Accepted January 10 1989

writing/recording of Ancient past
history Abstract

Historiography was of great antiquity in Africa. Oral

traditions, embodied in myth, songs, poetry, oral history,
etc, constituted the earliest method of recording and
transmitting history. Africa's historical consciousness
received a tremendous impetus with the advent of written
culture in some parts of the continent, notably Egypt
about 3000 B.C. Africa's historical traditions were
subsequently influenced by both Islamic and Western
historiographies from the Middle East and Europe
respectively.
This paper is an analytical study of the historical
traditions of Africa from the earliest times to 1945. It is
the view of the author that African historiography was
greatly influenced by both indigenous and external
historical traditions. The interaction of these various
historical traditions laid the foundation for the new
African historiography which .began with the process of
decolonization and independence after the Second World
War.

Introduction

The peoples of Africa, like all other peoples of the world, had a long tradition
history, the African was deeply conscious of his past and often felt the need t
give meaning and significance to this past. To him, the past activities an
experiences of man could largely influence his present and future actions in th
society. African cosmology, for instance, upheld strong belief in the communi
of the gods, the dead, the living and generations yet unborn. The gods and the
ancestors were highly reverred and harmonious relationship with them w
fostered through elaborate ritual ceremonies. Their influence on the liv
became even more evident and important as their spirits and memories w
invoked from generation to generation. Thus African historical consciousn
recognised continuity and change, order and purpose within the framework of
man and his environment man and the gods, man and his ancestors.1
Owing to the peoples' consciousness of the past and their concern for th
relevance of this past for the present and future, they originally tried to preser

Transafriran Journal of History, Vol. 19, 1990 139- 151 139

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African Historiographical Traditions Survey

some of their historical traditions jn oraj forms. After the invention of writing in
the continent about 3000 B.C., these traditions began to be recorded. African
traditional historiography was subsequently intluenced by other traditions of
written historiography from the Middle East and the Western world. The Second
World War (1939 - 1945) marked a watershed in African historical writing. This
paper is essentially a study of the emergence and development of
historiographical traditions in Africa up to 1945. It also seeks to assess the impact
of the interaction of all the various traditions and influences on historical
scholarship in the continent up to the Second World War.

Oral Tradition
Betöre the advent of written culture, African societies had developed a
tradition of history and culture. Oral tradition was employed to explai
origins of communities, their culture, why things happened the way they did
the relationship between the communities, the ancestors and the gods. Acco
to Dike and Ajayi, 'tradition was part of the philosophy of the community,
of its own peculiar way of life '.2 These various traditions of origin and ways o
were transmitted from one generation to another in the process of whic
people developed a consciousness of the past. Oral tradition was therefor
earliest method of recording and transmitting oral history. This source of his
in the words of David Henige, is:

the recollection of the more distant past that has been transmitted
several generations and has become more or less the commçm property
society. In order for anything to be regarded as a tradition, it shou
widely practised or understood in a society and it must have been hand
down for at least a few generations.3

Professor Allagoa has added that oral tradition also refers to aspects of mate
and symbolic culture transmitted informally and unconsciously.4 The ty
oral traditions include myths, songs, proverbs, legends, riddles, poetry,
and oral history.
The transmission of oral history was usually executed by kings, pri
diviners, elders and men of intelligence generally. Such transmission usually
place during ritual ceremonies, festivals, title-taking, puberty and marriage r
initiation into secret societies or age-groups, story-telling sessions and festi
the full moon when people stayed up late. These were occasions when memb
of a kin-group came together for entertainment, to spell out the boun
acceptable behaviour in the social, political and economic life of the commun
or to reaffirm their relationship with the sacrèd realm. The king, for insta
was regarded as the intermediary between the ancestors and the living. He w
considered a symbol, the centre around which the society turns;

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 Transqfrican Journal oj History

ontologically identical with the creator.5 As the successor to and representative of

the ancestors, the king became the custodian of the traditions, values and
interests of the community. His coronation was an occasion for publicly
recreating, sanctifying and establishing the traditions of the people as 'symbolic
events from the past were dramatized; the names, genealogies, cognomens, titles,
and praise songs of the ancestors were chanted.'6 All these helped to ensure
continuity of tradition and the entertainment and education of the people at
large.
Until very recently, however, scholars trained and operating in the written
traditions of historiography had expressed serious reservâtions about the validity
of oral tradition as a source of historical research.7 These scholars contended that
the attenuation of oral evidence owing to the frailty of human memory, distortion
or falsification and lack of proper or absolute chronology were some of the
fundamental weaknesses of oral tradition. There is no doubt that oral tradition is
beset by these problems but they are not strong enough to invalidate its use as a
source of history. It is incontestable, for instance, that oral information loses
much of its content 'and details as it is transmitted from one generation to
another. African societies were aware of these pitfalls and therefore adopted a
number of mechanisms to ensure continuity and reliability.
The different genre or forms of oral tradition, for instance, controlled the
manner of transmission, assisted memory and checked distortion, falsification or
embellishment. African communities believed strongly that life operated in a
cosmic cycle or what Mircea Eliade calls the myth of eternal return.8 The African
believed he was part of a spiritual unity, a cosmic entity. Consequently,
traditions woven into myth were often reliable. In this genre of oral tradition, the
emphasis was on the divine or spiritual rather than the material aspect of man
and the common actors were the gods and culture heroes. Owing to the presence
of the gods and heroes, myth was sacred and in order not to violate its sanctity,
one who recited the myth was often a priest or other priviledged functionaries.
Writing on myth as a reliable form of oral tradition, Mircea Eliade said:

The myth relates a sacred history, that is, a primordial event that took place
at the beginning of time, ab initio. But to relate a sacred history is equivalent
to revealing a mystery, for the persons of the myth are not human beings;
they are gods or culture heroes, and for this reason their gesta constitute
mysteries; man could not know their acts if they were not revealed to him.
The myth, then, is the history of what took place in illo tempore, the recital of
what the gods or the semi-divine beings did at the beginning of time. To tell
a myth is to proclaim what happened ab origine. Once told, that is, revealed,
the myth becomes apodictic truth; it establishes a truth that is absolute.9

Mnemonic devices further served to preserve the1 essential elements and

integrity of oral traditions. African oral traditions were woven into proverbs,

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African Hisloriographical Survey

riddles, poems and music. They were therefore preserved in fixed forms and
could also be chanted, sung, spoken or drummed during rituals, family
discussions, dancing sessions, festivals and other ceremonial occasions. For
instance, the griots of the western Sudan recount their traditions to the
accompainment of the balafon while the Igbo of Nigeria used various musical
instruments such as the ubo (thumb piano) igba (drum) and oja (flute) to recreate
their past.10
Monuments and statues were also established to ensure ancestor worship and
preserve knowledge of the past. These constitute some aspects of material and
symbolic culture which, as we have earlier noted, could be transmitted informally
and unconsciously. Among the Niger Delta people of Nigeria, for instance,
Professor Allagoa observed that:

There were special buildings erected to the memory of rulers and founders
or lineages in which memorabilia were kept and libations poured. In some
cases, priests were appointed. Such practices served the purposes of
museums in other societies and preserved knowledge of the past."

It is thus clear that African communities had a rich fund of oral traditions. The
oral categories are interwoven and each of the genre in some way nourishes the
other. They contain much historical value and when carefully used, can yield
abundant and reliable data for the reconstruction of African history. Even during
the Classical Age, scholars made use of oral evidence in writing histories. For
instance, Herodotus (C.484-425 B.C.) who has been dubbed the 'father of
history', wrote historical works based on oral testimonies.
Wrote Daniel F. McCall;

Herodotus wörked less with written chronicles than by inquiring of persons

who had information of local events in their own times of their
predecessors.12

Herodotus himself remarked;

I went as faT as Elephantine (Aswan) to see what I could with my own eyes,
but for the country still further south I had to be content with what I was
tola in answer to my questions.13

Mnemonic devices, shrines and grave sites, the commitment of the community to
integrity, the sanction imposed by tradition, custom and community law, social
and political institutions and formal ceremonies — all contributed greatly
towards guaranteeing continuity as well as preserving the essential ingredients of
oral traditions.

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 Transafrican tournai of History

African Written Traditions

It would be misleading to think that the continent of Africa had no tradition of

writing prior to the advent of the Europeans. At least, not all parts of the
continent experienced this limitation. By about 3000 B.C. Egypt had developed a
system of writing called hieroglyphics. The Egyptians made paper from papyrus
plant, ink by mixing water with soot and vegetable gums or a wooden paleatt
and pen was simply a reed fashioned at the tip into a tiny brush. Egyptian
hieroglyphics was later developed into hieratic by the priests and temple scribes
while the commoners developed a common script called demotic and these tw
systems of writing were used for everyday practical purposes.14
Historiography was of great antiquity in Egypt and historiography in Alrica
was greatly influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Egyptian priests and
temple scribes used this sytem of writing to keep historical records of th
outstanding events of the Pharaohs. As far back as 2500 B.C. Egyptian scholar
made lists of kings, named the years after them, and chronicled the outstanding
events of each year and reign.15 Egyptian historiography did not, however,
concern itself with merely 'the wars and conquests of kings, but of beliefs and
customs, art and culture, comprising a series of rich civilisations hitherto
unsuspected by mankind. '16
Herodotus visited Egypt from 459-454 B.C. where he conferred with
Egyptian historians especially the priesthood. He was impressed with their style
of transmission of oral traditions but the fact that these traditions, especially the
chronology of the phar'oaohs, were buttressed by written records delighted him
most. 'They claim to be quite certain of these dates for they have always kept a
careful written record of the passage of time.'17 Herodotus was also marvelled
that the pre-dynastic Egyptians had already mastered the arts of workmanship in
clay and stone, and framed the calendar year of 365 days, adopted more than
3000 years later by Julius Caesar, and in current use at the present day.18 One
outstanding Egyptian priest-historian was Manetho who wrote under the firs
Ptolemies or during the third century B.C. His work, Aegyptica (Egyptian
History) was important for the establishment of the chronology of the pharaohnic
dynasties and remains to date a useful source of historical reference especially on
the general chronology of Egyptian history. All in all, the Egyptian systems of
writing greatly stimulated the Greek and Roman traditions of writing and also
the Meroitic script developed south in the country variously known as Kush
Ethiopia, Nubia, Napata and Meroe.
Apart from Egypt some African societies also developed system's of writing
peculiar to their own culture and environment. The p'eople of Ethiopia, the Vai
of Liberia and the Mende of Sierra Leone developed scripts which were syllabic
in form. The Igbo and the Cross River peoples of Nigeria also developed a widely

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African Historiographiral Traditions Survey

used system of writing called the nsibidi. The nsibidi took the form of formalized
pictograms and it was not only a written script but also a closely guarded secret
language used in recording the activities and mysteries of various secret societies.
Initiation rituals into such secret societies as the Ekpe, among the Cross River
peoples, was conducted through the medium of the nsibidi language. Admission
involved careful instruction in and mastery of the challenging signs of the
language and members identified themselves by making these signs with their
fingers, head movements and other body gestures. A non-initiate was
intimidated and exposed by the mysterious talks and questions from the initiates.
The nsibidi language was originally a secret language of secret societies. It later
served as an identity labél, public notice, private warning, declaration of taboos,
amorous messages, recording of goods and money, keeping of records and
decorations.19 Rev. J.K. Macgregor, the missionary from whom we have the
earliest and best account of nsibidi recorded ninety-eight signs of the language.
He also observed that the writing served a variety of functions including
recording the proceedings of a court. According to him;

I have in my possession a copy of the record of a court case from a town on

the Enion (Enyong) Creek taken down in it, and every detail except the
evidence, is most graphically described — the parties in the case, the
witnesses, the dilemma of the chief who tried it, his sending out messengers
to call other chiefs to help him, the finding of the court and the joy of the
successful litigants and of their friends are all told by the use of a few
strokes.20

Although the nsibidi was not as developed as the Roman, Arabic or Chinese
scripts, it played a vital communication role in the political, economic and socio
cultural life of the Igbo and their Cross River neighbours.
The period of early Christianity in Africa marked another important stage of
historical writing. In Egypt, the bishops and monks of Alexandria made notable
contributions towards the recording of contemporary history. In about 547 A.D.,
for instance, an Alexandrian monk called Cosmas Indicopleustes wrote The
Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk. Cosmas Indicopleustes had been
a merchant in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, hence his
name of Cosmas Indicopleustes.
Christian scholarship reached its pinnacle of glory in the work of Saint
Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430 A.D.) titled De Civitate Dei (The City of God). In
this book, Saint Augustine saw the church as the visible kingdom of God in
contradistinction to the earthly city symbolized by historic states and empires. It
was also a treatise on man's nature and destiny, an evaluation of government and
society, a critique of traditional religion and philosophy and an exposition of
christian philosophy of history and religion. St. Augustine's other works included

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 Transafrican Journal of History

The Confessions, On Rebuke and Grace and On the Trinity.21 St Augustine's excellent
exhibition in all his works of the enviable qualities of intellectual ardour and
power, capacity for original and independent thought and his sound exposition of
religious and philosophical ideas greatly influenced his successors and the later
religious thought of Latin Christendom. In the apt words of Professor W.G. De
Burgh;

Both during the Middle Ages and at the epoch of reformation, St.
Augustine's writings were the mine wherein theologians, both Caltholic
and Protestant, delved for gold. No other of the Fathers left so deep and
enduring an impression on the fabric of Christian thought. This was
due. . . to his learning, his power of exposition, his wide range of
intellectual interests, and, above all, to the distinctive impress of his many
sided personality.22

The Islamic Tradition

The spread of Islam in Africa was an historical phenomenon that occurred in f

phases and was accomplished between 638 A.D. to the third decade of th
twentieth century.23 Islamic religion brought with it Islamic institutions
culture, the most important to us being the Islamic literary tradition express
Arabic writing, language and education. Islam promoted literacy in Africa and
great deal of our knowledge of the states, kingdoms, empires and people
Africa had come down to us from accounts of the muslim merchants and itiner
scholars. But for the Islamic merchants,.for instance, we might not have learn
much about the whole of the medieval times. During this period Isl
merchants got themselves firmly established from' Southern China to Eas
Africa and gradually built up and published a body of knowledge which
yielded immense value to African historiography. As Ivor Wilks put it;

The development of the Indian Ocean trade between the Arabian peninsul
and the East African Coast, and of the western Sudan led to t
Islamization of local societies in both regions, to the increasing use
Arabic as the language of a growing educated class, and ultimately to
appearance of written Histories.24

The contributions of such muslim scholars as al-Masudi, al-Idirisi, al-Bak

Ahmad Ibn Fartuwa, Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun, etc. were also significa
Ibn Battuta (1304-c. 1368) was a celebrated North African scholar
travelled extensively through the Middle East, India, China and some part
West Africa. He spent about eight months in Mali during the reign of M
Suleiman (1341 -60) and he bore witness to the good government a
administration of the empire. Writing about Mali, he observed that:

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African Historiographiral Traditions Survey

The Negroes (the people of Mali) are seldom unjust, and have a greater
abhorrence of injustice than any other people. Their Sultan shows no
mercy to anyone guilty of the least act of it. There is complete security in
their country. Neither traveller nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear
from robbers or men of violence.25

Ibn Khaldum (1332 - 1406) was also a great Arab historian and philosopher
from a country now called Tunisia. He wrote extensively about Africa and his
monumental History of the Berbers has given us a lot of information about the early
Arab and Berber history in North Africa. He also recorded that Mansa Musa of
Mali (1312 - 1337) established diplomatic relations and exchanged gifts with the
contemporary king of Morocco, Sultan Abu Al-Hassan, and 'that high ranking
statesmen of the two kingdoms were exchanged as ambassadors'.2f> In his book,
the Muqaddimah or Introduction, he made his most original contribution to general
historiography and sociology. In the words of Dike and Ajayi;

He sought to study the past not only in terms of the actions of individuals
but also by an analysis of the laws, customs, and institutions of the different
peoples as well as the interaction of the state land society.27

With the coming of Islam to Africa south of the Sahara, muslim centres of
learning sprang up in places like Timbuktu, Gao, Jenne, Kano, Katsina, Borno
and Kilwa. These centres of learning produced a number of scholars, tarikhs and
chronicles. The Sankore University flourished at Timbuktu and produced two
great historians, Mahmoud Kati and Abderrahman as Sadi who wrote the
Ta 'rikh at-Fattash (chronicle of the Searcher) and the Ta 'rikh as-Sudan (chronicle
of the land of the Sudan) respectively. These two works are still in use and on
them do we rely for the reconstruction of the history of Songhai in particular and
the Western Sudan in general. The Kano Chronicle of the Central Sudan and the
Kilwa Chronicle of the East African Coast were outstanding works which contained
a lot of oral traditions collected from the Islamic scholars and people of the
Central Sudan and the Swahili coast.
Finally, we may mention Ahmad ibn Fartuwa, the Borno historian who
compiled accounts of the wars and achievements of the greatest king of the
Kanem-Borno empire, Mai Idris Alooma (1571 - 1603). Another Borno
historian, Muhammed Salih ibn Isharku, wrote a history of Ngazargamo, the
capital city of Kanem-Borno empire in 1658. The leader of the Sokoto Jihad,
Uthman dan Fodio, his brother Abdullahi dan Fodio and his son Mohammed
Bello together made up the triumvirate responsible for the great resurgence of
Arabic literary activity in Hausaland of modern Nigeria in the early nineteenth
century. They were well versed in classical Islamic sciences, including theology,
law, exegesis, mysticism, grammar and literature. This learning manifested itself

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 Transafrican Journal of History

m their writings which reached a total of two hundred and sixty-seven books and
pamphlets.28 There is no doubt that Islamic scholarship contributed immensely to
the development of African historiography.

The Western Tradition

The European historiography exerted a tremendous impact on African

historiography. Between AD 95 and 130, a Greek-Egyptian seafarer had
published a mariners handbook dealing with the northerly regions of the Indian
Ocean. In this book titled Periplus Maris Erythraei (The periplus of the Erythraean
Sea), the unknown author thought to be a merchant of Alexandria, described the
conduct of trade along the southern part of the Indian Ocean down to the East
African coast with convincing detail.29
Western contribution to African historiography assumed significant dimension
in the fifteenth century with the Portuguese voyages to Africa. By the end of this
century, King Manuel of Portugal entered into alliance with the king of Congo,
Nzinga Nkuwu, and information about Africa began to filter back to Lisbon from
envoys and missionaries. Bartholomew Diaz and Vasco da Gama passed the
Cape of Good Hope, and aboard da Gama's ship was a writer who kept a daily
account of what he witnessed. A Portuguese priest called Francisco Alvares took
home a detailed description of Ethiopia.
The Spanish-Portuguese monopoly of control of the access to the New World
and African coasts began to collapse from the seventeenth century onwards. The
Dutch, English and French explorers, traders and missionaries had begun to
arrive in increasing numbers and the European records also began to swell in
ever-increasing volume. The Dutch were the best reporters of this century
because:

they were little burdened by a sense of missionary obligation and were

therefore less inclined to condemn and despise the ways of strange peoples.
It is to them that we owe the best early descriptions of African life.30

In 1668, for instance, the Dutch geographer, Olfert Dapper, published his
travellogues on Africa. John Barbot and William Bosman were Dutch trading
agents who wrote extensively on Africa. Many other literary Europeans like
Heinrich Barth, Hugh Clapperton, Rene Caille, David Livingston, Friedrich
Hegel, Lord Lugard, Reginald Coupland, Arnold Toynbee, etc were either
explorers, missionaries, scholars or administrators who wrote travellogues and
works of historical and general ethnographic descriptions about Africa. These
works had greatly influenced African historiography.
Although Western historiography made a tremendous impact on African
historiography, it must be emphasized at once that most of the late nineteenth

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 African Historiographical Traditions Survey

and twentieth western historians did not build on the historical traditions of the
African peoples. These scholars equated history with written records and
therefore concluded that Africa had no past worthy of record. Hegel, for
instance, advanced the view that Africa was no 'historical part of the world' while
the late Sir Reginald Coupland affirmed that up to the middle of the nineteenth
century 'the main body of Africans had had no history, but had stayed for untold
centuries sunk in barbarism. . .'3I. Professor Trevor-Roper in attempting to scale
down the importance of African history notoriously asserted that:

Maybe in the future there will be some African history, but at the moment
there is none. . . . There is only the history of Europeans in Africa. . . The
rest is darkness, and darkness is not a subject of history.32

To these scholars, the activities of European explorers, traders, missionaries and

administratorss constituted the sum total of African history. The western
interpretation of African past was prejudiced and became necessary to justify the
seizure of African ■ lands and the domination of its peoples. Theories were
developed to further propagate and establish their distorted views of African
peoples and African history.33
Initially Africans who were educated in the West were brain-washed into
believing and accepting these theories of African inferiority. They later
challenged them by recording the customs, proverbs, laws and historical
traditions of their various communities. These men included Samuel Johnson
and Otunba Payne of Nigeria, James Africanus Horton of Sierra Leone, Apollo
Kagwa of Uganda and Carl C. Reindorf and John M. Sarbar of Ghana. Some
Africans, too, who had taken up European names began to discard their foreign
names. For example, David B. Vincent and Rev. J.H. Samuel both of Nigeria
became Mojola Agbehi and Adegboyeya Edun.respectively.34
The First World War, Russian Revolution, the rise of Indian National
Congress and the Second World War all encouraged a new appraisal of the
African past. The Second World War in particular had a dvastating effet on
colonialism. It shattered the imperial myth of African inferiority and launched
Africans on the path to human freedom.35 The African nationalists seized the
opportunities created by the war to firmly reject the western historian's picture of
the African past and demanded for a new approach and improved educational
facilities for a total reappraisal of the African past. The result was the
establishment of African universities at Ibadan in Nigeria, Legon in Ghana and
Makerere in Uganda, to mention a few.
The process of westernization continued in these universities which were
established along-western model but this was ephemeral. New indigenous African
historians soon emerged and courses on African history were introduced and

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 African Historiographie al Traditions Survey

emphasized. The new crop of indigenous professional historians adopted a new

approach in the study of African past by using oral traditions and local historical
records to supplement the records of the European explorers, traders,
missionaries and administrative officers. The interdisciplinary approach, that is,
the use of archaeology, linguistics, ethno-botany, anthropology and other related
disciplines, in the study of African history was developed as a fruitful trend. The
opening up of institutes of African studies in the universities, the formation of
historical associations like the Historical Society of Nigeria and the founding of
indigenous journals such as the Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, Journal
of the Historical Society of Nigeria, and the Kenya Historical Review were all attempts at
decolonizing the African past. The publication of Professor Dike's Trade and
Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830 -1885 in 1956, The Egba and Their Neighbours by
Biobaku in 1957 and A History of the Southern Luo: Migrations and Settlement by
Professor B.A. Ogot in 1967 yielded the first fruits of the new African
historiography. Since then their students have continued in the paths they
directed such that to date there is a large number of works on African history
found mostly in journals, books and monographs in African, European and
American libraries. If it wasn’t for the
egyptians starting
with their written
history, we would still
Conclusion Talks about how African had traditions on how we restored be using oral
and shared our history histography methods.

The history of A fricarTh is tonography from the earliest times to 1945 was a
Analysis: you’re
history of the interaction of the various historical traditions of the period.
lookingTheat the
relevant
root of historical consciousness in all parts of Africa throughout this period had
information.
been the oral traditions. African written traditions began in Egypt about 3000
what is it saying?

B.C. and Egyptian and north African scholars from Manetho to St. Augustine
and Ibn'Khaldun wrote for the whole civilized world of their time. African
Devaluing and
historiography was further developed with the introduction of Islam indismissing
Africa it asand
the concomitant rise and flowering of Islamic literary tradition in something
the that is
continent.
unimportant
A lot of literature poured out from Islamic scholars, preachers and jihadists.
African indigenous histoiography was subsequently influenced by the western
tradition. The western historians sought to destroy oral tradition which was the
root of Africa's historical consciousness. When they failed, they neglected it.
The emergence of a new class of indigenous African professional historians
following the end of the Second World War led to the adoption of a new
orientation to the study of African history. Oral tradition was accepted as a valid
material for historical reconstruction. Its special problems were appreciated but
these had to be solved not only through a rigorous and scientific method of
collecting, sifting, analysing and synthesizing oral data and supplementing them
with written records but also through interdisciplinary research. The
decolonization of African history, the documentation of an authentic Africa past

Devaluing
historiography was a 149
When contextualising, refer to the works of Franz fenon(he talks
The highlighted parts are
part of the colonial about how history is dustroreted and ereased as a way of devlauaing
the explainers of the
agenda precolonial past so that we can make way for colonial rule) and
objectives
Richard reid

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 Transafncan Journal of Histor'

and the use of the positive experiences of this past to build truely independent
African states constitute the highest aims of the new African historiography.

Ahout the Author

D.I. Ajaegbo is currently with the Department of History, College of Education, Nsugbe, P.M.B.
1734, Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria.

Notes

1. Olaniyan, Richard (1982) 'African History and Culture: An Overview', in African History and
Culture, ed. Richard Olaniyan, London: Longman, p. 2.
2. Dike, K.O. and Ajayi, J.F.A. (1968) 'African Historiography,' in International Encyclopaedia of the
Social Sciences, Vols. 5 & 6, ed. David L Sills, USA: The Macmillan Co. and the Free Press of
Glencoe, p. 395.
3. Henige, David Oral Historiography, London: Longmans, 1982 p. 106, p. 2.
Miller, J.C. (1980) The African Past Speaks: Essay on Oral Tradition and History, England: Dawson
and Archon Ltd., p. 2.
4. Allagoa, E J. (1984) 'Towards a History of African Historiography', being a paper presented at
the 30th Annual Congress of the Historical Society of Nigeria, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
(March 26 - 29, 1984), p. 7.
5. Eliade, M. (1963) Aspects du Mythe Paris: Gallimard, p. 54.
6. Dike and Ajayi, op. cit., p. 396.
7. See for example the view of Lowie, R.H. (1915) 'Oral Tradition and History', in American
Anthropologist, 17, p. 598.
Eliade, Mircea (1959), The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, New York: Harcourt,
Brace & World, Inc., *959 nn. 107 - 110.
9. ibid, p. 95. See also, Phillips Stevens, Jr. 'The Uses of Oral Traditions in the Writing of African
History' in Tarikh, Vol. 6 No. 1 (eds) Asiwaju & Crowder, London: Longman, 1978, pp.
21-25.

10. Echezona, W.W.C. 'Ibo Music' in Nigeria Magazine No. 84 (March 1965), pp. 45
Lo-Bamijoko, Joy Nwosu (1983) Classification of Igbo Musical Instruments' in Nig
No. 144, pp. 38-58.
Edwards, Paul, (1980) (ed.) Equiano's Trqvels, London: Heinemann, pp. 3-4.
11. Allagoa, E.J. ( 1972) ^4 Short History of the Niger Delta, Ibadan: Ibadan University Pr
12. McCall, Daniel F. (1969) African in Time-Perspective: A Discussion of Historical Recons
Unwritten Souces New York: OUP, p. 4.
13. Davidson, Basil (1966) The African Past: Chronicles from Antiquity to Modern Times,
Penguin Books Ltd., p. 63. See also David Henige, op. cit., pp. 7-8.
14. Durant, Will (1954) The Story of Civilization, (New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 1
15. ibid, p. 178.
16. de Burgh, W.G. (1961) The Legacy oj the Ancient World Harmondsworth: Penguin
17.

17. Burn, A.R. & de Selincourt, Aubrey (1972) Herodotus: The Histories Harmondsworth: Penguin
Books Ltd., p. 187.
18. de Burgh, op. cit., p. 17.
19. Kalu, O.U. (1978) 'Writing in Pre-colonial Africa: A Case Study of Nsibidi' in Afriran Culture

150

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 Transafrican Journal of History

Development ed. O.U. Kalu Enugu: Fourth Dimension Publishers, p. 83.

20. Macgregor, Rev. J.K. (1909) 'Some Notes on Nsibidi',yoMrnö/ of the Royal Anthropological Institute,
Vol. XXXIX, p. 210. For some of the nsibidi signs, see p. 215 of this article. -
21. For a brief and interesting summary of the life of Saint Augustine and his works, see Henry
Chadwick, The Early Church, (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd., 1967), pp. 216 - 236.
22. de Burgh, op. cit., p. 375.
23. Trimingham, J.S. (1980) 'The Phases of Islamic Expansion and Islamic Culture Zones in Africa'
in Islam in Tropical Africa (ed.) I.M. Lewis London: Hutchinson Publishing Group, pp. 99 - 111.
24. Wilks, Ivor, (1970) 'African Historiographical Traditions, Old and New' in Africa Discovers Her
Pasted. J.D. Fage, London: OUP, p. 11.
25. Quoted by Boahen, Adu (1966) Topics in West African History London: Longman, p. 21.
26. Quoted in ibid, p. 18.
27. Dike and Ajayi, op. cit., p. 397.
28. The number of works produced by the Sokoto triumvirate has not yet been adequately collected.
Smith puts the number at 258 while Last had 267. See H.F.C. Smith, 'A Neglected Theme of
West African History: the Islamic Revolutions of the 19th Century, in Journal of the Historical
Society of Nigeria, Vol. 11, No. 1 (December, 1961), p. 176. Murray Last, The Sokoto Caliphate
(London: Longman, 1967), pp. 207 -222. It is likely that the above figures are incomplete
because both Smith and Last did not consider the large number of works of literature written by
the triumvirate in Hausa and Fulfude, some of which have not been located. See the article by K.
Mahmud, 'The Arabic Literary Tradition in Nigeria' in Nigeria Magazine ( 1982), pp. 44 - 47.
29. Spe Huntingford, G.W.B. (1980), The Periplus ofthe Erythraean *Sea, London:
30. Davidson, op. cit., p. 42.
31. Quoted in ibid p. 18.
32. Trevor-Roper, Sir Hugh, (1963) 'The Rise of Christian Europe' in The Listener, 70, London:
Nov. 28, 1963, p. 871.
33. Seligman, C.G. (1957), Races of Africa London: Oxford University press, pp. 10, 87.
34. Ayandele, E.A. (1966) The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria, 1842 - 1914: A Political and Social
Analysis, London: Longman, p. 258.
35. The impact of the Second World War on nationalist movements in Africa has received adequate
attention from scholars. See for example J.S. Coleman, Nigeria: Background to Nationalism, (Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 1958.
'Alal al-Fasi, (1954) The Independence Movements in Arab North Africa Washington: The American
Council of Learned Societies, 1954.
Olusanya, G.O. (1973) 'The Second World War and Politics in Nigeria, 1939 - 1953, London: Evans
Brothers Ltd.

Crowder, Michael (1973) West Africa Under Colonial Rule London: Hutchinson, Chapter 4, pp.
482 - 507.

Hahn, Lorna (1954) North Africa: Nationalism to Nationhood Washington: Public Affairs Press.
Rotberg, R.I. (1966) The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa (Oxford: University Press.
Mcwewan, P.J.M. (ed.)(1968) Twentieth Century Africa Oxford: University Press.

151

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