Pre-Colonial State Formation in Africa

PRE-COLONIAL STATE FORMATION IN
AFRICA
• Different scholars have defined a state
differently;
• Blunt Schld defines a state as the politically
organized people of a definite territory.
• Max Weber defines a state as a human
community that claims the monopoly of the
legitimate use of force within a given territory.
PRE-COLONIAL STATE FORMATION
• Harold Laski defines a state as a territory
divided into government, subjects living in its
physical area with supremacy overall
institutions. A state exists when a people is
settled in a country under its own sovereign
government.
Characteristics of a State
• Permanent population
• Territory
• Government – a body of people who act in the
name of a state. A government can be taken
to be a group of people responsible for public
policy making and implementation.
Characteristics of a State
• Sovereignty – people living within a given
territory having a government must be
independent from any form of external
control.
• State recognition – in contemporary practice
and according to international law, a state is
not a state until recognized by other states.
Pre-Colonial States
• The beliefs that there were no states in Africa
before colonialism is not true.
• Pre-colonial Africa had states like Egypt,
Nubia, Ethiopia, Zulu, Western Sudanic States
of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai, Bunyoro Kitara
kingdoms of Nkore, Toro, Karagwe, Buganda,
Bunyoro and Rwanda among others.
Pre-Colonial States
• The states in Southern Uganda date as far back
as the 12th century. There were states in
Uganda before colonization some of them
mentioned above. E.g the Batembuzi whose
origin is still obsecure and they were state
founders as the name suggests.
• These were followed by the Bachwezi in the
13thC to 14th C whose rulers included Ndahura,
Mulindwa, Wamala etc.
Pre-Colonial States
• They established an empire extending up to
Kenya (Wanga kingdom), Tanzania, Burundi,
Rwanda with the headquarters at Bigo.
• Around 1500 A.D the Bachwezi empire
collapsed and there emerged states like
Buganda, Nkore, Kooki, Bunyoro, Busoga etc.
• The colonial writers tended to attribute the
emergence of states in this region to exogenous
factors to this region
Pre-Colonial States
• The emergence of states was attributed to the
influence of migrant races of European origin
• Carried by racists attitudes, they claimed that
the advanced political systems, iron working
must have been introduced by people from
North Africa who have their origin in Europe.
Theories of State Formation
1) Technology Advancement theory
• When society advanced in technology e.g.
with the invention of fire, followed by iron
working, man was able to have tools at his
disposal which he used not to have before.
Man used these tools to his advantage – with
fire, man could eat roasted meat which he
never used to do.
• He could also light fire to chase away wild
animals especially at night. Invention of iron
implements helped man to cultivate crops and
this made man remain in one place for a long
time as he had to wait for the crops to mature.
• Staying in one place meant that people had to
look for different ways to solve social problems
unlike in the past when conflicts used to result
in shifting away to other places.
• Increased food production led to increased
population. Population also increased because
of security as fire could scare away wild animals
while spears could be used to fight against not
only wild animals but also human enemies.
• Availability of fertile soils and water also
contributed to increase in population.

• People having lived together had to look for
ways of living peacefully. People could also
come together to share ideas thereby
culminating in state formation.
• Settling in one place resulted into conflicts
which needed solutions to maintain law and
order.
• Something above the clan was therefore
thought of as people had to lead others by
settling disputes hence the emergency of
states.
• Technological advancement also meant that
those who acquired weapons first were able
to put those without under the control leading
to the emergence of states.
2) Geographical/Environmental Theory
• A certain natural environment could favor
state formation as there were fertile soils and
water in which case people would congregate
around such places thereby forming a state.
E.g. Buganda was able to develop state
structures because of the presence of natural
endowments.
• The presence of mountains could lead to state
formation as they acted as barriers to foreign
invasion thus providing security. On the other
hand, mountains could discourage state formation
owing to the fact that they could discourage
people from coming together in which case they
would share ideas e.g. the Bakiga, Bakonzo, Bagisu,
Chaga who used to live in isolation because of
valleys and steep slopes separating them.
3) External borrowing /External influence
theory
• This theory argues that societies coped from
their neighbors that had established states.
Migrations of people also made people
exchange ideas and practices, and in the
process the idea of state formation spread to
other societies.
• This theory also looks at insecurity and how it
led to innovation and creativity. A community
threatened by insecurity is forced to come
together to defend itself. E.g the kingdoms of
Nkore and Karagwe developed into strong
stares because of the need to fight against Luo
invasion.
• Kingdoms like Rwanda, Zulu, Buganda and
Bunyoro built strong armies to ensure security
4) Conquest Theory (Theory of Force)
• The theory is born out of the psychological
nature of man. It is based on the following
arguments:
 Man by nature is a social animal and likes
living in groups
 Man has a lust for power and self
aggrandizement
 Because of the above desires, man is
prompted to exhibit his strength.
 In early development of mankind, a person
physically stronger than the rest would
capture and enslave the weak
 Having increased the number of followers
over whom he exercised his authority, he
became a tribal chief.
 The tribe he controlled fought against other
tribes and the powerful / strong tribes
conquered the weak.
 This process of conquest and domination
continued until the victorious tribe secured
control over a large territory. In the process,
states were formed and the tribal chiefs
declared themselves kings.
• After the formation of the state, force was
again used as an instrument of maintaining
internal order.
5) Divine theory of the state
• The main proponent of this theory is Sir
Robert Filmer. It is based on the following
arguments;
 The state was created by God (Romans 13:17)
 Its objective was to save mankind from
destruction
 Rulers are God’s agents/representatives on
earth and therefore kings, chiefs are chosen
by God to rule his people on his behalf.
 Since these rulers on earth are God’s agents,
any disobedience to their authority is
disobedience to God and therefore a sin
punishable on the day of judgment.
• This Divine Theory of the State was later
modified into the Divine Right of Kings and
argued that:-
 The monarchy is ordained by God
 The monarchy draws authority from God
 The monarchy is hereditary because God
wishes it to be so
 The king is answerable to God alone
Criticisms of the Divine Theory
 It lacks scientific validity

 A state is a human institution born out of man’s
social interactions and forces. A state is
therefore not natural as advanced by the divine
theory.
 The divine right of kings argument that the king
is answerable to God alone is undemocratic. A
King should be answerable to the people.
6) Patriarchal theory
• This theory was advanced by Sir Henry Maine.
The major argument of this theory is that the
state is an enlargement of the family.
• Arguments
 Originally, the family consisted of man, wife
and children
 The father was the head with complete
powers and authority
 When the children got married, the original
family expanded into new families
 The authority of the head of the first family
was upheld leading to a patriarchal family
 In due course, the patriarchal family expanded
and developed into a clan. Members of the
clan were bound to one another by blood ties/
relationships and all of them lived and
functioned under the recognized authority of a
senior member of the original family.
 A clan by its own expansion grew into a tribe
and with time because of migrations and
intermarriages,
• Members settled in new areas where other
families, clans and tribes were created.
• This eventually led to the creation of a bigger
group of people settled together constituting
into a state.
7) Marxist theory
• The theory was identified by people like Karl
Marx, Lenin and Fredrick Angels.
• It rejects the idea that the state is a natural
and necessary institution in society. According
to the Marxist theory, the first form of society
was a classless society with no state.
• This was a primitive communalistic society
• Contradictions however emerged within
society due to various factors e.g. increase in
population, increased division of labor,
different resource endowments and the
production of social surplus.
• With the production of social surplus, classes
emerged.
• According to the Marxist theory, a class is a
position one finds him/herself in the
production process. When classes emerged,
social conflicts began with each struggling to
control the social surplus.
• Ultimately, one class became dominant and it
developed instruments of coercion which it
used to suppress and exploit other classes.
• A state therefore according to the Marxist
theory emerged as a result of class conflicts
and struggles. It also exists for the purpose of
promoting the interests of the dominant class.
Criticisms of the Marxist Theory
 The theory projects the state as an essentially
negative social institution and this is not true.
 Economic determinism. The theory puts much
emphasis on economic material forces as
major determinants of social actions and
human relations. The theory ignores non-
material forces such as psychological, cultural
and other factors which may drive man into a
process of human interactions.
 The theory assumes that at one stage, the
state will wither away and this is unlikely to
happen in the near future. The state still
remains a central significant social institution
with the responsibility of regulating social,
political and economic interactions of man.

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PRE-COLONIAL STATE FORMATION IN

 It lacks scientific validity

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