Lecture 3: Precolonial Forms of Domination – Revision Sheet

1. 📌 Essentials

• Precolonial Africa includes states like, Kush, Ghana, Mali, Songhai Kongo, Zimbabwe.
• State formation was limited by economy; bureaucratic states like Egypt are exceptions.
• Periodization: long precolonial, medium colonial, short postcolonial; categories are Western constructs.
• Power can exist without formal institutions; emphasized in anthropology.
• Boundaries often based on travel distances, e.g., 20 days walk for some kingdoms.
• Land rights and sovereignty often unbundled; land could be owned by different groups than authorities.
• Main sources: archaeology, written records, oral traditions, travel literature.
• Egyptian state (~3150 BC) was urban, bureaucratic, with formal institutions.
• Sudanic states: Ghana, Mali, Songhai – expansion driven by trade, militarization.
• African states ranged from fluid societies to well-defined kingdoms and empires.

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