Pre-Colonial Ivory Coast - Research Paper Example

PRE-COLONIAL IVORY COAST By Introduction Pre-colonial Ivory Coast has always been in a unique list of observers of Africa, being crowned with attributes such as being different from all other African states1. The key reasons for this ranking include an exhibition of stability in political and economic success, a combination of attributes that led to its aliasing as the “Ivoirian Miracle2.” This is the period before the European infestation. The styles of ruling were both hierarchical and centralized with the societies organizing themselves around kinship, in the east as well as north of the country. Their economic and social lives untainted and uncorrupted by French rule, were smooth and calm. The African country was infamous in the west, but was a major zone of political consolidations and West African trade. The text discussed herein will evaluate the truth about Ivory Coast being a stable state in the pre-European era, in addition to exhibiting successful economic strides and being a close-knit state consisting of different native ethnicities. Ivory Coast in words Otherwise known to many as Cote D’Ivoire, Ivory Coast is a country is the west of the African continent. The country borders other states such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali and Guinea. To its southern borders is the Gulf of Guinea. The interiors of the Ivory Coast are mostly dense forest cover, and in the North, extensive savannah. A powerful president under an executive hierarchy dominates the political scene. According to “Cote D’Ivoire”, it is subdivided into nineteen regions and eighty-one departments through which the governing system conducts its mandate to the people. Its capital city is Yamoussoukro, and the popular Abidjan is its biggest port city. As of today, it retains its membership in bodies such as the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the African Union, La Francophonie, to mention but a few. Economically, Ivory Coast survives through a market-based economy style which is mostly agriculture fed by small-scale cash crops. It was a giant powerhouse between the early sixties to the early seventies, producing surpluses of Cocoa and Coffee but this sank during the eighties when the state experienced an economic tremor, plunging it into social and political turmoil. On matters, religion, Christianity and Islam are the most dominant, although there also exist some other minor ethnic religions. Finally, the people use French as the national language, but his does not leave out the other local languages that include Ceebara Senufo, Baoule, Anyin, and Dan. Nature of Research The research methodology will gather relevant information from numerous accredited sources from books and online libraries in striving to reveal the nature of Ivory Coast as it was before the French moved in. The information will work to create a better reconstruction of the country’s history, and provide a better understanding of the constituent histories and events. The aim of the research is to highlight what is known of the pre-colonial Ivory Coast as is told in world history, and provide a better understanding of what resulted to, or from some of the text in focus. In structure, emphasis will be placed on the styles of governance, political systems, cultural and societal systems, economic systems, religious beliefs, myths, and beliefs, and the attributes of selected ethnic groups. The [French] European will combine all these to create a united composition thus understanding of Ivory Coast’s nature before it was colonized, and final verdict on whether it was economically, socially, and politically stable then than it became after its colonization. Brief history of Ivory Coast The origin of the native/original dwellers of Ivory Coast remains unclear up to date, but historical studies suggest that they were either absorbed or pushed away by the older generations of the current day inhabitants3. The starting point in the country’s first record is derived from the traders of North Africa who have conducted trade in caravans from times in memorial, trading slaves, gold, and salt as their main exchange items. The south was denser in the trading art, resulting in the formation of key business points and commercial centers that included Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenne. The density of the central rain forest that covered the country’s Southern half acted as a limitation to organization of large-scale politics compared to the north that had succeeded in that. The inhabitants of the central (forest) part lived in cluster villages or in pure villages and relied on long-distance traders to connect them to the world beyond the dense forests. They relied on hunting and agriculture as a means of survival. One of the most recognized aspects of the pre-colonial Ivory Coast is the flourishing of five states; the empire of Kong, the Abron kingdom of Jaman, Baoule, the Ashanti, and Agni Kingdoms. These employed a central administrative and political structure in ruling but most of them later went underground due to factors like religious discord, internal wrangles, and interference by European settlers4. The arrival of the Europeans marked the onset of Ivory Coast’s lengthy road into independence. Political systems The traceable history of definite political systems in ivory coast date back and relate to the times of the great north African trade. History has it that the three major commercial centers, that is Timbuktu, Gao and Djenne were amongst the places controlled by the military forces used by the mighty Sudanic empires, amongst other trade routes and centers. Any empire under the Sudanese rule was subjected to Islamic learning, a system that had been imported by the traders from North Africa who were largely Arab. They went on their trade routes spreading Islam, and targeted mostly important African rulers. During the eleventh century, the wave of Islam got into the northern end of the ancient Ivory Coast. Ghana, a neighbor country of Ivory Coast, had flourished Sudanic empires that occurred during the eleventh century, and its power was spreading across the Atlantic Ocean towards Timbuktu5. After Ghana’s political fame resided, the Mali Empire took to the wheel in the fourteenth century, but was to be later marked by revolts and internal discords involving its own states such as the Songhai. The result was war, and people were pushed southwards towards the dense Ivory Coast forests. The immigrants lived in split clusters or villages, and due to their small distinct groupings, they could not establish large-scale political systems. As such, political systems were established in bunches of states, which during the pre-colonial period were five. The first state was the Kong Empire, which was Muslim, and was established in the eighteenth century by the Juula in the central northern region. This state comprised of Senoufo people who originated from Mali, and were fleeing the war after its fall. This empire was marked by internal wrangles and religious discords, leading to its destruction by one Samori Toure in 1895. The second state was the Jaman people’s Abron Kingdom of the seventeenth century, and had arrived in Ivory Coast as they fled Ghana during its demise. They settled in the Bondoukou region and went on to further their hegemony to the Juula. The kingdom, which was teaching Islam, was attracting students from all over the African West. During the eighteenth century, in the central-east of Ivory Coast, additional groups fleeing the Asante formed the Baoule Kingdom, this was at Sakasso. Additional kingdoms were created, such as the dual Agni Kingdoms made up of the Sanwi and Indenie. These kingdoms exhibited administrative and political systems that were highly centralized, run by three successive leaders (rulers), which stood strong until the colonial period began setting in6. Social systems and culture In matters kinship, the ancient Ivory Coast groups linked their families to clans by tracing their lineage in two ways. The first was through the male forebears’ male ancestral descendant. The second one was through matrilineage, whose kinship was determined via a female forebear’s female ancestral descendant. It was the duty of lineages to maintain and oversee the observation of norms, settling disputes, and preserving the groups. Their type of food was purely agricultural produce such as corn, cassava, yams, and rice that was brought by Arab traders. They also included some legumes such as peanuts and beans, in additional to fish and meat. They cooked from outside their huts made of mud with thatch roofs, and were largely ceremonial people, eating communally in feasts. In other aspects, the people practiced and believed in magic, potions, misfortune, and ancestral spirits to whom they had to offer drinks and food. There were priests who did the offerings and performed the magic. When it came to labor, the entire community had their allocation, determined by age and gender. The main activities were farming, hunting, and fishing of which hunting and fishing was the work of men. Women and children performed the light responsibilities such as tilling and harvesting, with the much heavier jobs reserved for men. In the civil organizations, men took the leadership and/or defense tasks, involving themselves in warfare and political matters. The women were limited to the home settings or minimal trade activities. Art was a major practice too, and the natives were rich in it, as seen in their love for paintings, making masks, pottery, weaving and sculpting. All these forms of art were made for specific purposes, of which the most dominant were a village, health, or religious purposes. Rarely was art meant for aesthetical purposes, although in minimal cases, they would paint their mud huts in red clay to make them appealing. Their raw materials for art were clay (mud), wood, ivory and clay. In performance acts, they organized communal dance festivals and had accompanying homemade instruments. The dances were linked to ethnic beliefs or history, and were performed in separate social groups in that girls, women, boys, and men all performed their own dances. Popular dances were the Kouroubissi and Koutouba dances that were both religious7. Religious systems and beliefs The religions in the ancient Ivory Coast were two, before the colonial era, and these were local religions and Islam. Local religion existed long before Islam, because [Arab] traders and the Sudanic empires brought Islam. The local religions integrated belief in all the aspects of life, and connected it to the entire universe. Concisely, religion included the people, a supreme hierarchy, and spirits. They believed that the supreme hierarchy and spirits could influence one’s life by either being of good or bad influence (good or bad luck). The kinship systems were also bound in the religious sphere in that religion considered the dead, the living, and the unborn as well. Sorcery was a recognized act in society, and was perceived of as being malicious, powered by jealousy, hatred or envy, and would be used against someone by their enemies. As such, it was feared. However, it was countered by diviners, or by use of amulets to keep it away. Ethnic groups There existed tens of ethnic indigenous groups, averagely sixty, who were categorized into four groups, namely the Mande, East Atlantic (Akan), Voltaic, and West Atlantic (Kru)8. Culture, language, economic activities, and their existing environment brought about the differences. The East and West Atlantic make up the southern part of Ivory Coast whereas the Voltaic and Mande occupied the north. The Akan people made up the largest constitution of the East Atlantic culture, most of who descended from the eighteenth century Asante immigrants. The Akan constituted of mainly Agni and Baoule peoples. The West Atlantic group, in turn, comprised of the Kru population, which has mainly the bits. The northern occupants were mainly the Mande, who occupied the Northwest Territory, which stretched all the way to Mali and Ghana. The Mande constituted of various peoples, that is, the Malinke, Juula, Bambara, and other smaller but significant peoples. Last of the ethnic groups were the Voltaic people under whom there existed mostly the Senoufo. These are believed to have originated from the northwestern corner between the sixteen and nineteenth centuries9. Summary The above discussion text concerning the pre-colonial Ivory Coast era cuts across all the identifiable aspects that make up a complete state or nation. This covers ethnicities, origins, political systems, economic systems, religion, and general lifestyle to mention but a few. The study’s point of view was to evaluate whether the notion attributed to Ivory Coast as having been one of the most stable and closely-knit ancient time’s states. True to say, the evidence as is shown by the trickling of events, overly supports the exclamation. This depicts itself in that most of the constituent people [groups] actually immigrated into the West African state as they fled war zones. Their arrival into Ivory Coast made them group in common groups that grew with time and were united mostly by trade. The trade and cooperation in turn translated to intermarriages and other social relationships, thus the rise of a strong-bonded nation. In addition, they exhibit a preference of centralized as well as collective governance systems, which show their ability to choose what would best work for their overall good. In short, history supports that Ivory Coast was indeed a unique and admirable African state. Point of view towards colonialism In a foreshadowing of what colonialism would cause to Ivory Coast, much is likely to arise, considering the nature of the Europeans when settling in foreign lands. For one, the Ivory Coast people exhibit strong bonds between them and if the European arrival will pose as a threat to their normal existence, then they are bound to establish a rather tough resistance. However, colonialism is also likely to come with potential developmental aspects to them in that they trade nature might establish a business mutualism with the whites who in most cases bring with them new merchandise from the west which might be used to foster trade. A key challenge that looms over the arrival of the colonizers is that the native Ivory Coast inhabitants are deep in their traditional and Islamic religions and the white colonialists will most probably try to impose Christianity on them. This is a likely channel for conflict. On the part of the political administration, there are lower chances of interference for two reasons; one, the Ivory Coast people are mostly seen to prefer a centralized system of governance, which to the colonialists is easy to take over by befriending or ruling through the top leaders. Concisely, there is less likelihood of the colonialists applying much force in controlling the people of Ivory Coast as is the case with other African states. Bibliography Appiah, Anthony. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press, n.d. “An Ivorian Miracle?” Aljazeera.com. 12 December, 2012. Available at http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/africa-states-independence/2010/09/20109692650166226.html “Cote d’ Ivoire.” Afrinic.2003. Available at http://meeting.afrinic.net/afrinic-19/en/travel/cote-d-ivoire “Cote d’Ivoire.” Every Culture. Available at “Pre-European Period.” Country Studies. Available at http://countrystudies.us/ivory-coast/4.htm “Cote d’Ivore (07/98).” U.S. Department of State. Available at http://www.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/cotedivoire/6236.htm “Ivory Coast Index.” Mongabay. 2013. Available at http://www.mongabay.com/history/ivory_coast/ivory_coast-introduction.html Kaplan, Seth. Cote d’Ivoire Ethnic, Religious, and Geographical Divisions. Fragile States. Available at http://www.fragilestates.org/2012/06/06/cote-divoire-ethnic-division/ Kummer, Patricia K. Côte DIvoire (Ivory Coast). New York: Childrens Press, 1996. “Pre-European Period.” Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress. Available at http://countrystudies.us/ivory-coast/4.htm Read More