Topic 6: Social, Political and Education System in Pre-colonial Africa – History Form One
System
It refers to a set of objects/ things arranged to perform specific functions. Example of digestive system of human being
Social System
This refers to the set of rules, structures and beliefs guiding human interactions and relation in
a society.
Education
This refers o the transferring of knowledge, skills ad attitude from one generation to another
generation. It was helped them to achieve their common goals.
Political system
It describes power relation among people ad societies. It includes the governing institutions,
Types of Political System in Pre-Colonial Societies
They were differ and depended on how power was shared among the society members and nature of social relation that existed. Those types were:
- Centralized Political System
- Non-Centralized Political System
i. Centralized Political System
This was system had central power and authority. This was social and political organization. It development depended and contributed with number of factors & Good examples of Centralized political system were under King/Queen authority.
ii. Non Centralized Political System
This was system which had not central authority. This was social and political organization
Characteristics of Non-centralized political system
- They did not have ruler known as king
- Their political leader were mainly clan heads and assisted by council elders
- Power and authority shared among the council elders
Forms of Non-Centralized political system
There were two forms of non-centralized social and political systems in pre-colonial Africa,
namely ;-
- The Can/kinship organization
- The Age-Set System
A. The Clan Organization
This was an organization which involved combination of several related families with a common ancestor. This consisted of the husband, wife/wives, children, grandparents and extended relatives
Examples of Clan Organization in pre-colonial Africa
| Parts | Societies |
| – West Africa | – Igbo |
| – Tanzania | – Sukuma |
| – Kenya | · Kikuyu |
Functions Of The Clan Head
i. To distribute land to the communities or clan members.
ii. To preserve traditions and customs of the clan.
iii. To preserve land belonging to the clan.
iv. To settle disputes and quarrels.
Characteristics of Clan Organization
i. They had common rituals, taboos, and customs
ii. The cultural characteristics helped create stability, strength and uniqueness of clans.
iii. Clans or Kinships were self-governing
iv. Had no rulers or Kings
v. The clan head and elders did not own major means of production
iv. They depended on the level of economic and technological advancement
v. Family was basic unit of production
vi. Land was major means of production and belonged with whole clan.
vii. The tools/instruments of labor were belonged to the individual families
viii. Their communities were small and simple
ix. They sufficient land and lied in closely spaced clan units
Groups of Clan organization
There are two types, namely ;-
- Patrilineal Societies
- Matrilineal Societies
i. Matrilineal clan organization societies.
This is a society where by the husband moved to the wife’s family and children of the new family belonged to the mother’s (wife’s clan).
As a result, clan heritage was based on the mother’s clan. Uncles have to make all the important decisions concerning the children and the nephews of their sisters.
Matrilineal age in Africa was practiced among the Makonde, Makua, Mwera, the Yao of
Tanzania, and the Kamba of Kenya.
ii. Patrilineal clan organization societies
This is the system of organization in which the clan heritage was based on the father’s line and all children bared the name of the father.
The husband had to pay substantial bride price in different forms such as cattle, goats, etc in
rder to get the wife, the bride price could be stored as wealth, in this system all the children of the new family belonged to the father’s clan.
By the 18th and 19th century clan system changed to chief train, ship after several came to
be controlled under one leader.
Examples of Patrilineal societies were ;-
| Parts | Societies |
| – Kenya | – Luo |
| – Tanzania | |
| – South Africa | – Zulu |
| . Zimbabwe | Ndebele |
| – Zambia | – Ngoni and Tumbala |
B. Age-Set Organization
This kind of socio-political organization based on age and sex. In order for one to fit in the society one was required to fulfill certain obligations. Often the main productive activity was based on the harsh environments.
Such as arid grass land and semi arid, in these areas poor soil could not support agriculture economy but vegetation could be used for animal husbandry.
Age set organization was the determinant form of organization in pastoral societies. The best examples of these societies were the Maasai, Nyakyusa of East Africa, Hausa in West Africa and the Khoi Khoi of South Africa.
| Parts | Societies |
| – Tanzania | – Maasai, Nyakyusa |
| – West Africa | – Hausa |
| – South Africa | – Khoi Khoi |
The division of responsibilities and duties was based on age and sex and was usually done during intuition ceremonies.
Characteristics of social, political ad economic organization under Age-Set System
i. There was no authority – Decision made by council elders
ii. It consisted of members who belonged to a particular generation
iii. Age groups were determined by initiation, rituals and cultural ceremonies
iv. Seniority in each age group depended on age, wisdom and good characters.
Forms of Age-Set organization in Pre-colonial African Societies
They formed in the following
- Pastoral societies
- Agro-Pastoral Societies
- Agriculture societies
i. Pastoral Societies
These were communities lived in areas with little rain covered by short grass.
These were mainly arid and semi-arid.
Such environment allowed them to engage in pastoralism as a major economic occupation.
They kept moving place to place with their cattle in search of good pasture and.
They lived in small communities and simple ones.
They lived relied river system and rain to get water for people.
Example
| Parts | Pastoral societies |
| – North Africa | – Berbers and Tuaregs |
| – West Africa | – Fulani and Hausa |
| – North-Eastern Africa | – Somali |
| – Uganda | – Karamajong |
| – South Africa | – Khoi Khoi |
| – Kenya – Tanzania |
Maasai |
Division of Labour in Pastoral Societies
Women and Children
- Stayed and worked at home
- They cooked, milked, grazed calves and cared for children
Youth groups
They distributed according to their age groups.
9 – 18 years
- For livestock grazing during afternoon
- To assist their mothers in houschold duties when they returned home
15-25 years (Middle age)
- In Maasai society, these age were called Moran.
- They had six responsibilities
Responsibilities of Moran
i. To defend the community from enemies
ii. To protect livestock against thieves and wild animals.
iii. To raid herds of neighboring communities to obtain livestock
iv. To drive the cattle to new grazing land
v. To collect tribute from who passed on the Maasai territory
vi. To survey their neighboring areas for pastures and sources of water
Elderly group 40 years – above
i. They were senior group and respected among the members of society.
ii. They owners of the cattle in there respective households.
iii. The most senior of elderly group was called Laibon
iv. He commanded special respect as the topmost cultural, political and religious authority
v. He was seen as the link between his people and the gods.
vi. The head of a council of Laibons among the Maasai was known as Laigwanan.
vii. He chosen among the Laibons representing different Maasai
Responsibilities of elders:
i. To control livestock and all the properties on behalf of their communities.
ii. To enable norms and ethics to govern the society.
iii. They were top overseers of all the spiritual and political matters of the community,
iv. They were responsible for counseling other members of the society.
v. To settle disputes among the society members.
vi. They were regarded as retired producers of the society but their ideas and skills were highly appreciated.
Agricultural Societies
These were communities involved in agricultural activities. They lived in fertile land and water. They settled in one area. In Tanzania, Nyakyusa were among the agricultural community.
Each village headed by Amafumu. They celebrated special ceremony to mark the passage of new age group into adult known as Ubusoka. Other community was Randile of Northern Kenya
Education System in Pre-colonial African Societies
Education refers to the life-long process of transmitting and imparting knowledge, skills, value, and experiences from one generation to another in a given society.
Pre-colonial Education
This was education provided during the pre-colonial society in order to transmit knowledge, skills, values and experiences from the old to the young generation.
The nature of education was Informal education.
Pre-colonial education was delivered through active participation and observation
Each adult participated to provide education. Examples of knowledge provided were ;-
Mothers trained girls how to behave to their future husbands, farming and domestic chores
Fathers trained boys how to care their future wives, hunt, herd cows, protect natural resources like water, forests and lands.
Aims of Pre-colonial education
i. To impart knowledge, skills and value to young members.
ii. To prepare young generation in various activities like farming, agriculture etc.
iii. To develop children’s characters, physical, strength and intellectual abilities.
iv. To prepare youth to take over after the end of existing phase of leadership
v. To make the youth Patriotic.
vi. To prepare youth to be active in social, political and economic activities.
Characteristics of Pre-colonial Education.
i. It was lacked uniformity
ii. It varied from one society to another
iii. It was not financially motivated
iv. It emphasized good moral and social conduct.
