Chapter Four. “All People Were Barbarians To The Askari ...”: Askari Identity And Honor In The Maji Maji War, 1905–1907

Moyd, Michelle

doi:10.1163/ej.9789004183421.i-325.36

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…From historiographical perspective, the Majimaji war generated considerable amounts of evidence and commentary from the German military men, colonial administrators, missionaries, and African civilians; all left records of what they observed during the war (Moyd 2010). However, Majimaji has remained the least studied topic in the history of Tanzania.…”

Section: Rationale Of the Archaeology Of Majimaji Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although many German police (askari) considered themselves Muslim, to the Germans, conduct of the war had little to do with Islam. There were Christian police in the German force, they were few (Moyd 2010). Most of the German askari were mercenaries from Somalia and coastal peoples who have always identified themselves as Muslims/Arabic/civilized vis a vis Africans/barbaric/pagan.…”

Section: Rationale Of the Archaeology Of Majimaji Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The historical accounts of the battle landscapes above have been presented by historians such as Becker (2004), Gwassa and Iliffe (1969), Larson (2010), Monson (1998); Moyd (2010); Schmidt (2010) and Sunseri (1997). The archaeological interpretation of the materiality and battle landscape is presented to allow answering the question of identity and to present local people voices into the perception and use of the Majimaji battle sites among the present societies.…”

Section: Majimaji War Peoplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

An Archaeological Identity of the Majimaji: Toward an Historical Archaeology of Resistance to German Colonization in Southern Tanzania

Rushohora

2015

Arch

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents new insights on the Majimaji war, which is one of the least studied topics in Eastern Africa's colonial history. The Majimaji (1905)(1906)(1907) was a large scale war of resistance against German colonial rule in Tanzania. This war started in the Lindi Region and spread rapidly to other areas of southern Tanzania. It was primarily a reaction to the exploitative nature of German colonial rule. The archival records that exist are biased toward German sources and information supplied by their African agents who wished to please the colonists and spare their lives. Although local oral histories on the war existed, this has been poorly documented or the accounts have been lost. In this circumstance, archaeology provides an alternative source of evidence about the Majimaji war. This paper presents the intellectual arguments that underpin this research. It explains why archaeology is still important to study popular historical events. Using archaeology, the Majimaji battle sites can be identified and documented so as to enhance understandings of the war and to fill in gaps that arise from the limitations of documentary archival records and oral histories. In addition, this research has elicited public awareness and perception of the battle sites and obtained new insights into how the memories of the war resonate in people's minds.Résumé: Cet article présente de nouveaux éclairages sur la guerre Maji-Maji, qui est l'un des sujets les moins étudiés de l'histoire coloniale de l'Afrique orientale. La guerre Maji-Maji (1905-1907 fut une guerre de résistance à grande échelle contre le pouvoir colonial allemand en Tanzanie. Elle commença dans la région de Lindi et s'étendit rapidement à d'autres régions du sud de la Tanzanie. Elle fut avant tout une réaction à l'exploitation du pouvoir colonial allemand. Les documents d'archives qui existent font la part belle aux sources allemandes et aux informations fournies par leurs agents africains, qui souhaitaient satisfaire les colons et 1 sauver leur vie. Bien qu'il existât des histoires orales locales sur la guerre, elles furent mal documentées ou les récits furent perdus. L'archéologie offre, en pareil cas, une autre source d'éléments probants sur la guerre Maji-Maji. Cet article présente les arguments intellectuels qui soutiennent ces recherches. Il explique pourquoi l'archéologie est essentielle pour l'étude des évènements historiques populaires. À l'aide de l'archéologie, les sites de batailles des Maji-Maji peuvent être identifiés et documentés afin d'améliorer la compréhension de la guerre et combler les lacunes découlant des limites des documents d'archives documentaires et des histoires orales. En outre, ces recherches suscitèrent la sensibilisation du public et la perception des sites de batailles et obtinrent de nouvelles connaissances sur la façon dont les souvenirs de la guerre sont évoqués dans les esprits.Resumen: El presente documento presenta nuevas perspectivas sobre la guerra de Maji Maji, que es uno de los temas menos estudiados de la ...

show abstract

Section: Rationale Of the Archaeology Of Majimaji Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rationale Of the Archaeology Of Majimaji Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Majimaji War Peoplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An Archaeological Identity of the Majimaji: Toward an Historical Archaeology of Resistance to German Colonization in Southern Tanzania

Rushohora

2015

Arch

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…57 Askari routinely brought their wives and children with them on campaign, which increased their paternal loyalty to Lettow-Vorbeck, thus Schutztruppe victories in capturing food and supplies helped the askari family survive. 58 Loyalty for the askari is contingent on how effectively the Schuztruppe served their material and sociological goals within their Native communities. 59 Rather than being seen as a military leader only, many askari viewed him, and by extension Imperial Germany as the ultimate sponsor to their individual interests.…”

Section: Askari Loyaltymentioning

confidence: 99%

Black, White, and Khaki: Lettow-Vorbeck and the African Askari

Abernethy

2023

The Virginia Tech Undergraduate Historical Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

On battlefields that stretched for miles across the savanna in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, to palm-shaded beachheads and dense tropical forests, the forces of the German East African Schutztruppe under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck engaged Allied forces in far-flung East Africa during the First World War. Few units in the Imperial German Army resembled the Schutztruppe, in that it was mostly made up of black African askari, led by a small white German/European officer corps. In addition to heading the transformation of the unit from a counter-insurgency force meant to quell native African uprisings, to one that could defeat European colonial forces, Lettow-Vorbeck's leadership allowed the Schutztruppe to survive against the hundreds of thousands of Allied troops sent against it, without regular assistance from the Germany. Ultimately, the Schutztruppe was never fully subdued during the war, and only surrendered when informed of the general armistice in late November 1918. This paper will use primary and secondary sources to examine the status of the Schutztruppe and the askari before, and then during the war, seeking to prove that the Schutztruppe was able to effectively fight and survive the campaign using guerilla warfare strategies and tactics learned before World War I, combined with highly rigorous "Prussian"-style training and loyalty to Lettow-Vorbeck himself that was introduced shortly before and during the conflict.

show abstract

“…This low number of Germans has challenged scholars to understand the mechanisms of colonial rule in the area (Pesek,. Recent studies have shed light on the role of indigenous intermediaries in facilitating and executing German rule (Pesek 2005;Pesek 2010;Moyd;Michels;Morlang;Wirz, Eckert, and Bromber). This aspect, as I will show in more detail, is key to understanding the choices made by the novel's protagonist.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Yusuf's Choice: East African Agency During the German Colonial Period in Abdulrazak Gurnah's NovelParadise

Berman¹

2013

English Studies in Africa

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chapter Four. “All People Were Barbarians To The Askari ...”: Askari Identity And Honor In The Maji Maji War, 1905–1907

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

An Archaeological Identity of the Majimaji: Toward an Historical Archaeology of Resistance to German Colonization in Southern Tanzania

An Archaeological Identity of the Majimaji: Toward an Historical Archaeology of Resistance to German Colonization in Southern Tanzania

Black, White, and Khaki: Lettow-Vorbeck and the African Askari

Yusuf's Choice: East African Agency During the German Colonial Period in Abdulrazak Gurnah's NovelParadise

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About