Plantations in the Economy of the Sokoto Caliphate

Abstract

At a time when coastal West Africa was responding to the growth of ‘legitimate’ trade, the Sokoto Caliphate was experiencing dramatic expansion in the plantation sector. Plantations (gandu, rinji, tungazi), which used slaves captured by the Caliphate armies, were established near all the major towns and were particularly important around Sokoto, Kano, Zaria and other capitals. Plantation development originated with the policies of Muhammad Bello, first Caliph and successor to Uthman dan Fodio, who was concerned with the consolidation and defence of the empire. Besides promoting the economic growth of the capital districts of Sokoto and Gwandu, Bello's policy encouraged the expansion of the textile belt in southern Kano and northern Zaria. Similarly, the desert-side market in grain also benefited from the emphasis on plantations. The result was the greater integration of the Central Sudan region into a single economic zone. The role of plantations in the economy differed from that of plantations elsewhere in the world. Market forces tended to be weaker, and no single export crop dominated production. Rather, the orientation towards the desert-side sector indicates that opportunities for expansion were limited, while the importance of textile manufacturing reflects the relatively weak links with European and other textile production. Other differences included a system of Islamic slavery which encouraged emancipation, a close connexion with slave raiding and distribution, and a system of land tenure which often resulted in fragmented holdings. Stronger links with the world economy did develop in parts of the Caliphate towards the end of the nineteenth century. Nupe and Yola were drawn more closely into the world market through the greater use of the Niger and Benue rivers, but these changes only marginally affected the wider Caliphate economy.

Does Land Abundance Explain African Institutions?

“…Where large slave communities of slaves were present, (see e.g. Lovejoy (1978) for the Sokoto Caliphate or Oroge (1971) for nineteenth century Yorubaland), these existed not because slaves were used in economic tasks that free peasants were not, but because they were acquired in large numbers by authorities and other elites. Studies of slavery in individual African societies frequently make reference to slave labor and free labor working in the same tasks.…”

Deindustrialization in East Africa: textile production in an era of globalization and colonization, c. 1830-1940

“…67 And the eventual decline of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which Hopkins points out was influenced by European abolitionist movements, resulted in the increased application of West African captives to domestic production, including plantation cultivation of cotton and indigo. 68 The incorporation of local factors provides scope to evaluate another external force that looms large in African economic history: the purportedly central role of metropolitan agendas and colonial institutions in determining production choices within colonized African regions. patterns across East Africa and conduct in-depth studies on deindustrialization in the region with a comparative eye toward more robust industries in West Africa and northern East Africa.…”

“…But merchants returned to find that merekani's "almost-monopoly" in the Zanzibar cloth market had vanished. 68 Bennett has argued that local consumers only purchased Indian and European cloth "when there was no alternative." 69 Yet Americans found that in the late 1860s and early 1870s buyers frequently ignored merekani in favor of the lowerquality English unbleached cloth that had increasingly entered the market in its wartime absence.…”

“…To the contrary, many chiefs situated along the caravan routes enjoyed substantial gains, levying tolls (hongo) on passing caravans and often claiming one tusk of each elephant killed in their territories. 68 Furthermore, in some parts of the interior, a prospering merchant class developed, forming "a kind of agricultural and commercial élite." 69 Subsistence farmers living along the major routes could also obtain imported goods by bartering food, 63 Johnson, 'Cloth as money ', p. 196.…”

“…67 Obst and Kloster, 'Der Handel', p. 470. 68 Zache, Deutsch-Ostafrika, p. 41. 69 Tambila, 'A history', pp.…”