The Origins of the Diola-Esulalu

Although the retrospective glance of the historian of the longue durée performs a vital role in illuminating the broad continuities of a Diola religious and social system, it has serious limitations in that it assumes a continuity in the ethnic boundaries of the group we know as Diola. Until recently, many researchers made similar assumptions that Africa’s ethnic groupings of the twentieth century served as the primary social divisions for centuries before the European conquest. As Jan Vansina suggests, “many historians imagine that the cultural community, the ‘tribe’ is perennial ... it does not alter throughout the ages.

Ancient history · CONQUEST · Ethnic group · Ethnology · Genealogy · Geography · Sociology · Tribe · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History