The Role of the Brithish Administration in the Appointment of the Emirs of Northern Nigeria, 1901–1931
The Case of Sokoto Province
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8979206 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Kazenga Tibenderana |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 231-257 |
| Publication date | 1987-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021853700029765 |
| OpenAlex | W2140877107 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 26 |
Existing works on the colonial history of Northern Nigeria are generally agreed that the emirs who reigned during the colonial era were selected by traditional methods, that is to say, by kingmakers. This article attempts to show that in the case of Sokoto Province the emirs who were appointed during the period 1903–30, though they had traditional claims to their position, were chosen by the British and not by the kingmakers. It is suggested that during this period the British were so pre-occupied with the security of their rule that they would not leave the important function of selecting emirs to the kingmakers whom they still suspected could select anti-British princes as emirs. It is argued that this policy was largely dictated by the Administration's fear of Mahdism which, up to the end of the 1920s was seen as a real danger to British rule. Thus only overtly loyal princes were elevated to emirships, regardless of whether they had the kingmakers' support or not. The British were able to do this without causing serious political unrest because the emirates were basically ‘competitive monarchies’ which left the British room for manipulation. Finally, the article suggests that, as a result of increased confidence in the security of their rule and owing to the fact that unpopular chiefs had proved to be a liability to the government, in the early 1930s the British restored the kingmakers' right to elect emirs without overdue interference by administrative officers
Administration (probate law · Ancient history · Colonial rule · Colonialism · Economic history · Economics · Government (linguistics · Indirect rule · Monarchy · Period (music · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Unrest · African history and culture analysis · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Religion and Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nigeria
Reappraising Donald Cameron's 1934 Native Administration Reforms in the Northern Provinces of Nigeria
The Agadez Chronicles and Y Tarichi
British Administration and the Decline of the Patronage-Clientage System in Northwestern Nigeria, 1900-1934
The Irony of Indirect Rule in Sokoto Emirate, Nigeria, 1903-1944
Revolutionary Mahdism and Resistance to Colonial Rule in the Sokoto Caliphate, 1905–6
Islam and the European Empires
The Sokoto Caliphate.
A political history of Ghana
Nigeria
The British in Northern Nigeria
Essays in Imperial Government
Buganda in Modern History
West Africa Under Colonial Rule
The Political Transformation of Tanganyika
Buganda and British Overrule, 1900-1955
Ghana in Transition
The Emirs and the Spread of Western Education in Northern Nigeria, 1910–1946
Tshekedi Khama and Opposition to the British Administration of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1926-1936
The Kano Civil War and British Overrule 1882–1940
Lugard—The Years of Authority 1898–1945
West African Passage
Desecration of my Kingdom
The Kano Civil War and British Over-Rule 1882-1940
Buganda in Modern History
Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria 1804-1906
The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881-1898
Benin under British Administration
The Sudanese Mahdia and the Outside World
A History of Bunyoro-Kitara
Indirect Rule-French and British Style
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,16 |
| Citation span | 1988 - 2025 (38) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |