The War of thangata

Nyasaland and the East African Campaign, 1914–1918

Bibliographic Data

ID8980774
AuthorsMelvin E Page (0009-0006-5265-7962, Murray State University, corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume19
Issue1
Pages87-100
Publication date1978-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of African History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0021853700015966
OpenAlexW2155198316
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited8

During World War I, Africans in Nyasaland were called upon to provide large numbers of soldiers and military labourers for the war effort in eastern Africa. Although a few willingly volunteered, many more objected, and some resisted. In this situation, colonial officals used force to secure the necessary manpower. Africans, therefore, called the conflict ‘the war of thangata ’, referring to the growing colonial demands for taxes and for labour rent on European estates. The tasks which the soldiers and carriers were called upon to perform were equally likened to thangata , being ‘work which was done without real benefit’. So far from receiving rewards, Africans found that inadequate food, clothing, and medical care contributed greatly to the sufferings associated with a military campaign. Between 1914 and 1918 wartime manpower requirements, and war service, gave full meaning to colonial rule throughout the protectorate. The response to these demands and this suffering brought, in the form of both traditional and modern religious and social institutions, the first tentative stirrings of African nationalism in Nyasaland

Ancient history · Clothing · Colonial rule · Colonialism · Economic history · First world war · Military service · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Protectorate · Spanish Civil War · World War II · African history and culture studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law

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