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67-428: The Ife region began as a small collection of house societies in mid-first millennium BCE, which over time grew to become “mega houses”, or mini-states, due to competition for resources. Over time, as managing resources, population, and conflicts presented opportunities for new organizational structures, several of the mega-houses started organizing themselves into confederacy-like associations. The most prominent of these

134-417: A House was that it is "a corporate body holding an estate made up of both material and immaterial wealth, which perpetuates itself through the transmission of its name, its goods and its titles down a real or imaginary line considered legitimate as long as this continuity can express itself in the language of kinship or of affinity and, most often, of both." There are three elements to this definition: Only

201-460: A House will depend on a number of criteria, such as their parents' participation, their ability to contribute to the House's upkeep, and their participation in its rituals. Successful claims of membership may bring special benefits, such as the right to utilize House resources with the consent of the core members. Most of the examples of ‘sociétés à maison’ cited by Lévi-Strauss, with the exception of

268-552: A Muslim prayer board it likely implies that the battle that took place involved people from local and foreign religions (Islam). The battle seems all the more significant considering the interest shown in providing evidence of it. The Muslim prayer board offers evidence that the wars that were taking place in the Ife area, as with regions to the north and east in this era (from modern Chad to Mali), involved local populations in contestation with Islamic troops. Sculptures give insight into what

335-491: A compound may have several separate huts, each hut with the different wives of the head male. The huts are traditionally roundhouses, or circular shaped structures made of mud walls with a thatched straw conical roof. The Zarma people grow maize , millet , sorghum , rice , tobacco, cotton and peanuts during the rainy season (June to November). They have traditionally owned herds of animals, which they rent out to others till they are ready to be sold for meat. Some own horses,

402-583: A conference was soon held at Ita Ijero, a town in Ilé-Ifè following the triumph of the Odùduwà group in the Obatálá-Odùduwà conflict. At the end of the conference, each of the princes present left to establish his or her own kingdom such as Benin and Oyo , with the promise that they would all keep in touch as siblings and support one another in times of trouble. Benin, one such of the kingdoms under Ife,

469-467: A different rank, but lack property, and therefore cannot form their own houses either. The way in which these lower classes were prevented from forming Houses was two-fold. On the one hand, they might be engaged in the agonistic exchange systems with Noble Houses that results in their using up and losing all of their House property. On the other hand, noble Houses at the centre of the state might engage in policies of divide and rule, urging different groups at

536-652: A large region. According to Anne Haour – a professor of African Studies, some scholars consider the historic caste-like social stratification in Zarma-Songhai people to be a pre-Islam feature while some consider it derived from the Arab influence. Caste-based servitude The traditional form of caste-based servitude was still practiced by the Tuareg , Zarma and Arab ethnic minorities. —Country Report: Niger (2008) US State Department The different strata of

603-694: A legacy of those Zerma people who historically belonged to the warrior class and were skilled cavalrymen in Islamic armies. Living along the River Niger, some Zarma people rely on fishing. The property inheritance and occupational descent is patrilineal. Many Zarma people, like Songhai, have migrated into coastal and prospering cities of West Africa, especially Ghana. Zarma people also grow guavas, mangoes, bananas, and citrus fruits. The Zarma people, like their neighboring ethnic groups in West Africa, have

670-659: A magical millet silo bottom. He decided to migrate with his people following a fight between the Zarma and a neighboring Tuareg village. Using this oral tradition as evidence, Lange has argued that the Zarma were the ruling class of the Gao Empire , later a vassal of the Mali Empire . In the early 14th century they were defeated by the rising Sonni dynasty , founders of the Songhai Empire. The surviving Za became

737-517: A means to escape French economic exploitation. Of the various ethnic groups in Niger, the early cooperation of the Zarma elite with the colonizers led to a legacy where Zarma interests have been promoted, and they have continued to compose an important part of the Nigerien political elite after independence in 1960. The language, society and culture of the Zarma people is barely distinguishable from

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804-501: A nobility) in a society organized around a system of social ranks; while a House may own property, it is thus not tied to a feudal mode of production. Schrauwers gives, as an alternate example, societies organized around slavery where a noble group's property are its slaves (such as the Kwakiutl case). Houses are political in three ways; there is an intra-House politics by which leadership is determined and resources are allocated within

871-570: A significant textile industry in ancient Ife. Wheat remains date back to the 13th-14th centuries. This temperate crop, unsuited to the region's humid climate, was likely introduced through trade. The large collection of wheat remains found at the site is the most extensive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Wheat's restricted presence suggests it was a specialty crop, possibly consumed by elites or individuals involved in trade. Wheat likely arrived in Ife through Trans-Saharan trade routes, highlighting

938-470: A site at Ile-Ife. This may relate to oral traditions that say the forces of Oranmiyan that gave rise to his new dynasty may have employed new weaponry forms such as long-bladed metal battle knives. Many factors led to Ife's ultimate demise by 1420. These included long spells of drought that kicked off around 1380 across West and East Africa, political disturbances in Western Sudan like the collapse of

1005-496: Is "certainly true that the majority of population" had a servile status, these colonial era estimates for "slaves" may exaggerate because there is a difference between servile status and true slavery. Slaves were an economic asset used for farming, herding and domestic work. A system of social stratification developed even among the slaves, and this status system survived even after slavery was officially abolished during French colonial rule. The French came to regions inhabited by

1072-441: Is a part of the Zarma people tradition, with preferred partners being cross cousins, and a system of ritualistic acceptance between co-wives. This endogamy is similar to other ethnic groups in West Africa. The women among Zarma people, like other ethnic groups of Sahel and West Africa, have traditionally practiced female genital mutilation (FGM). However, the prevalence rates have been lower and falling. According to UNICEF and

1139-746: Is rarely ascribed by genealogical seniority alone (i.e. primogeniture ). Leadership of a House is gained through status competition. A number of traditional Southeast Asian kingdoms, such as those in Bali , or the kingdom of Luwu in Sulawesi, were dominated by noble Houses that competed with each other for control of the state. These states have alternately been described as mandala states. Although they may be referred to as House Societies, not all societies with Houses have those Houses uniformly distributed among all ranks and classes. The House in Bali, as well as in

1206-589: Is textual evidence annual raids undertaken by Sunni 'Ali and Askiya Muhammad to capture slaves, for domestic use and export to North Africa. Sahelian societies, including the Zarma, have historically been based on slavery from far before colonialism. According to Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan , slaves accounted for two-thirds to three-quarters of the total population of the Songhay-Zarma people, similar proportions to other ethnic groups in pre-colonial West Africa. However, Bruce Hall cautions that while it

1273-552: Is the name given by Akinwumi Ogundiran of the trade route which stretched from Ilé-Ifè to the Moshi-Niger area and as far as the Niger Bend in present-day Mali. Another possible mention of Ife are the records of 11th to 14th century Arab scholars that reveal trade in blue dichroic West African glass beads. Items traded to Ife were Saharan copper and salt, Mediterranean and Chinese silk and other clothing materials, they entering

1340-488: Is the term used by the Zarma people themselves. The estimates for the total population of Zarma people as of 2013 has been generally placed over three million, but it varies. They constitute several smaller ethnic sub-groups, who were either indigenous to the era prior to the Songhai Empire and have assimilated into the Zarma people, or else are people of Zarma origins who have differentiated themselves some time in

1407-530: The Kwakiutl Indians of the North-west coast of Canada, were feudal . This has led some to ask if feudalism was an essential feature of House societies, and answering in the negative. Schrauwers, in contrast, has argued that House societies are characteristically organized around a system of social ranks , not feudalism. That is, the House is not an economic class but a socially ranked group (e.g.

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1474-676: The Niger River valley which is a source of irrigation, forage for cattle herds, and drinking water. Relatively prosperous, they own cattle, sheep, goats and dromedaries , renting them out to the Fulani people or Tuareg people for tending. The Zarma people have had a history of slave and caste systems, like many West African ethnic groups. Like them, they also have had a historical musical tradition. The Zarma people are alternatively referred to as Zerma , Zaberma , Zabarma Zabermawa , Djerma , Dyerma , Jerma , or other terms. Zarma

1541-538: The Nilo-Saharan language family. Because of the common language and culture, they are sometimes referred to as "Zarma Songhay" (each also may be spelled "Djerma" and "Songhai"). Zarma oral traditions place their origins in the Niger Bend region of Mali . Some describe the Zarma as originally Mande or Soninke . Historian Dierk Lange has argued that these legends are accurate, pointing to Mande words in

1608-518: The Songhai people . Some scholars consider the Zarma people to be a part of and the largest ethnic sub-group of the Songhai – a group that includes nomads of Mali speaking the same language as the Zarma. Some study the group together as Zarma-Songhai people. However, both groups see themselves as two different people. Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan , Tal Tamari and other scholars have stated that

1675-469: The Tuareg people , the Fula people and other ethnic groups in the area. The Zabarma Emirate was founded by itinerant Zarma preachers and horse traders in the 19th century military, eventually conquering much of the voltaic plateau (southern Burkina Faso , northern Ghana ). The slave trade and slave raiding were historically important parts of the society and economy of the Niger river valley, and there

1742-582: The Zima or priests and Islamic clerics had to be initiated but did not automatically inherit that profession, making the cleric strata a pseudo-caste. According to Ralph Austen, a professor emeritus of African history, the caste system among the Zarma people was not as well developed as the caste system historically found in the African ethnic groups further west to them. Louis Dumont , the 20th-century author famous for his classic Homo Hierarchicus , recognized

1809-538: The 13th and 14th centuries, potsherd pavements had become a pan-regional architectural style and nearly every state in the Ife Empire had Paved flooring, even as far as modern-day Togo. Leo Frobenius , a 20th-century archeologist who visited Nigeria, also noted that the foundations of historical buildings at Ile-Ife were built of burnt bricks. By the early 20th century, he said Ife's architecture has greatly regressed from what it reached in antiquity. The capital Ile Ife

1876-463: The FGM practice. According to UNICEF, these efforts have successfully and noticeably reduced the practice to a prevalence rate in the single digits (9% in Zarma ethnic group in 2006 ), compared to east-North Africa (Egypt to Somalia) where the FGM rates are very high. The Zarma villages traditionally consist of walled off compounds where a family group called windi lives. Each compound has a head male and

1943-607: The House, as well as an inter-House politics between rival Houses. These two forms of political engagement may be connected through agonistic exchange institutions such as the Potlatch . There is, lastly, also a politics of struggle and incorporation between highly ranked noble Houses and those groups like slaves and commoners who lack the resources to maintain their organization as a House. Houses are tied together through oftentimes contradictory forms of kinship, whether descent or alliance. Given that Houses are not lineages, leadership

2010-485: The Ife Empire region. Historic Ife ritual contexts also suggest possible early Coptic Christian contact through long-distance trade. There is also likely Ife regalia modeled on an ancient Nubian shield ring that probably reached the area between the twelfth through fourteenth Century era through trade. Evidence also shows that during Ife's time period, Yorubaland was involved in trade with southwestern Cameroon. Recent archaeological findings have provided new insights into

2077-463: The Mali Empire, internal crisis within the Ife Empire, and an epidemic that was most likely smallpox or the black death . House society In anthropology , a house society is a society where kinship and political relations are organized around membership in corporately-organized dwellings rather than around descent groups or lineages , as in the " House of Windsor ". The concept

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2144-546: The Middle Niger valley. With control of the trade and profit they began buying horses from the Wasangari, Mossi , Mandé , and Songhai in the early 14th century, and became the first cavalry state in Ife. Owu's newfound power expanded rapidly with the use of calvary and Òwu began to undermine the commercial and political interests of Ifè, and eventually declared war on Ife, starting a civil war. Evidence also shows Ife

2211-537: The Obatálá-Odùduwà conflict ended, a new era began, known as the Classical period. The sociopolitical outcome of the following instability was qualitatively different from that of the preceding era. The hallmarks of the Classical period include the development of an urban capital with concentric embankments. There were also life-size terracotta and copper or brass sculptures with detailed, idealized naturalism. Craft specialization defined everyday economic life in which

2278-533: The World Health Organization studies, in Zarma culture the female circumcision is called Haabize . It consists of two rituals. One is ritual cutting away the hymen of new born girls, second is clitoridectomy between the ages of 9 and 15 where either her prepuce is cut out or a part to all of clitoris and labia minora is cut then removed. The operation has been ritually done by the traditional barbers called wanzam . Niger has attempted to end

2345-530: The Zarma are often considered by outsiders to be of the same ethnicity as the neighboring Songhaiborai , although the two groups claim differences, having different histories and speaking different dialects. They are sometimes lumped together as the Zarma-Songhay or Songhay-Zarma . The Zarma people are predominantly Muslims of the Maliki - Sunni school, and they live in the arid Sahel lands, along

2412-422: The Zarma language. Other scholars, however, believe them to have been part of the broader Songhai ethnic umbrella since the beginning. The Zarma migrated south-eastward into their current geographic concentration during the Songhai Empire period, settling particularly in what is now southwest Niger near the capital Niamey . According to legend, this migration was led by Mali Bero , who migrated by flying on

2479-702: The Zarma people at the end of the 1890s, during a period of intra-ethnic conflict. The French established a partnership with the Zarmakoy Aouta of Dosso , building a military post there in November 1898. From 1901 to 1903 the area was plagued by natural disasters such as famines and locust attacks, as the French increased their presence. The French relied on the Dosso post and Niger river valley as supply hubs as they attempted to establish their colonial control all

2546-437: The Zarma people have traditionally been a socially stratified society, like the Songhai people at large, with their society featuring castes . According to the medieval and colonial era descriptions, their vocation is hereditary, and each stratified group has been endogamous. The social stratification has been unusual in two ways; one it embedded slavery, wherein the lowest strata of the population inherited slavery, and second

2613-417: The Zarma-Songhai people have included the kings and warriors, the scribes, the artisans, the weavers, the hunters, the fishermen, the leather workers and hairdressers (Wanzam), and the domestic slaves (Horso, Bannye). Each caste reveres its own guardian spirit. Some scholars such as John Shoup list these strata in three categories: free (chiefs, farmers and herders), servile (artists, musicians and griots), and

2680-632: The area within the Inner and Outer Walls and beyond indicate that the city was densely populated. It is estimated that the city of Ilé-Ifè had a population of 70,000–105,000 during the mid-fourteenth century. Ife's prominence grew so much that it was even possibly mentioned on a 1375 Catalan trade map known as the Catalan Atlas , and the Castilian Book of All Kingdoms under the name Rey de Organa or Kingdom of Organa. The name Organa alludes to

2747-500: The concept as an alternative to 'corporate kinship group' among the cognatic kinship groups of the Pacific region. The socially significant groupings within these societies have variable membership because kinship is reckoned bilaterally (through both father's and mother's kin) and come together for only short periods. Property, genealogy and residence are not the basis for the group's existence. Lévi-Strauss' most succinct definition of

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2814-418: The core group (the highest-ranking members) will inhabit the House as a residence. The other House members (which Errington refers to as the "server group") will only come together on special ritual occasions, making this an "occasional kinship group." Other House members have multiple overlapping ties to other Houses as well, through both mother's and father's kin. Their ability to assert a claim to membership in

2881-519: The core urban center of Ilé-Ifè. The building of the wall led to a massive conflict between the Odùduwà group and another mega-house(consisting of the original indigenous population of Ilé-Ifè), led by a man named Obatálá . The Odùduwà group ended up winning the conflict. Leaders such as Odùduwà and Obatálá would later be deified after death, becoming core members of the Yoruba traditional religion pantheon of divinities. According to oral traditions ,

2948-473: The crops cultivated and the trade networks that influenced agricultural practices in the region. Excavations have revealed a variety of plant remains. The primary crops identified include Cowpea , Okra , Palm oil , Pearl millet , Sorghum , Cotton , and Wheat . Cotton remains date back to the 11th-12th centuries, marking the earliest known use of this crop south of the Sahara. The presence of cotton suggests

3015-503: The kingdom of Luwu in Sulawesi, is an "optional" kinship group. Schrauwers has argued that class and House formation are linked. He points out, for example, that the inherited estate of some Sulawesi House societies in the kingdom of Luwu is composed of slaves; that is, the House's property is composed of another social rank of individuals. In this case, class and rank are synonymous. Because they are property, slaves are prevented from forming their own Houses. Commoners in those societies are of

3082-584: The leaders of small Zarma principalities. Some helped Askia Muhammad overthrow Sonni Baru in 1493, but did not return to power. After leaving Gao, the Zarma first settled in the Zarmaganda , later expanding south into the Dallol Bosso valley and Dosso by the 17th century. Forming a number of small communities, each led by a chief or ruler called Zarmakoy , these polities were in conflict for economically and agriculturally attractive lands with

3149-457: The main carriers of Yoruba goods into the Sahel during the Classical period, and showed a good amount of political and religious influence. The Ife Empire was one of the oldest trading empires in West Africa and an early partner in the trans-Saharan trade . One of Ife's earliest trade routes was up the Niger to Gao , the route became active as early as the ninth century. Glass beads were one of

3216-615: The military of the Ife Empire looked like during the 14th century. They were equipped with a range of gear and weapons. A copper sculpture from Jebba Island portrays an archer wearing an armored tunic made of strip leather, a knife hilt secured in the tunic’s front, along with a quiver and throwing stick on their back. The armor is similar to the coat of mail worn by populations in Bornu. Portrayals of weaponry in Ife art hint at historical changes in armament forms in this era. Hausa style knives and sheathes were said to have been found at Ita Yemoo,

3283-468: The most considerable countries of the Sudan, and their sultan, one of the greatest sultans". He goes on further calling Yufi as a country that “no white man can enter . . . because the negroes will kill him before he arrives”, "White man" probably meaning Arabs or Berbers . Ife was almost certainly Yufi, Akinwumi Ogundiran writes. He continues Ilé-Ifè was the largest urban center, the biggest emporium, and

3350-625: The most sought-after items in West Africa during this time and Ife had a near monopoly of this market. Ife was likely the third place in the world glass was indigenously invented. Dichroic glass beads from Ilé-Ifè have been found at Kissi in Burkina Faso, Diouboye in Senegal, Gao Ancien, Essouk in Mali, and Koumbi Saleh in Mauritania, all in twelfth- to fourteenth-century contexts. Ilé-Ifè

3417-784: The north and Benin and Ijebu in the south. However Ife's cultural influence spanned westward all the way to southwestern Togo. As Ife grew, it became more ethnically diverse, with the northern parts of Ife around the Niger River and in Oyo having multiple other ethnic groups living with the Yorubas; the Nupe, Ìbàrìbá, and various Songhai peoples of which the Djerma were the most prominent. These various ethnic groups all migrated to Ife for commercial and resource opportunities. The Djerma, or Zarma, were

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3484-544: The periphery to attack each other, take slaves, and these would form Houses which then intermarry with the Houses at the centre. Zarma people The Zarma people are an ethnic group predominantly found in westernmost Niger . They are also found in significant numbers in the adjacent areas of Nigeria and Benin , along with smaller numbers in Burkina Faso , Ivory Coast , Ghana , Togo , and Sudan . In Niger,

3551-457: The precolonial period (through dialect, political structure, or religion), but these are difficult to differentiate according to Fuglestad. Groups usually referred to as part of the Zarma or Songhay, but who have traceable historical distinctions include the Gabda, Tinga, Sorko, Kalles, Golles, Loqas and Kurtey peoples. The Zarma language is one of the southern Songhai languages , a branch of

3618-418: The production of high-value crafts, such as glass-bead production, featured prominently. Ife grew to have a robust industry in metals, producing high-quality iron and steel. As the population grew, a second wall was built in the capital city Ilé-Ife during the thirteenth century and the construction and pavement of several major roads began as well. The occurrence of potsherd pavements in virtually every part of

3685-598: The region from across the Niger by the eleventh or twelfth century. In exchange, Ife would trade sundry rainforest goods, of which glass beads and ivory were the most highly prized. Ife was also likely a part of the Silk Trade on the Silk Road between the twelfth through fifteenth centuries, with long-distance trade routes going up all the way to Nubia from Kanem during the 1300s. Evidence for this are coptic cross motifs found on objects, burial sites, and statues in

3752-481: The region's integration into broader trade networks. Livestock such as sheep and goats were also kept. Dwellings had a clay terrace and wooden columns to hold up the roof. Floors were paved with potsherd tiles, ceramic tiles, and cobblestone. The walls and columns of elite buildings were decorated with ceramic disks. Most of the potsherd tiles were arranged linearly in herringbone patterns , and colored sherds were arranged in geometric mosaics . It appears that between

3819-456: The slave class. The servile group were socially required to be endogamous, while the slaves could be emancipated over four generations. The traditionally free strata of the Zerma people have owned property and herds, and these have dominated the political system and governments during and after the French colonial rule. Within the stratified social system, the Islamic system of polygynous marriages

3886-545: The social stratification among Zarma-Songhai people as well as other ethnic groups in West Africa, but suggested that sociologists should invent a new term for West African social stratification system. Other scholars consider this a bias and isolationist because the West African system shares all elements in Dumont's system, including economic, ritual, spiritual, endogamous, elements of pollution, segregative and spread over

3953-452: The title of first dynasty of Ife rulers, i.e. Ógáne (Óghéné, Ógéne̩). The same name is referenced in a Portuguese account from the 1480s about an inland ruler who played a central role in Benin royal enthronements. At its zenith in the 14th century, the Ife empire stretched across around three hundred kilometers or one hundred eighty-six miles, and encompassed Owu , Jebba , Tada, and Oyo in

4020-473: The way to Chad . This led to conflicts with the Zarma people. French colonial rulers established mines throughout West Africa staffed with African labor, many of whom were migrant Zarma people. Thousands of Zarma travelled to various mines, as well as to build roads and railroads. These laborers followed pre-colonial raiding pathways towards the Gold coast, with colonial mines provided economic opportunities and

4087-486: The wealthiest polity in West Africa’s rain forest belt south of the Niger River during the mid-fourteenth century, with more than two centuries of trading contact with the Western Sudan. On account of these facts alone, it is the best match for Ibn Battuta’s Yufi. Moreover, on linguistic grounds, Yufi is a Mandé or an Arabic transliteration of “Ufè,” the proper name for “Ifè” in a central Yorùbá dialect. The Bead Road

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4154-567: Was brought under Ife's rule when Oranmiyan , a Yoruba prince, was invited by Benin kingmakers to overthrow the former Benin ruling dynasty, the Ogiso dynasty, and establish a new one, the Oba dynasty. Modern scholars place this event as happening between ca. 1200 and ca. 1250. It was under Oranmiyan that the country received a new name: Ile-Ibinu (from its former name of Igodomigodo ), which would later be corrupted to "Benin". Outside Ife (Several) Once

4221-416: Was likely dealing with Islamic expansions during the 14th century. A group of rock carvings found around nine miles south of Ife show carved images including hands holding a sword, bound arms, a decapitated man, another sword, two clusters of spears, a tortoise, a snake, what seems to be a leopard, and a Muslim prayer board. The carving seems to depict a battle. Since the carving shows Obatala linked animals and

4288-490: Was originally proposed by Claude Lévi-Strauss who called them " sociétés à maison ". The concept has been applied to understand the organization of societies from Mesoamerica and the Moluccas to North Africa and medieval Europe. The House society is a hybrid, transitional form between kin-based and class-based social orders, and is not one of Lévi-Strauss' ' elementary structures ' of kinship. Lévi-Strauss introduced

4355-421: Was surrounded by two concentric walls, which were around 15 feet high and 6 feet thick. Remains of impluvia , paved with Potsherds and Quartz stone, have been revealed through archaeological work. The impluvia were drained by clay or grindstone pipes underneath the floor. One of Ife's northernmost provinces, Owu , controlled the trade connecting the rest of Ife and western Sudan, where Ifè glass beads passed into

4422-474: Was the Ife “confederacy". Conflicts over resources continued however, exacerbated by the aridity and a rising population. During said conflicts, a group of people led by a leader named Odùduwà emerged, who most likely came from Oke Ora , a hilltop settlement to the east, and built a large perimeter wall between the 10th to 11th centuries. Measuring about 7 km (4.3 mi) in circumference and 2.3 km (1.4 mi) in diameter, this wall would soon become

4489-419: Was the only known industrial center for HLHA glass production. Glass beads were used as a form of currency in Ife, and strings and other standard measremnts of Segi beads were used for purchasing high value products and services. Ife's fame spread far and wide; In 1352, Ibn Battuta was informed during his visit to Mali about a powerful black Pagan kingdom to the south called Yufi, which he described as “one of

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