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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Administration of Bonde, 1920-1960: A Study of the Implementation of Indirect Rule in Tanganyika
Author:Willis, JustinISNI
Year:1993
Periodical:African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:92
Issue:366
Period:January
Pages:53-67
Language:English
Geographic term:Tanzania
Subjects:Bondei
ethnicity
indirect rule
colonialism
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/723096
Abstract:The implementation of indirect rule and the creation of Native Authorities in Tanganyika Territory (now Tanzania) in the 1920s might seem to provide a classic example of the 'creation of tribalism'. However, the history of indirect rule in Bonde, northeastern Tanganyika, suggests that local circumstance much affected the implementation of indirect rule, and that in certain circumstances indirect rule, the invention of chiefs and the creation of tribes were not considered by the local administration to be effective or efficient adjuncts to colonial government. With the help of the provincial administration, and the apparent tolerance of the government in Dar, the district administration was able for a number of years to avoid not only the invention of a chief for the area, but also the implementation of any meaningful degree of indirect rule. In the rather different circumstances of the 1940s and 1950s, however, another influential group was willing to make use of the ideology of tribalism. This was the sisal industry, and events in Bonde suggest that this industry was able to interfere in local politics through the provision of various kinds of patronage. The influence of this industry was sufficient to overcome the continuing opposition of the district administration to the idea of the Bondei tribe, and to allow a small group of Bondei 'culture brokers' to secure a temporary victory for their vision of a Bondei tribe ruled by a Bondei chief; though national politics was soon to make this victory irrelevant. Ref.
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