Family identity and the State in the Bamako Kafu, c.1800-c.1900

bibliographic database
Line

Book

Title:	Family identity and the State in the Bamako Kafu, c.1800-c.1900
Author:	Perinbam, Barbara Marie
Year:	1997
Pages:	341
Language:	English
Series:	African states and societies in history
City of publisher:	Boulder, CO
Publisher:	Westview Press
ISBN:	0813330807
Geographic term:	Mali
Subjects:	power Manding family history 1800-1899
Abstract:	This book explores the history and the cultural context of family claims to power in Bamako, Mali. These families manipulated traditional belief system in the quest for political power, economic success and social status. Principal among the families in the book are the Niare, clients of the powerful Bamana Segu State under the imperial hegemony of Biton (Mamari) Kulibaly (c. 1712-c. 1755). The author shows that as the Niare families migrated throughout the Western Sudan - and across several generations - familial identities shifted from Soninke at Wagadu to Marka-Sarakolle at Segu to Bamana at Bamako, with a possible Fulbe interlude inbetween. In the process the Niare families in particular, and the Mande families in general, negotiated and manipulated cultural forms - in accordance with identity changes - including myths, rituals and kin groups.