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| Title: | Fishing for the state: the political economy of the middle Niger valley |
| Author: | Roberts, R. |
| Book title: | Modes of production in Africa; the precolonial era / ed. by D. Crummey and C.C. Stewart |
| Year: | 1981 |
| Pages: | 174-203 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Mali |
| Subjects: | fishermen history Segu polity |
| Abstract: | The Somono (a term which means fisherman or, more exactly, boatmen) form a professional group composed of many ethnically different elements including Soninké, Malinke, Bambara, Bobo, Minianka, and Bozo. Despite their diverse origins, these fishermen of the middle part of the Niger river were all more or less subordinated to the dominant state in the region during the 18th and 19th centuries. The exact relationships of dependence are explored in the present article. The earliest relationship, between the Somono and the Segu Bambara state (c. 1712-1861) resembled a 'social contract' involving a high degree of volition. This volition declined as the Somono came to play an increasingly important role in the structure of the Segu state. The Somono were eventually inserted into the actual process of reproducing the form and economic expression of the state. The state in return recognised the Somono's importance and fostered them through special recruitment and privilege. Once established, the relationship between the Somono and the state underwent considerable change during the course of the 19th century as the pagan Bambara state was conquered by the Futanké under al-Hajj Umar in 1861 and once again when Segu was conquered by the French in 1890. Map, notes, ref. |