Indirect rule

Indirect rule was a system of governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Africa and Asia, which was done through pre-existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule was used by various colonial rulers such as: the French in Algeria and Tunisia, the Dutch in the East Indies, the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique and the Belgians in Rwanda and Burundi. These dependencies were often called "protectorates" or "trucial states".

Contents

• British Empire
• In Africa
• Practical implementation
• Interpretations
• See also
• References
• Sources and references
• Period writings

Through this system, the day-to-day government and administration of both small and large areas were left in the hands of traditional rulers, who gained prestige and the stability and protection afforded by the Pax Britannica (in the case of British territories). Consequentially done at the cost of losing control of their external affairs, and often of taxation, communications, and other matters. It was usually carried out with a small number of European "advisors" effectively overseeing the government of large numbers of people spread over extensive areas. ^[1]

British Empire

Some British colonies were ruled directly by the Colonial Office in London, while others were ruled indirectly through local rulers who are supervised behind the scenes by British advisors. In 1890 Zanzibar became a protectorate (not a colony) of Britain. British Prime Minister Salisbury explained his position:

The condition of a protected dependency is more acceptable to the half civilized races, and more suitable for them than direct dominion. It is cheaper, simpler, less wounding to their self-esteem, gives them more career as public officials, and spares of unnecessary contact with white men. ^[2]

The Princely states of India were also ruled indirectly, with the Indian territories ruled indirectly experiencing similar effects to those in Africa that experienced indirect rule. ^[3] The same went for many of the West African holdings of the British and French empires. ^[4]

Practical implementation

Indirect rule was cheaper and easier for the European powers and, in particular, it required fewer administrators, but had a number of problems. In many cases, European authorities empowered local traditional leaders, as in the case of the monarchy of Uganda, but if no suitable leader could be found (in the traditional Western sense of the term), the Europeans would simply choose local rulers to suit them. ^[9] This was the case in Kenya and Southern Nigeria, and the new leaders, often called "warrant chiefs", were not always supported by the local population. The European ruling classes also often chose local leaders with similar traits to their own, despite these traits not being suited to native leadership. Many were conservative elders, and thus indirect rule fostered a conservative outlook among the indigenous population and marginalised the young intelligentsia. Written laws, which replaced oral laws, were less flexible to the changing social nature, old customs of retribution and justice were removed or banned, as well as the removal of more violent punishments. Furthermore, leaders empowered by the governments of European powers were often not familiar with their new tasks, such as recruitment and tax. ^[10]

Interpretations

From the early 20th century, French and British writers helped establish a dichotomy between British indirect rule, exemplified by the Indian princely states and by Lugard's writings on the administration of northern Nigeria, and French colonial direct rule. As with British theorists, French colonial officials like Félix Eboué or Robert Delavignette ^[11] wrote and argued throughout the first half of the 20th century for a distinct French style of rule that was centralized, uniform, and aimed at assimilating colonial subjects into the French polity. ^{[12] [13] [14]} French rule, sometimes labeled Jacobin , was said in these writings to be based on the twin ideologies of the centralized unitary French government of the Metropole, with the French colonial ideology of Assimilation. Colonial Assimilation argued that French law and citizenship was based on universal values that came from the French Revolution. Mirroring French domestic citizenship law, French colonial law allowed for anyone who could prove themselves culturally French (the "Évolués") to become equal French citizens. ^{[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]} In French West Africa, only parts of the Senegalese "Four Communes" ever extended French citizenship outside a few educated African elite. ^{[20] [21]}

While making more subtle distinctions, this model of direct versus indirect rule was dominant in academia from the 1930s ^[22] until the 1970s. ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Academics since the 1970s have problematised the Direct versus Indirect Rule dichotomy, ^[26] arguing the systems were in practice intermingled in both British and French colonial governance, and that the perception of indirect rule was sometimes promoted to justify quite direct rule structures. ^{[27] [28]}

Mahmood Mamdani and other academics ^{[29] [30]} have discussed extensively how both direct and indirect rule were attempts to implement identical goals of foreign rule, but how the "indirect" strategy helped to create ethnic tensions within ruled societies which persist in hostile communal relations and dysfunctional strategies of government. ^{[31] [32]} Mamdani himself famously described indirect rule as "decentralised despotism". ^[33]

Some political scientists have even expanded the debate on how direct versus indirect rule experiences continue to affect contemporary governance into how governments which have never experienced being under colonial rule function. ^[34]

See also

• Bussa revolt – a 1915 uprising against indirect rule in Northern Nigeria
• Direct colonial rule
• Analysis of Western European colonialism and colonization
• Neocolonialism
• Vassal state
• Puppet state

Related Research Articles

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Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard, known as Sir Frederick Lugard between 1901 and 1928, was a British soldier, mercenary, explorer of Africa and a colonial administrator. He was Governor of Hong Kong (1907–1912), the last Governor of Southern Nigeria Protectorate (1912–1914), the first High Commissioner (1900–1906) and last Governor (1912–1914) of Northern Nigeria Protectorate and the first Governor-General of Nigeria (1914–1919).

The Sokoto Caliphate, also known as the Sultanate of Sokoto, was a Sunni Muslim caliphate in West Africa. It was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804 during the Fulani jihads after defeating the Hausa Kingdoms in the Fulani War. The boundaries of the caliphate are part of present-day Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. By 1837, the Sokoto state had a population of around 10-20 plus million people, becoming the most populous empire in West Africa. It was dissolved when the British, French and Germans conquered the area in 1903 and annexed it into the newly established Northern Nigeria Protectorate, Senegambia and Niger and Kamerun respectively.

Northern Nigeria was a British protectorate which lasted from 1900 until 1914, and covered the northern part of what is now Nigeria.

Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria formed in 1900 from the union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River.

Northern Nigeria was an autonomous division within Nigeria, distinctly different from the southern part of the country, with independent customs, foreign relations and security structures. In 1962, it acquired the territory of the British Northern Cameroons, which voted to become a province within Northern Nigeria.

The Bussa rebellion, also known as the Boussa rebellion, was a small insurrection in the town of Bussa against the policy of indirect rule in British-ruled Nigeria in June 1915. The rebellion was triggered by the British deposition of the local Emir of Bussa, Kitoro Gani, and his replacement with a Native Administration. The rebels attacked and killed around half of the members of the Administration, while the rest fled, leaving the rebels in control in Bussa. Despite the ongoing Kamerun campaign against the German Empire, the British were able to use a small force of soldiers which quickly suppressed the rebellion incurring no casualties. The Bussa Rebellion was the subject of a major work by British historian Michael Crowder.

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References

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Sources and references

• Michael Crowder. Indirect Rule: French and British Style. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 34, No. 3. (Jul., 1964), pp. 197–205.
• Paul Rich . The Origins of Apartheid Ideology: The Case of Ernest Stubbs and Transvaal Native Administration, c.1902-1932. African Affairs, Vol. 79, No. 315. (Apr., 1980), pp. 171–194.
• Omipidan Teslim

Indirect Rule in Nigeria OldNaija

• H. F. Morris . A History of the Adoption of Codes of Criminal Law and Procedure in British Colonial Africa, 1876–1935. Journal of African Law , Vol. 18, No. 1, Criminal Law and Criminology. (Spring, 1974), pp. 6–23.
• Jonathan Derrick. The 'Native Clerk' in Colonial West Africa. African Affairs, Vol. 82, No. 326. (Jan., 1983), pp. 61–74.
• Diana Wylie. Confrontation over Kenya: The Colonial Office and Its Critics 1918–1940. The Journal of African History , Vol. 18, No. 3. (1977), pp. 427–447.
• P. A. Brunt . Empires: Reflections on British and Roman Imperialism. Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 7, No. 3. (Apr., 1965), pp. 267–288.
• R. O. Collins and J. M. Burns. A History of Sub-Saharan Africa, Cambridge, 2007.
• Harrington, Jack (2010), Sir John Malcolm and the Creation of British India, Chs. 4 & 5., New York: Palgrave Macmillan., ISBN   978-0-230-10885-1