Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves: The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, 1700-1914

by Richard Lee Roberts

Over the course of two centuries, the region of the Middle Niger valley of the Western Sudan was dominated by three successive the indigenous Segu Bambara state, the Islamic Umarian state, and the French colonial state. In each of these states, warriors were the rulers, and not surprisingly warfare was the primary expression of state power. The survival of each state depended on its ability to reproduce its capacity to make war; in order to do so, the warrior state intervened in the economy. In each of the three states, the interrelationship of warfare, the state, and the economy produced different results. How the state actually intervened in the economy and how this intervention influenced the structure and performance of the economy is the subject of this book.
During the 200 years under study, the regional economy of the Middle Niger valley expanded and contracted in response to the state's capacity to provide conditions favorable to commercial development, capital accumulation, and investment. When the Segu Bambara state was able to control the autonomy of its warriors, the state encouraged the expansion of the regional economy. The Umarians, on the other hand, preyed upon producers within the region, and created conditions that discouraged long-term investments. The very success of the French conquest initially encouraged investment, especially in the form of slaves.
After 1894, however, conflict between civilian colonial authorities and the French military undermined the economic and social foundations erected by the military. From 1905 to 1914, slaves left their masters and helped once again to transform the structure and performance of the economy.

Hardcover

First published June 30, 1987

Reviews

[Mwanafunzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a study of the Segou region over two centuries. Like other scholars of slavery in Africa, Roberts sees a dialectical process at work in his region of study. On the one hand, there arose a succession of warlord states in Segou which were inclined to raid neighbouring areas. On the other hand, these same warlord states hoped to exploit the productive labour of the people they came to dominate. Roberts traces the changes in political, economic, and military fortunes of several peoples, including the Somono, Maraka, Bambara, Fulbe, and, lastly, the French. Key to understanding the long-term history of Segou is the centrality of slavery. The three major states that Roberts identifies as succeeding one another are Bambara dynasties, the jihad movement of Umar Tal, and French imperialists. The Bambara dynasties were founded on slave-raiding. Outside slaves were channeled into subordinate Somono and Maraka communities as labourers. The Umarians were perhaps even more prolific slave raiders and traders. Whereas the Bambara dynasties facilitated an unequal but functioning politico-economic system, the jihadists ultimately destabilized the region. This was a significant factor in the pacification of the region by the French, who oversaw the eventual abolition of the slave trade, though this latter effort was rife with new forms of forced labour in the name of colonial development. The book remains very important.