The colonial authorities perceived Upper Volta as the most important labour reservoir in French West Africa. Koudougou, the most populous administrative subdivision of what was Upper Volta during the colonial period, was probably also the most densely settled. Various types of colonial labour policies are examined. These include forced labour in its forms of annual ‘prestations’ and longer-term, large-scale recruiting for major public works, as well as military conscription and the use of the ‘2è portion’ in the public and private sectors. Based on archival research in West Africa, this study traces changes in the size of the labour force and the impact of the forced extraction of labour on the African populations. Finally, the wider significance of colonial labour policies is analysed.
The caravan route linking Benghazi and Wadai was probably the most important avenue of long-distance trade between the Mediterranean and the eastern Sudan in the late nineteenth century. It remained economically viable well after 1900, after commerce on routes further west had declined.Beginning with the Mejabra trader from Jālū who first found a direct route from Cyrenaica to Wadai in 1809 or 1810, this article traces the history of the route in the nineteenth century with special reference to the effects of Wadaian policies on trans-Saharan commerce. The important role of the Mejabra and Zūwāyā merchants from Libya is also considered.Fluctuating fortunes characterized trading activity along the route between its opening and the years after 1850. Beginning in the 1860s, however, commercial prospects improved steadily. Evidence suggests that the Sanūsīya Muslim brotherhood (ṭarīqa) was largely responsible for increased trade and prosperity along the route at this time. Because the order spanned the route's entire length, it solved many of the problems connected with long-distance commerce. It assured regular communication, relatively rapid transport, the creation of bonds of trust, a system of adjudication and arbitration, and an all-embracing structure of authority to maintain order and respect for judicial rulings. It functioned as a trading diaspora, but its members were not all of the same ethnic group. Rather, adherence to a single ṭarāqa bound merchants together and fostered the security necessary for the trade. The article concludes that the relationship between the brotherhood and commerce was symbiotic. The Sanūsīya sheltered commerce; in turn, the caravan trade brought wealth to the order and united its far-flung domains.
La notion de réfugié est relativement moderne, en particulier sur le plan juridique. Pourtant, avant même l’arrivée du colonisateur, l’Afrique a connu de nombreux exodes qui ont marqué son paysage sociodémographique. Le recul de l’historien permet de mieux apprécier l’ampleur de ces phénomènes. Ainsi, dans le nord de l’actuelle République centrafricaine au xix e siècle, les razzias des esclavagistes musulmans ont provoqué des déplacements de population qui ont bouleversé l’habitat, les modes alimentaires et les pratiques agraires. Pour échapper à l’esclavage, les réfugiés de l’époque sont partis vers le Sud et l’Ouest, parfois jusqu’au Soudan, où la mémoire collective a entretenu le souvenir de leur épopée.
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