Islam, power, and dependency in the Gambia River basin : the politics of land control, 1790-1940 / / Assan Sarr [[electronic resource]]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910163899403321
• Autore: Sarr Assan
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Rochester : , : University of Rochester Press, , 2016
• ISBN: 1-78204-870-7
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (xiii, 244 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Collana: Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora ; ; volume 75
• Disciplina: 333.3096651
• Soggetti: Land use - Political aspects - Gambia River Watershed; Islam - Gambia River Watershed - History - 19th century; Islam - Gambia River Watershed - History - 20th century; Gambia Politics and government 19th century; Gambia Politics and government 20th century; Senegal Politics and government 19th century; Senegal Politics and government 20th century; Guinea Politics and government 19th century; Guinea Politics and government 20th century
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 27 Apr 2018).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: The founding of Mandinka settlements -- Land and the politics of exclusion -- The power of the wild spirits -- The end of Soninke rule -- Spiritual persistence though change -- The politicization of chieftaincy.
• Sommario/riassunto: Islam, Power, and Dependency in the Gambia River Basin draws on new sources to offer an original approach to the study of land in African history. Documenting the impact of Islamization, the development of peanut production, and the institution of colonial rule on people living along the middle and lower Gambia River, the book shows how these waves of changes sweeping the region after 1850 altered local political and social arrangements, with important implications for the ability of elites to control land. Author Assan Sarr argues for a nuanced understanding of land and its historic value in Africa. Moving beyond a recognition of the material value of land, Sarr's analysis highlights its ; cultural and social worth, pointing out the spiritual associations the land generated and the ways that certain people gained privileged access to those spiritual powers. By emphasizing that the land around the Gambia River both inspired and gave form to a cosmology of ritual and belief, the book points to what might be considered an indigenous tradition of ecological preservation and protection. Assan Sarr is assistant professor of history at Ohio University.