The Úró System of Governance: Benin, Her Daughter States, and a New Model for Understanding the Role of Ancestry in the Pre- Colonial Political Systems of West Africa

Abstract

Historically, empires in every part of the world have been comprised of both native populations and semi-autonomous vassal territories. More often than not, foreign dependencies owed no real allegiance to their imperial overlords outside of the occasional payment of taxes and, in times of war, the supplication of soldiers for the national army. In Classical Africa, there are examples of vassal countries that are bound to a larger power, not by political obligation, but by cultural and spiritual connections based on a shared ancestry, real or imagined. In such political contexts, a vassal territory recognizes itself and the empire to which it belongs as two members of an extended family. British journalist Basil Davidson (1914–2010) referred to these dynamics as Mother States and Daughter States. Recognizing conceptual issues with these terms, this article proposes to use the term Úró System of Governance, derived from the Jamsay-Dogon word for house (Úró), as a new term or framework for understanding an ancient African social phenomenon. The Úró System of Governance is a socio-political phenomenon wherein a large group of individuals leaves their home country—usually under the leadership of a chief, military officer or member of a royal family (typically a prince)—to establish a new state, governed by a similar or identical political system, and maintaining cultural and ancestral ties to the country they emigrated from. These ancestral bonds are oftentimes reinforced through spiritual or religious practices. Using the Benin Empire as a case study, this article looks at the Kingdoms of Abavo, Aboh, Auchi, and Onitsha as historical examples of the Úró System of Governance.