The Relationship between Trade in Southern Mozambique and State Formation Reassessing H... - 12 views
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F or the past 37 years, David Hedges’ cattle trade theory has dominated the historical analysis of state formation in southern Africa during the 19th century.
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sivemhlobo on 18 Apr 23except for the ivory trade even cattle trade was dominant in 19th century,but the major focus of this article is the Ivory trade.
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The Portuguese ivory trade at Delagoa Bay started in 1545, when a sporadic trade based on the monsoon seasons laid the foundation for the export of ivory that would boom in the latter half of the 18th century
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his trade has been a key element in the dominant explanations offered for accelerated processes of political centralisation in northern Kwazulu-Natal, which culminated in the rise of the Zulu kingdom
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This article reviews the evidence and arguments presented by Hedges and suggests that while his work haws provided an important contribution to the debate, elements of his argument need substantial revision
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n 1799, the Portuguese established a permanent fort on Punta V ermelha, supplying ivory to the market through Mozambique Island.
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The debate about the causes of state formation in northern Kwazulu-Natal has included a wide range of factors: individual genius, population growth, trade and drough
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The debate about the causes of state formation in northern Kwazulu-Natal has included a wide range of factors: individual genius, population growth, trade and drought. Most historians would now avoid a single explanation for this phenomenon, and there is also an acknowledgement that the processes at work lie further back in time and developed over a wider geographical area than thought at first.
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he argument that trade with Delagoa Bay played an important part remains unchallenged, but what exactly this role was is far from clear.
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The argument that trade with Delagoa Bay played an important part remains unchallenged, but what exactly this role was is far from clear. The ‘Mfecane debate’, and in particular Cobbing’s suggestion that slave trading had played a decisive role, sparked interest in the issue, but it waned after Eldredge’s critique of the periodisation of his argument.
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According to Newitt, this period of drought lasted between 1794 and 1802, and the Mahlatule is widely cited as a possible cause for political, social and economic changes leading to the emergence of the Zulu Kingdom. 5
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The focus of this article is on trade, but its purpose is not to suggest that this is the only significant factor.
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edges also stressed the external demand for ivory as the reason for the ivory boom, rather than, as I claim, the internal demand for brass as the reason for the ivory boom. 7
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ater asserted that the origins of centralised political authority lay in the ivory trade, largely because
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he chiefdoms of the northern Nguni were progressively incorporated into exchanging commodities with Europeans from 1750. 10
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Hedges modified Smith’s trade theory by suggesting that a cattle trade replaced a sharply dwindling ivory trade during the late 18th century, and argued that it was this change that influenced the development of state formation
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According to him, the structures initially developed to maintain a large supply of ivory to the coast were significant to state formation. Hedges proposed that the boom in the ivory trade created a greater need for labour, which in turn led to chiefs drawing on regiment age sets, or amabutho, to facilitate hunting elephant in order to deliver a constant supply of ivory to the market
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ccording to him, the structures initially developed to maintain a large supply of ivory to the coast were significant to state formation. Hedges proposed that the boom in the ivory trade created a greater need for labour, which in turn led to chiefs drawing on regiment age sets, or amabutho, to facilitate hunting elephant in order to deliver a constant supply of ivory to the marke
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ccording to him, the structures initially developed to maintain a large supply of ivory to the coast were significant to state formation. Hedges proposed that the boom in the ivory trade created a greater need for labour, which in turn led to chiefs drawing on regiment age sets, or amabutho, to facilitate hunting elephant in order to deliver a constant supply of ivory to the market.
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he boom in the ivory trade created a greater need for labour, which in turn led to chiefs drawing on regiment age sets, or amabutho, to facilitate hunting elephant in order to deliver a constant supply of ivory to the market
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edges claimed that the ivory trade had rapidly declined by the end of the 18th century, and was replaced by a substantial cattle trade based on whalers’ need for fresh meat.
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The amabutho, previously employed to hunt, were subsequently used for cattle raiding.
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he country trade was a special feature of the English East India Company (EEIC) that allowed either servants or ex-servants of the company to import quantities of certain goods on their own accounts. 16
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Trade flourished in the Indian Ocean because traders were given the freedom to explore coasts and take advantage of trade within the terms of their licences.
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The importance of Chandler’s country trade was his access to capital with which to maintain a supply of a large quantity of trade goods, in particular the brass items that were in high demand in the southern hinterland of Delagoa Bay (see Table 1). Besides the limited political interference displayed by Europeans at this time, the greater level of ivory supply to the coast can be attributed to the ample supply of brass.
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9 These two clauses were part of an attempt to keep access to the trade routes from the north and north-west open, which suggests that Bolts expected ivory from these directions
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ese two clauses were part of an attempt to keep access to the trade routes from the north and north-west open, which suggests that Bolts expected ivory from these directions. 30
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his policy not only provided the trading post with an income from port duties payable by any ship, other those flying the Austrian flag, but also excited trade. The Austrians, however, lacked the leverage to enforce the stipulations of the contracts, and the supply of ivory depended on the chiefs’ satisfaction with the payments offered
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The traders from the north traded along the Nkomati river, bringing ivory in exchange for black cloth, and the abundance of brass offered along the Maputo river attracted the supply from the south, from the area beyond the Mkuze river, today known as northern KwaZulu-Natal.
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The traders from the north traded along the Nkomati river, bringing ivory in exchange for black cloth, and the abundance of brass offered along the Maputo river attracted the supply from the south, from the area beyond the Mkuze river, today known as northern KwaZulu-Natal.
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ough the European trade base was situated on Inhaca Island, the trade hub along the Bay’s shores had come to include a section along the Maputo river stretching into the interior, and involved the northern Nguni in trade
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he northern Nguni (including the Ndandwe, Ngwane and Mthethwa) formed political alliances with Tembe chiefs Mabudu and Mapanielle, who were the brothers of the Tembe paramount Mangova, to control trade further along the Maputo river and ‘secure communications’ between these groups. 3
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During the four-year Austrian stint in south-eastern Africa, the export of ivory increased significantly in comparison to that during the Dutch period
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is figure translates to 6,250 lb of ivory per month, representing the slaughter of over 160 elephants per month for the sake of the trade
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ure translates to 6,250 lb of ivory per month, representing the slaughter of over 160 elephants per month for the sake of the trad
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The scale of the slaughter of elephants implies two things: one is the high value that these societies placed on exotic goods, namely beads and cloth and, more specifically, brass, as we shall later see
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he other is the pressure that elephant hunting placed on societies to supply labour in order to produce such great quantities of ivory and transport it to the coast. Elephant hunting was labour intensive: men needed to locate, track, pursue and bring down animals, cut out tusks and carry their spoils long distances to collection points along the upper reaches of the Maputo river. 39
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lephant hunting was labour intensive: men needed to locate, track, pursue and bring down animals, cut out tusks and carry their spoils long distances to collection points along the upper reaches of the Maputo rive
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Methods commonly used in Africa to kill elephant included using spears, or bows and poisoned arrows; digging pitfalls and deadfalls, perching in trees over elephant paths in order to plunge spears into animals passing underneath, and severing the hamstring tendon with a light axe. 41 This demand for labour explains why ageregiment systems developed at much the same time in the Ndwandwe, Ngwane and Mthethwa societies, as units of labour for the state.
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nlike the secretive blacksmiths, brass workers were summoned to the chief’s homestead to fashion items in plain view, and were hosted as guests of the ruler. What is more telling regarding the prestige of brass work is the fact that, unlike the blacksmiths who ‘might occasionally’ be presented with gifts of cattle, brass workers ‘used to be rewarded with cattle for their pains’
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The English ivory trade was a source of copper and brass, and traders could supply copious amounts of these cuprous goods.
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More than half of the Austrian trade occurred along the Maputo river, and the influx of brass into northern Nguni territory was in all likelihood a reason for the growth of the Ngwane, Ndwandwe and Mthethwa states during the late 18th century, with the Ndwandwe in closest proximity to the Mabudu–Mapanielle of Tembe stock, whose authority commanded the furthest exchange point south along the Maputo river.
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With the greater influx of brass, the need to control the redistribution of this trade item increased, contributing to the centralisation of power and the emergence of Ndwandwe society along the Mkuze and Pongola rivers
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The presence of whaling ships increased the provisions trade to the northern Tembe. Whalers who had arrived a little early for the whaling season did trade in some ivory on their own account. But in their eyes, cheap provisions, rather than an ivory trade, was the advantage of Delagoa Bay, and they chose to deal directly with chiefs. 74
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his increase in production represents the innovative attitude of the successive Tembe chiefs, who adapted to the changing demand in order to gain prestigious goods.
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The importance of the whalers’ food trade lay in the value of the items they liberally exchanged for food.
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here are three problems with this view. The first is that until 1804 the ivory trade remained significant, although diminished. The second is the timing of a large number of whaling ships frequenting the Bay. 103 The third problem is connected to the capacity of whalers to consume so much meat. Although it had fallen to lower levels, the ivory trade remained significant to the south-east African trade network. In 1802–1803, the Bombay council’s statistics show that the trade from Mozambique Island had the value of 81,255 rupees, and 40 per cent of this amount (that is, 32,600 rupees) were supplied from Delagoa Bay. 104
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welve years later, the imports to Surat were valued at 21,775 rupees from Mozambique Island, which could have included a portion from Delagoa Bay. 10
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This amount represents 26 per cent of the income calculated in 1802–1803. Thus not only did the ivory trade continue throughout the whaling period of 1785–1799, it also did so throughout first 15 years of the 19th century, supplying brass and other goods at a reduced yet significant rate to chiefdoms of the Nguni