BARTH UNWITTINGLY BEHAVES AS AN AGITATOR
AND AUTHORITIES ARREST HIM
Bagirmi officials think he will "upset the kingdom"
should he arrive in the absence of the sultan,
He is arrested for 18 days,
four of them in irons.
The sultan eventually lets him leave
but not explore Bagirmi:
A polite way of saying,
"Get out of here and don't come back"
• On his way from Logone to Bagirmi,
Barth behaves like a king:
Barth behaves like a king:
° He gives away so much wealth (in needles)
that he is called "the needle prince:"
But hand-outs are meant to gain partisans.
° He shares provisions of the Logone ruler
with a caravan leader,
not realizing that only kings do so
(it shows that the trader has been accepted
and prevents him from obtaining supplies from locals).
° He sits on a carpet
(until he learns that only kings may do so).
that he is called "the needle prince:"
But hand-outs are meant to gain partisans.
° He shares provisions of the Logone ruler
with a caravan leader,
not realizing that only kings do so
(it shows that the trader has been accepted
and prevents him from obtaining supplies from locals).
° He sits on a carpet
(until he learns that only kings may do so).
• He appears to have supernatural powers
° That is partly due to bad luck:
When thunderclouds disperse as he leaves his hut,
he is called "king of the high regions."
But then he stays in his hut as much as possible,
the inaccessibility probably adding to his aura.
° Distributing medecines sparks belief in his magic:
On his expulsion,
crowds follow him "all the way from Bagirmi"
to obtain them.
° Add his personal appearance,
whose oddity makes him automatically distinct.
On his expulsion,
crowds follow him "all the way from Bagirmi"
to obtain them.
° Add his personal appearance,
whose oddity makes him automatically distinct.
• Most significant:
The appearance of the crowds themselves,
which reveals the destabilisation
that comes with economic growth
The appearance of the crowds themselves,
which reveals the destabilisation
that comes with economic growth
The Logone ruler with his limited authority cannot control its effects.
European precedents: Millenarial movements begin at the end of the 11th century in places where commerce expands (the Rhine valley, parts of northern France and Belgium, and large parts of Europe later). When there is no economic growth such records are absent.
European precedents: Millenarial movements begin at the end of the 11th century in places where commerce expands (the Rhine valley, parts of northern France and Belgium, and large parts of Europe later). When there is no economic growth such records are absent.
A classic study of European revolutionary messianism
• Those crowds foreshadow
the mass millenarial movements
that will sweep the savannah
 |
Kanembu warriors, "Le tour du monde," ed. Elysée Reclus, 1885
(The Kanembu: a Bornu population)
|
the old ways are irretrievably gone,
social ties dissolved
and ancestral beliefs no longer reassure,
people may flock to leaders who are outside the norm --
including a European explorer of Africa.
and ancestral beliefs no longer reassure,
people may flock to leaders who are outside the norm --
including a European explorer of Africa.
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