AFRICAN KINGS, PRESTIGIOUS CONSTRAINTS

CONTROL OF ECONOMIES WOULD LEAD RULERS TO EXTEND THEIR POWER, BUT SYMBOLS OF ROYALTY RESTRAIN THEM

-- On constraints' universality:

The Golden Bough, a Study of Magic and Religion by Sir James Frazer, London, 1890.

 Isolation

Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in 1821, 1822, 1823 by Capt. Hugh Clapperton, London, 1826.

The barrier emphasizes the aura of the sultan of Bornu (in Northern Nigeria), while separating him and empowering his entourage.  

Obesity, prestigious when food is scarce

• "Large bellies are indispensable attributes for whoever serves the court of Bornu. Those whom nature has not favored compensate with a quantity of stuffing that when they are on horseback, give their bellies the singular appearance of hanging over the saddle." 

• "His death was attributed to his extreme corpulence. His exhausted horse refused to go on.

-- Clapperton, pp. 76-77 (text slightly shortened).  

For a wider view of how obesity is viewed,

please click.

Headdresses

"Those whose turbans seemed the most carefully arranged were obliged to lean their heads to one side. That of the sultan was largest of all."

-- Clapperton, following the image above.

  

Same idea 

Hapi IV, king of Bana (Cameroon), Rois d'Afrique by Daniel Lainé, Paris, 1991

Less extreme, 

but headgear still hinders movement: 

     Charles VII of France, after Jean  Fouquet toward 1450 / zoom 

     Colbert presenting the Members of the Academy of Science to Louis XIV (cropped) by Henri Testelin,1667 / zoom

.

Rulers are in the heart of battle but are not allowed to fight —

exploits would reinforce them:

• That king who "according to custom was not armed, sat down under a tree surrounded by his eunuchs [...] he calmly awaited his death [...] and was pierced by a hundred spears." 

 -- Same (bold added).

• In Darfur, the army surrounds the ruler "as a ring surrounds the finger." When a king enters a fight nevertheless, his vassals abandon him and say, "All we ask is that you ride with us in the center of the army. We do the fighting [...]"

They strangle him.

 -- Al-Tunisi, Voyage to Darfur, 1845, p. 79.

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Ritual:

Though known for his energy, king Gelele of Dahomey is so exhausted after eight hours of parading in noise and dust that he cancels the rest of the festivities.  

-- Richard Burton, A Visit to Gelele, King of Dahomey, 1864, London, 1966 ed.pp. 186-7

    

"Kings do not travel as quickly as ordinary men
and I must convey you as slowly as possible."  

-- Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination of the Niger

by John and Richard Lander, London, 1832, p. 257.

French similarity: 

    Louis XIV "had a gait that suited only someone of his rank,

 on anyone else it would have been absurd."

- Voltaire, Le Siècle de Louis XIV, Paris, p. 413.

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Next,
"Absurd" succession practices