AFRICAN KINGS, PRESTIGE AND CONSTRAINT

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, 1890

 Isolation

Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in 1821, 1822, 1823

by Captain Hugh Clapperton, London, 1826.

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"The Sultan of Bornu receives the mission"

The barrier emphasizes the aura of the sultan of Bornu (in Northern Nigeria), while separating him and giving power to 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. 

For a wider view of obesity, 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, 1991

Reference on preceding page.

The hat sets Louis XIV apart, but like the rest of his costume keeps him from easily moving.

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 (bold added).

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), 1966: 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, 1832, p. 257.

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"Absurd" succession practices