Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves

Book excerpt: Over the course of two centuries, the region of the Middle Niger valley of the Western Sudan was dominated by three successive states: the indigenous Segu Bambara state, the Islamic Umarian state, and the French colonial state. In each of these states, warriors were the rulers, and not surprisingly warfare was the primary expression of state power. The survival of each state depended on its ability to reproduce its capacity to make war; in order to do so, the warrior state intervened in the economy. In each of the three states, the interrelationship of warfare, the state, and the economy produced different results. How the state actually intervened in the economy and how this intervention influenced the structure and performance of the economy is the subject of this book. During the 200 years under study, the regional economy of the Middle Niger valley expanded and contracted in response to the state's capacity to provide conditions favorable to commercial development, capital accumulation, and investment. When the Segu Bambara state was able to control the autonomy of its warriors, the state encouraged the expansion of the regional economy. The Umarians, on the other hand, preyed upon producers within the region, and created conditions that discouraged long-term investments. The very success of the French conquest initially encouraged investment, especially in the form of slaves. After 1894, however, conflict between civilian colonial authorities and the French military undermined the economic and social foundations erected by the military. From 1905 to 1914, slaves left their masters and helped once again to transform the structure and performance of the economy.