PC: Precolonial settlement in the Congo basin

[Godot]

Hey folks -

Figured I'd drop a line here as while I have a particular map proceeding fairly well I've gotten stuck on the Congo basin area - it's just a bit unclear if anything at all was going on there.

Well obviously not *nothing* was going on, but as far as I can tell permanent settlements were few, far between, and small. The nearest places I can find by 1880 or so include Tippu Tip's sultanate, the Kuba Kingdom, and assorted small Muslim statelets in today's CAR.

Cities like Kisangani weren't founded until after the Belgians arrived. Problem is - this TL has no Belgium, and as far as I've written Europeans don't even begin really exploring the region until the 1930s or 40s.

So what do I do with this blank gaping hole in the center of my continental map? Leave it as terra null? Would one of the Swahili slavers reasonably be able/willing to get that far West and be able to stick around?

 

[OxSpace]

You're going to have a hard time wrapping your head around Subsaharan Africa beyond the Niger if you try to look through a lens of Westphalian-esq polities. Peoples, tribes, and clans moved around fairly frequently, towns split and new villages were made, and centralization in the Congo basin certainly isn't prevalent all around. But that isn't to say states didn't blossom, because there were several dozen. The largest being the Lunda, whose capital Musumba was estimated to have 30,000 inhabitants. The Lunda would be dislodged by the Chowke, who recently acquired modern firearms, and it's likely the capital had a higher population prior to their sieges. You have other moderate size polities like the Kazembe and Luba, though the latter was plagued with succession crises that often split up the Kingdom. Smaller states included the Kalundwe, Kuba, Suku, Kasanje/Imbangala, Bolia, Songo, Kaniok, to name a few. If you go southwest to Angola, they are densely populated with Ovimbundu kingdoms, the largest being the Mbailundu which had a total population of 428,800 in 1799.

 

[Tomislav Addai]

Yes, I see where you are headed. While the southern half of Congo had strong polities in the savanna belt, whats going to happen in the Congo Rainforest proper. My guess is that the surest way of communication is via the rivers. So if someone downstream gets enough tech to be able to expand into the jungle they will.

 

[revachah2]

The issue was until the Banana was adopted by Mainland Africans (likely brought by early Austronesians who'd eventually become Malagasy) there were few is any crops that could grow in the true hot wet tropics, secondly the cattle/goats/sheep that propelled african agriculture in the first place could not survive their either.

In fact some researchers believe until the banana most regions of the Congo were not even inhabited full time by the pygmies.

A few years ago after learning that, I thought about making an atl about pygmies that raised Giant Forest Hogs that were along with the red river hog written as being quite docile with early human contact. It made me think of potential niches of para-basin living amongst the ancestors of pygmies that would allow them to compete against later encroaching groups.

I'd propose creating an early domestication event with a natural hybrid of Ensete gilletii and Ensete homblei or an ATL species that functioned much like their Ethiopian Ensete does in Gurage land where Enset-growing areas are characterized by the highest population density in Ethiopia.

I was thinking about an east to west, highland to lowland migration could make this work

 

[TheKutKu]

What? There were many towns in the 5-10k range, And easily some in the 10k+ range in the region Along the Congo river

Paths in the rainforest Jan Vansina, 1990 (good book on equatorial Africa, although a bit old I guess), p 229

Towns, unlike firms, were neither strong nor novel social units. In structure most were merely villages writ large; they existed only because strong firms jostled to occupy coveted locales and were held together by the need for a common defense. Nevertheless they were remarkable for their size. Many along the Zaire River counted over 5,000 inhabitants and perhaps five surpassed the 10,000 mark, a size otherwise known only from such places as the former capital of Kongo or the Kuba capital. The size of these towns indicates their central position in the economic organization of a far-reaching space.65

 

[Workable Goblin]

"Firms"? I assume the author isn't talking about joint-stock corporations...

 

[TheKutKu]

"Firms"? I assume the author isn't talking about joint-stock corporations...

"The impact of the Atlantic trade on the institutions of the peoples along the Zaire River upstream of the Malebo Pool was much less diversified than it was farther west (see map 7.5). Here large, centralized territorial polities had never existed. Structural change began when some groups of fishermen became traders and carriers The best-known case was that of the Bobangi. Some fishing villages in the, peninsula formed by the conflu-, ence of the Ubangi-and the Zaire probably first entered.the trade,in .the seventeenth century. Seeing lucrative opportunities, local big men emigrated to found new villages downstream, closer to the„Malebo Pool, but were careful to preserve links not. only. with, their village of origin but also with oth;r colpnies frorn that yiliage by reciprocal hospitality, blood- brotherhood, and marriage. Such fighting [between groups] was not rare when different groups of carriers carved out commercial spheres for themselves, [...] Each of these groups with its network of far-flung villages came to be seen, and thought of itself, as an ethnic group.

The trading Houses which formed the backbone of these networks soon became different from other Houses in the region, by virtue of their size, their composition, a new .internal , division of labor, and a new ideology,.Houseses became firms, and wealthy, successful firms were larger than other.Houses, They included only a tiny nucleus of free people, but social status was fluid, because the talents of a man as a trader overrode any ascriptive status, including slavery. But the living conditions were so onerous for most women that they preferred to abort rather than raise children in such surroundings. The firms thus depended on foreign women and young male slaves to reproduce themselves, and constantly needed fresh recruits.58 As to size and composition, Mswata in 1882 was a typical successful firm. It counted 290 people but only 8 free men. The head, Chief Ngobila, had 85 wives. There were about 125 dependents, a majority of them men. This firm, like many others, was then about 10 times larger than an ordinary House.59

[...]


The firm was a unit well adapted to an expanding commercial system. Able men—and, very rarely, able women—rose to positions of responsibility, so that cases where slaves succeeded their master, or even the big man himself, were not at all uncommon. [...] The measure of achievement was the ability to become wealthy. But in order to reach this goal men often had to assert themselves against others in violent ways. Aggressive personalities were quite common and big men were often physically strong men. The leader of the firm was obeyed only because of his wealth. He would lose his position, and could indeed even be sold as a slave himself, if he lost his wealth in war, in trade, or as the result of games of chance, which were the favorite pastime in such communities.6

 

[Gloss]

What? There were many towns in the 5-10k range, And easily some in the 10k+ range in the region Along the Congo river

Paths in the rainforest Jan Vansina, 1990 (good book on equatorial Africa, although a bit old I guess), p 229

Towns, unlike firms, were neither strong nor novel social units. In structure most were merely villages writ large; they existed only because strong firms jostled to occupy coveted locales and were held together by the need for a common defense. Nevertheless they were remarkable for their size. Many along the Zaire River counted over 5,000 inhabitants and perhaps five surpassed the 10,000 mark, a size otherwise known only from such places as the former capital of Kongo or the Kuba capital. The size of these towns indicates their central position in the economic organization of a far-reaching space.65
View attachment 767814

How would such large villages even work? Given the source mention they are villages I assume he means that most of the population was engage in food producing, but if food production was possible while settlements were this large what exactly pushed towards smaller settlements otherwise?
Basically if large settlements could exist and existed because of defense reasons, what made smaller settlements otherwise more efficient/attractive?

 

[Jan Olbracht]

I wonder-could people of Congo invent terra preta?

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

"The impact of the Atlantic trade on the institutions of the peoples along the Zaire River upstream of the Malebo Pool was much less diversified than it was farther west (see map 7.5). Here large, centralized territorial polities had never existed. Structural change began when some groups of fishermen became traders and carriers The best-known case was that of the Bobangi. Some fishing villages in the, peninsula formed by the conflu-, ence of the Ubangi-and the Zaire probably first entered.the trade,in .the seventeenth century. Seeing lucrative opportunities, local big men emigrated to found new villages downstream, closer to the„Malebo Pool, but were careful to preserve links not. only. with, their village of origin but also with oth;r colpnies frorn that yiliage by reciprocal hospitality, blood- brotherhood, and marriage. Such fighting [between groups] was not rare when different groups of carriers carved out commercial spheres for themselves, [...] Each of these groups with its network of far-flung villages came to be seen, and thought of itself, as an ethnic group.

The trading Houses which formed the backbone of these networks soon became different from other Houses in the region, by virtue of their size, their composition, a new .internal , division of labor, and a new ideology,.Houseses became firms, and wealthy, successful firms were larger than other.Houses, They included only a tiny nucleus of free people, but social status was fluid, because the talents of a man as a trader overrode any ascriptive status, including slavery. But the living conditions were so onerous for most women that they preferred to abort rather than raise children in such surroundings. The firms thus depended on foreign women and young male slaves to reproduce themselves, and constantly needed fresh recruits.58 As to size and composition, Mswata in 1882 was a typical successful firm. It counted 290 people but only 8 free men. The head, Chief Ngobila, had 85 wives. There were about 125 dependents, a majority of them men. This firm, like many others, was then about 10 times larger than an ordinary House.59

[...]


The firm was a unit well adapted to an expanding commercial system. Able men—and, very rarely, able women—rose to positions of responsibility, so that cases where slaves succeeded their master, or even the big man himself, were not at all uncommon. [...] The measure of achievement was the ability to become wealthy. But in order to reach this goal men often had to assert themselves against others in violent ways. Aggressive personalities were quite common and big men were often physically strong men. The leader of the firm was obeyed only because of his wealth. He would lose his position, and could indeed even be sold as a slave himself, if he lost his wealth in war, in trade, or as the result of games of chance, which were the favorite pastime in such communities.6

Is that the same source?

 

[TheKutKu]

Is that the same source?

yes, same chapter too

 

[SealTheRealDeal]

yes, same chapter too

So does this mean pre-colonial Congo gets to join medieval Iceland on the list of "historical AnCap societies"?

 

[TheKutKu]

So does this mean pre-colonial Congo gets to join medieval Iceland on the list of "historical AnCap societies"?

I don’t think you could consider a society based on and practicing slavery and slave trade to a ridiculous degree as "Anarchist" in any way

 

[manitobot]

All the ideas hint at a way to get civilization in the Congo.
You need an agricultural package to get it going, preferably a crop like legume or millet that can work for a tropical region, and an animal that can be resistant to malaria and tsetse, of which there are some but require some transfer from West Africa and intensive domestication.

 

[codept]

The issue was until the Banana was adopted by Mainland Africans (likely brought by early Austronesians who'd eventually become Malagasy) there were few is any crops that could grow in the true hot wet tropics, secondly the cattle/goats/sheep that propelled african agriculture in the first place could not survive their either.

In fact some researchers believe until the banana most regions of the Congo were not even inhabited full time by the pygmies.

A few years ago after learning that, I thought about making an atl about pygmies that raised Giant Forest Hogs that were along with the red river hog written as being quite docile with early human contact. It made me think of potential niches of para-basin living amongst the ancestors of pygmies that would allow them to compete against later encroaching groups.

I'd propose creating an early domestication event with a natural hybrid of Ensete gilletii and Ensete homblei or an ATL species that functioned much like their Ethiopian Ensete does in Gurage land where Enset-growing areas are characterized by the highest population density in Ethiopia.

I was thinking about an east to west, highland to lowland migration could make this work

Why couldn't cattle survive in the Congo rainforest? Isn't cattle adaptable to almost every climate?

 

[TheKutKu]

Why couldn't cattle survive in the Congo rainforest? Isn't cattle adaptable to almost every climate?

Eric Tollens, 2010

"In the humid rainforest of Central Africa, it is nearly impossible to raise cattle economically because of the presence everywhere of tsé-tsé flies, which transmit trypanosomiasis, the deadly sleeping disease of cattle. Although some trypanotolerant cattle breeds exist, such as N'Dama JVL, Dahomey breed, etc., their productivity and growth rates are low compared to breeds held in the savannahs, such as Zebu type, such that their profitability is low. Although they are tolerant to trypanosomiasis, they still need expensive treatment from time to time and mortality is an ever present threat. Only some missions and private companies in the rainforest keep such breeds for their own use. Thus, the only livestock encountered in the humid rainforest are sheep and goats, particularly goats, and sometimes some pigs. Goats are the preferred livestock in the rainforest because of their rusticity and adaptability. All large livestock ranches in Central Africa are outside the rainforest, either in the transition zone or in the savannah, like on the Adamaoua plateau in Cameroon, or in the North of Ubangi region in the DRC (Mpaka ranch) or in the North or West of CAR. In the savannahs, with few trees, the tsé-tsé fly pression is much less and cattle ranching becomes profitable"

 

[codept]

Eric Tollens, 2010

"In the humid rainforest of Central Africa, it is nearly impossible to raise cattle economically because of the presence everywhere of tsé-tsé flies, which transmit trypanosomiasis, the deadly sleeping disease of cattle. Although some trypanotolerant cattle breeds exist, such as N'Dama JVL, Dahomey breed, etc., their productivity and growth rates are low compared to breeds held in the savannahs, such as Zebu type, such that their profitability is low. Although they are tolerant to trypanosomiasis, they still need expensive treatment from time to time and mortality is an ever present threat. Only some missions and private companies in the rainforest keep such breeds for their own use. Thus, the only livestock encountered in the humid rainforest are sheep and goats, particularly goats, and sometimes some pigs. Goats are the preferred livestock in the rainforest because of their rusticity and adaptability. All large livestock ranches in Central Africa are outside the rainforest, either in the transition zone or in the savannah, like on the Adamaoua plateau in Cameroon, or in the North of Ubangi region in the DRC (Mpaka ranch) or in the North or West of CAR. In the savannahs, with few trees, the tsé-tsé fly pression is much less and cattle ranching becomes profitable"

Thanks for the reply.
Now, I remember reading something along those lines once.