Navigating Different Worlds: Colonialism in the Mbomu Basin and the Rise and Demise of the Djabir-Clan (1875–1932)

• Published in: The International journal of African historical studies Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 31 - 58
• Main Author: De Roo, Bas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Boston University African Studies Center 01-01-2019; Boston University
• Subjects: African history; Boundaries; Colonialism; Colonies & territories; Hierarchies; Imperialism; Markets; Merchants; Power; Spatial data; Central Africa
• EISSN: 2326-3016
• ISSN: 0361-7882

Colonization fundamentally reconfigured African space and hence fundamentally restructured the lives of Africans. In order to control local populations, resources, and markets, European colonizers drew borders, established centers of power and implemented administrative hierarchies that linked power to territory. Here, De Roo studies the early colonial history of the western part of the Central African Mbomu Basin through a spatial lens. It examines how this small region was subsequently incorporated into a series of African and European trade networks and empires and hence became part of different overlapping worlds. The author examines the interaction between the local elite, more specifically the Djabir-clan, and the merchants and agents of empire that sought to control the people and resources of the western Mbomu region.