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Abstract
This article traces history of the formation of a divine kingship among the Tagoi people of the north-eastern Nuba Mountains. This historical backdrop provides a context for investigating change and continuity in the Tagoi political system. Concentrating on actual processes, the article gives some accounts on how the divinization of Tagoi kingship could be a political move to bolster the legitimacy of personalized powers. Relevance of the comparatively old evolutionist, diffusionist, structuralist and neo-evolutionist theories of divine kingship to the Tagoi case is discussed. Here, the main conclusion was that the Tagoi’s concept of “divine king” does not exactly apply to any of the definitions that are embedded in these theories, as it portrays—in a measure—a distinct and genuine type of divine kingship. The analyses and interpretations are also supported by the relatively modern concepts of galactic polity, mimesis, perspectivism, and mutlinaturalism.
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References
- Ali, Osman M. O. (2017) ‘An Islamised, Arabised Alterity: A Story of Social Change among the Tagoi in the North-eastern Nuba Mountains—Sudan’ in Manger, Leif (ed.): On War and Insecurity, Survival and Development in South Kordofan. Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI): Bergen.
- ------------------------ (2016) ‘Conflict with Others at a Bleeding Frontier: The Case of Tagoi in the North-eastern Nuba Mountains—Sudan,’ Égypte/ Monde Arabe 14: 113-136.
- Arens, W. (1984) ‘the Demise of Kings and the Meaning of Kingship: Royal Funerary Ceremony in the Contemporary Southern Sudan and Renaissance France,’ Anthropos 79 (4/6): 355-367
- Carlson, Robert G. (1993) ‘Hierarchy and the Haya Divine Kingship: A Structural and Symbolic Reformulation of Frazer’s Thesis,’ American Anthropologist 20 (2): 312-335
- De Castro, Eduardo Viveiros (1998) ‘Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism,’ the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4 (3): 469-488
- Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (2011) ‘The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk of the Nilotic Sudan, the Frazer Lecture, 1948,’ HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1 (1): 407-422
- Feeley-Harnik, Gillian (1985) ‘Issues in Divine Kingship,’ Annual Review of Anthropology 14: 273-313
- Graeber, David (2011) ‘The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk: On violence, utopia, and the human condition, or, elements for an archaeology of sovereignty,’ Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1 (1): 1-62
- Hage, Ghassan (2012) ‘Critical Anthropological Thought and the Radical Political Imaginary Today,’ Critique of Anthropology 32 (3): 285–308
- J., H. C. (1928) ‘The Kakar of the Funj,’ Sudan Notes and Records 11: 231-232
- Kenrick, J. W. (1948) ‘The Kingdom of Tegali, 1921-1946,’ Sudan Notes and Records 29 (2): 143-150.
- Meek, C. K. (1935) ‘Egypt and Negro Africa: A Study in Divine Kingship by C. G. Seligman,’ Man 35: 126-127
- Nadel, S. F. (1941) ‘A Shaman Cult in the Nuba Mountains,’ Sudan Notes and Records 24: 85-112
- Parrinder, E. G. (1956) ‘Divine Kingship in West Africa,’ Numen 3 (2): 111-121
- Richards, Audrey I. (1968) ‘Keeping the King Divine,’ Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 1968: 23-35
- Rowlands, Michael (1993) ‘The Good and Bad Death: Ritual Killing and Historical Transformation in a West African Kingdom,’ Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde 39: 291-301
- Schnepel, Burkhard (1990) ‘Shilluk Kingship: Power Struggles and the Question of Succession,’ Anthropos 85 (1/3): 105-124
- Spaulding, Jay (1985) The Heroic Age in Sinnar. Ethiopian Studies, Monograph No. 15, Committee on Northeast African Studies, East Lansing: Michigan
- Stevenson, R. C. (1962) ‘Linguistic Research in the Nuba Mountains—i,’ Sudan Notes and Records 43: 118-130
- Tambiah, S.J. (1977) ‘The Galactic Polity: The Structure of Traditional Kingdoms in Southeast Asia,’ Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 293: 69-97
- Taussig, Michael (1993) Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses. New York: Routledge
- Vigh, Henrik Erdman, and David Brehm Sausdal (2014) ‘from essence back to existence: Anthropology beyond the ontological turn,’ Anthropological Theory 14 (1): 49-73
- Wainwright, G. A. (1947) ‘Some Ancient Records of Kordofan,’ Sudan Notes and Records 28: 11-24
- Willerslev, Rane (2004) ‘Not Animal, Not Not-Human: Hunting and Empathetic Knowledge among the Siberian Yukaghirs.’ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 10 (3): 629-52
- Young, Michael W. (1966) ‘The Divine Kingship of the Jukun: A Re-Evaluation of Some Theories,’ Africa: Journal of International African Institute 36 (2): 135-153
References
Ali, Osman M. O. (2017) ‘An Islamised, Arabised Alterity: A Story of Social Change among the Tagoi in the North-eastern Nuba Mountains—Sudan’ in Manger, Leif (ed.): On War and Insecurity, Survival and Development in South Kordofan. Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI): Bergen.
------------------------ (2016) ‘Conflict with Others at a Bleeding Frontier: The Case of Tagoi in the North-eastern Nuba Mountains—Sudan,’ Égypte/ Monde Arabe 14: 113-136.
Arens, W. (1984) ‘the Demise of Kings and the Meaning of Kingship: Royal Funerary Ceremony in the Contemporary Southern Sudan and Renaissance France,’ Anthropos 79 (4/6): 355-367
Carlson, Robert G. (1993) ‘Hierarchy and the Haya Divine Kingship: A Structural and Symbolic Reformulation of Frazer’s Thesis,’ American Anthropologist 20 (2): 312-335
De Castro, Eduardo Viveiros (1998) ‘Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism,’ the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4 (3): 469-488
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. (2011) ‘The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk of the Nilotic Sudan, the Frazer Lecture, 1948,’ HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1 (1): 407-422
Feeley-Harnik, Gillian (1985) ‘Issues in Divine Kingship,’ Annual Review of Anthropology 14: 273-313
Graeber, David (2011) ‘The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk: On violence, utopia, and the human condition, or, elements for an archaeology of sovereignty,’ Journal of Ethnographic Theory 1 (1): 1-62
Hage, Ghassan (2012) ‘Critical Anthropological Thought and the Radical Political Imaginary Today,’ Critique of Anthropology 32 (3): 285–308
J., H. C. (1928) ‘The Kakar of the Funj,’ Sudan Notes and Records 11: 231-232
Kenrick, J. W. (1948) ‘The Kingdom of Tegali, 1921-1946,’ Sudan Notes and Records 29 (2): 143-150.
Meek, C. K. (1935) ‘Egypt and Negro Africa: A Study in Divine Kingship by C. G. Seligman,’ Man 35: 126-127
Nadel, S. F. (1941) ‘A Shaman Cult in the Nuba Mountains,’ Sudan Notes and Records 24: 85-112
Parrinder, E. G. (1956) ‘Divine Kingship in West Africa,’ Numen 3 (2): 111-121
Richards, Audrey I. (1968) ‘Keeping the King Divine,’ Proceedings of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 1968: 23-35
Rowlands, Michael (1993) ‘The Good and Bad Death: Ritual Killing and Historical Transformation in a West African Kingdom,’ Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde 39: 291-301
Schnepel, Burkhard (1990) ‘Shilluk Kingship: Power Struggles and the Question of Succession,’ Anthropos 85 (1/3): 105-124
Spaulding, Jay (1985) The Heroic Age in Sinnar. Ethiopian Studies, Monograph No. 15, Committee on Northeast African Studies, East Lansing: Michigan
Stevenson, R. C. (1962) ‘Linguistic Research in the Nuba Mountains—i,’ Sudan Notes and Records 43: 118-130
Tambiah, S.J. (1977) ‘The Galactic Polity: The Structure of Traditional Kingdoms in Southeast Asia,’ Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 293: 69-97
Taussig, Michael (1993) Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses. New York: Routledge
Vigh, Henrik Erdman, and David Brehm Sausdal (2014) ‘from essence back to existence: Anthropology beyond the ontological turn,’ Anthropological Theory 14 (1): 49-73
Wainwright, G. A. (1947) ‘Some Ancient Records of Kordofan,’ Sudan Notes and Records 28: 11-24
Willerslev, Rane (2004) ‘Not Animal, Not Not-Human: Hunting and Empathetic Knowledge among the Siberian Yukaghirs.’ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 10 (3): 629-52
Young, Michael W. (1966) ‘The Divine Kingship of the Jukun: A Re-Evaluation of Some Theories,’ Africa: Journal of International African Institute 36 (2): 135-153