Concubines and Power: Five Hundred Years in a Northern Nigerian Palace (review)
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Nast's Concubines and Power presents a historical-geographical account of royal concubinage by focusing on (1) human geographical methods, premised on (2) an agrarian based state in which reproduction moves history, and (3) presenting new empirical findings in the process (xviii–xix). Nast discusses specific areas of socioeconomic change brought about by concubines within the confines of the Kano royal palace since its origins circa 1500. In five chapters, she examines concubines' roles in the context of grain processing and indigo dyeing, the nineteenth-century Fulani takeover, and pre- and postcolonial activity.
This study is unique in its attempt to explain how women were involved in state formation, concluding that royal concubines were central to the rise of the Kano state by virtue of their ethnic and political connections, as well as by their management of grain proceeds and marketing. Nast lays out clearly the manner in which concubines' roles supported both extensive social networks and economic viability. Establishing political ties with the regions from which the slave-status concubines came, their presence in the palace created a network of political affiliations that could be used to solidify alliances. Of particular interest is her explanation of royal children as currency, like grain: The "womb functioned symbolically . . . as a source wherein the state's primary currency was created: children" (167). Since the children of concubines were of royal status, increasing the emir's political base through blood ties, women were valued for their reproductive capabilities, as well as for their productivity in controlling grain prices and indigo markets.
The most refreshing methodological aspect of this study is Nast's reliance on such unusual sources as aerial maps and data concerning grain taxation; the social maps that she creates offer innovative historical perspectives on concubine activity. This kind of material is especially important considering the dearth of historical documents that predate the jihad, and the questionable veracity of oral traditions. Furthermore, Nast's extensive input from individuals in the Kano palace is valuable for the insights that it provides. Nast does well to provide the background information necessary to set her personal contacts in context and to explain the disagreements among them on certain points. It would have been helpful to know whether she spoke to individuals in Hausa or used a translator, and how or whether she transcribed interviews. In contrast to the innovative methodology, the historical basis of the work derives directly from established historical, anthropological, and political studies of Hausa culture and comparisons to royal conditions elsewhere in Africa, as nearby as Yoruba and Benin and as far away as Darfur, without accounting for the extent of their differences in Islamic and ethnic influence. [End Page 497]
Concubines and Power offers a detailed sociospatial geographical history of the residences, activities, and value of concubines in the Kano palace. It brings together a wealth of information on the lives of women who populate the harem, the heart of the palace, and lends insight into how women contributed to Kano politics and culture during the past 500 years. It will surely inspire further research on Hausa women and their vital roles in the culture.
- Concubines and Power: Five Hundred Years in a Northern Nigerian Palace
Footnotes
1. Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia (New York, 2001).
