African Royal Kingdoms (The ARK)

The African Views Organization promotes the formation of a comprehensive alliance between all traditional African kingdoms, wherever they may be. The African Royal Kingdoms (ARK) is the name given to this coalition. The organization was created to serve as the crucial intergovernmental organization (IGO) of traditional rulers and customary authorities, such as kings, queens, queen mothers, and high level chiefs, representing kingdoms across Africa and its diaspora. The membership of the organization is based on the agreements made under the ARK Treaty. These agreements include, among other things, an across-the-board analysis of global African challenges, the role of culture in sustainable development, and the need to participate in documenting cultural wisdom, self-cultural identification, and investment in traditional and intellectual representation in alignment with the collective interest of defining the breath and scope of African civilization by African views. 

The charter of the African Royal Kingdoms specifies the aims and domain of their authority. The Alliance of All African Royal Kingdoms was primarily created to meet the need for a neutral forum that coordinates and provides the need for a collective repository for the kingdom's activities in celebrating its cultures and traditions as well as other duties like resolving disputes, promoting healing and peace among the people, and creating opportunities for the people's prosperity. To maintain peace through conflict resolution, intergovernmental negotiations, and improved international relations, the African Royal Kingdoms simply act in their mutual interests and with a common goal. Additionally, the group advocates for global cooperation in the areas of humanitarian aid, education, health care, and human rights, as well as environmental protection. The charter also sets forth the group’s goals and objectives, which include strengthening economic ties between member nations, fighting poverty and injustice, and creating a peaceful atmosphere conducive to open dialogue and productive relationships among African countries. The Alliance of All African Royal Kingdoms also gives African countries a place to work together to improve their diplomatic representation. 

The highly influential German sociologist, jurist, and political economist, Max Weber, stated that there are four ideal types of social action, which are as follows: goal-driven social action, value-driven social action, affective social action, and traditional social action. He also argued that there are three types of authorities, which are identified in his tripartite classification of authority as follows: charismatic authority, rational-legal authority, and traditional authority. Our focus is on the understanding of traditional authority.

Traditional authority derives its authority from custom, tradition, or divine right as predetermined by God, based on the conquests established by feudalism. Traditional leaders serve as the ruling and governing classes in such a system. The majority of any dynasty's representatives who ruled for more than one generation would fall under this category (kings, emperors, sultans, etc.). As a result, traditional rulers would exercise power over some oligarchies, theocracies, and autocracies in addition to majority monarchies.

In a monarchy, the monarch serves as the head of state for life or until he or she abdicates. From purely symbolic (a crowned republic) to constrained (a constitutional monarchy) to fully autocratic (an absolute monarchy), the monarch's political legitimacy and authority can range across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. A monarchy can become a polity through federation, vassalage, personal union, or unity. Emperors, kings, queens, rajas, khans, caliphs, tsars, sultans, shahs, and pharaohs are just a few examples of monarchs.

Most of the time, monarchies have hereditary successions, which frequently build on dynastic periods. However, self-declared monarchies and elective monarchies are both feasible. Although aristocracy is not innate to monarchies, it frequently serves as the source of candidates to select the monarch and fill the institutions that make up a monarchy (such as the diet and court), giving many monarchies oligarchic elements.

Up until the 20th century, monarchies were the most prevalent form of government. Today, there are monarchs in 45 independent countries, with Elizabeth II serving as the head of state in 16 Commonwealth realms. Other than that, a variety of sub-national monarchical organizations exist. Modern monarchies are typically constitutional monarchies, with the monarch retaining a special legal and ceremonial role under a constitution while having little to no political power, similar to the head of state in a parliamentary republic.

A number of monarchies in Africa are defined as genuinely or ostensibly self-governing states, territories, or countries on the continent of Africa where the highest authority is vested in one person who is regarded as the head of state. In common with all of them is the fact that the sovereign inherits their position and usually holds it until their passing or their abdication. Only three of them, though, are currently sovereign; the others are sub-national monarchies. There are constitutional monarchies in two of these (Lesotho and Morocco). The sovereign is constrained in the use of his or her powers by laws and customs. The first is an absolute monarchy (Eswatini), where the ruler has unrestricted power.

In terms of governance, the sub-national monarchies' authority is neither sovereign nor statutory. With the exception of monarchies, they frequently do not exist or are not supposed to exist within political or religious associations. Religious feudalism served as the foundation for the sultanate systems that ruled throughout West Africa, the kingdoms of Takrur in Senegal and Kanem on the shores of Lake Chad, and the monarchy that first appeared in Mali in the 1200s. Aside from the relatively isolated indigenous development of African kingdoms, other monarchies on the continent were established through foreign interventions. Rome's intervention in North Africa was one of these. Masinissa, one of the numerous kings who presided over sizable indigenous communities in the North African coastal belt that had utilized the trans-Saharan trade route for their subsistence, founded the Kingdom of Numidia (in what is now Algeria) around 200 BC. Masinissa seized control of all the nomadic communities and had them appoint him king, with the covert strategic support of Rome.

Most often, in order to exercise their authority as kings or queens, African monarchs cultivated myths of superiority through rituals and symbolism that encouraged their role as intermediaries between the gods and the populace. By doing so, they elevated themselves above the common person and into a privileged position. People thought that they stood up against prejudice and favoritism and looked out for the people's best interests.

Royal attire, ornamented crowns, jewelry, personal weapons, and armaments were used to establish monarchical privileges in sovereign rights and prerogatives. Like the Lozi people of Zambia, they erected special thrones known as "golden stools" and constructed shrines for their ancestors. In Africa, there are various king types. No matter how their government is structured or how legitimate their sovereignty is, all African tribes have traditional leaders. Each society has a term for its most powerful representative, which is referred to as a "king," "queen," or "chief."

• Amharic:   ንጉስ (nigusi)

• Chichewa: mfumu

• Haitian Creole:   wa

• Hausa:    Sarkin

• Fulani: Sultan or Emir

• Ghana: susudua (a measuring tool) Hene (chief; king) sodifoɔ

• Igbo:   gbo: erwanda:   umwami

• Sesotho: Morena o ile Shona: Mambo

• Surinaam: Gaman;

• Somali: Boqor;

• Swahili:Mfalme

• Xhosa: kumkani;

• Yoruba: Oba;

• Zulu: inkosi.

In African spiritual and traditional beliefs, life is hierarchical; God, out of His supremacy, created it that way. There are leaders, sub-leaders, and followers to whom those leaders are accountable.

The Akan word for the ruler or one of his various courtiers is "Nana." In colonial times, Europeans translated it as "chief," but that is not an exact equivalent. Other sources speak of "kings," which is also not entirely correct, especially in the case of the said courtiers. Oba means ruler in the Yoruba and Bini languages of West Africa. Kings in Yorubaland, a region in the modern republics of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, use it as a pre-nominal honorific. Traditional leadership comes with different honorifics that reflect the scope and depth of their responsibilities and hierarchy in the chieftainship system, such as Regent, Royal Highness, Royal Majesty, Imperial Majesty, Emperor, and so on.

Aristocratic titles among the Yoruba

The four chieftaincy levels in the Yoruba culture are joint chiefs, royal chiefs, noble chiefs, and religious chiefs. The obas, who stand at the very top of the hierarchy and act as the fons honorum of the entire system, are in charge of the Royals. The titled dynasties of their respective royal families join them in the group of royal chiefs. The Yoruba traditional states are run on a daily basis by dwarfs, arabas, and the titled elders of the families that make up the kingdoms. Numerous privy councils, sects, and guilds are traditionally made up of these three ranks.

There are two different kinds of Yoruba monarchs: the kings of Yoruba clans, which are often simply networks of related towns (for example, the oba of the Egba bears the title "Alake of Egbaland" because his ancestral seat is the Ake quarter of Abeokuta, hence the title "Alake," which is Yoruba for "Ruler of Ake"). Meanwhile, the Oyo oba is known as "Alaafin," which translates to "emperor," and the kings of individual Yoruba towns, such as Iwo in Osun State, are known as "Olu'wo" (Olu of Iwo, lit. Lord of Iwo).

The first generation towns of the Yoruba homeland, which encompasses large swathes of Benin, Nigeria, and Togo, are those with obas who generally wear beaded crowns; the rulers of many of the "second generation" settlements are also often obas. Those that remain and those of the third generation tend only to be headed by the holders of the title "Baale" (lit., Head of the Clan), who do not wear crowns and who are, at least in theory, the reigning viceroys of people who do.

All of the subordinate members of the Yoruba aristocracy, both traditional chieftains and honorary ones, use the pre-nominal "Oloye" (lit., "owner of a title," also appearing as "Ijoye") in the same way that kings and queens regnant use "Oba." It is also often used by princes and princesses in everyday situations. However, the title that is most often ascribed to them officially is "Omoba" (lit. "Child of a Monarch," sometimes rendered alternatively as "Omo'ba," "Omooba," and "Omo-Oba"). The wives of kings, princes, and chiefs of royal background usually make use of the title "Olori" (the equivalent of "princess consort," otherwise spelled "Oloori"). However, some of the wives of dynastic rulers prefer to be referred to as "Ayaba" (the Queen Consort's equivalent). The wives of the non-royal chiefs, when themselves titleholders in their own right, tend to use the honorific "Iyaloye" (lit., "Lady who owns a title") in their capacities as married chieftesses.

The chieftaincy institution in Ghana is charged with the responsibility to structure and regulate the activities and practices of local chieftains (or monarchs) in Ghanaian society. Succinctly, a paramount chief in Ghana is a traditional leader who is in charge of directing the affairs of people, which can range from a grouping of towns and villages to a sub-ethnic group. Also, he is always the chief of the traditional area's central capital, and because he is a noble, he is the head of the traditional council in his area.

History of the paramount chief system in Ghana

The chieftaincy institution in Ghana is a system that structures and regulates the activity of local chieftains (or monarchs) in Ghanaian society and state. Apparently, time has a way of changing phases and situations. Leadership was the mantle of executive, legislative, and judicial powers in the pre-colonial realm. Since the colonial era, the system has been swapped for Ghanaian politics. Several governments—the colonial, civilian, and military—have attempted in various ways to drift off or influence the role of chiefs in political affairs.

However, chiefs are divided into five categories based on their authority and their acts of leadership.

The chiefs are divided by the act of leadership into five categories (as for authority):

1. Paramount Chiefs or Monarchs

2. Divisional Chiefs

3. Sub-divisional Chiefs

4. Adikrofo, and

5. The Regional House of Chiefs also recognizes other minor chiefs who don't fit into any of the above groups.

With the European comparative scale of equivalence, this popular hierarchy system divides chiefs into two groups: royalty and nobility.

Royalty

They are the monarchs proper, who ruled prior to colonization with either sovereignty or complete autonomy (depending on primacy). We can divide into:

• Emperor: The leader of a whole ethnic group, usually referred to only as a king but acting as the "king of kings." It consists of a Chief Paramount Chief who has primacy (currently only ceremonial) over all other chiefs of his ethnic group. One example is the Ashanti people, who are led by the chief of Kumasi. Another example is the Ewe Fiaga, the chief of all Ewe who is based in Notse, Republic of Togo.

• King: The paramount chief leads a traditional area, which can range from a grouping of towns and villages to a sub-ethnic group. He is always the chief (prince) of the capital of a traditional area, and by virtue of his primacy, he is the chairman of the traditional council of his area. He is always present when a subordinate prince is installed.

• Prince: The division chief is the base ruler of the system and is equated with a sovereign prince. The primary determinant of whether he will be a supreme chief (king or emperor) or not will be the size, relevance, and antiquity of the community (city, village group, or village) that he governs, as well as matriarchal lineage. Since the district is the basic unit of voting in Ghana, his job is similar to that of a mayor who is chosen by their family.

Nobility

The primary difference between the nobility and traditional royalty is the "stools" that the latter possess, that is, the thrones. Just as royal titles are very diverse and vary from ethnicity to ethnicity, so too are those of nobles, but when comparing them to the basic categories of the Western European standard, we have:

• Duke or Marquis: Development King or Chief: This is an honorific title that is received at the installation ceremony, and its protocol is similar to that of the royal chiefs, which makes him somewhat equivalent to the duke, who in turn in the West is the noble that most approaches the position of the prince. They are granted by each divisional chief (as a fons honorum) with the aim of seeking sponsors for his community. The title is a recent one in Ghana and has been criticized for the confusion of its bearers with traditional kings. Often, those who receive it do not honor their commitment to development.

• Head of Clan: Similar to the Scottish nobility, the head of a sub-division is known as a clan chief within the traditional community. Sometimes, they are part of a divisional council.

• Lord: The Adikrofo (a title that can vary from region to region) is the base of the system, without a city or class to lead but respected and at the service of every community.

Chivalry

A relatively new phenomenon has been observed in Ghana, as in other parts of Africa. Dynastic orders related to the royal chiefs and their lineages have begun to appear. [unreliable source?] Some examples:

• The Royal Order of the Lion of Godenu

• Royal Order of the Elephant of Godenu

• The Royal Order of the Golden Fire Dog

• Royal Order of the Golden Leopard 

• Royal Order of Kwakyen Ababio

On the one hand, these have been an alternative to the banality of the development chief category. On the other hand, some conservative monarchists have criticized them for not respecting the tradition of cavalry, which is not part of the traditions of most of Africa. However, few people question the right of reigning kings to change and create honors at will.

List of current non-sovereign African monarchs

A Combined list

Algeria

Angola

The traditional leaders in the Angolan part of the basin are generally called "sobas," although the name varies regionally. The sobas are unquestionably the leaders of their village and the focal points for any kind of state or NGO intervention at the village level. 

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cameroon

Central African Republic (CAR)

Chad

Comoros

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Congo, Republic of the

Cote d’Ivoire

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Gabon

The Gambia

Traditional rulers (chiefs and alkolo), particularly in rural Gambia, play an important role in influencing decisions, resolving conflicts, assisting newcomers with settlement, and allocating land. 

Ghana

The chieftaincy institution in Ghana is a system that structures and regulates the activity of local chieftains (or monarchs) in Ghanaian society and state. Apparently, time has a way of changing phases and situations. Leadership was the mantle of executive, legislative, and judicial powers in the pre-colonial realm. Since the colonial era, the system has been swapped for Ghanaian politics. Several governments—the colonial, civilian, and military—have attempted in various ways to drift off or influence the role of chiefs in political affairs.

However, chiefs are divided into five categories based on their authority and their acts of leadership.

1. Paramount Chiefs or Monarchs

2. Divisional Chiefs

3. Sub-divisional Chiefs

4. Adikrofo, and

5. The Regional House of Chiefs also recognizes other minor chiefs who don't fit into any of the above groups.

With the European comparative scale of equivalence, this popular hierarchy system divides chiefs into two groups: royalty and nobility.

Royalty

They are the monarchs proper, who ruled prior to colonization with either sovereignty or complete autonomy (depending on primacy). We can divide into:

• Emperor: The leader of a whole ethnic group, usually referred to only as a king but acting as the "king of kings." It consists of a Chief Paramount Chief who has primacy (currently only ceremonial) over all other chiefs of his ethnic group. One example is the Ashanti people, who are led by the chief of Kumasi. Another example is the Ewe Fiaga, the chief of all Ewe who is based in Notse, Republic of Togo.

• King: The paramount chief leads a traditional area, which can range from a grouping of towns and villages to a sub-ethnic group. He is always the chief (prince) of the capital of a traditional area, and by virtue of his primacy, he is the chairman of the traditional council of his area. He is always present when a subordinate prince is installed.

• Prince: The division chief is the base ruler of the system and is equated with a sovereign prince. The primary determinant of whether he will be a supreme chief (king or emperor) or not will be the size, relevance, and antiquity of the community (city, village group, or village) that he governs, as well as matriarchal lineage. Since the district is the basic unit of voting in Ghana, his job is similar to that of a mayor who is chosen by their family.

Nobility

The primary difference between the nobility and traditional royalty is the "stools" that the latter possess, that is, the thrones. Just as royal titles are very diverse and vary from ethnicity to ethnicity, so too are those of nobles, but when comparing them to the basic categories of the Western European standard, we have:

• Duke or Marquis: Development King or Chief: This is an honorific title that is received at the installation ceremony, and its protocol is similar to that of the royal chiefs, which makes him somewhat equivalent to the duke, who in turn in the West is the noble that most approaches the position of the prince. They are granted by each divisional chief (as a fons honorum) with the aim of seeking sponsors for his community. The title is a recent one in Ghana and has been criticized for the confusion of its bearers with traditional kings. Often, those who receive it do not honor their commitment to development.

• Head of Clan: Similar to the Scottish nobility, the head of a sub-division is known as a clan chief within the traditional community. Sometimes, they are part of a divisional council.

• Lord: The Adikrofo (a title that can vary from region to region) is the base of the system, without a city or class to lead but respected and at the service of every community.

Chivalry

A relatively new phenomenon has been observed in Ghana, as in other parts of Africa. Dynastic orders related to the royal chiefs and their lineages have begun to appear. [unreliable source?] Some examples:

• The Royal Order of the Lion of Godenu

• Royal Order of the Elephant of Godenu

• The Royal Order of the Golden Fire Dog

• Royal Order of the Golden Leopard 

• Royal Order of Kwakyen Ababio

On the one hand, these have been an alternative to the banality of the development chief category. On the other hand, some conservative monarchists have criticized them for not respecting the tradition of cavalry, which is not part of the traditions of most of Africa. However, few people question the right of reigning kings to change and create honors at will.

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mayotte

Morocco

Mozambique

In 2000 the Mozambican government initiated a process of formally recognizing traditional leaders both as representatives of local community interests and as assistants of local state organs. Twenty-five years after the FRELIMO government abolished the formal power of traditional leaders, the Decree 15/2000 provided for their re-inclusion in the performance of a long list of state administrative tasks and re-named chiefs or régulos as ‘community authorities’.  

Namibia

The three largest ethnic groups in Kaokoland—the Himba, Tjimba, and Herero—are politically arranged into chieftaincy. With Vita Tom as the chief of the Herero, Muhona Katiti as the chief of the Himba, and Kahewa-Nawa as the chief of the Tjimba, Kaokoland was divided into three reserves in 1923. The South African government gradually altered the traditional system, which had only a few powerful chiefs, by appointing more chiefs in the 1960s and thereby limiting the authority of each individual chief. There is no overarching authority above these chiefs, though there is a hazy understanding that all chiefs answer to the Herero Paramount Chief (Burmeister & Partners 1998). 

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

Somaliland

South Africa

South Sudan

The Sudan

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Comparative Analysis: Kenya and Ghana

 A mild selection of African Royal Palaces for research purposes

African monarchies have always been dominated by men. Their authority over kingdoms is patterned on the role of male heads of households and families. However, royal women have held and still hold considerable power. A few have reigned as queens in their own right, but more often the power, influence, and responsibility of royal women lies in their relationship to kings, as mothers, sisters, or wives.

Only a few cases of ruling queens are known. The Lovedu kingdom of SOUTH AFRICA switched from a king to a queen in about 1800, and all Lovedu rulers since that time have been female. Known as Rain-Queens, they have little political authority but are believed to have mystical power over rain. The Rain-Queen is symbolically both male and female. She has no husband and is not supposed to bear children. In return for rain, chiefs and nobles present her with “wives,” and she in turn gives these wives to other nobles. The children of these unions regard the Rain-Queen as their father.

In the 1800s women took over the monarchies of the Merina and Sakalava peoples of MADAGASCAR. Europeans were gaining influence in the area, and the people of these kingdoms may have put queens rather than kings on the throne in an attempt to avoid conflict with Europeans. Among both groups, queens are referred to in language that conceals the fact that they are women. The Merina queen is called “the person who rules,” while the Sakalava queen is addressed as a male. Although reigning queens are rare, in most African kingdoms certain female relatives of the king have important roles. They may act as regents for kings who are too young to rule, or they may maintain courts of their own and exercise powers similar to those of senior chiefs. These women are generally the sisters or mothers of kings. Most African kings have many wives, and although the wives play significant roles, they seldom have influence over the entire kingdom. Instead, they serve as representatives at court for their various clans.

A king's sister, on the other hand, may be regarded as a partner in rule. The Lozi people of ZAMBIA divide their kingdom into northern and southern parts, with identical capitals 25 miles apart. The southern one is ruled by a sister of the king, who has her own chiefs, advisers, and army. Her realm serves as a refuge from the king's anger.

The queen mother, who may be the king's mother or another female relative, can have similar powers. Among the Shi people of eastern CONGO (KINSHASA), the queen mother controls about half the land in the kingdom and rules until her son is old enough to take power. Among the ASANTE and other matrilineal peoples of GHANA, queen mothers do not rule the kingdom, but they have the authority of royal men to judge issues. They are not just female chiefs—in fact, they have the same royal status as a man does, and they even dress as men and have more freedom in marriage than other women.

The Ganda kingdom of UGANDA illustrates how complex the roles of royal African women can be. Kingship is divided between the living king and the most recently deceased king. Both are addressed by the title kabaka, and so are the mother of the living king, his oldest sister or half sister, known as the queen sister, and his chief wife. Together, these individuals form a total kingship. (See also Cleopatra; Gender Roles and Sexuality; Kings and Kingship; Kinship; Marriage Systems; Ranavalona, Mada; Women in Africa.)

Women rulers in Africa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women_rulers_in_Africa