Slaves or Soldiers? Status Ambiguity in Masoud’s Followers at Kikole, Tanzania

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Global Archaeologies of the Long Emancipation", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the 1890s, the slave and ivory trader Rashid bin Masoud established the settlement Kikole deep in what is now southwestern Tanzania. Kikole was strategically located near Lake Nyasa, a major slaving region. Masoud’s followers residing at Kikole were typically referred to as his slaves by German colonists and missionaries. Local oral histories today, however, define these followers as maaskari (that is, soldiers or guards) or mafundi (that is, technicians or specialists, in this case, in using weaponry). This paper considers how recent expanded excavations at Kikole can help us better understand Masoud’s followers. Differences in housing investment and material access suggest status differences among residents. Thus, any single definition of Masoud’s followers may be inadequate. A broader concern addressed in this paper is how we define slavery itself. Research at Kikole also demonstrates how archaeologists, descendants, and students can grapple together with difficult, multivalent, and contested heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Global Archaeologies of the Long Emancipation

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow