A 20th century Yoruba (Nigerian) depiction of a British District Officer on tour of indirect rulers
Indirect rule was a system of governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire to control their possessions in Africa and Asia, which was done through pre-existing indigenous power structures. Indirect rule was used by various colonial rulers such as: the French in Algeria and Tunisia, the Dutch in the East Indies, the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique and the Belgians in Rwanda and Burundi. These dependencies were often called "protectorates" or "trucial states". Through this system, the day-to-day government and administration of both small and large areas were left in the hands of traditional rulers, who gained prestige and the stability and protection afforded by the Pax Britannica (in the case of British territories). Consequentially done at the cost of losing control of their external affairs, and often of taxation, communications, and other matters. It was usually carried out with a small number of European "advisors" effectively overseeing the government of large numbers of people spread over extensive areas.[1]
^The American Historical Association. "ENGLAND'S INDIRECT RULE IN ITS AFRICAN COLONIES" in THROUGH THE LENS OF HISTORY: BIAFRA, NIGERIA, THE WEST AND THE WORLD. AHA teaching guide, historians.org, n.d. Accessed 2012-09-20 http://www.historians.org/tl/lessonplans/nc/trask/indirect.htm
Indirectrule was a system of governance used by imperial powers to control parts of their empires. This was particularly used by colonial empires like...
be known as Nigeria, a form of rule which was both autocratic and bureaucratic. After initially adopting an indirectrule approach, in 1906 the British...
government. Indirectrule maintains good pre-colonial institutions and fosters development within the local culture. Mamdani classifies indirectrule as “decentralized...
are sometimes called open rule and disguised rule. Disguised rule may take the form of either civilianization or indirectrule. Civilianization occurs when...
direct rule as centralized despotism: a system where natives were not considered citizens. The opposite of direct colonial rule is indirectrule, which...
Swazi take their names from Mswati II, the 19th-century king under whose rule the country was expanded and unified; its boundaries were drawn up in 1881...
it and indirectly by disadvantaging small producers who cannot afford strong anti-piracy measures, bringing into doubt the ability of the rule being able...
administration, and they numbered 105 in 1949. . They represented a form of the Indirectrule which had become popular in British African dependencies in the second...
British Paramountcy. British protectorates were therefore governed by indirectrule. In most cases, the local ruler, as well as the subjects of the indigenous...
south-western and south-eastern part. In the north, the indirectrule aimed at preserving feudal rule continued to apply. In the south, an educated elite...
colonial officials believed indirectrule was more adaptive and culturally sensitive, far superior to direct rule, in that indirectrule allowed for social development...
19th century who became the "Paramount Ruler" of Badagry within the indirectrule structure established by the British. Born Ifaremilekun Fagbemi in Joga-Orile...
governed by Britain on 6 December 1946. Under colonial rule, Cameroon was ruled on the basis of indirectrule which allowed natives to execute judicial and executive...
British set up administrative and legal structures while practising indirectrule through traditional chiefdoms. Nigeria became a formally independent...
as French protectorates. However, the differences between direct and indirectrule "was a legal rather than a practical one".[citation needed] Political...
center, the traditional monarchy has been either a tool of British indirectrule or a legally recognised traditional polity within the republic of Nigeria...
governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirectrule, subject to a subsidiary alliance and the suzerainty or paramountcy...
retained the monarchs of both Rwanda and Burundi under the policy of indirectrule. Mwambutsa IV was born Prince Bangiricenge in c. 1912 at Nyabiyogi,...
such an alliance, the Company welcomed it as an economical method of indirectrule, which did not involve the economic costs of direct administration or...
colonial policy of indirectrule and being labelled a first class Oba among traditional rulers in Yorubaland. The policy of indirectrule was used to ensure...
select the governors and other officials in the colony. This type of indirectrule eventually fell out of favour in the English colonial empire due to...
government among its four territorial possessions in the Gold Coast. Indirectrule was implemented in the late 19th century after its success in Northern...
(Mogalakwe, 2006)." (from T. E. Malebeswa (2020): Tribal Territories Act, indirectrule, chiefs and subjects) Mackenzie, John (1887). Austral Africa: Losing...
Myanmar have existed since colonial-era based on the British 'direct and indirectrule' policy and Karen soldiers' roles in putting down Burmese rebellions...
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