As mudanças na estrutura política da autoridade tradicional de Bilene-Macia C. 1800-1974

Abstract

This work aims to study the changes that occurred in the political structure of the traditional authority in the district of Bilene-Macia. Its main motivations were the desire to learn about the functioning of this authority in the pre-colonial period and, above all, its relationship with the formal power, in the colonial period. We found that at the country level there are few systematized works referring to the political structure of the traditional authority. This aspect makes it difficult to understand the issues arising from the impact of the implantation of the colonial system, at the level of traditional authority. In our opinion, knowledge of the functioning of this power in the past, in particular the factors that contribute to its cohesion and disaggregation, is crucial for the country's current political situation. We began the description with some subsidies on the functioning of this authority in the pre-colonial period, with a view to understanding the aspects that survived the impact of colonization in Bilene-Macia. We take as an example the Khosa authority, which offers the most data, among the oldest in the region. We believe that it exerted an influence on the structuring of traditional authority both in the Nguni reign and in the colonial administration (TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)