Haut-Sénégal-Niger (Soudan français), Tome 1 (de 3): le pays, les peuples, les langues

"Haut-Sénégal-Niger (Soudan français), Tome 1 (de 3): le pays, les peuples, les…." by Maurice Delafosse is a scholarly colonial survey written in the early 20th century. It examines the geography, peoples, and languages of French Sudan (Haut-Sénégal-Niger), synthesizing administrative monographs, field inquiries, and Arabic sources into a systematic portrait of the territory and its inhabitants. The volume classifies ethnic groups and languages and situates them within the region’s historical and administrative context. The opening of the work lays out the multi-volume plan and official sponsorship, then presents a substantial preface by Governor Clozel explaining why the colony’s monographs and customary-law surveys were updated and coordinated, while recalling the French conquest, the shift of the capital to Koulouba, and the administrative, military, and communications systems in place. Appended documents spell out the government’s bureau structure, budgets and logistics, and issue detailed questionnaires to codify indigenous civil and criminal customs and to refresh local circle monographs. In his foreword, the author defines the scope (the country, the peoples, the languages), describes his sources and critical method (including Arabic chronicles and oral traditions), and notes the cartographic support. The first chapter proper begins by stating the colony’s extent, population, and borders, distinguishing the civil colony from the military territory and tracing its frontiers with neighboring colonies and protectorates.

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