Big is Sometimes Best: The Sokoto Caliphate and Economic Advantages of Size in the Textile Industry

IF 0.7 4区 历史学 Q1 HISTORY
P. Shea
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引用次数: 11

Abstract

The Sokoto Caliphate, established following the 1804 jihad led by Shehu dan Fodio, was the largest single polity in nineteenth century sub-Saharan Africa.2 Considerable economic benefits derived from its very size, and some of these benefits were passed on to producers and consumers throughout the Caliphate and even far beyond, although those who launched the jihad, probably did not have any of these concerns in mind at the time. As the textile industry was one of the most important industries in the Sokoto Caliphate, the size of the Caliphate had enormous economic advantages for the producers of indigo-dyed textiles and for those involved in the textile trade. It brought various cloth producers from very different traditions within the Caliphate together, while also bringing different textile traditions from outside into a new intimacy with these groups. Thus, the quality of cloth improved and the variety increased for textiles produced within the Caliphate as the nineteenth century progressed. The producers of textiles were very quick to realize some of the advantages of the new mega state for their own livelihood. In this paper, I argue that the actual quality of the textiles produced within the Caliphate definitely improved as the nineteenth century progressed, and that this improved quality was accompanied by an increase in a greater variety of different kinds and qualities of cloth which were made available. Furthermore, this expansion in textile production had the added advantage of making textiles which were increasingly cheap and therefore somewhat easier for more individuals to obtain.
大有时是最好的:索科托哈里发和纺织业规模的经济优势
在1804年由Shehu dan Fodio领导的圣战之后建立的索科托哈里发国是19世纪撒哈拉以南非洲最大的单一国家,其规模带来了可观的经济利益,其中一些利益传递给了整个哈里发国甚至更远的地方的生产者和消费者,尽管那些发起圣战的人当时可能没有考虑到任何这些问题。由于纺织业是索科托哈里发国最重要的产业之一,哈里发国的规模对靛蓝纺织品生产商和从事纺织品贸易的人来说具有巨大的经济优势。它将来自哈里发境内不同传统的各种布料生产商聚集在一起,同时也将来自外部的不同纺织传统与这些群体建立了新的亲密关系。因此,随着19世纪的发展,在哈里发国内生产的纺织品的质量提高了,品种也增加了。纺织品生产商很快意识到这个新大国对他们自己生计的一些好处。在本文中,我认为,随着19世纪的发展,哈里发国内生产的纺织品的实际质量肯定有所提高,而这种质量的提高伴随着可获得的各种不同种类和质量的布的增加。此外,纺织品生产的扩大还有一个额外的好处,那就是使纺织品越来越便宜,因此对更多的个人来说更容易获得。
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