Maitres de la terre, maitres de la guerre

Landmasters and warmasters.- There are two pre-eminent groups among the Mawri: the aboriginal Gubawa, owners of the land rights and keepers of the ancestors cults, and the Arewa warriors, holders of the political power. Social order in the first group rests upon seniority and sacrifice, in the second one upon competition and strength-backed relations. A foundation myth accounts for the intergroup relationships in terms of marriage: the dynasty springs from the union of the first warrior to visit the region with the daughter of one of the landholders. This suggests a compact, with land affording legitimacy, weapons providing protection. This contract, reinforced by a set of rules, is put into effect through enthronement rites and war, but beyond these two main social experiments, each group keeps to its own representations. This leads to conflict concerning the management of affairs, with the Gubawa claiming preeminence due to anteriority of occupation, while the Arewa try to use their military power to reign by themselves. When cohesion is on the rise and rules are consolidated, there is a State in the offing. However concentration of power starts a process of segmentation: war, fission of princely lineages and group splitting. Yet this apparent frailty does not result into a de-stabilization of a power which thrives on the conflicts it generates.