Beyond ritualised friendship. A historical ethnography of power, trust and interpersonal affection in Fuladu (The Gambia) (ca. 1880-1918)

Friendship has remained a rather marginal topic in the ethnography and social history of Africa, one which has been studied more in the guise of ritualised joking relationships than of a personal and voluntary chosen bond. By commenting the relationships between Mussa Moloh Baldeh, late sovereign of Fuladu, and his friend and right-hand man Dembo Dansoe, this paper explores the significance of friendship in building up long-lasting connections beside and beyond those established through descent, marriage enslavement and other forms of negotiated or compulsory relatedness in early 20th century Senegambia. © 2006 Dietrich Reimer Verlag.