UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Coastal Islam: Religion and Identity among Minority Muslims in the French Colonial City of Porto-Novo, 1889-1939 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9rh8164j Author Gleason, Tiffany Kathleen Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Coastal Islam: Religion and Identity among Minority Muslims in the French Colonial City of Porto-Novo, 1889-1939 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Tiffany Kathleen Gleason 2014 © Copyright by Tiffany Kathleen Gleason 2014 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Coastal Islam: Religion and Identity among Minority Muslims in the French Colonial City of Porto-Novo, 1889-1939 by Tiffany Kathleen Gleason Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2014 Professor Andrew Apter, Chair This study challenges commonly held notions that Islam in colonial societies was a monolithic religion and that Muslims universally self-identified as one population or umma. Instead I suggest that in colonial Porto Novo, religion was not the only defining or unifying feature of one’s identity, but rather one element within a complex social structure more firmly centered on ethnic, commercial, and economic lines. Furthermore, the role of France in its colonies was complicated by the secularity of the public sphere which did not fall in line with policies that specifically targeted Muslim populations. These policies affected Porto Novan Muslims in French West Africa who were put under surveillance. In the high colonial era, the French administration readied itself for a larger pan-Islamic threat and fearing destabilization in its ii African territories. Yet, during this era, the Muslim populations of Porto Novo were synonymous with the merchant middle class. Thus, French colonial administrators had to contend with the fact that those on whom they relied to bolster the colonial economy were the same people they mistrusted and put under surveillance for practicing Islam. This larger group of Muslims was also part of a wider Yoruba ethnic identity in addition to these economic and religious categories. Furthermore, French perceptions of the inter-ethnic divisions within the Muslim communities - those between the privileged Brazilian returnee group and the Yoruba- further complicated the way colonial society evolved in Porto Novo. I argue that through interactions with differing ethnic and religious African communities and the French colonial state and despite their minority status, Porto Novan Muslims significantly contributed to the modernization of their society. Through the histories of these marginalized populations, this dissertation explores how the interactions of minority populations of a shared faith negotiated their position in society through their reliance on a variety of identifying categories. iii The dissertation of Tiffany Kathleen Gleason is approved. Dominic Thomas Caroline Ford Andrew Apter, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2014 iv To my sister Jennifer, and my parents Barbara and John. I love you. Thank you for making this all possible; and to all the Bruin women in the family who inspire me, especially to my mother -class of ’65, my grandmother Alicia (Kenealy) Connell- class of ’32, and my godmother Alice (Wener) Gleason -class of ‘38 v Table of Contents ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT ii ABBREVIATIONS ix LIST OF FIGURES x ACKNOWLEDGMENT xi VITA xiv 1 INTRODUCTION 1 BACKGROUND 4 LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHOD 13 CHAPTER OUTLINE 28 NOTE ON YORUBA ETHNOGENESIS 32 2 THE LOCAL HISTORY OF HOGBONOU AS A DIVERSE AND COSMOPOLITAN LOCALE 39 AN INIMITABLE LAGOON SETTING 44 THREE NAGO HUNTERS 48 THE HOGBONOU KINGDOM 53 PORTO NOVO AS TRANS-SHIPMENT POINT 59 PORTO NOVO AS CROSSROADS: A PLACE OF RETURN 63 FROM KING TO CHEF SUPERIOR: HOGBONOU ROYALTY’S WANING 92 3 FRENCH POLICIES AND APPROACHES TO EMPIRE AND ISLAM 99 FRANCE AND ISLAM IN NORTH AND WEST AFRICA 100 PAUL MARTY, ISLAM IN THE AOF, AND DAHOMEY 106 vi COLONIAL POLICIES, EUROPEAN CULTURE AND AFRICAN SUBJECTS 114 THE IMAMATE IN QUESTION AND QUR’ANIC SCHOOLS 129 4 MISE EN VALEUR AND THE TIRAILLEURS HAOUSSAS 139 ISLAM AND OUTSIDERS: RECRUITING THE ‘OTHER’ 151 DESERTION 163 5 PORTO NOVO’S MUSLIMS: PRIVILEGED ELITES AND THE TARGETED FOES 170 NOW AND THEN: IMAM SELECTION 172 IMAM DISPUTES, SURVEILLANCE, AND LITERACY 175 LOCAL PORTO NOVAN POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT 183 GENERAL POLITICAL ACTIVITY 185 ARABIC LITERACY 190 FITTING PAN-ISLAMISM INTO FRENCH COLONIAL PORTO NOVO 198 PAN-ISLAMISM AND PORTO NOVO IN CONCLUSION 211 6 CONCLUSION: COOPERATION AND CONTROVERSY AMONG CO-RELIGIONISTS 218 THE FRIDAY MOSQUE AND IDENTITY 220 WHY FRENCH INVOLVEMENT? 227 IDENTITY AND ITS COMPLEXITIES 243 APPENDIX 1A 245 vii BIBLIOGRAPHY 254 viii Abbreviations ______________________________________________________________________________ AOF Afrique Occidental Française AEF Afrique Equatoriale Française ANB Archives Nationale du Bénin CAOM Centre des Archives d’Outre-Mer AP Affaires Politiques ix List of Figures ______________________________________________________________________________ 1. Map of Porto Novo Region, Late Nineteenth Century xvi 2. Map of Republic of Bénin, Present xvi 3. Shrine for the 3 Nago Founders, Porto Novo 48 4. Anata Line of Nago Foundation, Porto Novo 48 5. Close-Up Te-Agbanlin Royal Palace, Porto Novo 53 6. Te-Agbanlin Home as Termite Mound, Porto Novo 53 7. Seal of King Toffa Close-Up 87 8. Seal and Letter, King Toffa 88 9. Friday Mosque, Porto Novo 244 x Acknowledgements Graduate school has been quite a process. Including the M.A, taking time off to work on the Woodson library and exhibit, privately tutoring English, and teaching at LMU and UC Merced, I have spent over a decade pursuing this degree. People ask me why I chose this path and I finally realized that it chose me. Even losing my vision for eight long days from “overuse” did not stop me, and I am grateful for all of it. I want to begin by thanking my committee and other scholars who have helped me to make it this far. To my chair, Andrew Apter, ẹ ṣe. I cannot thank you enough for pushing me the past few years despite my schedule and for encouraging me and sharing much of your vast wisdom. To the other members of my committee Caroline Ford and Dominic Thomas in particular, I have learned to see Africa through various lenses thanks to your teachings and I am grateful to you both. Many thanks to Bill Worger for letting me use his office and giving me a great mentoring job. Your sense of humor and keen insight helped lighten the load. To Chris Ehret, I want to thank you and Pat for opening up your home and sharing your stories with me and teaching me about Africa’s deeper past. Thanks for always making me chuckle, “I can’t drive, 55,” is embedded in my memory forever. Thanks to UCLA for the various forms of financial support I received over the years. Thanks to the Department of History from TA-ships to pre-dissertation research grants. I am also grateful to the wider UCLA network and the funding I received from the International Institute and the Graduate Division. For the other historians who have taken time to help me over the years, I am very appreciative. Working for both Teo Ruiz and Kathryn Norberg in fields beyond my mastery, I learned how to appreciate the art of thinking historically. You were both so great to TA for and I thank you. My thanks to Ned and Annie and the kindness you have always shown me. For imparting her vast wisdom and enthusiasm for African history on me and for compelling me to find my deepest sources of strength to continue, I have Ghislaine Lydon to thank. Profound thanks to Ruby Bell-Gam, the most amazing person and most wonderful bibliographer. We Africanists are so lucky to have you on our side. Sheila Breeding in the African Studies Center has given me much over the many years I have known her, but her cheerful smile is the best thing of all. To Eboni Shaw and Hadley Porter, I would not have made it through without you both. Your moral and administrative support will never be forgotten. I am so lucky in addition to also have you both as friends. We shared some great laughs over the years and I thank you, (Poochie Star and Medina included). xi I want to also thank the LMU History department, especially Theresa and Amy. And I must thank my friend Jok for taking a leave of absence. To my new colleagues at UC Merced, thank you for putting up with my frenetic energy as I planned courses, applied for jobs, taught classes and finished writing my dissertation. Many thanks to Donald and his editing wizardry. I am so grateful to have found you. Thank you to the entire Roberts family. Polly, Al, Seth, Sid and Scam- you welcomed me and gave me sanctuary and were always willing to listen. To those Bruins who helped make this journey amazing. Erin Pettigrew you are the saffron dance of my day, I love you and your brilliant smile which matches your brilliant mind. Thank you for always being there for me. Melis Hafez, our late night walking tours of Palms are greatly missed and I will cherish our friendship as it continues over the years. Emma and Anders, you both make me smile and together you also make me laugh. To my adopted Jayhawk family, the Buck-Bardeens, you both kept me going and I appreciate the academic and personal feedback you both offered me. Oh, and the home brews. To my Motown Philly back again Dahlia, you and Joko, you are the best! Kristen Glasgow, you are an amazing person and a great friend.