The Incorporation of Muslim Elites into the Colonial Administrative Systems of Sierra Leone, The Gambia and the Gold Coast

Abstract

This article focuses on relations between British colonial administrations in three West Africa territories during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sierra Leone, the Gambia and the Gold Coast were centers of trade organized by Muslim merchants and places of Muslim settlement before the British arrived and the subsequent administrations developed policies and programs which incorporated Muslim communities into the colonial system. The British adapted the existing economic, political and religious institutions to the policy of indirect rule, financially supported these institutions and successfully made alliances with Muslim elites. Colonial policies and programs contributed to the strengthening of Islamic communities throughout the colonial era.