Among the numerous forms of social organization that mankind has passed on the path of its development, the longest, according to scientists, is the tribal system. Originating several millennia ago, it has survived to this day in the form of historical remnants among some African peoples, such as the Bushmen, who inhabit the Kalahari Desert, and the Fulani, who live in an area stretching from Mauritania to Sudan. Let's take a closer look at its main characteristics.
Community based on consanguinity
The principle of power in the tribal system is based on blood and family ties, which form the entire structure of society. In the scientific literature, they are referred to as local groups, clans, lineages, or simply clans. All these terms are similar in meaning and have no fundamental difference between them.
Among the most characteristic features of the tribal system, it is customary to single out family ties of all members of the community. The family relations that unite them, as a rule, cover severalgenerations, including parents and their children. In addition, wider social ties involving numerous distant relatives can be used to jointly engage in farming, hunting, performing religious rites, etc.
Combining clans into tribes
As for solving such large-scale tasks as organizing military campaigns to seize new territories or repel aggression from neighbors, in this case large human resources were always required, and members of individual tribal clans united into tribes.
Their numbers, in all likelihood, were small. In any case, among the peoples who have lived up to our time in a tribal system, it rarely exceeds 100 people. The only exceptions are the very numerous Fulani people mentioned above, who live in the western part of the African continent and have managed to join many achievements of civilization. Scientists believe that by the beginning of the XXI century, its number could reach 1 million people.
A social order that has survived millennia
Thus, the term "tribe" in this case should be understood as a set of separate independent and compactly living communities, whose members are united by common occupations, culture and language. However, the basis of their social ties to this day is intra-communal consanguinity. If members of a tribe lead a settled way of life, forming a territorial-settlement cell, then they represent the population of a separate village, the size of whichvary according to the number of inhabitants.
Much more often, representatives of these nationalities prefer not to settle down in one place, but to constantly migrate, obtaining food for themselves by gathering, hunting and fishing. In this case, according to scientists, their population density can range from 1-2 to 250-300 people per square kilometer. No matter how unlikely it may seem, but the tribal system, which is an extremely archaic form of organization of society, has managed, having survived millennia, to survive to this day.
Ways to study the tribal system
By studying the characteristics of the life of the Bushmen who inhabit the Kalahari Desert, the West African Fulani and a number of other peoples who stopped their social development many centuries ago, scientists have the opportunity to more fully present the features of social self-government under the tribal system that once united our distant ancestors. At the same time, the peculiarities of the existence of various ethnic groups are taken into account.
An example of an ancient democracy
The results of archaeological excavations, and most importantly, observations made by expeditions working in remote areas of Africa, suggest that the power structure in the tribes united by the tribal system included three main elements. The chief of the tribe had the greatest authority in making certain decisions, but at the same time he was obliged to take into account the opinions of the members of the council of elders, which was not an elected body, but was formedexclusively from persons who have reached a certain age.
As for especially important cases, such as organizing military campaigns, changing the territory of cohabitation or migration, etc., the issue was submitted to the general meeting of members of the clan. The competence of this public authority was the choice of the leader, as well as his replacement in case of non-compliance with the requirements. The strongest and most experienced members of the clan became candidates for such a high post, but they could not do without public support. It is characteristic that in this respect our distant ancestors stood on quite democratic positions.
The meaning of the tribal system in world history
The role that the tribal organization of life has played in the history of mankind is unusually great. One of the founders of modern anthropology - the American archaeologist and ethnographer Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) - repeatedly emphasized in his works that it was it that allowed people to break with primitive savagery and led step by step to civilization. The portrait of the scientist is shown below.
Of course, scientists came to such conclusions using mainly observations of our contemporaries, who still have not been able to break with their historical past, and only partially using data obtained during excavations. However, artifacts obtained by archaeologists also told a lot. In particular, they made it possible to draw up a fairly complete picture of the decomposition of the tribal system among the Eastern Slavs.
Weakening kindredconnections among the Slavs
This process, which began in the first centuries of the last millennium, led to the fact that already in the VI century the economic system of most agricultural communities based on territorial-tribal relations turned into a semi-state formation, where the dominant role was played by non-blood- kinship, and political and military ties. In addition, a significant factor that strengthened these social structures was the common direction of economic development of the entire community.
The results of the research show that in the period of the VIII-IX centuries among the Eastern Slavs, the tribal system was replaced by a wide spread of neighboring communities. This is explained primarily by the fact that, in view of the low productivity of labor, a need arose for a large number of workers who could not be provided by social groups composed only on the basis of tribal ties. In addition, during this period, there was an active development of new territories, and small tribes alone could not control their distribution.
Collapse of the tribal system
These and many other factors caused the fact that already in the second half of the 10th century, among the Eastern Slavs, the tribal system gave way to a new formation, which became known as the neighboring community, or, in the old way, "vervy". It turned out to be very viable and, having undergone only minor changes, survived until the beginning of the 20th century.
In Russia, these communities, distributed exclusively in rural areas and consisting ofcompactly living peasants were called "world". It is noted that due to their large number and economic stability, they had a significant impact on many historical processes. The end of the peasant communities was put only with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks and the beginning of mass collectivization.
