5 Ancient African social structures that thrived before colonisers imposed western versions

Caste System Societies

With the evolving of African settlements into bigger towns and cities, the Caste system slowly began to take shape and become a distinctive social structure. These were societies that had no proper system of governance or leadership but rather recognized and organized themselves around social classes. With the advancement of societies, social classes inevitably began to exists.

Social classes included leaders, merchants, religious leaders, labourers, free citizens and the slaves. The leaders were people who founded a community or settlement, their lineage naturally became the new leaders of the communities as the years went by. Religious leaders who were often chosen by divine intervention were also very important to these societies. Merchants were wealthy and successful traders and farmers and businessmen who became very important figures in society rubbing shoulder with the leaders.

Free citizens were the ordinary people of the land who did not depend on anyone to survive and lived middle-class lives. Labourers and slaves were often placed in the same bracket and were the least respected of the society. They depended on others to survive and had owners who were usually leaders and merchants.