Thesis (M.A. (African languages)) --University of Limpopo, 2009 / The purpose of this study is to investigate the issue of bestowing honour to royalty in the Mphaphuli dynasty.The investigation focuses on the origin of the Mphaphuli dynasty. The Chieftainship has been traced right from the beginning when they arrived in South Africa until the current era. According to sources that have been consulted, the chief’s subjects used to respect him/her. Instructions given by the chief used to be carried out in a more positive way than it is in the present era. The socio-economic activities are also covered in the study. It has been shown that chiefs in the Mphaphuli dynasty are no longer getting what they are entitled to. Many subjects no longer find it necessary to participate in traditional activities such as Tshikona and Domba. The money that is supposed to be given to the chief no longer goes to him as it used to be due to modern social and political factors. The study also focuses on the impact of politicians on the status of the Mphaphuli dynasty. The democratic era has brought many changes when it comes to the aspect of the chief’’s authority. The functions of the chief are not clearly defined in the Constitution. By the look of things, some of the chief’s functions have been stripped off. For instance, the Thulamela Municipality has the right to give people residential sites. The chief is not consulted when this is being done. Money collected from buyers of sites goes to the Municipality. Civic associations on the other hand are always at loggerheads with chiefs. The chief’s subjects are sometimes encouraged to defy his commands.The study highlights critical challenges chiefs in the Mphaphili dynasty are facing. It reveals the fact that subjects are confused as to who has the final authority, the chief or the municipality? Things will run smoothly in the dynasty when the chief’s roles are well spelt out in the Constitution

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Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 98-104.

The thesis seeks to investigate primarily the philosophical treatises with the title pe?? [?] which were written in the Hellenistic period, that is from the age of Alexander to the end of the Roman Republic. It aims to discover their contents, purposes, similarities and differences, and so to illuminate the attitudes of philosophers and other educated men to the Hellenistic monarchies. Each work discussed is put as far as possible in its historical context in order to demonstrate the relationship between philosophical theory and political practice, and in order to show how philosophers influenced and were influenced by the kings they advised. The Introduction discusses the origins and growth of ideas about kingship in the archaic and classical periods: it treats in outline the main influences on later thought. Part I deals with the known evidence for works pe?? [?]. Chapter 1 concerns treatises addressed to Alexander or written during his lifetime. In particular the evidence for Aristotle's relationship with Alexander is discussed in connection with his alleged pe?? [?]; his section on kingship in book iii of the Politics is analysed; and the Arabic treatise recently discovered is shown to be a forgery of Roman imperial date. The works of Xenocrates and Anaxarchus are also discussed. This chapter is particularly concerned with the rivalries between the various philosophers around the figure of Alexander. Chapter 2 deals with the other Hellenistic treatises whose authorship is known, by philosophical schools - the Peripatetics, Epicureans, Stoics, and 'Pythagoreans'. Chapter 3 gives the fragmentary evidence from papyri and Suidas. Part II attempts to fill out this picture, and show the inter-relationship between native and Greek traditions in the world of Hellenistic literature, by taking three extant prose works where a theoretical attitude to kingship can be seen. Again these works are discussed in detail, reconstructed where necessary, and an attempt is made to date them and relate them to their historical background. Chapter 1 deals with the work of Hecataeus of Abdera on Egypt, and especially the section on Pharaonic kingship (preserved in Diodorus book i). Chapter 2 discusses the letter of Aristeas to Philocrates, and especially the relationship between the section on kingship which it contains and the purpose of the work as a whole. Chapter 3 is an analysis of Philodemus, On the Good King according to Homer, which attempts to show the purpose of the work, and the limitations on the use of ideas of kingship in the Roman political world of the late Republic. There are four appendices, the last of which contains a translation of the new text of the Arabic letter of Aristotle to Alexander On Government, by myself and S.M. Stern; it is given here purely for the convenience of the examiners, since it is unpublished, and should not be considered part of the thesis proper.

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This dissertation aims to examine the nature of colonial-made laws and regulations which affected the powers of chiefs in the Natal and Zululand regions between 1875 and 1910, and the context in which they were made. Since the establishment of colonial rule in Natal in the 1840s, the colonial government had aimed to bring chiefs under control and to weaken their powers. In the 1870s the pace at which chiefly authority was undermined increased. This dissertation begins in the mid-1870s because this was when white settlers in Natal gradually began to get more influence over native affairs because of important shifts in British policies in South Africa. It ends in 1910 when the administration of native affairs in Natal was transferred from Pietermaritzburg to Pretoria upon the formation of the Union of South Africa. It argues that the making oflaws governing Africans in the Natal and Zululand regions from 1875 to 1910 had to do mainly with the desire of colonial officials to tighten up control over Africans, and the desire of white settlers in Natal to ensure security against Africans who greatly outnumbered them and to obtain land and labour from African communities. The dissertation begins with a brief examination of the colonial state and the nature of the powers of chiefs in the period before 1875. From 1875 to 1893 the Natal settlers gradually gained more influence over native affairs, and used it to formalize and define the powers of chiefs and izinduna. These developments are explained in chapter two. In chapter three the laws and regulations affecting the powers of chiefs that were passed under responsible government from 1893 to 1897 are examined in detail. This was when white settlers in Natal gained power to directly control native affairs. The Zululand region, i.e. to the north of the Thukela river, also experienced similar developments as Natal from 1879 to 1897. After the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879, the powers of hereditary chiefs in Zululand were weakened, together with the strength of Zulu royal house. The impact of colonial rule on the powers of chiefs in Zululand is covered in chapter four. When Zululand was incorporated into Natal in 1897, and when the white settler farmers dominated every department in the ministry, the 'web' of chiefly authority was weakened at a faster pace than before. Some ofthe laws that were in the Natal Code of Native Law were extended to Zululand. The way in which chiefly authority was undermined in the enlarged colony between 1897 to 1910 is examined in chapter five. Chapter six summarizes the findings of the dissertation. / Thesis (M.A. ; School of Human and Social Studies) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

This dissertation constitutes the first monograph devoted to Qalawun's life and reign based on the contemporary and original data found in the Arabic chronicles of the period. An historiographical approach has brought to light information regarding the career of this sultan and has revealed contemporary historians' perceptions of his role as sultan. On the basis of an analysis of several aspects of the political and administrative, economic and social structure of the empire, which reflects the emphasis of the sources on the activities of the sultan, we concluded that centralization of sovereignty was enhanced during Qalawun's reign. But, whereas the historians attribute this development to the sultan's political convictions, analysis of the events they record indicates that other factors--most significant of which was the superimposition of the Mamluk system on the political, economic and social structure of Egypt and Syria--largely explain this trend.

"The Mobilization Of History And The Quest For The Tembe Chieftaincy in Maputaland: 1896-1997," is a study of conflicts emerging in post-apartheid rural KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Under the white rule that extended from 19th century to the apartheid era, the African pre-colonial "identities" were contained but not diminished. During this period, some ruling families were supported by the colonial powers while others suffered as their positions were undermined. This resulted in numerous conflicts among Africans over ethnic identity; yet the white governments suppressed these conflicts. As the power ofwhite rule declined, some African pre-colonial "identities" have begun to show up and reclaim their positions within their communities. However, times have changed, the forces of the new political and economic order provides a different platfonn to which these conflicts over land and chieftainship are taking place. Motives behind these tensions have been shaped by the present rather than historical demands. The struggles over land and chieftainship in Maputaland are but one example of these controversial post-apartheid debates. For more than hundred years, starting from 1896 to the present, the Tembe Royal family has ruled Maputaland as the legitimate family. After 1994 with the end of white rule in South Africa, some followers of the Tembe Dynasty begun to question the Royal family's legitimacy. The history of the leadership ofthe Maputaland is re-debated. This dissertation is a historical examination of the genesis and development ofthe challenges to the Tembe Royal family's control of present-day Maputaland. This dissertation maintains that the local leadership's mobilization ofhistory in Maputaland, that is reshaping old ethnic identities, is inspired by the envisaged economic benefits to be derived from the advent of eco-tourism. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This thesis is a study of two major figures among the royal Safavid women in the sixteenth century, with a special focus on their political activities and style of leadership. I examine the socio-political careers of Pari Khan Khanum (955-985/1548-1578) and Mahd-i 'Ulya (d.987/1579) in connection with family and dynastic politics as well as the power struggle and factionalism among the qizilbash tribes. A detailed analysis of these powerful female political figures of the Safavid court leads one to conclude that first, royal women faced particularly complex social and personal restrictions, but nonetheless some managed - through their privileged status as upper-class women with access to education, wealth, and social and family networks - to advance their careers in politics. Second, these women were subject to the political rules and games of their time but faced additional impediments, for they competed with other women such as co-wives, sisters-in-law and others for social recognition and influence, at times leading to the ruthless elimination of female and male rivals. Third, Safavid women came to play an active role in shaping central political decisions and the succession of sovereigns. This reflects not merely gendered semi-nomadic Turcoman roles but also urban Iranian-Islamic transitional traditions which are comparable to Ottoman and 'Abbasid counterparts.

The purpose of this study is to examine the imagery of time, identity, order, and power in William Shakespeare's Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, and Henry V in order to demonstrate that the dramatist's use of imagery both emphasizes the themes of the plays and frequently develops the characterization of those who people the stage: Shakespeare's skillful artistic technique of incorporating imagery into the dramatic text emphasizes, reinforces, and develops both theme and characterization. The terms "image" and "imagery" refer exclusively to figurative language, excluding the constrictive definitions of visual imagery, wordpictures, and iterative words. In this procedure, I recognize that figurative language involves the process of comparison in which each image contains two parts which have been variously called the subject-matter and object-matter, the minor term and the major term, and the vehicle and the tenor. My analysis deals with the effect achieved by the interaction between the two parts of each image. The major sections of the paper are organized, first, according to the image patterns of time and identity and order and power and, second, by individual play.The imagery of time and identity illustrates that these plays are more than dramatizations of political ideas and philosophies. The dramas demonstrate man's continual relationship with time. Because time is a force which affects all human beings, part of man's identity is determined by his position on the wheel of time. More important, however, than man's position on the wheel of time is the behavior of men and the use which they make of the time given to them. The Henriad portrays King Richard II as a human being who wastes time and fails to recognize its force and significance until it is too late for him to restore the order which he has violated. In taking advantage of time, Richard's successor, Henry IV, imagines that an adequate amount of time exists for him to compensate for having taken Richard's crown. However, Henry IV spends his entire reign trying to settle civil disruption and to change Prince Halls behavior. Finally, the cycle of Henry IV comes to an end without his having been able to restore order to his country. The disordered time which was initiated by Richard and Bolingbroke continues throughout the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V. The position of king which Bolingbroke so eagerly seeks and illegally achieves brings him little happiness and finally destroys him. In a world subject to time and fortune, the positions, roles, and identities of men change. The imagery depicts the disordered segments of time and the subsequent effects in the lives of men, all of which occur because of man's interference in the cycle of time and his violation of its order. No matter what his specific role at any time, man's identity, as the imagery illustrates, is determined by the fact that he is no more than a mortal human being with certain moral capacities. Who he is clearly rests upon his use of these in the time given to him. The Henriad demonstrates that each person, from king to common soldier, fulfills the role of human being in the diverse ways he recognizes and meets his human obligations.