Congo-Kasaï

Congo-Kasaï was one of the four large provinces of the Belgian Congo established in 1914. In 1933 it was divided into the new provinces of Léopoldville and Lusambo.

Belgian Congo provinces in 1920

Location

Congo-Kasaï was named after the Kasai River, a major left tributary of the Congo River that provides access to the region. By 1910 a factory of the Kasai Company had been established near Misumba, which had about two thousand inhabitants.[1] The company had made successful trial rubber plantations.[2] The company also bought rubber and ivory from the local people, some of whom used it to buy liquor from the Portuguese territory (Angola).[3]

History

In the early days of the Belgian Congo the colony was divided into 22 vaguely-defined districts. As the colonial system became established the rulers felt the need to assign the ethnic groups to defined territories, where before they had often been mobile. In 1914 the colony was organized into four large provinces: Congo-Kasai, Équateur, Orientale Province and Katanga.[4] Each was made up of several of the existing districts, which were in turn divided into territories. The territories were divided into sectors. A great many chiefdoms were recognized. Several of the smallest might be combined into one sector, while the largest chiefdoms were split across sectors.[4]

As diamond mining activity increased, followed by copper, gold and tin mining in different parts of the colony, it became increasingly hard to recruit workers. Often laborers were obtained from the village chiefs through a combination of commissions and sanctions, and were then taken long distances from their homes to the mines.[5] Death rates were high among the laborers due to poor diet, hard work and greater exposure to diseases, while birth rates were lower.[6] The Commission for the Protection of the Natives in the Congo reported on the problems in 1919. The government and businesses both saw the value of keeping the workforce healthy and productive. The Kasai Company was given a 185,000 acres (75,000 ha) concession for plantations to provide more food to their mine workers. The governor of Congo-Kasaï published regulations that detailed the minimum quantity and quality of rations.[7]

The original four provinces had considerable autonomy, but in 1933 they were reorganized into six provinces, named after their capitals, and the central government assumed more control. Congo-Kasai was divided into the new provinces of Léopoldville and Lusambo. In 1947 Lusambo was renamed to Kasaï.[8] In 1965 Kasaï was split into Kasaï-Occidental and Kasaï-Oriental.[9]

See also

Notes
    1. Torday 1910, p. 33.
    2. Torday 1910, p. 45.
    3. Torday 1910, p. 51.
    4. Bruneau 2009, p. 7.
    5. Derksen 1983, p. 55.
    6. Derksen 1983, pp. 55–56.
    7. Derksen 1983, p. 56.
    8. Bruneau 2009, p. 8.
    9. Bruneau 2009, p. 10.

    Sources
    • Bruneau, Jean-Claude (30 June 2009), "Les nouvelles provinces de la République Démocratique du Congo : construction territoriale et ethnicités", L’Espace Politique [Online], 7 (2009–1), doi:10.4000/espacepolitique.1296, retrieved 2020-08-08
    • Derksen, Richard (1983), "Forminiere in the Kasai, 1906 - 1939", African Economic History, University of Wisconsin Press (12, Business Empires in Equatorial Africa): 49–65 – via JSTOR
    • Torday, E. (July 1910), "Land and Peoples of the Kasai Basin", The Geographical Journal, The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), 36 (1): 26–53, retrieved 2020-08-08 – via JSTOR

    Further reading
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