Queen Mothers & Royal Offices

The institutional power of queen mothers, female officials, and titled royal women.

Benin’s Queen Mothers and the Portuguese: Diplomacy, Trade, and the Ivory Mask of Idia

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

This article examines the Iyoba institution of the Benin Kingdom, focusing on the sixteenth-century Queen Mother Idia, her role in diplomacy and trade with the Portuguese, and the famous ivory pendant mask that bears her likeness. Drawing on Edo oral traditions, Portuguese written accounts, and material culture, it explores how queen mothers exercised real political, spiritual, and economic power within a complementary system of governance.

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Umugabekazi: The Queen Mother of Rwanda — Authority and Ritual in the Nyiginya Kingdom

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The Umugabekazi was the Queen Mother of the Nyiginya Kingdom of Rwanda, a co-sovereign whose ritual, political, and economic authority stood alongside that of the king. This article examines the evidence, origins, governance structures, ritual powers, and transformations of this central institution of precolonial Rwanda, centring African epistemologies and oral traditions.

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LaYaka Ndwandwe: The Founding Ndlovukazi of the Swazi State and the Origins of Dual Monarchy

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

LaYaka Ndwandwe, an eighteenth-century Ndwandwe noblewoman and mother of Ngwane III, is remembered as the founding Ndlovukazi of the Swazi state. Her co-rule with her son established the dual monarchy that remains central to Eswatini’s political order. This article examines her origins, ritual authority, and enduring legacy through oral tradition, colonial sources, and contemporary scholarship.

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The Meroitic Script and the Title kdke: Deciphering Women’s Royal Authority in Ancient Kush

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The partially deciphered Meroitic script of ancient Kush preserves the title kdke—rendered Kandake or Candace—as a securely identified term for a royal woman of sovereign authority. This article examines how epigraphic, archaeological, and classical sources reveal the real political, military, and ritual power of the kdke, and what this title tells us about women’s sovereignty in the Kingdom of Meroë.

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Basadi: The Female Council of the Balobedu and Its Role in Rain Queen Governance

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The Basadi, or female council of the Balobedu, has historically governed the inner political and ritual life of the Rain Queen’s polity in present-day South Africa. This article examines the council’s origins, composition, succession mechanisms, rainmaking authority, legal role, and transformation under colonialism and modern recognition. Drawing on oral tradition and critical scholarship, it centres the collective power of royal women often obscured by colonial records.

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Edo Women’s Chieftaincy Titles Beyond the Iyoba: The Erelu and Other Female Offices in the Benin Kingdom

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

While the Iyoba (Queen Mother) is the most celebrated female title in the Benin Kingdom, a constellation of other women’s chieftaincy offices—led by the Erelu—shaped palace politics, ritual life, and social order. This article examines the origins, functions, regalia, and resilience of these female authorities from precolonial times to the present, centring Edo oral traditions and indigenous concepts of complementary governance.

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Namasole: The Queen Mother of Buganda and Her Role in Ganda Kingship

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The Namasole is the queen mother of the Kingdom of Buganda, a sovereign office-holder with her own court, estates, judicial authority, and ritual responsibilities. Far more than a biological parent of the reigning Kabaka, she embodies the complementary maternal power that balances the king’s paternal legitimacy. This article examines her origins, political structure, spiritual authority, and enduring legacy in Ganda kingship.

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Kpojito: The Female Co-Ruler of Dahomey and the Paired Kingship System

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

The Kpojito was the female co-ruler of the Kingdom of Dahomey, holding parallel spiritual, judicial, and administrative authority to the male king in a paired kingship system. This article examines the origins, political structure, succession, gender dynamics, ceremonies, colonial encounters, decline, and legacy of this remarkable institution, centring Fon epistemologies and oral traditions.

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