First Published in 1985. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Preface, Lidwien Kapteijns; Note on transliteration, Lidwien Kapteijns; Introduction, Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 1 The western Sudan before 1874: the political and geographical context, Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 2 Mas?l?t society during the Ancien Regime (before 1874), Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 3 Prelude to the rise of the Mas?l?t Sultanate: ?ajj?m ?asab All?h and the unification of the Mas?l?t, Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 4 The rise of the Mas?l?t Sultanate from a regional perspective (1883-1898), Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 5 The rise of the Mas?l?t Sultanate from within: Sudanic tradition re-enacted, Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 6 'The sultan is like a buffalo in the fight': struggle for independence and prelude to colonial rule, Lidwien Kapteijns; Chapter 7 Some direct results of indirect rule: D?r Mas?l?t in the 1920s and 1930s, Lidwien Kapteijns Appendix, Lidwien Kapteijns;