Ihembegoro

Ihembegoro (from, 'tusk house', common epithet used for affairs in relation to it in Ibakambi and eastern Umuhira) is a political system found primarily in the Toyonu coast and Iningiqhwa in Roscia. It revolves around the distribution and bestowal of spouses, livestock, and land by a leader or patron (known in Runga as umu gaba) upon a client (Runga umu higi), in exchange for labor, military service, and above all, fealty. Though the rights and authority a client enjoys in this system is considerable, it is always part of a contract or obligation to serve the patron, who may even become distant, mere ritual authorities with no other relation to the client whatsoever (and may not even hold any power over the property). The forms and terms of ihembegoro are diverse, ranging from allocation of conquests by warlords to gather followers and raise armies, to the settlement of empty frontiers through invitation of fellow vagrants in search of opportunity. Relationships of this character underly both the complex property relations and political-legal system of the sophisticated city-states in Umuhira, as well as customs of small tribes in the sparsely settled Iningiqhwa.