Mason (mgursin)

European powers faced a variety of challenges in administering stateless and state-based regions in their various African territories. Although there were important national differences in the ideologies and practices of colonial rule, all administrations relied to various degree on local "chiefs" and other indigenous African intermediaries. In Portuguese Guinea, the established rulers of states were generally allowed to remain in place and were officially recognized as "regulos" or "chiefs" if they did the bidding (collecting taxes and recruiting labour, especially) of colonial administrators.