ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the political economy of early states. It analyses the ways in which the income of the central government is organized. The book also analyses the early state economy in terms of modes of production. It also discusses the role of the central government in the economy of the early state starting from the situation of the Interlacustrine states of Africa. The book presents some more general views on the economy of the early state and on the relations between state, economy, and political economy. It describes the distinction between centralized and noncentralized polities. The book finds an answer to the question whether the early states of the Interlacustrine area of East Africa "could be said to posses each a political economy and to what extent their economies were administered and controlled from the center".
