ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the early states which formerly existed in the area like Buganda, Bunyoro, Ankole, Rwanda, and Burundi. It explains that prestations to the state were rendered in kind, facilitated their symbolic elaboration. The chapter also discusses whether the various states in the area could indeed be said to possess a political economy and to what extent their economies were administered and controlled from the center. It describes that the interlacustrine states were preliterate and that the use of money or of another generalized means of exchange was unknown. The chapter dsecribes the conformity with Southall's statement that in the interlacustrine states also "polity and economy were not effectively integrated because no effective or regular system of administration extended from the centre". Stressing the ritual aspect of kingship should not make one forget that ritual cannot do without economics.
