In this essay, the author do not wish to discuss or critique the theory of segmentary lineage societies as such. It is the ethnohistorian Bernard S. Cohn who deserves the credit for having first introduced the concept of the 'little kingdom' into the debate in the late 1950s. While other scholars and their approaches are not discussed, even though their importance cannot be doubted, the people discussion so far must suffice to arrive at some more general observations and conclusions. When looking at the impact that models and theories derived from the study of African polities had on theories and models of the state and state formation in India, four critical points of divergence appear. Even without Hinduism and its dialectical pairing of kings and priests, there is no doubt that African polities, past and present, have strong ritual and religious dimensions which need to be explored more deeply, not only historically, but for an understanding of contemporary African polities.