Chef supérieur, literally 'superior chief', was an official title in French, used by European (notably French and Belgian) colonial authorities to classify native chiefs whose tribal position was thus considered as higher than those of other
tribal chief
A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribal societies
There is no definition for "tribe".
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...
s. There are no fixed rules for correspondence with the usually pre-existent native rapport.
Cases in French colonies
''(this list is probably very incomplete)''
*in
Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...
(present Benin) : in
Alada
Alada Empresa de Transportes Aéreos was an airline based in Luanda, Angola. Established in 1995, it operated chartered passenger and cargo flights out of Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, Luanda. Their AOC was revoked in 2010.Flight International, ...
, since 1909, as colonial style of the native dynasty, styled ''Ajahutonon'' or ''Alada hosu'' after the annexation of their former
Fon kingdom
*in
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...
: the ''Togbé Ahuawoto'' (still of the Lawson family) of
Lolan
See also
Similar titles in English are
*High Chief
*
Paramount Chief
A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...
.
Sources
WorldStatesmen- passim, see each present country
Titles
{{Sociology-stub