Indirect rule

Indirect rule is a term used to describe governance by imperial powers wherein pre-existing or indigenous power structures were co-opted for local control. This was particularly used by colonial empires like the British Empire and French Colonial Empire to control many of their possessions in Africa and Asia. Examples of indirect rule occur in French Algeria and French Tunisia, the Dutch East Indies, the Portuguese Angola and Portuguese Mozambique, and Rwanda and Burundi. These dependencies were often called "protectorates" or "trucial states".

Through this system, the day-to-day government and administration of both small and large areas were left in the hands of traditional rulers, who gained prestige and the stability and protection afforded by the Pax Britannica (in the case of British territories) in exchange for lost control of their external affairs, and often of taxation, communications, and other matters of governance. Indirect rule was usually effected with a small number of European "advisors", who effectively oversaw the government of large numbers of people spread over extensive areas.