Le pays kpankpamba, du pouvoir traditionnel à la chefferie administrative du XVIe siècle à 1936

This study analyzes the evolution of the sociopolitical organization of the Bikpakpaam from the 16th century to the 1930s. Based on a corpus of written (German and French administrations) and oral (2023–2024 surveys in Togo and Ghana), we describe the pre-colonial structure based on family (lidicaal), lineage (limaantɔl) and clan (linikeel), governed by the gerontocracy (Utindaan, Uniŋkpil, council of elders). We show how the colonial administration introduced chieftaincy (Tibɔtiir), reconfigured local authority and modified political, economic and sociocultural practices (collective work, cash crops, local justice). Finally, the article discusses the ambivalences of this institution: initially contested, it became a vector of change while giving rise to internal rivalries.