Bori in Tunisia: Transformation from a Secret-Possession Cult to Ethno-Religious Culture in the National, Transnational, and Global Space

The paper will focus on the practice of the West African Bori possession-trance cult in Tunisia. It will explore why and how Bori, a pagan-like cult, whose adherent had been persecuted by the Jihad leaders of the Sokoto caliphate in Northern Nigeria and which initially had been practiced secretly in Tunis, especially at the start of Husaynid state, came to be tolerated, embraced and integrated into the mainstream popular religious maraboutism. The paper thus seeks to explain the transformation of Bori from a secret cult to a public religious order known as Stambali by highlighting the role of the Bori communities of Tunis and the Tunisian state as crucial actors who induced and shaped this acculturation.

The paper will start with a historical analysis of the presence of Bori in Tunisia. It will examine when, how and the mechanism through which the cult was integrated into the mainstream popular religious maraboutism and became known as Stambali. Then after a brief examination of the function of Bori within its own communities and the Tunisian state, the paper will examine the ways in which Bori rituals were acculturated into the mainstream religious sphere such as Sufism. Here, Sufi elements in Bori will be discussed in order to shed light on the degrees of changes that reflects Bori’s transformation from a secret possession cult to Ethno-religious culture in public, national and global spaces.