Explain the whole thing about pre colonial political system i.e give me every information about it

Pre-colonial political systems refer to the diverse forms of governance that existed in various regions before European colonization. These systems varied greatly, ranging from highly centralized empires with complex hierarchies, like the Ashanti Kingdom or the Mali Empire, to decentralized societies governed by kinship groups, councils of elders, or age-grade systems, such as those found among the Igbo or Maasai. They were often shaped by local geography, culture, economy, and social structures, with leadership based on factors like heredity, religious authority, or achieved status.