Graeber / Wengrow: "Even rulers of kingdoms that nobody would describe as a state, like the Shilluk reth or rulers of minor principalities in Java or Madagascar, would try to insert themselves into the rhythms of ordinary life by insisting that no one can swear an oath, or marry, or even greet one another without invoking their name. In this manner, the king would become the necessary means by which his subjects established relations with one another, in much the same way as later heads of state would insist on putting their faces on money."