What is "followings"

Usage examples of "followings".

He was said to have ridden for Cricklade during the night, after he had affixed his seal, like all the other captains who had their own followings within, to the surrender.

It would not be easy to get four other captains, with followings to be risked, to connive at murder.

However, we did so by working with Pashtun leaders in southern Afghanistan and bringing in well-known Pashtun leaders such as Hamid Qarzai, who still had considerable followings inside the country.

It is unclear whether the United States could do the same in Iraq because few in the Iraqi diaspora have large followings among the Sunnis inside Iraq, while Saddam has effectively killed every person in the country with the kind of charisma and stature that would be needed.