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Portuguese Exploration of West Africa (view source)
Revision as of 01:45, December 14, 2009
, 01:45, December 14, 2009Undo revision 730986 by StevenRDavis (Talk)
'''Portuguese Exploration of West Africa'''
(For before 1460, see [[Henry the Navigator]]).
At the time of Henry the Navigator’s death in 1460 his captains had reached [[Sierra Leone]]. They now faced a difficult coast, shoals and small islands, very few safe harbours and little opportunity for trade. They “were content to develop their modest but prospering trade at the mouths of the [[Senegal]] and the [[Gambia]].” (J. H. Parry)
In 1469, [[King Alfonso V]] of [[Portugal]], who had taken over the organisation of his late uncle, Henry’s, push down [[Africa]]'s west coast, turned the venture into a commercial enterprise. In an effort to reinvigorate the exploration he granted a lease to one Fernao Gomes, a [[Lisbon merchant]], who bought the rights to all trade along the “[[Guinea]] Coast”. By the time his lease expired, (and he had retired; a very wealthy man) about 1474, his ships had reached 2 degrees south – well below where the coastline resumes its southerly direction.
At this time a war of succession broke out between Portugal and [[Castile]]. It very quickly spread to the African coast. [[Isabelle of Castile]] began outfitting privateers to harry the Portuguese trading vessels, there was much fighting along the coast, and in 1478 a Spanish fleet of 35 sail was defeated. Whilst Portugal lost the war in Europe, the [[Treaty of Alcacovas]] gave it a full monopoly of fishing, trade, and navigation “along the whole west African coast.” (Parry)
The “factory-fort” of Sao Jorge da Mina (Elmina) was built in 1482; the first of many such fortifications designed to protect trade. By the end of the 18th century, major forts had been erected – all on ground bought or leased from the local king or chief – by trading companies from Portugal, [[Spain]], [[England]], [[France]], [[Holland]], [[Denmark]] and [[Brandenburg]].
(The great Christiansborg Castle, in [[Lagos]], built by the [[Swedes]], is now the centre of [[Ghana]]’s government and the seat of its [[Parliament]].)
During the 1480s, with Alfonso replaced by John II, the push southwards continued. In 1483 Diogo Cao set up a ‘’padrao’’, a large stone cross, at the mouth of the [[Congo River]], and explored some way upstream, before continuing as far as Cape Santa Maria in what is now southern [[Angola]]. A second voyage, 1485-7, reached modern Walvis Bay in Namibia; and in the year of Cao’s return, [[Bartholemew Diaz]], by heading out into the empty [[Atlantic]] from the Namibian coast, thus avoiding the unfriendly winds and the north-setting Benguala Current, found himself, with luck and fine seamanship, around the [[Cape of Good hope]]. The way to [[India]] was open.
References:
* “The Age of Reconnaissance”, J. H. Parry - Uni of California Press, Berkeley.
* “The Opening of the World”, David Devine - Collins London.
* The Times Atlas of World History – William Collins, Sydney.
* “West Africa before the Colonial Era” – Basil Davidson, Longman, London and New York.
* Chambers Encyclopedia.
* Webster’s Geographical Dictionary.
Links
* http://www.blackhistorysociety.ca/Elmina.htm
* http://beautifulghana.com/content/view/74/170/lang,en/
[[Category:Portugal]]
[[Category:African History]]
[[Category:Age of Exploration]]