Elmina Castle was
erected by Portugal in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina (St. George of the Mine)
Castle, also known simply as Mina or Feitoria da Mina) in present-day Elmina,
Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast). It was the first trading post built on the
Gulf of Guinea, so is the oldest European building in existence below the
Sahara. First established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one
of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade. The
Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637, and took over all the
Portuguese Gold Coast in 1642. The slave trade continued under the Dutch
until 1814; in 1871 the Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort, became a
possession of the British Empire.
Britain granted the Gold Coast its
independence in 1957, and control of the castle was transferred to the
nation formed out of the colony, present-day Ghana. Today it is a popular
historical site, and was a major filming location for Werner Herzog's Cobra
Verde. The castle is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The people on the West African coast were organized into numerous
populations that were drawn according to kinship lines. Family was extremely
important in society, and family heads were united in communities under a
recognized local authority. Along the Gold Coast alone, more than twenty
independent kingdom-states existed. Elmina lay between two different Fante
kingdoms, Fetu and Eguafo. While there was a relative degree of interstate
rivalry, peoples generally intermingled freely. Trade between localities was
important for the economy. The coastal people also had strong trade
relations with the Sudanese empires to the north.
West Africans
nurtured ancient connections to other parts of the world. Common metals
trade, iconic artistic forms, and agricultural borrowing show that trans-Saharn
and regional coastal connections thrived. The Portuguese in 1471 were the
first Europeans to visit the Gold Coast as such, but not necessarily the
first sailors to reach the port.
The Portuguese first reached what became known as the Gold Coast in 1471.
Prince Henry the Navigator first sent ships to explore the African coast in
1418. The Portuguese had several motives for voyaging south. They were
attracted by rumors of fertile African lands that were rich in gold and
ivory. They also sought a southern route to India so as to circumvent Arab
traders and establish direct trade with Asia. In line with the strong
religious sentiments of the time, another focus of the Portuguese was
Christian proselitism. They also sought to form an alliance with the
legendary Prester John, who was believed to be the leader of a great
Christian nation somewhere in Africa.
These motives prompted the Portuguese to develop the Guinea trade. They made
gradual progress down the African coast, each voyage reaching a point
further along than the last. After fifty years of
coastal exploration, the Portuguese finally reached Elmina in 1471, during
the reign of King Afonso V. However, because Portuguese royalty had lost
interest in African exploration as a result of meager returns, the Guinea
trade was put under the oversight of the Portuguese trader, Fernão Gomes.
Upon reaching present day Elmina, Gomes discovered a thriving gold trade
already established among the natives and visiting Arab and Berber traders.
He established his own trading post, and it became known to the Portuguese
as “A Mina” (the Mine) because of the gold that could be found there.
Trade between Elmina and Portugal grew throughout the decade following the
establishment of the trading post under Gomes. In 1481, the recently-crowned
João II decided to build a fort on the coast in order to ensure the
protection of this trade, which was once again held as a royal monopoly.
King João sent all of the materials needed to build the fort on ten caravels
and two transport ships. The supplies, which included everything from heavy
foundation stones to roof tiles, were sent, in pre-fitted form, along with
provisions for six hundred men. Under the command of Diogo de Azambuja, the
fleet set sail on 11 December 1481 and arrived at Elmina a little over a
month later, on 19 January 1482. Some historians note that
Christopher
Columbus was among those to make the voyage to the Gold Coast with this
fleet.
Upon arrival, Azambuja contracted a Portuguese trader, who had lived at
Elmina for some time, to arrange and interpret an official meeting with the
local chief, Kwamin Ansah (interpreted from the Portuguese, "Caramansa").
Concealing his self-interest with elegant manners and friendliness, Azambuja
told the chief of the great advantages in building a fort, including
protection from the very powerful king of Portugal.
Chief Kwamin Ansah, while accepting Azambuja, as he had any other Portuguese
trader who arrived on his coast, was wary of a permanent settlement.
However, with firm plans already in place, the Portuguese would not be
deterred. After offering gifts, making promises, and hinting at the
consequences of noncompliance, the Portuguese finally received Kwamin
Ansah's reluctant agreement.
When
construction began the next morning, the chief’s reluctance was proved to be
well-founded. In order to build the fort in the most defensible position on
the peninsula, the Portuguese had to demolish the homes of some of the
villagers, who consented only after they had been compensated. The
Portuguese also tried to quarry a nearby rock that the people of Elmina, who
were animists, believed to be the home of the god of the nearby River Benya.
In response to this, the local people forged an attack that resulted in
several Portuguese deaths. Finally, an understanding was reached, but
continued opposition led the Portuguese to burn the local village in
retaliation. Even in this tense atmosphere, the first story of the tower was
completed after only twenty days; this was the result of having brought so
much prepared-in-advance building material. The remainder of the fort and an
accompanying church were completed soon afterward, despite resistance.
The fort was the first pre-cast building to have been planned and executed
in Sub-Saharan Africa. Upon its completion, Elmina was established as a
proper city. Azambuja was named governor, and King João added the title
"Lord of Guinea" to his noble titles. São Jorge da Mina took on the military
and economic importance that had previously been held by the Portuguese
factory at Arguim Island on the southern edge of the Moorish world. At the
height of the gold trade in the early sixteenth century, 24,000 ounces of
gold were exported annually from the Gold Coast, accounting for one-tenth of
the world’s supply.
The new fort, signifying the permanent involvement of Europeans in West
Africa, had a considerable effect on Africans living on the coast. At the
urging of the Portuguese, Elmina declared itself an
independent state whose Governor then took control of the town’s affairs.
The people of Elmina were offered Portuguese protection against attacks from
neighboring coastal tribes, with whom the Portuguese had much less genial
relations (even though they were friendly with the powerful trading nations
in the African interior.) If any tribe attempted to trade with a nation
other than Portugal, the Portuguese reacted with aggressive force, often by
forming alliances with the betraying nation’s enemies. Hostility between
tribes increased, and the traditional organization of tribal societies
suffered, especially after the Portuguese introduced them to fire-arms,
which made the dominance of the stronger tribes easier. Trade with the
Europeans helped make certain goods, such as cloth and beads, more available
to the coastal people, but European involvement also disrupted traditional
trade routes between coastal people and northern tribes by cutting out the
African middlemen. The population of Elmina swelled with traders from other
towns hoping to trade with the Portuguese, who gradually established a
west-African monopoly.
By the seventeenth century, most trade in West Africa concentrated on the
sale of slaves. São Jorge da Mina played a significant part in the Atlantic
Slave Trade. The castle acted as a depot where slaves were bought in
bartering fashion from local African chiefs and kings. The slaves, often
captured in the African interior by the slave-catchers of coastal tribes,
were sold to Portuguese traders in exchange for goods such as textiles and
horses. The slaves were held captive in the castle before exiting through
the castle’s infamous “Door of No Return” to be transported and resold in
newly colonized Brazil and other Portuguese colonies.
In 1637 the fort was taken over by the Dutch, who made it the capital of the
Dutch Gold Coast. During the period of Dutch control, they built a new,
smaller fortress on a nearby hill to protect St. George Castle from inland
attacks. This fort was called Koenraadsburg. The Dutch continued the
triangular Atlantic slave route until 1814, when the Dutch slave trade was
abolished, pursuant to the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. In 1871 the Dutch
territory was taken over by the British in the context of the Anglo-Dutch
Sumatra treaties of that year.
The castle was extensively restored by the Ghanaian government in the 1990s.
Renovation of the castle continues. The bridge leading into the castle is
one of the highest priority tasks in the project. As of August 2006, the
bridge renovation has been completed and construction on the upper terraces
continues. |