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Swedish Gold Coast
The Swedish Gold Coast ( sv, Svenska Guldkusten) was a colony of the Swedish Africa Company founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana in Africa. Under foreign occupation for much of its existence, it disappeared for good in April 1663 when it became part of the Dutch Gold Coast. History Following the foundation of the Swedish Africa Company (1649) by Louis de Geer an expedition under the command of Hendrik Carloff was sent to Africa in 1650. Carloff made a treaty with the Akan ''King of Futu'' (also ''Feta'') on selling some areas of land. On 22 April 1650 the Swedish Gold Coast was founded and Carloff became its first administrator. In 1652 the foundations were laid of the fort Carlsborg In 1656 Johan Filip von Krusenstierna (brother of the great-grandfather of Adam Johann von Krusenstern) was appointed the new Governor. This enraged Carloff. He left Cabo Corso only to return on 27 January 1658 on the Danish Privateer ''Glückstadt''. For ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swedish Africa Company
The Swedish Africa Company ( sv, Svenska Afrikanska Kompaniet) was a Swedish trading company, founded in 1649 on the initiative of the Walloon-Dutch merchant Louis De Geer and his son Laurens, for whom Sweden had become a second home. The primary interest of the company was the trade on the Swedish Gold Coast, notably the trade of human beings to be sold into slavery in the Americas. History In 1648 De Geer's charter on exporting Swedish copper ended. Along with his son Laurens, and with a royal charter of Christina I of Sweden he founded the Swedish Africa Company, but moved its base from Gothenburg to Stade. The company was founded after Hendrik Carloff, a former high-ranking administrator of the Dutch West India Company, had offered his help, promoting his good relation with a local chief. Caerloff was hired for three years as commander and director at a salary of one hundred guilders and an ounce of gold per month to cover the charges. He was embarking on the Elbe and thence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Efutu People
The Efutu (also called Awutu or Simpafo) are an Akanized Guang people that are the original inhabitants of present-day Ghana. They founded the coastal area about 1390 C.E. The Efutu are found in Awutu, Adina, Senya-Beraku and Winneba (originally called ''Simpa'') and their main occupation is fishing. Like most Guans, they were somewhat absorbed into the greater Akan culture and adopted Akan names via annexing and military campaigns as the Akan were natural warriors. Similar to the Akuapem people of the Eastern Region of Ghana who are ruled by an Akan Abusua (called the Asona clan) but was originally ruled by their own Guan kings. They also have adopted (with modifications) the Fante version of some Akan institutions and the use of some Fante words in their rituals. Before Akanization, the Simpa Kingdom was formed about 1400 AD. The famous king of the Efutus is Omanhene Nana Kwasi Gyan Ghartey I (1666-1712, the 1st to bear the Akan Omanhene title). He was famous for his fishing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek '' phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, they act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Coast
Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea situated to its south. According to the 2010 census, Cape Coast had a settlement population of 169,894 people. The language of the people of Cape Coast is Fante. The older traditional names of the city are Oguaa and Kotokuraba (meaning "River of Crabs" or "Village of Crabs"). The Portuguese navigators João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar who sailed past Oguaa in 1471 designated the place ''Cabo Corso'' (meaning "short cape"), from which the name Cape Coast derives. From the 16th century to the country's independence in 1957, the city changed hands between the British, the Portuguese, the Swedish, the Danish and the Dutch. It is home to 32 festivals and celebrations. History Cape Coast was founded by the people of Oguaa and the region rul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold Coast (British Colony)
The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the administration of the Governor of the Gold Coast. These were the Gold Coast itself, Ashanti, the Northern Territories Protectorate and the British Togoland trust territory. The first European explorers To arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial deposits of gold in the soil. In 1483, the Portuguese came to the continent for increased trade. They built the Castle of Elmina, the first European settlement on the Gold Coast. From here they acquired slaves and gold in trade for European goods, such as metal knives, beads, mirrors, rum, and guns. News of the successful trading spread quickly, and British, Dutch, Danish, Prussian and Swedish traders ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Holmes (admiral)
Sir Robert Holmes ( – 18 November 1692) was an English Admiral of the Restoration Navy. He participated in the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars, both of which he is, by some, credited with having started. He was made Governor of the Isle of Wight, where he is buried in Yarmouth Parish Church. Holmes is chiefly remembered for his exploits on the cruise to Guinea (1664) for the Royal African Company, and for the so-called Holmes's Bonfire of 1666. He is regarded as an archetypal figure both of the quarrelsome restoration officer and of the coming into being of the British professional naval officer. The Interregnum Military beginnings Born in or about 1622 the son of Henry Holmes, Esq. of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, nothing is known of Holmes' early life, although his flawless command of written language and his elegant handwriting suggest a good education. He is in all probability the grandchild of the Robert Holmes named provost of Mallow in 1612. He first appears ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portuguese Angola
Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). Initially ruling along the coast and engaging in military conflicts with the Kingdom of Kongo, in the 18th century Portugal gradually managed to colonise the interior Highlands. However, full control of the entire territory was not achieved until the beginning of the 20th century, when agreements with other European powers during the Scramble for Africa fixed the colony's interior borders. On 11 June 1951, the status was upgraded to Overseas Province of Angola and finally in 1973, State of Angola. In 1975, Portuguese Angola became the independent People's Republic of Angola. History The history of Portuguese presence on the territory of contemporary Angola lasted from the arrival of the explorer Diogo Cão in 1484 until the decolonizatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx (1567–1647) and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was granted a charter for a trade monopoly in the Dutch West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over Dutch participation in the Atlantic slave trade, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America. The area where the company could operate consisted of West Africa (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Cape of Good Hope) and the Americas, which included the Pacific Ocean and the eastern part of New Guinea. The intended purpose of the charter was to eliminate competition, particularly Spanish or Portuguese, between the various trading posts established by the merchants. The company became instrumental in the largely ephemeral Dutch coloni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treaty Of Copenhagen (1660)
The Treaty of Copenhagen ( da, Freden i København, sv, Freden i Köpenhamn) was signed on 27 May 1660, and marked the conclusion of the Second Northern War between the Swedish Empire and the alliance of Denmark-Norway and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. This treaty was a smaller follow-up treaty to that of the Treaty of Roskilde, which decisively delineated the mutually recognized boundaries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway; boundaries which are almost exactly the same to this day. Opening positions Charles X of Sweden would not accept any other outcome than Sweden's receipt of Akershus county, in exchange for the return of Trøndelag and Bornholm to Denmark-Norway; Frederick III of Denmark on the other hand refused to abide by the terms of the Treaty of Roskilde, instead wanting to revert to the conditions of the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645). Both kings were stubborn, and had to depend on the mediating powers, France and England on the Swedish side, and the Dutch Rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War (1655–60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655–60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658), 1656–58), Brandenburg-Prussia (1657–60), the Habsburg monarchy (1657–60) and Denmark–Norway (Dano-Swedish War (1657–58), 1657–58 and Dano-Swedish War (1658–60), 1658–60). The Dutch Republic waged an informal trade war against Sweden and seized the colony of New Sweden in 1655, but was not a recognized part of the Polish–Danish alliance. In 1655, Charles X Gustav of Sweden invaded and occupied western Poland–Lithuania, the eastern half of which was Russo-Polish War (1654–67), already occupied by Russia. The rapid Swedish advance became known in Poland as the Deluge (history), Swedish Deluge. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania Union of Kėdainiai, became a Swedish fief, the Polish–Lithuanian regular armies surrendered and the Polish king Joh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles X Gustav Of Sweden
Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who bore his son and successor, Charles XI. Charles X Gustav was the second Wittelsbach king of Sweden after the childless king Christopher of Bavaria (1441–1448) and he was the first king of the Swedish ''Caroline era'', which had its peak during the end of the reign of his son, Charles XI. He led Sweden during the Second Northern War, enlarging the Swedish Empire. By his predecessor Christina, he was considered ''de facto'' Duke of Eyland (Öland), before ascending to the Swedish throne. His numbering as ''Charles X'' derives from a 16th-century invention. The Swedish king Charles IX (1604–1611) chose his numeral after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danish Gold Coast
The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company (a chartered company), later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The five Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts of the Kingdom of Denmark were sold to the United Kingdom and were incorporated into the British Gold Coast in 1850. The area under Danish influence was over 10,000 square kilometres. History On April 20, 1663, the Danish seizure of Fort Christiansborg and Carlsborg completed the annexation of the Swedish Gold Coast settlements. From 1674 to 1755 the settlements were administered by the Danish West India-Guinea Company. From December 1680 to 29 August 1682, the Portuguese occupied Fort Christiansborg. In 1750 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
