English Fort on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Fort Komenda was a British fort on the Gold Coast, currently preserved as a ruin. Because of its testimony to the
File:Fort Komenda 16.jpg, The ruins of Fort Komenda found in British Komenda in the Central Region
File:Fort Komenda 02.jpg
File:Fort Komenda 10.jpg
File:Fort Komenda 03.jpg
File:Fort Komenda 05.jpg
Fort Komenda was a British fort on the Gold Coast, currently preserved as a ruin. Because of its testimony to the Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
and European economic and colonial influence in West Africa, the fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979, along with several other castles and forts in Ghana.
History
Fort Komenda was established between 1695 and 1698 at Komenda, in contemporary Ghana. The fort had a very peculiar architecture, as this four-bastioned structure was built around an earlier four-bastioned English trading post, built in 1633. Fort Komenda was within cannon-shot distance to the DutchFort Vredenburgh
Fort Vredenburgh was a Dutch fort on the Dutch Gold Coast, Gold Coast, established on the left bank of the Komenda River (Dutch Komenda). The fort exists as preserved ruins. Because of its testimony to European economic and colonial influence in We ...
. It was abandoned in 1816, after the abolition of slave trade.
The ruin of the fort was transferred to the Dutch as part of a large trade of forts between Britain and the Netherlands in 1868. When a Dutch navy ship entered the harbour of Komenda
Komenda (; german: Commenda''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27.) is a village in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is t ...
, however, the local population resisted the transfer of the fort to the Dutch. Through the use of force, Dutch rule was eventually established. Between December 1869 and January 1870, a military expedition was sent to the local capital of Kwassie-Krom. A deadly battle ensued, but the Dutch managed to emerge as victors. It was a Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.
The phrase originates from a quote from P ...
, however, as the ongoing problems with the local population meant that on 6 April 1872, the entire Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...
, was again transferred to the United Kingdom, as per the Gold Coast treaty of 1871.
Gallery
See also
*Komenda Wars
The Komenda Wars were a series of wars from 1694 until 1700 largely between the Dutch West India Company and the English Royal African Company in the Eguafo Kingdom in the present day state of Ghana, over trade rights. The Dutch were trying to ...
*John Cabess
John Cabess (also written as John Kabes or John Cabes) (c. 1640s – 1722) was a prominent African trader in the port city of Komenda, part of the Eguafo Kingdom, in modern-day Ghana. He was a major British ally and was a supplier to the British R ...
References
Citations
{{Gold Coast Buildings and structures completed in 1633 Buildings and structures completed in 1682 History of Ghana Castles in Ghana Dutch Gold Coast 1633 establishments in the British EmpireKomenda
Komenda (; german: Commenda''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27.) is a village in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is t ...
African resistance to colonialism