Salaga is a town and is the capital of

East Gonja district East Gonja Municipal Assembly is one of the seven districts in Savannah Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as East Gonja District, until the eastern part of the district was split off by ...

, a district in the

Savannah Region The Savannah Region is one of the newest regions of Ghana and yet the largest region in the country. The creation of the Region follows presentation of a petition by the Gonja Traditional Council, led by the Yagbonwura Tumtumba Boresa Jakpa I. ...

of north

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. Salaga had a 2012

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fina ...

population of 25,472 people.

Etymology

The name Salaga comes from the Dagomba word ''"salgi"'' which means ''"To get used to a place of abode"''.

History

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Salaga served as a key

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

, particularly for the busy regional kola trade, and controlling Salaga gave a monopoly over trade to the north and south. Situated in the southernmost reaches of the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

, Salaga was referred to as "the

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

of the south" for its cosmopolitan population and varied trade. The Gonja, a powerful warrior kingdom, ruled Salaga and several other towns. However, being a cosmopolitan town, Salaga was inhabited by Hausas, Wangaras,

Dagombas The Dagombas are a Gur ethnic group of northern Ghana, numbering more than 2.3 million people. They inhabit the Northern Region of Ghana in the sparse savanna region below the sahelian belt, known as the Sudan. They speak the Dagbani languag ...

, Gurmas, and other groups from the region as well as the indigenous Gonja. Salaga was central to the emergence of the Zabarima (emirate) as a power in the area that is now northern Ghana, when the scholar Alfa Hano and the warrior Gazari migrated here from their former homes south-east of

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital di ...

in the 1860s.copied Wilks, Ivor. "'He Was With Them': Malam Abu On The Zaberma Of The Middle Volta Basin." Sudanic Africa 4 (1993): 213-22.
/ref> The Salaga market served as a transit point through th
northern Sahel
and the southernmost coast of the 'Sahel', as well as through the Dagomba towns of Kpabia and

Yendi Yendi is a town and the capital of Yendi Municipal district in the Northern Region of Ghana. As of 2012 the population of Yendi was 52,008 people. It is the seat of the King of the Dagombas. Climate Economy The people of Yendi are mainl ...

. This gave rise to the transport of cattle and groundnuts from

via the Salaga market.The Evolution of War: A Study of Its Role in Early Societies By Maurice R. Davie It also was the transit point through which kola was transported from modern day Ghana to northern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. During the

Trans-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 ...

, Salaga also served as an important market from where slaves were transported to the coast for export. This is why a market in Jamestown is called the "Salaga Market": slaves originally shipped from the

Salaga slave market Salaga Slave Market is an 18th-century slave market located in the East Gonja District of northern Ghana. During the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Salaga served as an important market where slaves were transported to the coast for export. The mark ...

were sold there. In 1892, civil war broke out in Salaga, resulting in a mass exodus of mostly Zongo peoples out of the area.

Notable people

Abdul-Yakuni Iddi Abdul-Yakuni Iddi (born 25 June 1986, in Salaga) is a Ghanaian Association football, footballer. He currently plays as an offensive midfielder for KFC Malderen, Malderen in the Belgian provincial leagues. Career Iddi began his career by Feyenoo ...

References

External links

*
East Gonja District
{{Coord, 8, 33, N, 0, 31, W, region:GH_type:city, display=title Populated places in the Savannah Region (Ghana)

Etymology

History

Notable people

References

Further reading

External links