Arguin ( : ''Arghīn''; ) is an island off the western coast of

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

in the

Bay of Arguin The Bay of Arguin (; ) is a bay on the Atlantic shore of Mauritania and the former mouth of the Tamanrasset River, now a Paleo-river. Geography It is located south of Cap Blanc, north of Cap Timiris. The bay contains three islands, including ...

. It is approximately in size, with extensive and dangerous

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s around it. The island is now part of the Banc d'Arguin National Park.

History

The island changed hands frequently during the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

. The first European to visit the island was the Portuguese explorer Nuno Tristão, in 1443. In 1445, Prince

Henry the Navigator Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...

set up a trading post on the island, which acquired

gum arabic Gum arabic (gum acacia, gum sudani, Senegal gum and by other names) () is a tree gum exuded by two species of '' Acacia sensu lato:'' '' Senegalia senegal,'' and '' Vachellia seyal.'' However, the term "gum arabic" does not indicate a partic ...

and enslaved people for Portugal. By 1455, 800 enslaved people were shipped from Arguin to Portugal every year.''Slave Routes - Europe Portugal''
. New raw archival-sourced data regarding Arguin slave trade in the early sixteenth century have been released in Ivana Elbl, "Sand and Dreams: Daily Slave Purchases at the Portuguese Coastal Outpost of Arguim (Mauritania) (1519-1520) ~ Full Raw Serialized Data plus Archival Analysis Annotations,” ''Portuguese Studies Review'' 30 (1) (2022): 325-354. The data very simply supersedes other obsolete listings and / or previous unfounded speculations ("estimates"), for the period in question. Available on academia.edu.https://trentu.academia.edu/ivanaElbl Consulted 29 May 2023.

Dutch West India Company rule

AMH-7677-NA Floorplan of the fort at Axim

On 5 February 1633, a Dutch expeditionary force of forty soldiers under the command of Laurens Cameels took possession of Fort Arguin. They did this under the orders of the Zeeland chamber of the Dutch West India Company, which had awarded a

patroonship In the United States, a patroon (; from Dutch '' patroon'' ) was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th-century Dutch colony of New Netherland on the east coast of North America. Through the Charter of Free ...

over the island to Abraham van Peere, who also possessed the colony of

Berbice Berbice () is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 and 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

in South America. Abraham van Peere sent his son Daniel to Arguin to serve as its first

chief factor A factor is a type of trader who receives and sells goods on commission, called factorage. A factor is a mercantile fiduciary transacting business that operates in their own name and does not disclose their principal. A factor differs from a co ...

. Daniel van Peere was taken hostage and eventually murdered by local peoples after setting out on a trading mission to Porto d'Arco in July 1633. This led to a mutiny among the soldiers and a subsequent prosecution of the leaders of the mutiny in Zeeland. The island remained under the authority of the Zeeland chamber of the Dutch West India Company until 1678, with a brief interruption by English rule in 1665. Around 1670, it was occupied by a chief factor and a garrison of 25 men. France took over the island in September 1678, but it was then abandoned until 1685. Arguin's aridity and its lack of a good anchorage made long-term European settlement difficult.

Brandenburg rule

In 1685, Captain Cornelius Reers of the frigate ' occupied the old Portuguese fort on the island. He successfully concluded a treaty with the native king, in which

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

was accepted as a protecting power. The treaty was ratified in 1687 and was renewed in 1698. Arguin remained a colony of Brandenburg until 1721 when the French successfully assaulted the fort and then took control of the island. The Dutch took the fort and island from the French the following year only to lose it again in 1724 to the French. This period of French rule lasted four years; in 1728, it reverted to the control of indigenous peoples. The island was included in the territory of the French colony of

, and it remained under Mauritanian rule when that country became independent in 1960. In July 1816, the French frigate '' Méduse'', bound for

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

, was wrecked off Arguin and 350 people died. Arguin map

Notes

References