Before imperialism Africa wasn't poor like many believe today. In fact Africa thrived as is seen in the wealth, scholars, art and architecture it's many empires brought fourth. Thank you bringing Africa's history to the surface.
Great work,In depth as always. In Toby Greene's Book a fistful of shells he covers the unequal exchange in coastal trade and devaluation of cowries by European powers dumping them en mass on the coast in the later years of trans Atlantic trade, this raises the question; how did currency regulation occur in the various west African states, did they have a formalized fiscal policy. I know the mansas used the gold monopoly to prevent inflation and regulate the gold flow but what about it states that lacked regular access to gold. How was the cloth currency regulated or are commodity currencies a different ball game?
Of course you've already covered it 😅. The sheer variety of African currencies is astonishing, the traders and merchants would've had to manage so many diverse currencies and exchange rates.
I will definitely check out Thornton's book, information on Kongo is quite all over the place.
Thank you for this! I study Nigerian jewellery and this has helped me contextualise a few things. One of them being why gold was not a popular material for jewellery in Nigeria.
Surprisingly, gold objects were found in the pre-Islamic tumuli of Hausaland, but the metal seems to have been comparatively less important in the Islamic period (just like in Mali & Senegal), and certainly even less so by the 18th-19th century when the cowrie revolution displaced whatever remaining value it had as a currency.
But I believe that, besides kola-nuts, early Hausa/Wangarawa/Bornu traders travelling to the Volta/Gonja region also brought back some gold. On the other hand, the southern kingdoms were probably not too preoccupied with acquiring gold, likely preferring copper.
Before imperialism Africa wasn't poor like many believe today. In fact Africa thrived as is seen in the wealth, scholars, art and architecture it's many empires brought fourth. Thank you bringing Africa's history to the surface.
thank you too!
Fantastic! Thank you.
grateful.
Nice Article Mr. Isaac Samuel with solid sources. Thank You for Sharing Sir !
Thank you, too, Karl.
Great work,In depth as always. In Toby Greene's Book a fistful of shells he covers the unequal exchange in coastal trade and devaluation of cowries by European powers dumping them en mass on the coast in the later years of trans Atlantic trade, this raises the question; how did currency regulation occur in the various west African states, did they have a formalized fiscal policy. I know the mansas used the gold monopoly to prevent inflation and regulate the gold flow but what about it states that lacked regular access to gold. How was the cloth currency regulated or are commodity currencies a different ball game?
I think regulation was relatively easier for the cowrie shell currency than the cloth currency (see the case of Dahomey under Gezo vs Bornu under Al Kanemi and Umar). In any case, Thornton criticized Toby Green's thesis on the supposed devaluation of the shell currency of Kongo, https://www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-history-of-currencies-and-monetary?utm_source=publication-search#footnote-anchor-9-175278267
Of course you've already covered it 😅. The sheer variety of African currencies is astonishing, the traders and merchants would've had to manage so many diverse currencies and exchange rates.
I will definitely check out Thornton's book, information on Kongo is quite all over the place.
Africa produces a good percentage of the world's Coffee, yet Coffee drinking culture isn't a thing in Africa as is the case here in the West.
Thank you for this! I study Nigerian jewellery and this has helped me contextualise a few things. One of them being why gold was not a popular material for jewellery in Nigeria.
Surprisingly, gold objects were found in the pre-Islamic tumuli of Hausaland, but the metal seems to have been comparatively less important in the Islamic period (just like in Mali & Senegal), and certainly even less so by the 18th-19th century when the cowrie revolution displaced whatever remaining value it had as a currency.
But I believe that, besides kola-nuts, early Hausa/Wangarawa/Bornu traders travelling to the Volta/Gonja region also brought back some gold. On the other hand, the southern kingdoms were probably not too preoccupied with acquiring gold, likely preferring copper.
Yes, copper, brass even gilt silver seem more popular with Southern kingdoms. Eager to study more on gold in preIslamic Hausaland