Cacheu | |
|---|---|
 Fortress of Cacheu | |
  Cacheu Location in Guinea-Bissau | |
| Coordinates: 12°16′14″N16°09′57″W / 12.27056°N 16.16583°W | |
| Country |  Guinea-Bissau |
| Region | Cacheu Region |
| Captaincy founded and fort built | 1588 |
| Incorporated (town) | 1605 |
| Elevation | 44 m (144 ft) |
| Population (2009 census) | |
| • Total | 9,882 |
Cacheu is a town in northwestern Guinea-Bissau lying on the Cacheu River, capital of the eponymous region. Its population was estimated to be 9,849 as of 2008 [update] . [1]
The town of Cacheu is situated in territory of the Papel people. The name is of Bainuk origin: Caticheu, meaning 'the place where we rest'. [2]
Cacheu was one of the earliest European colonial settlements in sub-saharan Africa, due to its strategic location on the Cacheu river. Cacheu developed a European/Afro-European population from the late sixteenth century through informal settlement of Cape Verdian and Portuguese traders, adventurers and outcasts ( lançados ). The authorities in mainland Portugal also sent to Cacheu degredados - people condemned to exile for a variety of offences. [3]
In 1567 the English slaver John Hawkins raided the settlement. [4] Due to such threats and a period of social conflict with their hosts the Papels, in 1589 the traders sought and received permission from the king of Cacheu to build a fort. They then abandoned the town and moved en masse into the new stockade in 1591 in an attempt to avoid the control of the local government. [5] The Papels unsuccessfully stormed the fort before an agreement was reached allowing cohabitation. [6] The fort did not have a secure water supply, however, and the locals used their control over water to pressure the Portuguese into trade concessions. [7]
In 1598 a resident priest was appointed, and in 1605 the settlement was offered a municipal charter by the Portuguese crown. [8] [9] At this time the settlement had around 1500 inhabitants, of whom 500 were white. [10] A new fort, which still stands today, was built of stone in the 1640s. [9]
Cacheu was an important slave trading point for the Portuguese in the Upper Guinea region, where the crown endeavoured to ensure that duties on all slaves exported were paid. It was also a center of boat-building, with most of the artisans being African. [11] The lancados, Papels, and other European traders all regularly violated this supposed monopoly. [12] To bolster these attempts, in 1676 the Portuguese launched the Company of Cacheu and Rivers and Commerce of Guinea, the first of several that tried and failed to control the trade of slaves from Cacheu to the New World. [9] In 1684 a prominent lancado trader, Bibiana Vaz, even captured the captain-major and imprisoned him at Farim for 14 months. [13] When representative of the Company arrived the 'Republic of Cacheu' refused to let them land, demanding control over trade and direct communication with the king. A triumvirate, which included Bibiana's brother, ruled the town "in the name of the people", meaning the Afro-Portuguese traders for several months before the company regained control. [14]
The condition of the garrison deteriorated progressively from the latter part of the 17th century up through the 19th. In 1878, a reinforced Portuguese force successfully attacked Cacanda in retaliation for the earlier assassination of the captain-major of Cacheu, the first of a series of 'pacification campaigns' that would culminate in the final conquest of the region in 1914. As Portuguese Guinea expanded and solidified, however, towns such as Bolama, Bissau and Canchungo became administrative centers at the expense of Cacheu. [15]
Roads in the town are paved with oil palm kernels. Notable buildings in Cacheu include the Portuguese-built 16th century fort, dating from the period when Cacheu was a centre for the slave trade. Other attractions in the town include the Cacheu River Mangroves Natural Park and a regular market. The market serves the surrounding areas which export coconuts, palm oil and rice. [16]
Cacheu is twinned with:
Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers 36,125 square kilometres (13,948 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to its north and Guinea to its southeast.
The region now known as Guinea-Bissau has been inhabited for thousands of years. In the 13th century, it became a province of the Mali Empire that later became independent as the Empire of Kaabu. The region was claimed by Portugal beginning in the 1450s. During most of this period, Portuguese control of the region was limited to a number of forts along the coast. Portugal gained full control of the mainland after the pacification campaigns of 1912–15. The offshore Bijago islands were not colonised until 1936. After independence in 1974, the country was controlled by a single-party system until 1991. The introduction of multi-party politics in 1991, brought the first multi-party elections in 1994. A civil war broke out from 1998 to 1999.
Bissau is the capital and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. As of 2015, it had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, its administrative and military center.
Portuguese Guinea, called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a West African colony of Portugal from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as Guinea-Bissau.
The Bissagos Islands, also spelled Bijagós, are a group of about 88 islands and islets located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Guinea-Bissau. The archipelago was formed from the ancient delta of the Geba and Grande de Buba rivers and spans an area of 12,958 km2 (5,003 sq mi). 20 of its islands are populated year-round, including the most populated island, Bubaque, where the administrative capital is situated.
Farim is a town of northern Guinea-Bissau. It sits on the north bank of the Farim/Cacheu River, about 215 km up the river from Cacheu. Population 8,661.
The lançados were settlers and adventurers of Portuguese origin in Senegambia, Cabo Verde, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and other areas on the coast of West Africa. Many were Jews—often New Christians—escaping persecution from the Portuguese Inquisition. Lançados often took African wives from local ruling families, securing protection and advantageous trading ties. They established clandestine trading networks in weaponry, spices, and slaves. This black market angered the Portuguese Crown by disrupting its ability to collect taxes.
Canchungo is a town located in the western Cacheu Region of Guinea-Bissau formerly known as Vila Teixeira Pinto after Major João Teixeira Pinto, the Portuguese colonial officer who had brutally 'pacified' the area in the early 20th century. After independence the name was changed back to what it had always been. Formerly a center of trade, the town infrastructure has deteriorated significantly amid large-scale emigration, with the exception of a new hospital.
Honório Pereira Barreto was a governor of the Portuguese colony of Guinea.
The kingdom of Kasa, also known as Kasanga, was the dominant kingdom in lower Casamance during the 15th and 16th centuries. Many of the inhabitants of the realm were Bainuk or other native ethnicities, but it was ruled by a Mandinka elite. The capital was at Brikama, in what is now The Gambia.
São Domingos is both a Sector and a city in the Cacheu Region of Guinea-Bissau. The sector contains the main border checkpoint to Senegal between Jegue, Mpack on the Senegalese.
Vaz is a Portuguese language surname.
Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975.
Papels, also known as Moium, Oium, Papei, Pepel or Pelels, are an ethnic group primarily located in Guinea-Bissau, though are also found in Casamance (Senegal) and Guinea. Their population in Guinea-Bissau is about 183,000, with 9,000 living outside of the country. They traditionally engaged in hunting and agriculture.
Bissau-Guinean Americans are Americans of Bissau-Guinean descent. As was the case with almost all current West African coastal countries, the first people in the United States from present-day Guinea-Bissau were imported as slaves. Thus, in the 21st century, there are many African Americans who have discovered, through DNA analysis, they descend mainly or at least partly, from Bissau-Guinean enslaved people.
Bibiana Vaz de França was a prominent nhara slave-trader in Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau.
Bissau is a city in Guinea-Bissau, a country in West Africa, formerly part of the kingdom of Kaabu and part of the Mali Empire.
Crispina Peres was an African "Senhora" slave trader, natural from Geba, nowadays Guinea-Bissau.
Brazil–Guinea-Bissau relations are the bilateral relations between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. Both nations are members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, Group of 77 and the United Nations.
Guinala or Quinara was an important Biafada kingdom in pre-colonial Guinea-Bissau situated between the Geba and Rio Grande de Buba rivers. The main port town, also called Guinala, was located on a tributary of the Buba, with the capital Bruco a short distance inland.
12°16′N16°10′W / 12.267°N 16.167°W
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