Gwollu Defence Wall

Last updated

The Gwollu Defence Wall is a historic wall in the Upper West Region of Ghana. [1] [2] The wall is located near the Burkina Faso-Mali border. [3] It was built as a defense against slave traders.

Contents

History

The Gwollu Defence Wall was built in the 19th century by Gwollu Koro Limann. [4] [5] The wall is one of many relics of the slave trade. [6] The region was marked by violent raids led by warlords Babatu and Samori. To prevent these attacks, two walls were built. One was to protect homes in the community, while the other encircled farms and bodies of water. It is believed that construction took about 10–25 years each, but neither was completed. [3] The walls were abandoned when the Atlantic slave trade was abolished, although local slave traders were still a problem. Only the portion that surrounds Gwollu remains. [7] [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

Axim Town in Western Region, Ghana

Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in Western Region to the west of Cape Three Points. Axim has a 2013 settlement population of 27,719 people.

Elmina Castle Fort and former trading post in Elmina, Ghana

Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina, also known as Castelo da Mina or simply Mina, in present-day Elmina, Ghana. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence south of the Sahara. First established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade. The Dutch seized the fort from the Portuguese in 1637, after an unsuccessful attempt to the same extent in 1596, and took over all of the Portuguese Gold Coast in 1642. The slave trade continued under the Dutch until 1814. In 1872, the Dutch Gold Coast, including the fort, became a possession of Great Britain.

Cape Coast Castle Fortification

Cape Coast Castle is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, established in 1555, which they named Cabo Corso. However, in 1653 the Swedish Africa Company constructed a timber fort there. It originally was a centre for the trade in timber and gold. It was later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Other Ghanaian slave castles include Elmina Castle and Fort Christiansborg. They were used to hold slaves before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas, especially the Caribbean. This "gate of no return" was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Upper West Region Region of Ghana

The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East region to the east, Northern region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional capital and largest settlement is Wa. Upper West is the youngest region, created in Ghana by the then Head of State, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings in 1983 under the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC). The area was carved out of the former Upper Region, which is now the Upper East Region.

Bunce Island Port Loko, Sierra Leone

Bunce Island is an island in the Sierra Leone River. It is situated in Freetown Harbour, the estuary of the Rokel River and Port Loko Creek, about 20 miles upriver from Sierra Leone's capital city Freetown. The island measures about 1,650 feet by 350 feet and houses a castle that was built by the Royal Africa Company in c.1670. Tens of thousands of Africans were shipped from here to the North American colonies of South Carolina and Georgia to be forced into slavery, and are the ancestors of many African Americans of the United States.

House of Slaves

The House of Slaves and its Door of No Return is a museum and memorial to the Atlantic slave trade on Gorée Island, 3 km off the coast of the city of Dakar, Senegal. Its museum, which was opened in 1962 and curated until Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye's death in 2009, is said to memorialise the final exit point of the slaves from Africa. While historians differ on how many African slaves were actually held in this building, as well as the relative importance of Gorée Island as a point on the Atlantic slave trade, visitors from Africa, Europe, and the Americas continue to make it an important place to remember the human toll of African slavery.

Fort Prinzenstein Danish fort in Keta, Ghana, built in 1784 and used in the slave trade

Fort Prinzenstein is a fort located at Keta, Ghana which was used in the slave trade. Many such forts were built in Africa, but Prinzenstein is one of the few that lie east of the Volta River. Keta served as an open port until the Tema Harbour commenced its operation to the west in 1962. The fort has been designated a World Heritage property.

Osu Castle Colonial fort in Ghana

Osu Castle, also known as Fort Christiansborg or simply the Castle, is a castle located in Osu, Accra, Ghana on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf of Guinea. The first substantial fort was built by Denmark-Norway in the 1660s, though the castle has changed hands between Denmark-Norway, Portugal, the Akwamu, Britain, and finally post-Independence Ghana, and was rebuilt numerous times. For most of the castle's history, it has been the seat of government in Ghana with some interruptions, the latest when the John Kufuor administration moved the seat of government to Golden Jubilee House after 6 January 2009, which was quickly reversed by the incoming John Atta Mills administration. It also serves as the place where the late president of Ghana John Atta Mills is buried; in a bird sanctuary, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Sissala West District District in Upper West, Ghana

Sissala West District is one of the eleven districts in Upper West Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Sissala District in 1988; until the western part of the district was later split off to create Sissala West District in July 2004; thus the remaining part has been renamed as Sissala East District. The district assembly is located in the northern/northeast part of Upper West Region and has Gwollu as its capital town.

The trade and pilgrimage routes of Ghana are located in the Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Savannah, North East, Northern, and Upper East Regions of northern Ghana. The routes were used by Bono people, Mandé warriors, Islamic traders and missionaries.

Fort Amsterdam, Ghana

Fort Amsterdam, a World Heritage Site is a fort in Kormantin, Central region, Ghana. It was built by the English between 1638 and 1645 as Fort Cormantin or Fort Courmantyne, and was captured by admiral Michiel de Ruyter of the Dutch West India Company in 1665, in retaliation for the capture of several Dutch forts by the English Admiral Holmes in 1664. It was subsequently made part of the Dutch Gold Coast, and remained part of it until the fort was traded with the British in 1868. The Fort is located at Abandze ,on the north-east of Cape Coast in the Mfantseman District of the Central Region of Ghana.

China–Ghana relations Diplomatic relations between the Peoples Republic of China and the Republic of Ghana

Sino-Ghanaian relations refer to the current and historical relationship between the Republic of Ghana and the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Dutch Slave Coast

The Dutch Slave Coast refers to the trading posts of the Dutch West India Company on the Slave Coast, which lie in contemporary Ghana, Benin, Togo and Nigeria. The primary purpose of the trading post was to supply slaves for the Dutch colonies in the Americas. Dutch involvement on the Slave Coast started with the establishment of a trading post in Offra in 1660. Later, trade shifted to Ouidah, where the English and French also had a trading post. Political unrest caused the Dutch to abandon their trading post at Ouidah in 1725, now moving to Jaquim, at which place they built Fort Zeelandia. By 1760, the Dutch had abandoned their last trading post in the region.

Gwollu District Capital in Upper West Region

Gwollu is a small town and is the capital of Sissala West district, a district in the Upper West Region of north Ghana. Hilla Limann, a former Ghanaian president was born and raised here.

Paga Crocodile Pond

Paga Crocodile Pond is a sacred pond in Paga in the Upper East Region of Ghana, which is inhabited by West African crocodiles. Due to the friendliness of the reptiles, it has become popular among tourists and the pond is now reliant on tourism to ensure the population of crocodiles remain fed and healthy. It is also known as Chief's pond.

Pikworo Slave camp Ghanaian 18th century slave camp

The Pikworo Slave camp was founded in 1704 and was active until 1845. It is located in Paga nania, about 3 kilometers west of Paga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. It was originally developed as a slave transit center where slaves were auctioned and later resold in the Salaga Slave market after walking about 150 km to the south. They are later moved to the coast for shipment.

Dondoli Mosque

Dondoli Mosque is a mosque built in the Sudanese architectural style in the village of Dondoli in Wa in the Upper West region in Ghana. It was named after the neighborhood the mosque is.

Wuriyanga Mosque is located in the Upper East region of Ghana, beyond Garu. It is located southeast of Bawku.

Banda Nkwanta Mosque is located in the West Gonja District in the formally Northern region of Ghana. It is now in the Savannah region. Banda Nkwanta is a small town along the intersection of the Bui Dam road and the Wa-Techiman highway.

The Assin Manso Ancestral Slave River [also called Nnonkonsuo or Donkor Nsuo (singular)] was one of the slave markets for gathering indigenes during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It is located in the Central Region of Ghana, forty (40) kilometers along the Cape Coast-Kumasi highway.

References

  1. "Gwollu Slave Trade Defence Wall". ghana.peacefmonline.com. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  2. "Gwollu Slave Trade Defence Wall". Ghana-Net.com. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Gwollu Slave Defense Wall". The Hauns in Africa. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  4. "Ghana Museums & Monuments Board". www.ghanamuseums.org. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  5. "Gwollu Slave Trader Defence Wall – FIANDAD GHANA LIMITED" . Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  6. "Visit Ghana | UPPER WEST REGION". Visit Ghana. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  7. Swanepoel, Natalie (2010). "Living with Heritage: The Potentials of and Pressures on the Heritage Landscape of Gwollu, Upper West Region, Ghana". Journal of Field Archaeology. 35 (4): 400–411. ISSN   0093-4690.
  8. "Slave Defense Wall". Afro Tourism. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2020.