John Kabes of Komenda: An Early African Entrepreneur and State Builder

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Periodical article

Title:	John Kabes of Komenda: An Early African Entrepreneur and State Builder
Author:	Henige, David P.
Year:	1977
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	18
Issue:	1
Pages:	1-19
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	black entrepreneurs history 1600-1699 1700-1799 History and Exploration Economics and Trade Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) colonialism Development and Technology
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/180414
Abstract:	John Kabes (Cabes of Cabess) an African trader and political leader (he established the paramount stool of Komenda) in Komenda, a town on the coast of present-day Ghana, benefited from the opportunities provided by the competition among Europeans and manipulated conditions to his own long-term advantage (in the late 17th and early 18th century). In this article the author presents a reconnaissance into his career. First he offers an outline of Kabes's career to the extent that the available evidence permits. This is followed by a more extensive discussion of certain aspects of his career as trader, as political leader, and as a major figure in Dutch-African, English-African, and African-African relations. The paper concludes with some observations on Kabes as a phenomenon of his time and of how our interpretation of him reflects the available sources. Notes.