The Komenda Wars, 1694-1700: a revised narrative

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Periodical article

Title:	The Komenda Wars, 1694-1700: a revised narrative
Author:	Law, Robin
Year:	2007
Periodical:	History in Africa
Volume:	34
Pages:	133-168
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Ghana Great Britain Netherlands
Subjects:	Eguafo polity colonial conquest trading companies archives 1600-1699
External link:	http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v034/34.1law.pdf
Abstract:	The Komenda Wars (1694-1700) have long been recognized as an especially significant episode in the history of the Gold Coast (Ghana). They were primarily a confrontation between the African kingdom of Eguafo (in which Komenda was situated) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC), and as such represented the longest-drawn-out struggle between a local state and a European company. The Royal African Company of England (RAC) was also centrally involved as a supporter of Eguafo, so that the wars also represented an important episode in the history of Anglo-Dutch rivalry on the West African coast. This article examines the potential value of the Rawlinson collection of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, for the specific topic of the Komenda Wars. The material comprises letterbooks containing correspondence received at the RAC's West African headquarters, Cape Coast Castle, mainly from the Company's other factories on the Gold Coast, during the period from 1681 to 1699. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]