Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands An
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Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands An annotated guide to the Dutch archives relating to Ghana and West Africa in the Nationaal Archief, 1593–1960s Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands An annotated guide to the Dutch archives relating to Ghana and West Africa in the Nationaal Archief, 1593–1960s Michel R. Doortmont & Jinna Smit LEIDEN • BOSTON 2007 This book is printed on acid-free paper. A Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978 90 04 15850 4 © 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Map 5: Forts and castles of the Coast of Ghana was reproduced with the kind permission of SEDCO Publishers of Accra, Ghana. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints BRILL, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to: The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. Printed in the Netherlands Contents ix Tables, charts, maps, and figures xiii Abbreviations xv Acknowledgements xvii Preface by the director of the Nationaal Archief 1 Introduction 1 Background of the guide 7 Outline of the guide 14 Bibliographical notes 17 Part I: Archial Guide 1. Archies in the Nationaal Archief 17 Government archives 17 – Period before 1621 32 – Period 1621-1795 80 – Period 1796-1960s 144 Private archives 144 – Period before 1621 149 – Period 1621-1795 169 – Period 1796-1960s 177 Maps and drawings 2. Archies and collections outside the Nationaal Archief 209 Introduction 209 KITLV: Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies 214 National Archives at Kew (Great Britain) 216 The Furley Collection 241 Part II: Thematic descriptions 1. The Dutch on the Coast of Guinea 241 Introduction 241 Charters, royal decrees, and treaties 246 Dutch relations with the Gold Coast and Ghana after 1872 Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands 2. Dutch relations with other European nations 251 Introduction 252 The Portuguese 253 The British 255 The Swedes and the Danes 256 The Brandenburgers 3. The Dutch administratie and judicial system 258 Introduction 258 Governors and Councils: Dutch government on the Coast of Guinea 267 Council minutes, resolutions, and general correspondence 270 Government journals 271 Correspondence between St. George d’Elmina and the outer forts and others 272 The Dutch administration and judicial system 4. The Coast of Guinea in the Dutch archies 278 Introduction 279 Ghanaian and West African polities and political organisation 283 Ghanaian and West African social-economic history 284 Ghanaian cultural history 5. Economic actiities and social-economic relations 287 Economic activities: an overview 289 Gold trade and gold mining and washing 291 Slave-trade 295 Other activities 299 Recruitment of African soldiers for the Netherlands East Indies 6. People 302 Introduction 302 Personnel of the WIC and the Dutch government 310 Euro-African and African people and the Dutch 313 Births, marriages, and death 316 Wills, estates, and probate 318 People and the law 318 Daily business and daily life i Contents 7. Castles, forts and towns 322 Introduction 324 Forts: building history and maintenance 328 Forts: occupation and strength 331 Fort, town, and countryside 334 Maps and drawings 339 Bibliography 363 Name index 373 Geographical index 379 Keyword index ii Tables, charts, maps, and figures Tables 1 Chronology of the Dutch in Ghana and West Africa 4 2 Overview of government archives 18 3 Overview of private archives 143 4 Institutions responsible for administration of the posses- sions on the Coast of Guinea in the Netherlands 244 5 Dutch consular representatives on the Gold Coast, 1872- 1960 248 6 Dutch governors of the Coast of Guinea 260 7 WIC gold exports from Africa, 1635-1675 290 8 Slave exports from Africa by WIC and interlopers, 1600- 1739 292 9 Slave exports from Africa by Dutch free traders, 1730- 1803 293 10 WIC imports into West Africa, 1700-1723 (in Dutch guilders) 297 11 WIC exports from the Gold Coast, 1675-1731 (in Dutch guilders) 298 12 Ranks, titles and functions 303 13 Dutch castles and forts on the Gold Coast 325 Charts 1 Organisation plan of the first WIC 259 2 Organisation plan of the second WIC in West Africa 263 Maps 1 The Netherlands, c. 1600 242 2 The provinces of Holland and Zeeland with important towns, c. 1600 245 ix Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands 3 West African coastal regions 253 4 West Africa from Ivory Coast to Calabar 256 5 Forts and castles on the coast of Ghana 325 Figures 1 Fort Nassau at Mouri, on the Coast of Africa, north-north- 1 west of 4 ⁄3 degrees (detail). Drawn by Hans Propheet. 1629. Manuscript. Source: 4.VEL 782. xx 2 Ornamental stone depicting a clerk with the insignia of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and West India Company (GWC) in wall of the old building of the General State Archives, now the Nationaal Archief, in the Bleyen- burg in The Hague. Photo: Gijs Boink. 2 3 Record from the WIC archives, dated 1739, heavily damaged by ink-rot: the acid in the ink is eating away the paper. Photo: Michel R. Doortmont. 11 4 Record from the NBKG archives, eighteenth century, heavily damaged by moist and insects: the paper is discoloured at the edge, and part of it was eaten away. Photo: Michel R. Doortmont. 12 5 Record from the NBKG archives, eighteenth century, damaged by fungus: the paper is discoloured, and covered in a black powdery substance. Photo: Michel R. Doortmont. 12 6 Main entrance of the Balme Library, University of Ghana at Legon. Photo: Michel R. Doortmont. 216 7 Bookcase holding the Furley Collection in the Rare Books Reading Room of the Balme Library. Photo: Michel R. Doortmont. 217 8 Display of notebooks from the Furley Collection, with the index by Collins and Van Dantzig. Photo: Michel R. Doortmont. 218 9 Example of Furley notebook. Photo: Michel R. Doort- mont. 220 10 Treaty between the WIC and Ahanta and Butre, 1656. Source: OWIC 12, Contracts and treaties with the inhabitants of the Coast of Guinea, and other documents pertaining to jurisdiction in the area, 1640-1674. 280 11 (a) Plan of Fort St. Anthony at Axim, with immediate surroundings, including part of the village on the lower x Tables, charts, maps, and figures edge (north), a water-well and an indigo basin, part of the cotton plantation the Dutch had here; (b) the indigo basin enlarged. Source: 4.VEL, no. 746. 296 12 Elevation of fort Batenstein at Butre, drawn by Dutch architect and master of works and stores J. Varlet, Jr. in February 1840. Source: 4.VELH, no. 299. 330 13 Map of the Department Butre, c. 1854 (detail). Source: 4.MIKO, no. 754. 335 14 Map of the Department Axim, drawn by the resident J. Vitringa Coulon, 1854 (detail). Source: 4.MIKO, no. 756. 336 xi Abbreviations The abbreviations listed here are used on the basis of convention and have no official status. The abbreviations refer both to the institutions and their archives. AR American Council (Amerikaansche Raad), generic name for the Council of the American Possessions and Establishments (Raad der Amerikaanse Bezittingen en Etablissementen), 1801-1806. BuZa-1796 Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Departement van Buitenlandse Zaken), 1796-1810. BuZa Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Departement van Buitenlandse Zaken), 1813-1870. HDP Dutch Division at the Ministry of Naval and Colonial Affairs in Paris (Hollandse Divisie bij het Ministerie van Marine en Koloniën te Parijs), 1810-1814. KITLV Royal Netherlands Institute of South East Asian and Caribbean Studies (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde), Leiden, The Netherlands. MvK-I Ministry of Colonial Affairs (Ministerie van Koloniën), 1814-1849. MvK-II Ministry of Colonial Affairs (Ministerie van Koloniën), 1850-1900. MvO Ministry of War (Ministerie van Oorlog), 1813-1945. MvO voor 1813 Ministry of War before 1813 (Ministerie van Oorlog voor 1813). NBKG Netherlands Possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea). SG States General (Staten-Generaal). OWIC Old West India Company (Oude West-Indische Compagnie); abbreviation used to indicate the archives of the first WIC (1621-1674), rather than those of the second (WIC). xiii Sources for the Mutual History of Ghana and the Netherlands PRAAD Public Records and Archives Administration Department, Accra, Ghana; formerly the National Archives of Ghana. VOC United East India Company (Verenigde Oost- Indische Compagnie), 1602-1798. WIC West India Company (West-Indische Compagnie); indicating both the first – 1621-1674 – and second WIC – 1674-1791. WICom West India Committee (West-Indisch Comité); generic name for the Committee for the Affairs of the Colonies and Possessions on the Coast of Guinea and in America (Comité tot de zaken van de koloniën en bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea en in Amerika), 1795-1801. WIM West Indian Ministries (West-Indische Ministeries), generic indication for the Ministry of Trade and Colonial Affairs, 1806-1807 and the Ministry of Naval and Colonial Affairs, 1808-1810 (Ministerie van Koophandel en Koloniën and Ministerie van Marine en Koloniën). xiv Acknowledgements The project of this archival guide was developed by the Nationaal Archief, with the cooperation and (financial) support of the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In the Nationaal Archief the project was carried by Dr.