{"id":66,"date":"2014-12-05T22:35:20","date_gmt":"2014-12-05T21:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvraiz.com\/?page_id=66"},"modified":"2024-12-15T15:21:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T14:21:45","slug":"main-considerations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cvraiz.com\/?page_id=66","title":{"rendered":"Documented Ethnicities"},"content":{"rendered":"

This page features charts listing the ethnic origins of slaves as they were mentioned in historical documents (testimonies, registers, notarial acts etc.), not only for Cape Verde itself . But also for places where slaves exported from Cape Verde ended up. It should be noted that the ethnic labels used in documents dating from the colonial era can contain many flaws. Still caveats aside the socalled \u201ccastas\u201d or \u201cnations\u201d being used in historical documents\/literature do offer very valuable information. At the very least indicative of the geographical and linguistic origins of the persons being described!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Cape Verde \u00a0being a slave entrepot in its early history (officially from 1466-1647) obviously most slaves might have entered and consequently left without anything being documented about their ethnic origins. Then again what we do have is very valuable in itself, especially when combining all the scattered info also available from Latin America & Iberia and counterchecking with DNA research, linguistics and cultural retentions<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When it comes to documentation from Cape Verde itself the samples are rather small for the most part and also none for the main period of slave trading in Cape Verde, the 1500\u2019s. However looking at the documentation that survived for other places we can get a better picture. \u00a0The very first references we have for<\/strong> the ethnic origins of individual<\/span> Cape Verdeans date from the 1540’s<\/strong><\/span>: referring to a Banhun forro (free black) in 1541 and in 1543 to a Wolof slave in Fogo.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

VALENCIA (1482-1516; n=2944)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Very crucial documentation to have survived! Especially because we don\u2019t have similar records from Lisbon or Sevilla which had bigger slave markets than Valencia. Given the known slave trade patterns it can be assumed that most of them would have been brought by way of Cape Verde aside from Arguin (Mauritania). Both historians and linguists have considered it\u00a0<\/span>representative for the ethnic composition of Cape Verdean slaves during that specific time period. <\/span><\/strong><\/span> An absolute dominance of slaves labeled Jalof, almost 85%! Most frequently mentioned after them are Mandinga, Sereer, Sape and Benin (most likely referring to the kingdom of Benin in presentday Nigeria). Not really surprising given what we know of the trade patterns back then. The horse trade with the Jolof empire conducted by both Portuguese and later on Cape Verde-based traders being principal already from the 1440\u2019s or so.<\/p>\n

There is one important thing to keep in mind though. Which is that most of the Valencia documents seem to refer to the Jolof empire intending to specify geographical\/political origins and not per se ethnic ones<\/span><\/strong>. So Jalof\/Jolof\/Gelofa etc. cannot always be equated to the Wolof ethnonym as we know it today. It may very well also refer to people we would nowadays identify as Fula, Sereer or Lebu. From historical travelling reports it seems that Wolof kings raided for captives both among their own people, especially during civil wars and also among neighbouring states while expanding their territory until 1500. After 1500 the Jolof empire started to disintegrate and especially the breakaway provinces and the Sereer in the south (Petit Cot\u00e9) had many succesfull wars against the leftover state of Jolof in the interior. Perhaps therefore in the period 1500-1560 the share of ethnic Wolofs might have been higher among those labeled Jolof.<\/p>\n

Top 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Wolof (“Jolof”)<\/li>\n
  2. Mandinga<\/li>\n
  3. Beni (=Bini\/Edo from Nigeria)<\/li>\n
  4. Sape\/Capi (=Temne)<\/li>\n
  5. Berbesi (=Sereer)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ***<\/p>\n

    \"PEH<\/a>
    Source<\/strong>: P.E.H. Hair (1980). Black African Slaves at Valencia, 1482-1516: An Onomastic<\/em>
    Inquiry . History in Africa, 7, pp. 119-139.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    ***<\/p>\n

    <\/h2>\n

    CAPE VERDE (Fogo & Santiago) (1610-1758; n=62)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This is a collection of the few slave registers to have survived in Cape Verde, most of them from Fogo. Many slave registers\u00a0 or otherwise informative documentation from Santiago probably got destroyed during pirate attacks in 1585 and 1711. Not per se representative of all ethnic origins but still very valuable. The top 5 corresponds very well with what I will show later on for Latin American slaveregisters. But besides that there\u2019s several other interesting things to note:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. 70,5% of all slaves were “Creole”\/Cape Verde-born; <\/strong><\/span>in batch 4 – the biggest one from 1624 – it\u2019s even 80% (97\/120)! Implying that their ethnic origins reflect slave imports from earlier time periods in the 1500\u2019s.<\/li>\n
    2. There\u2019s 1 Mina and 1 Arda from the Ghana\/Benin area being mentioned as well as 3 Congo\u2019s. Solid prove that slaves with origins outside of Upper Guinea also ended up in Cape Verde even if a small minority.<\/li>\n
    3. Also 1 slave being labeled \u201cCanario\u201d in a will dating from 1635. That\u2019s the only historical reference I have ever seen for a Canarian slave in Cape Verde. Not sure if by this time it could still be someone with Guanche background but intriguing either way!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Top 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \u00a0Brame (= Papel)<\/li>\n
      2. \u00a0Sape (=Temne)<\/li>\n
      3. \u00a0Banhun<\/li>\n
      4. \u00a0Beafada<\/li>\n
      5. \u00a0Bijago & Cassanga & Flup (=Diola)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \u00a0***<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \"M.Torrao<\/a>
        Source<\/strong>: Maria Jo\u00e3o Soares & Maria Manuel Torr\u00e3o, The Mande Through and In the Cape Verde Islands (15th-18th centuries), Mande Studies 9 (2007) pp. 135-147. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

        \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \u00a0***<\/strong><\/p>\n

        CAPE VERDE (1624; n=16)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

        \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Small sample but interesting comparison with similarly small ones from several Latin American countries. Especially the Bram (=Papel), Beafares (=Beafada) and Sape (=mostly Temne) seem consistent.<\/p>\n

        \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Top 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \u00a0Sape (=Temne)<\/li>\n
        2. \u00a0Brame (= Papel)<\/li>\n
        3. \u00a0Beafada & Sosu<\/li>\n
        4. \u00a0Fula & Balanta<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          \u00a0***<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \"S.<\/a>
          Source<\/strong>: Stephan B\u00fchnen, Ethnic Origins of Peruvian Slaves (1548-1650): Figures for Upper Guinea, Paideuma, Bd. 39 (1993), pp. 57-110.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

          \u00a0***<\/strong><\/p>\n

          CAPE VERDE\u00a0 (1856; n=130)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

          Probably most complete survey we\u2019ll ever have on the ethnic origins of Cape Verdean slaves. It is unfortunate that 699 slaves only got labeled as \u201cGuin\u00e9\u201d. Still this leaves specified ethnic origins for 130 slaves. Keeping in mind this is at the very end of slavery.\u00a0At this time only a small part of Cape Verde’s population was enslaved (less than 10%)<\/span><\/strong>. Also 82% of the slaves are actually Cape Verde-born\/Crioulo. Although many of them possibly only 1 or 2 generations removed from mainland origins.<\/p>\n

          So this doesn\u2019t say very much about the Cape Verdean population as a whole at that time. Still the top 5 should be representative to some degree of slave trade patterns even in the late 1700\u2019s. <\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>The longlasting wars between Mandinga and Fula generating many POW\u2019s for many decades earlier. Other things standing out:<\/p>\n