The Shell Money Of The Slave Trade (african Studies)
by Jan Hogendorn /
2003 / English / PDF
6.8 MB Download
This study examines the role of cowrie-shell money in West African
trade, particularly the slave trade. The shells were carried from
the Maldives to the Mediterranean by Arab traders for further
transport across the Sahara, and to Europe by competing Portuguese,
Dutch, English and French traders for onward transport to the West
African coast. In Africa they served to purchase the slaves
exported to the New World, as well as other less sinister exports.
Over a large part of West Africa they became the regular market
currency, but were severely devalued by the importation of
thousands of tons of the cheaper Zanzibar cowries. Colonial
governments disliked cowries because of the inflation and
encouraged their replacement by low-value coins. They disappeared
almost totally, to re-appear during the depression of the 1930s,
and have been found occasionally in the markets of remote frontier
districts, avoiding exchange and currency control problems.
This study examines the role of cowrie-shell money in West African
trade, particularly the slave trade. The shells were carried from
the Maldives to the Mediterranean by Arab traders for further
transport across the Sahara, and to Europe by competing Portuguese,
Dutch, English and French traders for onward transport to the West
African coast. In Africa they served to purchase the slaves
exported to the New World, as well as other less sinister exports.
Over a large part of West Africa they became the regular market
currency, but were severely devalued by the importation of
thousands of tons of the cheaper Zanzibar cowries. Colonial
governments disliked cowries because of the inflation and
encouraged their replacement by low-value coins. They disappeared
almost totally, to re-appear during the depression of the 1930s,
and have been found occasionally in the markets of remote frontier
districts, avoiding exchange and currency control problems.