The Dutch also established a coastal town they called both Accra and Ussher Town. By 1673 British merchants had also joined the fray, building a trading post known as Fort James. The rival Danish, Dutch, and British trading posts eventually merged into one large town known as Accra. As the town grew, the primary interior Ga-Dangme vil- lage of AYAWASO deteriorated, and most of its inhabitants migrated south to Accra. Although Accra was an impor- tant European trading center, its society remained heav- ily influenced by Ga-Dangme culture. Accra’s lucrative trade in GOLD and human captives attracted African rivals from the north, as well. For exam- ple, by the end of the 17th century, Accra was made a vassal state of AKWAMU, an AKAN state. By the middle of the 18th century, however, the Ashanti, also an Akan group, had gained control of the coast. In 1826 the Ga- Dangme and other coastal African groups, including the FANTE, joined with the British to defeat the Ashanti, driv- ing them from the area. Although the victory relieved the Ga-Dangme of oppressive Ashanti rule, Britain soon mo- nopolized power along the coast. By 1877 Accra was the new capital of the British Gold Coast colony. See also: ACCRA (Vols. II, IV, V); ASHANTI (Vol. II); ASHANTI EMPIRE (Vols. III, IV); ENGLAND AND AFRICA (Vols. III, IV); GOLD COAST COLONY (Vol. IV). Further reading: I. van Kessel, ed., Merchants, Mis- sionaries and Migrants: 300 Years of Dutch-Ghanaian Rela- tions (Amsterdam: KIT Publishers, 2002); John Parker, Making the Town: Ga State and Society in Early Colonial Accra (Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 2000). Acholi (Shuli, Gang, Acoli) Nilotic people who in- habited regions of present-day UGANDA and southern Republic of the SUDAN. The Acholi are probably descend- ed from several groups of LUO peoples who settled in cen- tral Uganda and KENYA during the southern migration of Nilotic peoples from the region of Sudan starting in the early 16th century. About the middle of the 17th century the ancestors of the Jie and Lango peoples (long time ri- vals of the Acholi) conducted a series of raids against the Luo and Madi groups. These raids, which lasted well into the 18th century, contributed to the assimilation of the Luo and Madi into Acholi. Though the Lango and Acholi lived side-by-side and shared a common language and other cultural traditions, the Lango generally refused to acknowledge any historical ties to the Luo. Acholi society is based on patrilineal descent. The people live in small chiefdoms. Traditionally the Acholi were hunters, but they also participated in both pastoral and agricultural activities. They still herd sheep and cattle, and they produce nuts, vegetables, and grains such as mil- let and sorghum. See also: ACHOLI (Vol. II). Adal 3 Further reading: Ronald R. Atkinson, The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda before 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994). Adal (Adel, Adaiel, Adela, Adem) Muslim state situated near the Gulf of Aden, on the Horn of Africa. Fleeing the tyranny of Ethiopian emperor Amda Siyon (r. 1314–1344), the Walashma came to Adal in the 14th century and formed an independent kingdom. From 1415 until the end of the 15th century, the Walashma dy- nasty monopolized Adal’s government. Adal was involved in a series of disputes with its Ethiopian neighbors throughout the 14th and 15th cen- turies. By the 16th century these petty conflicts turned into a full-blown battle for religious and political superi- ority and, more significantly, control of trade routes. In the last decade of the 15th century, Muhfuz (d. c. 1517), the Muslim governor of nearby ZEILA, designated himself imam, or ruler, and became the religious and military au- thority of Adal. Muhfuz waged a jihad against the Chris- tian Ethiopian state, usually attacking just after Lent, when the Christians were weak from their fasting. Muh- fuz carried out these raids for nearly 25 years. After each of these missions, Muhfuz returned home with a large number of captives and a great amount of plunder, which won him the support of his fellow Muslims. Muhfuz fell in 1517 when Ethiopian emperor LEBNA DENGEL (r. c. 1508–1540) and his army hunted down the renowned Is- lamic leader. He was slain by a monk named Gabra En- dreyas, and his soldiers returned to Adal shortly after his death.Like Muhfuz before him, AHMAD GRAÑ (c. 1506– 1543) declared himself the imam of Adal and renewed the jihad against the Christian state. Ahmad was a charismatic warrior and leader who led his Muslim army to countless victories over the Christians and forced Lebna Dengel to become a fugitive in his own land. By 1533 Ahmad had taken most of central ETHIOPIA. He ap- peared to be unstoppable until 1543, when the Chris- tians, with the help of the Portuguese, defeated the Adal army and killed their celebrated leader. After Ahmad’s death his army fled and the Ethiopians took back their territory. In the latter half of the 16th century the OROMO proved to be a greater threat to Adal than the Christians had ever been. Through a series of invasions, Oromo mi- grants managed to take away all the power and territory that Adal had acquired earlier in the century. See also: ADAL (Vol. II); AMDA SIYON (Vol. II); JIHAD (Vols. II, IV). Further reading: Harold G. Marcus, A History of Ethiopia (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2002).
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:49:25 +0000
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