When browsing maps, especially maps of Africa, people often have a question, that is, there are three countries with the name "Guinea" in the west of the African continent, and even the place where it is recessed is called the Gulf of Guinea.
A closer look reveals that although these countries all have "Guinea" in their names, the official language is completely different, with a slightly northerner Guinea-Bissau speaking Portuguese, Guinea speaking French, and equatorial Guineans at the southern tip speaking Spanish.
▲ Three "Guineas", far apart, but the names are very similar
It is not an exaggeration why several seemingly closely connected African countries are not unified, but all speak different European languages, and the map has been expanded, as far away as Oceania and Papua New Guinea, where the official language is English.
Where did so many "Guineas" come from, and did they have a relationship?
▲ Papua New Guinea is located on the island of New Guinea and is the second largest island in the world
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > mysterious "Black Land"</h1>
The 7th-8th century AD can be said to be the "century of the Arabs", because the biggest event in this century was the beginning of the expansion of Muslims in the Arab world, the Arabs occupied Libya in 643, and in 647 they hit the west coast of Africa and occupied Morocco.
▲ Arab Empire
If you look at the ancient texts or atlases of Europe before the eighth century, you will find that at the southern end of almost all maps is the Sahara Desert of North Africa, which is the edge of all maps. At that time, european footprints had not yet set foot in the southern Sahara, and during the same period, among the Muslims who conquered North Africa, another complete map was circulated.
In this map, it is clearly marked that after crossing the Sahara Desert from Morocco, you will encounter a country called "Ghana". The word "Ghana" means "Golden Land," a land inhabited by blacks that began to attract the attention of the Arabs, and from then on, a whole region of West Africa, immediately south of the Sahara, was called "Bilad Sultan" by the Arabs, meaning "black land."
▲ The legendary Ghana region
This is arguably the first time that West Africa has appeared in texts, and since then, the region has been increasingly mentioned in more and more detail in a growing number of Arab geographical and historical works. However, in the eyes of Europeans, although this "Birard Sultan" is often spoken of from these North African populations, no one knows what exactly "Bilad Sultan" is.
The deal between the North Africans and the "Birad Sultans" was mysterious, and the merchants put the goods at the agreed place, covered them with a piece of cloth, and left. But how long it would take the negroes to arrive at the place where the goods were stored, leave the gold behind, and take the goods away. Merchants came back and took it if they were satisfied with the amount of gold, and if they were not satisfied, they would leave it as they were, and the Negro would raise the price extra the next time he came, until the price was right.
This way of trading with the "Bilad Sultans" is called "dumb trading", in which not only north African nomads, Arabs, and berbers, native Morocco, are involved. From the current point of view, this unsupervised trade is simply a myriad of loopholes, and "black eats black" is easy, but this "dumb transaction" has been stable for hundreds of years, although the scale is not very large.
▲ Ancient Sahara trade routes
It was not until the 11th century AD that the Murabit dynasty of Morocco arose, a Muslim dynasty that invaded Ghana in 1062, and although it soon occupied the capital of Ghana, Muslim culture was ostracized by the "Birad Sultans" and forced Muslims to withdraw to Morocco. Ghana, a small city-state, was soon annexed by the Malian Empire next door, and from there, the "Bilard Sultan" began to catch the eye of Europeans.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, the Portuguese finally discovered "Guinea"</h1>
Turning the camera to Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, across the sea from Morocco, is in deep trouble. Since the Islamic invasion, the Ibia Peninsula has been full of Muslims, and Europeans of different faiths have been in constant conflict with Muslims. It was not until the thirteenth century that the Catholic Church limited the power of Islam to tiny Granada.
But if we divide it according to the state, the Catholic side can be said to be fragmented. The Kingdom of Portugal became independent in 1139; castile annexed the Kingdom of León in 1230, nominally on a par with León, but in fact entirely under Castile control; and Aragon, bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the east, had long been autonomous.
Map of the medieval Iberian Peninsula
But in any case, the victory of Catholicism over Islam in the Iberian Peninsula is a foregone conclusion, and before the complete expulsion of Muslims, several Catholic countries on the peninsula have made difficulties, and the main problem is not to deal with strong enemies, but how to develop after the Muslims are driven away.
The countries were all ghostly, Aragon's goal was in the east, and he wanted to gain a place in the Mediterranean; Castile had no financial and material resources to support the voyage before recapturing Granada, and could only find a way to take Portugal, while Portugal could only choose between the boundless sea in the west and the endless sand sea in the south.
The conservative Portuguese did not choose to explore westward, in fact, the Portuguese only had a crush on Morocco in North Africa and planned to invade North Africa in the name of the Crusaders. In contact with the Moroccans, the Portuguese gradually understood that the Arabic "Bilad Sultan" refers to the area south of the Sahara, and the local Berbers in Morocco pronounce "Birard Sultan" as "Guinea".
In between, although the Arabic "Biladal-Sudão" and the Berber "Guinea" (Guiné) both referred to "negro land", the Portuguese only took the Berber pronunciation as the name of the area, and did not use the Portuguese "TerraNegra".
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, "Guinea" became a colony land</h1>
Portugal did not eventually occupy Morocco, but in 1415 captured the city of Ceuta near the Strait of Gibraltar. The King of Portugal appointed one of his youngest sons, Prince Henry, to be governor of Ceuta, and this Prince Henry was the famous "Henry the Navigator" in history.
▲ Henry the Navigator, the pioneer of the Age of Discovery
At first the Portuguese planned to cross Morocco and search for "Guinea" along the west coast, supposedly just along the shore, but in fact the Portuguese exploration was very slow, and in 1418 they discovered the Madeira Islands, but until 1434 they did not exceed Cape Bojador.
It was not until 1444 that a navigator, Dinez Díaz, arrived at the mouth of the Senegal River and met the local Nigros, who, although influenced by Muslim culture, were not Muslims themselves.
▲ Madeira Islands, the Portuguese did not surpass Cape Bojador until 1434
Diniz Díaz captured several Nigros in order to prove to Henry that they had successfully crossed the Muslim-controlled desert to the fabled "Guinea". Portugal immediately declared the area to be Portuguese territory, now known as Guinea-Bissau. The geographical concept of "Guinea" therefore represents the area around the Senegal River.
From the current point of view, "Negro (Negro Spanish, Nigger English)" has become a term of insult to blacks, and this group of "Negroes" is the first order for the future black slave triangle trade.
▲Senegal River
Just as the Portuguese were making a fortune from the rich gold and black slaves in Guinea, Spain on the side blushed. Although in 1492 the Spanish navigator Columbus discovered the mysterious and unknown American continent, it was impossible to fully develop the Americas in a short period of time, especially the Portuguese still monopolized the resource necessary for the development of the Americas - black slaves. Spain immediately demanded that Portugal set aside a plot of land in West Africa to participate in the slave trade.
▲ Papal Meridian, the Purple Line to the west is the Spanish sphere of influence, and the east is the Portuguese sphere of influence
Portugal believes that it is rare to monopolize trade and give it to you, not to mention that when you Spain discovered the Americas, you only drew a line fifty degrees west longitude, stipulating that a small area to the east would belong to Portugal. Now that the whole of Guinea is in the east, I owe you what Portugal has to offer. The two sides quarreled until the eighteenth century, when Portugal decided to cede the island of Bioko to Spain at the cost of Spain ceding western Brazil to Portugal.
▲ Bioco Island
The island of Bioko ceded by Portugal is now located in Equatorial Guinea, which later became the capital of Equatorial Guinea. As a result, two Guinean countries have emerged in the world, one of which, according to the old saying, is "Portuguese Guinea" and the other is "Spanish Guinea".
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > partition of Africa, Europeans define borders</h1>
As the Western powers learned more about Africa, the geographical concept of "Guinea" gradually expanded to the west coast of Africa near the equator.
Fast forward to 1881, when the world's most powerful countries were largely located in Europe, and these powers grew by sucking up the resources of various colonies, especially in countries like Britain, where almost every continent had its territory. In addition to the American continent, South Africa's exploration has not stopped. In line with the principle that whoever discovers first will belong to whom, all countries have actively carried out exploration activities.
Map of West Africa in the 1730s, the yellow part represents "Guinea" and the pink part represents "Black Land"
At that time, the various powers had no clear dividing line in Africa, and In order to open up colonies in Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium established the "International Association for the Investigation and Development of Central Africa" in 1876 to actively plan African expeditions. At the same time, an American explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, was "working" in the Congo for 5 years without the prior consent of Leopold II, without any information or reporting meetings.
Henry Morton Stanley
However, as Stanley went deeper and deeper into Africa, he discovered that the other powers had already eaten the continent, and by the end of 1881, when Stanley arrived in present-day Kinshasa, the city of Brazzaville on the other side of the Congo River had been occupied by the French. They each have imperialist governments as their backs, and they cannot stand each other.
▲Berlin Conference
In fact, France has long been engaged in the development of Africa, almost all of West Africa is under French control, and even the atlas will be marked "French West Africa", but there is no clear demarcation. In response to the conflict that broke out in the Congo, the great powers began to unite to discuss the division of the spoils.
▲ After the Berlin Conference, the sphere of influence of the great powers in Africa was French territory in pink
In 1884, the German-led Berlin Conference was held, and none of the fifteen countries participated in the conference from Africa, but the conference was aimed at the division of African land. Leaving aside the Congo problem, the former "Portuguese Guinea" still belonged to Portugal, and all but this area was divided up by France. That is, the "Guinea" country bordering the south of today's "Guinea-Bizhao" was formerly called "French Guinea".
Three Guinean locations
At this point, the three guineas in the African region were completely divided and unrelated. However, if you open the map, there is also a "Guinea" in distant Oceania - "Papua New Guinea". In fact, this place is only the Portuguese oolong, as early as 1511 there were Portuguese arrival in Papua New Guinea, but in view of the local ethnic Group Papua people's curly hair, medium stature, brown skin, and the appearance of the Guinean race is very similar, it is casually named "New Guinea".
▲ Papua New Guinea, located in Oceania
Including New Guinea, the Guinea region is only the home of primitive natives, perhaps not called "Guinea" at all in the mouths of the ancient indigenous people. Later, when foreign powers colonized and invaded, the word "Guinea" also became synonymous with "colony". Papua New Guinea's "guinea" name was also used by later rulers.
In Africa, guineas became independent one after another, and now the Guinean region retains the habits of its former colonists, and unification is no longer possible, leaving only the only bond of name.
The author | Qingtong
Lovers of literature and history | the direction of European medieval history
Editor-in-charge | Thomas
Graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science| Editor-in-Chief of the Global Intelligence Officer
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