European trade companies have established a significant…
1708 CE
The French Company of the Indies presents Haffon with two ships worth of cargo and an extravagant Louis XIV-style throne while the British Royal African Company gifts a crown for the newly appointed King.
Such practices illustrate the high level of dependence European traders have on native African powers in the beginning of the eighteenth century and the close relationship that emerges between the two entities.
This association is further reiterated by the fact that Dutch, British, French, and Portuguese trading company compounds all border the walls of Haffon’s royal palace in the city of Savi.
These compounds serve as important centers of diplomatic and commercial exchange between European companies and the Kingdom of Whydah.
While company compounds facilitate the interaction between European traders and native Africans, the true center of European operations in Whydah are the various forts that exist along the coast near the town of Glewe.
Owned by the Portuguese Crown, the French Company of the Indies, and the British Royal African Company, the forts are mainly used to store slaves and trading merchandise.
Made up of mud walls, the forts provide tolerable protection for the Europeans but are not strong enough to withstand a legitimate attack from the natives.
Furthermore, because the forts are located more than three miles inland, cannons cannot effectively protect European ships in the harbor and anchored ships cannot come to the aid of the forts in times of need.
In this sense, while the forts showcase some degree of European influence, the reality is that the Europeans rely heavily on the king for protection and local natives for sustenance and firewood.
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