Ethnic groups · pre-1822 and continuing
Bassa people
Kru-speaking farmers and coastal traders of the Mesurado–Cestos littoral.
Biography
The Bassa occupied the fertile belt between the St John and Cestos rivers and the beaches that Europeans knew for pepper — the grain of paradise that gave this shore its old name. Bassa towns such as Jumbo were nodes where ivory, pepper and woven cloth changed hands; it was King Jack Ben of Jumbo Town who supplied the contacts that brought ACS agents from Sierra Leone to Cape Mesurado. Bassa society was organised around town-level councils and the Kui and No societies rather than a single paramountcy.
Historical significance
One of the sixteen principal peoples mapped in the atlas; Kru (Niger–Congo) in language, with an economy built on pepper cultivation and palm oil.
Timeline
- pre-1500Bassa towns settled between the Mesurado and the Cestos
- 17th–18th c.Camwood and rice trade with European shipping
- 1832–35Settler stations founded on the Bassa coast
On the map
Associated with Jumbo Town. Open the historical atlas.
Related entries
References
- TRC Final Report Vol. II; Sumaworo 2022
Suggested reading
- Dunn, Beyan & Burrowes (2000). Historical Dictionary of Liberia.