Trade centres · traded from the 14th century
Malagueta pepper
Grain of paradise: the spice that named the coast and financed its first Atlantic exchanges.
Biography
Aframomum melegueta grows wild and cultivated along the coastal belt. It reached Europe overland through the Sahara before the Portuguese arrived, commanding high prices as a pepper substitute.
The trade was in African hands throughout: gathered inland, brought to beach markets by canoe, and sold by weight against iron bars, cloth and brassware.
Historical significance
The commodity that shows the region trading into Mediterranean markets before any European ship arrived.
Timeline
- 14th c.Reaches Europe by trans-Saharan routes
- 1461+Direct maritime trade opens
Related entries
References
- Pacheco Pereira (c. 1505).
- Rodney (1970).
Suggested reading
- Carney & Rosomoff (2009). In the Shadow of Slavery.