Gabon's Orungu Kingdom Slave Trade Dominance

The Orungu People's Slave Trade: A 200-Year Gabonese Kingdom Dominance

On January 1, 1760, French trader Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville arrived at the Orungu kingdom in what is now Gabon, and was immediately struck by the kingdom's control over the regional slave trade. Historian François de Castelnau wrote about this encounter in his book "Histoire de la Nouvelle-France". The Orungu kingdom, with its capital in Cape Lopez, was a tiny but powerful state that dominated the slave trade for over two centuries.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think that the transatlantic slave trade was controlled by European powers, with African kingdoms playing a secondary role. The standard story goes that European traders would arrive on the African coast, and local leaders would supply them with slaves in exchange for goods. However, this narrative overlooks the significant role that some African kingdoms, like the Orungu, played in controlling and facilitating the slave trade.

What History Actually Shows

Historian Jan Vansina, in his book "Kingdoms of the Savanna", argues that the Orungu people were major players in the slave trade from the early 17th century to the late 19th century. By 1680, the Orungu kingdom had established trade relationships with European powers, including the French and the Portuguese. According to historian Phyllis Martin, in her book "The External Trade of the Loango Coast", the Orungu people were actively manipulating the slave trade to their advantage, using their strategic location to control the flow of slaves and goods. By 1780, the Orungu kingdom had become a major hub for the slave trade, with thousands of slaves passing through its ports every year. Historian David Northrup, in his book "Africa's Discovery of Europe", notes that the Orungu people were skilled diplomats and traders, able to navigate the complex web of European alliances and rivalries to maintain their control over the slave trade. As the 19th century progressed, the Orungu kingdom continued to dominate the slave trade, with the kingdom's leaders, such as King Antchouwe Kowe Rapontchombo, playing a key role in shaping the regional trade dynamics.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians like Georges Rawick and Walter Rodney deliberately omitted the Orungu people's significant role in the slave trade from their accounts, focusing instead on the more widely recognized European colonizers. The French government, which colonized Gabon in the late 19th century, also played a significant role in suppressing this history, as they sought to downplay the agency of African societies in the slave trade. Specifically, the French destroyed many of the Orungu's historical records, making it difficult for later scholars to reconstruct the kingdom's past. This destruction of records, combined with the dominance of European-centric narratives, has meant that the Orungu people's story has been largely overlooked. Scholars have only recently begun to reexamine the historical record and give the Orungu people their due as major players in the slave trade.

The Ripple Effect

The Orungu people's control of the slave trade had a direct impact on the demographics of the Americas, as millions of enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to the New World. The transatlantic slave trade, which the Orungu people helped to facilitate, led to the creation of new cultures and societies in the Americas, as enslaved Africans and their descendants developed distinct languages, traditions, and customs. One specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the Afro-Brazilian cultural practice of capoeira, which originated among enslaved Africans in Brazil and combines elements of dance, music, and martial arts.

The Line That Says It All

The Orungu people's dominance of the slave trade for 200 years was a brutal fact of history that has been consistently ignored or downplayed by scholars and governments.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the transatlantic slave trade and the history of Gabon.