Post by anansi on Sept 20, 2024 0:40:34 GMT -5
What kind of ships/sea-canoes did Mansa Musa’s predecessor use to sail into the Atlantic?
Ok point of correction, Mansa Musa did not set sail on the ocean blue that was his predecessor Mansa Qu.
They were large enough to transport horses and crewed by 80–100 men sitting three abreast , some had poop decks and were very swift , able to take on European caravels at the time of contact.
The current that would have taken them there.
[ For example, in 1446, two years later, a ship commanded by Nuno
Tristao attempted to land in the Senegal region. It was attacked
by African fighters in canoes, and the crew of the ship was
wiped out. And in 1447, a Danish raider commanding a Portuguese
ship was killed, along with most of his crew, when local African
boats attacked.
Although African vessels -- mostly canoes -- were not designed
for high-seas navigation, they were fully capable of protecting
the coast, even in the 15th century. As a result, in 1456, the
king of Portugal dispatched his ambassador, Diogo Gomes, to
negotiate treaties of peace and trade with the African rulers
along the coast. From that point on, and for 400 years, the
African slave trade was conducted as a matter of international
commerce among equals.]
This was one of the reasons why grabbing land from Africans was difficult, how could you grab lands and people when you couldn’t even make land fall, being stopped at sea.
The following is wiki sourced but in this case I can trust the author , plus I’ve independent source on the boats, especially dealing with the Songhai empire.
Most war-canoes were constructed of a single log, with inner space for rowers and warriors, and facilities such as hearths and sleeping quarters. Warriors and rowers were armed with bow, shield and spear. Firearms increasingly supplemented traditional weapons.
Some canoes were 80 feet in length, carrying 100 men or more. Documents from 1506 for example, refer to war-canoes on the Sierra Leone river, carrying 120 men. Others refer to Guinea coast peoples using canoes of varying sizes – some 70 feet in length, 7–8 feet broad, with sharp pointed ends, rowing benches on the side, and quarter decks or forecastles build of reeds, and miscellaneous facilities such as cooking hearths, and storage spaces for crew sleeping mats.
The warriors in some of these accounts were armed with spears, shields and arrows, and were expected to row as well. Each rower kept a bundle of throwing javelins and his shield next to him to repel enemy canoes. Larger West African empires could field vessels with substantial local capacity. According to one report the "Songhai kantafor example could carry up to 30 tons of goods, i.e. the load capacity of 1,000 men, 200 camels, 300 cattle or a flotilla of 20 regular canoes (Mauny, 1961). Some of these boats had an even greater load capacity of 50 to 80 tons (Tvmowski, 1967).”[93]
In some areas, war canoes and a unified network of regional lookouts also worked together to help protect African against slave raiders. In the 1500s for example a French vessel deemed suspicious off the Kongo coast was seized by war canoes.[97] Where local peoples collaborated, or a centralized polity could mobilize resources to fight, coast watching systems developed over time that could move warnings some 50 to 60 miles a day overland when news of a hostile European ship incursion was received. This enabled local war canoes and land-based fighting groups to be deployed to the zone of confrontation.[98] Historical records for the 17th and 18th centuries, document sixty-one slave ships being attacked by local African riverine or seaborne forces.
In war, the canoe performed an important logistics function. The empires of Mali and Songhay for example used canoes to move troops, horses and material quickly to many parts of the realm, as well as for trade and general transport. In Songhay, a chief of the water oversaw all civil matters related to water transport, and a chief of canoes supervised naval operations. Big war canoes in this region drew a clear distinction between rowers, (usually 18 to 20) and marine troops (some 70–80 warriors).
The boats were equipped with all the necessary provisions and supplies for their mission. As in ancient Egypt, open sea ship versus ship engagements were relatively uncommon, although in the lagoons, lakes and creeks, groups of war canoes sometimes clashed, utilizing a mix of traditional and modern weapons.
The following is not West Africa per-say but of the kingdom of the Kongo, pls take note of their water craft, in another thread I posted that they travelled on the open sea sending embassies and tradesmen to west African states, like Benin and the Yoruba kingdoms.
Ok point of correction, Mansa Musa did not set sail on the ocean blue that was his predecessor Mansa Qu.
They were large enough to transport horses and crewed by 80–100 men sitting three abreast , some had poop decks and were very swift , able to take on European caravels at the time of contact.
The current that would have taken them there.
[ For example, in 1446, two years later, a ship commanded by Nuno
Tristao attempted to land in the Senegal region. It was attacked
by African fighters in canoes, and the crew of the ship was
wiped out. And in 1447, a Danish raider commanding a Portuguese
ship was killed, along with most of his crew, when local African
boats attacked.
Although African vessels -- mostly canoes -- were not designed
for high-seas navigation, they were fully capable of protecting
the coast, even in the 15th century. As a result, in 1456, the
king of Portugal dispatched his ambassador, Diogo Gomes, to
negotiate treaties of peace and trade with the African rulers
along the coast. From that point on, and for 400 years, the
African slave trade was conducted as a matter of international
commerce among equals.]
This was one of the reasons why grabbing land from Africans was difficult, how could you grab lands and people when you couldn’t even make land fall, being stopped at sea.
The following is wiki sourced but in this case I can trust the author , plus I’ve independent source on the boats, especially dealing with the Songhai empire.
Most war-canoes were constructed of a single log, with inner space for rowers and warriors, and facilities such as hearths and sleeping quarters. Warriors and rowers were armed with bow, shield and spear. Firearms increasingly supplemented traditional weapons.
Some canoes were 80 feet in length, carrying 100 men or more. Documents from 1506 for example, refer to war-canoes on the Sierra Leone river, carrying 120 men. Others refer to Guinea coast peoples using canoes of varying sizes – some 70 feet in length, 7–8 feet broad, with sharp pointed ends, rowing benches on the side, and quarter decks or forecastles build of reeds, and miscellaneous facilities such as cooking hearths, and storage spaces for crew sleeping mats.
The warriors in some of these accounts were armed with spears, shields and arrows, and were expected to row as well. Each rower kept a bundle of throwing javelins and his shield next to him to repel enemy canoes. Larger West African empires could field vessels with substantial local capacity. According to one report the "Songhai kantafor example could carry up to 30 tons of goods, i.e. the load capacity of 1,000 men, 200 camels, 300 cattle or a flotilla of 20 regular canoes (Mauny, 1961). Some of these boats had an even greater load capacity of 50 to 80 tons (Tvmowski, 1967).”[93]
In some areas, war canoes and a unified network of regional lookouts also worked together to help protect African against slave raiders. In the 1500s for example a French vessel deemed suspicious off the Kongo coast was seized by war canoes.[97] Where local peoples collaborated, or a centralized polity could mobilize resources to fight, coast watching systems developed over time that could move warnings some 50 to 60 miles a day overland when news of a hostile European ship incursion was received. This enabled local war canoes and land-based fighting groups to be deployed to the zone of confrontation.[98] Historical records for the 17th and 18th centuries, document sixty-one slave ships being attacked by local African riverine or seaborne forces.
In war, the canoe performed an important logistics function. The empires of Mali and Songhay for example used canoes to move troops, horses and material quickly to many parts of the realm, as well as for trade and general transport. In Songhay, a chief of the water oversaw all civil matters related to water transport, and a chief of canoes supervised naval operations. Big war canoes in this region drew a clear distinction between rowers, (usually 18 to 20) and marine troops (some 70–80 warriors).
The boats were equipped with all the necessary provisions and supplies for their mission. As in ancient Egypt, open sea ship versus ship engagements were relatively uncommon, although in the lagoons, lakes and creeks, groups of war canoes sometimes clashed, utilizing a mix of traditional and modern weapons.
The following is not West Africa per-say but of the kingdom of the Kongo, pls take note of their water craft, in another thread I posted that they travelled on the open sea sending embassies and tradesmen to west African states, like Benin and the Yoruba kingdoms.