- Salaga
Infobox Settlement
official_name = Salaga
other_name =
native_name =
nickname =
settlement_type =
motto =
imagesize = 300px
image_caption =
flag_size =
image_
seal_size =
image_shield =
shield_size =
image_blank_emblem =
blank_emblem_type =
blank_emblem_size =
mapsize =
map_caption =
mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
image_dot_
dot_mapsize =
dot_map_caption =
dot_x = |dot_y =
pushpin_
pushpin_label_position =bottom
pushpin_map_caption =Location in Ghana
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name =
subdivision_type1 = Region
subdivision_name1 = Northern Region
subdivision_type2 = District
subdivision_name2 =East Gonja District
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name4 =
government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
leader_title2 =
leader_name2 =
leader_title3 =
leader_name3 =
leader_title4 =
leader_name4 =
established_title =
established_date =
established_title2 =
established_date2 =
established_title3 =
established_date3 =
area_magnitude =
unit_pref =Imperial
area_footnotes =
area_total_km2 =
area_land_km2 =
area_water_km2 =
area_total_sq_mi =
area_land_sq_mi =
area_water_sq_mi =
area_water_percent =
area_urban_km2 =
area_urban_sq_mi =
area_metro_km2 =
area_metro_sq_mi =
area_blank1_title =
area_blank1_km2 =
area_blank1_sq_mi =
population_as_of =2005
population_footnotes =
population_note =
population_total =
population_density_km2 =
population_density_sq_mi =
population_metro =
population_density_metro_km2 =
population_density_metro_sq_mi =
population_urban =
population_density_urban_km2 =
population_density_urban_sq_mi =
population_blank1_title =Ethnicities
population_blank1 =
population_blank2_title =Religions
population_blank2 =
population_density_blank1_km2 =
population_density_blank1_sq_mi =
timezone =
utc_offset =
timezone_DST =
utc_offset_DST =
latd=8|latm=33 |lats=|latNS=N
longd=0|longm=31|longs= |longEW=W
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m =
elevation_ft =
postal_code_type =
postal_code =
area_code =
blank_name =
blank_info =
blank1_name =
blank1_info =
website =
footnotes =Salaga is a city in
Ghana 's Northern Region and the capital of itsEast Gonja District .In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Salaga served as a key
market town of the Ashanti kingdom, particularly for the busy regional slave trade and kola trade with theMossi andGonja kingdoms. The city was sometimes referred to as "theTimbuktu of the south" for its cosmopolitan population and varied trade. Like many market towns of the time, Salaga's ethnic groups divided into separate wards. Estimates of its population in these years range from 20,000 to 50,000, with theHausa language serving as a "lingua franca". Muslims formed the most dominant religious group, though many residents retainedanimist beliefs as well.With the 1874 British defeat of the Ashanti, the Gonja population of Salaga revolted, killing hundreds of the Ashanti. The violence resulted in an immediate decline in trade, which would be further devastated by a 1892 civil war. At this time, Britain and
Germany had become the key European powers in the area, each supporting a rival candidate in the conflict; Britain seized the city directly in 1897. By 1900, the city served only as a "zongo", a rest stop for caravans.Visitors to Salaga today can still see the pond known as "Wonkan bawa" (Hausa for "the bathing place of a slave") and a young
baobab tree on the site of the old slave market.References
*Johnson, Marion. "The Slaves of Salaga." "The Journal of African History" 27.2 (1986): 341–362.
*Lovejoy, Paul E. "Polanyi's "Ports of Trade": Salaga and Kano in the Nineteenth Century." "Canadian Journal of African Studies" 16.2 (1982): 245–277.External links
* [http://www.ghanatourism.gov.gh/regions/highlight_detail.asp?id=&rdid=344 Ghana tourism site on Salaga]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.