The Forgotten Diaspora Jewish Communities in West Africa and the Making of the Atlantic World

This book traces the history of early seventeenth-century Portuguese Sephardic traders who settled in two communities on Senegal's Petite Côte. There, they lived as public Jews, under the spiritual guidance of a rabbi sent by the newly established Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam and we...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mark, Peter, Horta, José da Silva (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: Cambridge Books Online - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
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245 0 0 |a The Forgotten Diaspora  |b Jewish Communities in West Africa and the Making of the Atlantic World  |c Peter Mark, José da Silva Horta 
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300 |a xv, 262 pages  |b digital 
505 0 |a 1. Two Sephardic Communities on Senegal's Petite Côte -- 2. Jewish Identity in Senegambia -- 3. Religious Interaction: Catholics, Jews, and Muslims in Early Seventeenth-Century Upper Guinea -- 4. The Blade Weapons Trade in Seventeenth-Century West Africa -- 5. The Luso-African Ivories as Historical Source for the Weapons Trade and for the Jewish Presence in Guinea of Cape Verde -- 6. The Later Years: Merchant Mobility and the Evolution of Identity -- Conclusion -- Appendix I: The Jewish Traders of Porto d'Ale and Joal: Their Relatives ad Some of their New Christian Partners in Senegambia and the United Provinces and Portugal: A Comprehensive List (ca. 1606-ca. 1635) -- Appendix II: A Chronological Outline of the Institutional Proceedings against the Jews of Porto d'Ale and Joal (1611-1643) 
651 4 |a Petite Coast (Senegal) / Ethnic relations 
653 |a Jews / Senegal / Petite Coast / History / 16th century 
653 |a Jews / Senegal / Petite Coast / History / 17th century 
653 |a Sephardim / Senegal / Petite Coast / History / 16th century 
653 |a Sephardim / Senegal / Petite Coast / History / 17th century 
653 |a Marranos / Senegal / Petite Coast / History / 16th century 
653 |a Marranos / Senegal / Petite Coast / History / 17th century 
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520 |a This book traces the history of early seventeenth-century Portuguese Sephardic traders who settled in two communities on Senegal's Petite Côte. There, they lived as public Jews, under the spiritual guidance of a rabbi sent by the newly established Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam and were protected from agents of the Inquisition by local Muslim rulers. The Petite Côte communities included several Jews of mixed Portuguese-African heritage as well as African wives, offspring, and servants. The blade weapons trade was an important part of their commercial activities. These merchants participated marginally in the slave trade but fully in the arms trade, illegally supplying West African markets with swords. This arms trade depended on artisans and merchants based in Morocco, Lisbon, and northern Europe and affected warfare in the Sahel and along the Upper Guinea Coast. The study discovers previously unknown Jewish communities and by doing so offers a reinterpretation of the dynamics and processes of identity construction throughout the Atlantic world