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Komenda Wars

The Komenda Wars were a series of wars from 1694 until 1700 largely between the Dutch West India Company and the English Royal African Company in the Eguafo Kingdom in the present day state of Ghana, over trade rights. The Dutch were trying to keep the English out of the region to maintain a trade monopoly, while the English were attempting to re-establish a fort in the city of Komenda. The fighting included forces of the Dutch West India Company, the Royal African Company, the Eguafo Kingdom, a prince of the kingdom attempting to rise to the throne, the forces of a powerful merchant named John Cabess, other Akan tribes and kingdoms like Twifo and Denkyira. There were four separate periods of warfare, including a civil war in the Eguafo Kingdom, and the wars ended with the English placing Takyi Kuma into power in Eguafo. Because of the rapidly shifting alliances between European and African powers, historian John Thornton has found that "there is no finer example of [the] complicated combination of European rivalry merging with African rivalry than the Komenda Wars."

Preceding conditions
The Dutch West India Company (WIC) and the Eguafo Kingdom engaged in an earlier set of hostilities in 1688. The Dutch and the English had both established factories in the port city of Komenda. In 1687, the French negotiated with the king of Eguafo to open a factory in Komenda and the WIC responded by launching its military to force the king of Eguafo to expel the French. The Dutch tried to induce neighboring states to attack Eguafo at the same time, while the French provided gold to the King to pay the neighboring states to remain out of fighting. In the end, the Twifo did join the Dutch and secured trade concessions in Komenda as a result. The violence resulted in the killing of the King of Eguafo and a prince who allied with the Dutch was placed on the throne named Takyi. Komenda then became largely controlled by the Dutch and their allies Twifo. This situation gradually resulted in tensions between Takyi and both actors. As a result, Takyi repeatedly tried to balance English interests in the port of Komenda. ==Series of wars==
Series of wars
The Komenda wars was a series of four different military engagements defined by shifting alliances and the involvement of military forces from multiple kingdoms in the region. John Cabess and the Dutch began negotiations that year, but on June 26, the Dutch head at the fort, Willem Bosman, drew a pistol and attempted to shoot at Cabess. Panyarring and occasional violence broke out until a short-lived peace settlement was reached in the end of 1695. Second war On January 21, 1696, a young prince of Eguafo began a civil war to attempt and claim the throne of the kingdom. The name of the young prince was often rendered as Takyi Kuma or Little Takyi (in relation to the current king Takyi). The Dutch supported Takyi Kuma and were able to get the neighboring states of Adom and Akani to join in the fight supporting Takyi Kuma. The Akrons joined Takyi in defending Eguafo. The fighting ended quickly with Takyi Kuma and his forces losing on March 20. The loss resulted in formal negotiations between the Dutch and Eguafo. Jan van Sevenhuysen, the new WIC Governor of the Gold Coast made peace with Eguafo which allowed the Dutch to retain their factory and fort in Komenda. However, the English and Dutch hostilities remained high and their forts in Komenda exchanged regular, minor hostilities. Third war The Dutch began soliciting the other African parties to try and organize another force against Eguafo and Takyi's regime. On August 5, 1697, the Dutch and Fante made an agreement to attack Eguafo in exchange for significant gold given to Fante. The English were able to make an offer to Fante of an equal amount in order to keep them neutral and Fante accepted. Other Dutch efforts were largely rebuffed by the allies. In early 1698 the English and Dutch reached an agreement for mutual recognition to trade rights and the maintenance of forts in Komenda. By November 1698, the English came to view that Takyi was becoming more inline with Dutch interests and so began to support Takyi Kuma. In November 1698, the English led an attack which killed Takyi as part of this attempt to put Takyi Kuma on the throne. The English paid for mercenaries from Asebu, Cabess Terra, and Akani to join the conflict. In contrast, the Dutch, Fante and Denkyira remained largely neutral in the war. The combined forces of Takyi Kuma moved upon Eguafo but were routed by the forces of the kingdom. Fourth war The fourth war began in November 1699 with a unified force supporting Takyi Kuma beginning hostilities in the region. Panyarring became a large scale process between the different forces and heightened tensions. In early 1700, individual merchants associated with Twifo and John Cabess were panyarred by Adom, possibly on the instructions of the Dutch. Violence remained sporadic with regular seizing of individuals of rival forces until the British-supported mercenary force moved upon Eguafo and on May 9, 1700, Takyi Kuma was named the new king of Eguafo. ==Legacy==
Legacy
The primary legacy in the area was a transformation of which European power controlled trade along the Gold Coast. The wars also begun warfare practices which would become more regular throughout the rest of the 1700s including the use of mercenaries and panyarring. The chaos eventually allowed expansion of the Ashanti Empire in the region and the replacement of the gold trade with the slave trade. ==See also==
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