Efik (people)
The Efik (or Efik-Ibibio ) are a people living in the estuary of the Calabar and Cross-River rivers in southeastern Nigeria . The settlement area of the Efik includes the south of the Cross River State and a stretch of land in the east bordering Cameroon. Their cultural and political center is the city of Calabar, which was founded by them around 1600. A total of around 500,000 people belong to the Efik. They speak Efik , a language closely related to Ibibo . Most of the Efik are members of various Protestant churches.
The name of the people is derived from the Ibibio verb fik (dt. To suppress). The Efik took over the name despite the negative connotation, they also referred to themselves as Iboku (dt .: who are in dispute with the Igbo ). Both point to their warlike past in the Cross River Delta.
history
Like the Ibibio , the Efik probably immigrated to their current settlement area from the north in the first half of the 16th century. Alongside agriculture and fishing, trade soon became the most important livelihood. Above all, they exchanged salt and fish for agricultural products that they did not produce themselves in sufficient quantities. Since the mouth of the Calabar and Cross-River is one of the best natural harbors on the West African coast, the Efik came into contact early on with European traders who stopped there on their way to India .
Around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Efik cities began to be founded, the oldest of which was Ikot Etundo . It was called Creek Town by the Europeans. The most important foundations were Old Town ( Obutong today Calabar ) and New Town on the Calabar River. They became centers of trade with the Europeans. The cities of the Efik had 1,000 to 5,000 inhabitants. The population was divided into family clans (houses), each of which saw themselves as descendants of the founders. The clans lived in their own districts, which were led by a chief (prince) with the support of a council of elders. Creek Town originally comprised three such lineage homes. It was not until the end of the 17th century that the office of head of the city came into being in connection with increasing trade activities. These referred to the Europeans as kings. The Efik did not develop an empire, i.e. a territorial state extending beyond the cities. Nationwide, the social and economic relations of the Efik were regulated by an influential secret society . The so-called leopard society also had religious functions.
Even before contact with the Europeans, slavery was an established institution among the Efik, as with many other peoples in the region. The slaves were used to cultivate plantations, they served in the households of their masters and as rowers of the large canoes with which the Efiks traded on the rivers. People from their own people were put into slavery because of poverty and debts, other slaves were caught in wars.
The overseas slave trade from Old-Calabar was established at the end of the 17th century . English ships in particular called at the area and bought slaves from the Efik for the American colonies. In the 18th century tens of thousands of slaves were sold to the English via Calabar. The total number is controversial in research, but the total number has been more than 1 million and Old-Calabar was the main slave trading post in all of Africa. Almost a third of all slaves are said to have come to the American colonies from there.
The slave trade with the Europeans brought long-lasting prosperity to the Efik's economy and profoundly changed their society. At the top of the company came the owners of successful trading houses with a large number of clients who were no longer based on family relationships. The Efik successfully prevented the Europeans from settling in Old-Calabar. They were not allowed to build forts there. Rather, the captains of European ships had to pay trade taxes to the city leaders of Old Town and New Town. Many efik vendors acquired the English language, they adopted parts of European culture, especially the script, which was of central importance for the successful conduct of trade with Europeans. The efik dealers were in constant correspondence with their English business partners. In the 18th century some Efik, encouraged by the Europeans, sent their sons to England for education. Christianity did not find its way into the Efik at that time; The captains of the European slave ships were not interested in the missionary work . The dominant economic position of the Efik in the Calabar region was based on the fact that they held a key position in the Atlantic triangular trade . They were able to procure the slaves for the Europeans and in return they received coveted commodities in Africa: metal goods, weapons, European clothing, etc. a. m. Last but not least, these goods also formed the capital with which they were used for peoples at home, e.g. B. bought the Aro slaves. In the 18th century, the efik seldom undertook raids to capture slaves.
Until 1767, Old Town was the most important trading town under the rulers of the Robin-John family. By a robbery Ephraim Duke, the prince of New Town could break the supremacy of the Robin-Johns. From then on his city was the most important trading center.
After the slave trade was banned by a law of the British Parliament at the beginning of the 19th century, the economy of the Efik changed dramatically. The city lords now pushed the plantation economy. They became the world's most important exporter of palm oil during the 19th century . During this time Scottish Presbyterians began proselytizing the Efik. In 1884 Old-Calabar was placed under British protectorate . The commercial elite and the city leaders retained their influence. To this day there is a king of the Efik ( Obong ) in Calabr .
literature
- Randy J. Sparks: The Princes of Calabar. An Atlantic odyssey. Berlin 2004. ISBN 3-8077-0225-3
- Efiong U. Aye: Old Calabar Through the Centuries. Calabar 1969
- Efiong U. Aye: The Efik People. Calabar 2000
- Daryll Forde (Ed.): Efik traders of Old Calabar. London 1956
- Donald M. McFarlan: Calabar. The Church of Scotland Mission, 1846-1946. Toronto & New York 1946
Individual evidence
- ↑ Randy J. Sparks: The Princes of Calabar, p. 50.
- ↑ This is what the Europeans called the region, in contrast to New Calabar, further west in the Niger Delta.
- ↑ See David Eltis: The Volume and Structure of the Transatlantic Slave Trade . In: The William and Mary Quarterly . Third Series , Volume 58, 2001, pp. 17-46.