African History

Garriguesz, a poor Portuguese sailor and his sons, sail to West Africa. They are ready and have illusions that there is something out there. They are the first Europeans to sail to the Gulf of Guinea before the Independence of Ghana in 1957 and the aftermath. The circle symbolizes the globe and the triangle symbolizes the people within it.

Garriguesz, the Portuguese sailor knows the past about how Portugal became a mighty empire by conquering North Africa and the Celts. He knew the family of Vasco da Gamma, whose mother was English. The family was planning to sail to India. He learned a great deal from his grandparent's explorations and distinctive pioneering abilities. These, motivated him to sail to West Africa.

In 1436, Garriguesz and his sons sail on the Atlantic Ocean to West Africa. They bump into strange creatures, sea monsters, Mermaids and Mermen which had never been seen by sailors before. After a feeling of despair they finally reach Edina, to what is today Ghana.

They are bewitched and impressed by the interesting people, the fauna and flora. They settle without turmoil and learn about the culture and the lifestyle of the people. They survive on local fruits, rice, beans, cereals, millet and maize wines as well as other local foodstuffs which had given the natives a healthy way of life.

Fossils they found on the costal zones indicated that people entered the region about 10th century AD. They were the Berbers. They conquered the Romans and ruled most of Africa, north of the Sahara and much of the Mediterranean during the 11th and 12th century AD. The Berber tribes had driven the original Mauritanians away who settled somewhere else. They were the Soninka. They built the empire of Ghana, stretching from Mauritania to Senegal and Mali. Clans of people from Africa settled at Mali (Sahel) to form Ghana and Songhai empires. Timbuktu was the most important city.

The newly formed empire occupied the grassland south of Sahara and controlled trade routes across the desert. They had camels and horses thus, they were able to battle; however, they were limited from expanding their power into the forest zone of Asante land because their camels and horses could not survive the forest owing to diseases.
The old Ghana was centred in Senegal and Mauritania and the Soninka dominated from the 10th to the 13th century. Mali Empire took over declined after which other minor kingdoms arose.

Garriguesz and his sons are now acquainted with the history of the regions. They have the impression that their languages are a mixture of Arabic and self-developed languages. Garriguesz compares Portuguese languages spoken in the Iberian Peninsula but finds great differences between them. The languages spoken in Ghana, he finds, are rich in proverbs and have another clank. The Kwa language is spoken in most parts of West Africa and the Akan languages are well established and widely spoken in the region. They befriend the king at Edina (Elmina).

In January 1437, Figo, the eldest son falls in love with a native girl, Naana. He describes the West African girl as having beautiful eyes which come from the white of the eyes, and her round brown iris, the pupils, shining through, opening wider and reflecting. Figo sees that her hair has sheen that shone. Figo is curious about Naana`s fair complexion which she explains to Figo`s astonishment. He had never in his dreams imagined that such a beauty, with intelligence, could exist in Africa. Figo falls heavily in love.

Figo befriends Naana and narrates about the Germanic invasion of Portugal as well as the rule of Berbers (Moors) on the Iberian Peninsula in much the same way as it was in old Ghana. Naana had some history to tell Figo. She narrates that the word Ghana was the title of the king. It was also known as Wagadu according to her grandparents. This individual ruled Ghana in 1290 AD and in 1307 Mansa Musa became the ruler in Mali. This particular king dispensed so much gold from the region to Egypt that the gold value fell drastically and never recovered thus, Mali declined. She tells Figo how her family settles along riversides and mentions the names of rivers in modern Ghana where gold was found.

As bad luck would have it, Naana went away and Figo never saw her for many years. He is depressed and downcast. However, the Portuguese family stayed with the Edinians at Elmina, modern day Ghana. They see division of labour amongst the natives and learn much about their culture and celebrations of the people. Figo does not forget the African girl thus; he occupies himself by sailing to neighbouring villages gathering artefacts March, 1437, Garriguesz and his sons exploit other parts of West Africa. They are aware of the gold and diamonds region as well as the rich vegetation with Mahogany, ebony and Buffalos.

June 12th 1437, they discover some skeletal remains and stone tools suggesting a Stone Age Sapiens and, come across a group of "Homonoidea", great apes. With great flexibility they avoid being harmed. They visit Mankessim, a Fante village. It was the seat of the great Fante chief. The chief welcomes them without animosity and narrates about the powerful Mandingos and other tribes of the old Ghana Empire. The chief tells the Portuguese visitors about the Ashanti, an Akan tribe at the southern forest where gold is plentiful. The chief narrates about the Ashanti Union with other clans and how the Fante withdrew from the Union. The chief praises the Ashanti for introducing gold dust as currency and establishing Asante gold weights. Garriguesz and his sons receive knowledge about the regions with plentiful. The regions had wealth to develop modern Ghana, but ancient Ghana exported the wealth to North Africa and Europe.

September 24th, 1437 Garriguesz and his sons enter Ayawaso (Accra), the Ga-Dangwe family. The chief receives them unequivocally. The Portuguese family asked the chief for information and he narrates that his ancestors came from Upper Egypt and how and why they settled at their present locations. He also mentions how Hebrews settled in Africa. The chief narrated about the role of women and children, the patrilineal inheritance of the Gas as well as the matrilineal system of the Akans. Garriguesz and his sons travelled to every corner of West Africa including Senegal, Ivory Coast, Carbo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Benin, and Nigeria passing through ups and downs but enjoying every minute of their adventures.

Garriguesz was a good Christian and believed in the Holy Book. He narrates about creation, illustrating with Noah`s Ark and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and how they occupied the earth. He concludes that we are all cousins.
Garriguesz and Figo left West Africa in May 1466. They went back to Portugal and lectured about West Africa in various Institutions. Vasco da Gama was three years old. Raul was left behind in West Africa, farming and cultivating crops throughout the region selling and supplying West Africans with goods. There was confession at the coast of West Africa because of foreign influxes. Garriguesz descendants see European countries venturing modern Ghana, the Portuguese, the Dutch, Germans, the British, Swedish, and the Danes building castles and forts all over the region as well as hollow bastions, prisons and dungeons. Over 6.3 million slaves were shipped to both North and South America. Between 1710 and 1810, millions of slaves were shipped from West Africa; thousands of slaves were shipped yearly from Ghana. Garriguesz descendants try to stop those activities but they are small in numbers. However, the British fights to abolish the slave trade which eventually stopped around 1860 but, by then tons of gold had been shipped to Europe.

Garriguesz descendants narrate about the booming economy of modern Ghana, political organs, independence of Ghana, the mighty Asante's wars with the British, the golden stool and the circumstances of the demise of Yaa Asanteawaa, the woman warrior.

Garriguesz, a poor sailor, convinces his sons Figo and Raul to sail with him from the city of Porto, in Portugal, to explore the unknown waters of the Atlantic. They experience firsthand many of the ocean's deepest mysteries, encountering mermaids and sea creatures. Their journeys eventually bring them to the wealthy and exotic region of Edina, on the West Coast of Africa, to what is today modern Ghana. They choose to stay amongst the beautiful and good-hearted people.

Garriguesz and his sons experience the riches of life in Africa, and learn about the origins of the people, their languages, and their lifestyles, ever fascinated by the differences in customs, flora and fauna from their native land.
The aim of the book is to provide an account of a little-understood region of the world, West Africa and Africa in general."The past defines our lives and brings meaning--the configuration of people on planet Earth did not take shape overnight, but passed through meaningful transformations."

While Triangle Within a Circle; the circle symbolizes the globe and the triangle symbolizes the people who live within it. Through the story of Garriguesz and his descendants are able to show how encounters between people of the "old" world and the "new" bring about new ideas and change the course of human evolution. Garriguesz and his sons recreate and capture the brightness of the region, the rise and fall of kingdoms, the decline of empires; mysticism, the supernatural, and superstition are all interwoven with some sense of wisdom.