Area near Lagos, Nigeria
Mahinland
(sometimes known as the
Mahin area
)
[2]
was a piece of land in the coast east of
Lagos
on the
Bight of Benin
in modern
Nigeria
. In the late 19th century it was briefly the object of
German colonial initiatives
.
German interests in Mahinland
[
edit
]
Mahin on a map by
Hugo Zoller
(1885)
The Hamburg businessman
Gottlieb Leonhard Gaiser
[
de
]
had a trading post in the British colony of Lagos and wanted to extend its interests in
palm oil
to the east along the coast and into the interior. He therefore hired a number of agents, including the explorer
Gottlob Krause
to conduct negotiations with local rulers. From May 1884 Krause and Heinrich Bey, who was both German consul and agent for
G. L. Gaiser
, opened friendly discussions with the rulers of Mahin and a trading post was opened in Akpata.
On 23 August 1884 Bey met
Gustav Nachtigal
, the Imperial Commissioner for
German West Africa
in Lagos and tried to convert these friendly agreements into sovereign treaties.
[3]
On 15 December 1884 Bey moved the firm’s steamer
Tender
[4]
into the Artijere lagoon where it remained as a
hulk
.
On 14 January 1885 one of Gaiser’s agents, Zimmer, asked Gustav Nachtigal, then in
Kamerun
, to assure German protection for their property.
[5]
German traders supported this request as they wanted to ensure their goods could reach the upper Niger region free of the duties applied by the British in the areas they controlled. Since 1882 the coast between Lagos and Cameroon had fallen under the jurisdiction of the British consul in
Calabar
, although it was too large for Britain to be able to exercise effective control over it.
[6]
On 18 January 1885 another of Gaiser’s agents, Eugen Fischer reached a private agreement with the Amapetu (king) of Mahin, granting sovereign rights to G. L. Gaiser over fifty miles of coastal land to the east of Lagos. On 20 January 1885 Nachtigal steamed from Victoria (today
Limbe, Cameroon
) to Gogoro in the western Niger with the (de)
SMS Mowe
and the
Gaiser
,
[4]
[3]
accompanied by the explorer and journalist
Hugo Zoller
.
[7]
With Zoller accompanying them, Gustav Nachtigal and Eugen Fischer concluded a treaty of protection over Mahinland with the Amapetu on 29 January 1885 (some sources say 25 January).
[3]
According to German sources the treaty covered
lagoon
, forest and swamp areas with stilt dwellings, in which 8-10,000 people lived.
[8]
[9]
The village of Mahin, where the Amapetu lived, was sprawling and prosperous
[10]
although the other settlements were less significant.
[11]
These included Gogoro in the coast, and Aboto (or Agboto), where the most important subchiefs lived.
[12]
in return for ceding his land the Amapetu was given
silk
,
liquor
, 20 pounds sterling and a
Reichsadler
inscribed with the words
King of Mahin
.
[11]
British response and final agreement
[
edit
]
The British authorities in Lagos recognised the German agreements and the British governor was ready to enter into bilateral negotiations.
[3]
On 11 March 1885 Nachtigal confirmed that the German protectorate extended over the “stretch of coast in Mahinland known as Mahin beach” from Abejamura to Abotobo.
[13]
The protectorate was conditional on ratification by the German government within 18 months.
[13]
: 259
Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck
regarded territories such as Mahinland and
Santa Lucia Bay
[
de
]
, which he did not even bother to take under formal protection, as useful bargaining chips in his negotiations with the British; he did not see colonies as valuable in themselves. He therefore instructed Nachtigal to avoid “any further steps with regard to Mahin.”
[5]
During the negotiations leading to the Anglo-German agreement of 29 April 1885 Mahinland was traded for British recognition of the German protectorate over Cameroon. Germany undertook not to establish any protectorates between Lagos in the west and
Rio del Rey
in the east, while Britain had already guaranteed the free navigation of the Niger at the
Berlin Conference
.
[3]
On 24 October 1885 Mahinland was formally handed over to the British. Gaiser received no compensation as trade was unimpeded.
[3]
Mahin today
[
edit
]
Today
Mahin
lies in the Nigerian state of
Ondo
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Location of Mahin on Google Maps
- ^
Meyers Konversationslexikon
. Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Leipzig, Vienna: Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts. 1885?1892. p. 1023.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
von Koschitzky, Max (1888).
Deutsche Colonialgeschichte
. Vol. 2 Erwerbung der Reichsschutzgebiete bis zur Erledigung des Carolinenstreites. Leipzig: Verlag von Paul Frohberg. p. 324ff.
- ^
a
b
Hieke, Ernst (1949).
G. L. Gaiser. Hamburg?Westafrika. 100 Jahre Handel mit Nigeria
. Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe. p. 133.
- ^
a
b
Wehler, Hans-Ulrich
(1976).
Bismarck und der Imperialismus
(4 ed.). Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. pp. 329?330.
ISBN
3-423-04187-0
.
- ^
Pierre Bertaux:
Afrika ? Von der Vorgeschichte bis zu den Staaten der Gegenwart.
Weltbild, Augsburg 1998,
ISBN
3-89350-989-5
, S. 232.
- ^
Max Buchner:
Aurora Colonialis ? Bruchstucke eines Tagebuches aus dem ersten Beginn unserer Kolonialpolitik 1884/1885.
Piloty & Loehle, Munchen 1914, S. 214 f. (unveranderter Faksimilereprint, Fines Mundi, Saarbrucken 2016).
- ^
Schußler, W. (1937?1939). "Kolonialgeschichte". In Brackmann, Albert; Hartung, Fritz (eds.).
Jahresberichte fur deutsche Geschichte
. Vol. XXI. Leipzig: Jg. Koehler. p. 700ff
. Retrieved
22 February
2019
.
- ^
Hugo Zoller:
Die deutschen Besitzungen an der westafrikanischen Kuste ? II. Die deutsche Kolonie Kamerun.
Teil 1, Verlag von W. Spemann, Berlin und Stuttgart 1885, 67 ff.
- ^
Zoller 1885, S. 78.
- ^
a
b
Olayemi Akinwumi (2002).
The Colonial Contest for the Nigerian Region, 1884-1900: A History of the German Participation
. LIT Verlag Munster. pp. 60?62.
ISBN
978-3-8258-6197-1
.
- ^
Zoller 1885, S. 79.
- ^
a
b
Wagner, Norbert, ed. (2008).
Archiv des Deutschen Kolonialrechts
(PDF)
. Bruhl/ Wesseling.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
: 374
Wagner 2008, S. 374.
External links
[
edit
]
- Scan of the treaty of friendship and protection between Freundschafts Nachtigal and King Amapetu, Universitatsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main,
S. 1
,
S. 2
,
S. 3
,
S. 4
,
S. 5.
- Protocol to the treaty of friendship and protection between Nachtigal and King Amapetu, Universitatsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main,
S. 1
,
S. 2.