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Contents contributed and discussions participated by mandisasithole

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History of the ivory trade with special reference to Africa - Elephant Populations - 2 views

www.ecologycenter.us/...ecial-reference-to-africa.html Mandisa Sithole History 2A
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  • Over the centuries, the trade in ivory has taken various twists and turns as the exploited elephant populations declined, as the demand for ivory changed with the economic prosperity of consuming societies or nations, and with the waxing and waning of the conservation ethos. Although detailed documentation of the ivory art is available, a comprehensive account of the historical trade in ivory is yet to be written.
  • Thus, both ancient India and China made extensive use of ivory, initially from their own sources and later through imports from Africa.
  • The Islamic expansion during the seventh and eighth centuries a.d. encouraged Arab traders to send ivory into Europe. Ivory seems to have been used mainly for religious purposes at this time
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Ivory was a much-sought-after commodity for knife handles, combs, toys, piano keys, billiard balls, furniture, or works of art.
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      This was the primary reason for an increase in ivory trade
  • It extended to more intensive slaughter of elephants, ostensibly to control crop depredation. Thus, the Hunt also served to appease the native people by controlling animals dangerous to their lives and livelihoods. The ivory trade was also inextricably linked to the infamous slave trade in Africa
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      The more the demand of ivory, the more elephants had to be killed
  • The East African trade was also dominated by the Portuguese from the sixteenth century until the nineteenth century, when it was taken over by the Arabs. Several ports along the coast, such as Mombasa, Kilwa, Sofala, Beira, and Delagoa Bay channeled supplies to Europe.
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      The increase in demand for ivory meant there is a need for enslaved people so that they can transport ivory
  • By the early nineteenth century, the East African ivory trade shifted further north along the coast to ports such as Mombasa and Zanzibar. Some of this ivory was destined to ports in the Indian west coast en route to Great Britain or China
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ivory trade in africa - Bing images - 1 views

www.diigo.com/...3jwe Mandisa Sithole
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  • mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
     
    Once ivory is ready to be transported, enslaved people were forced to carry the ivory as they marched down the coast.
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The East African Ivory Trade in the Nineteenth Century.pdf - 1 views

diigo.com/0sesne Mandisa Sithole
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  • THE East African ivory trade is an ancient one. It is mentioned in the first accounts of geographers and travellers, and they give it more prominence than the slave-trade. It may have been the search for ivory which brought the first ships around Cape Guardafui, and then southwards along the East Af
  • East African ivory is soft ivory and is ideal for carving. It was in keen demand in the Orient because of its superior quality and because it was less expensive than that from south-east Asia. But in addition to the markets of the East, East African ivory was much sought after in Europe for the large ivory carving centres which had grown up in southern Germany and in the Low Countries during the Middle Ages, and which supplied large numbers of religious reliquaries and artistic novelties for Christian Europe
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      In the second half of the 19th century, the northern border of central Africa was suddenly opened up to the impact of an intense new trade in ivory
  • But it was in the nineteenth century that the great development of the East African ivory trade took place. An increased demand for ivory in America and Europe coincided with the opening up of East Africa by Arab traders and European explorers, and this led to the intensive exploitation of the ivory resources of the interior. Throughout the nineteenth century, East Africa ranked as the foremost source of ivory in the world; ivory over-topped all rivals, even slaves, in export value, and it
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      Rapid prosperity in both Europe and Europe and north America had led to an increase in demand for ivory to make piano keys, billiard balls, knife handles and ornamental carvings
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  • ntil the early nineteenth century, ivory was obtained in sufficient quantity from the coast to meet demand, but, writing in the i84os, the missionary Krapf observed that, although the elephant was still found in some areas near the coast, ivory caravans were now making regular trips into Usagara, Masailand and the Kikuyu countries
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      Higher ivory market prices lead to higher poaching incentives, and therefore greater numbers of elephants being killed
  • The popular measurement of cloth in East Africa was the 'piece' or shukkah which, although varying in breadth, was always four cubits in length. The cubit was supposedly a standard measurement, the length from the elbow to the tip of the outstretched fingers of a full-grown man. However, traders swore that the biggest man in the village, someone with a 'peculiarly long and simian forearm', was summoned when cloth was being measured. A double length of shukkah was called a d
  • The ivory trader had to know his ivory, which varies from hard to soft. On the whole, the ivory of East Africa is of the soft variety. The dividing line between soft and hard is the Congo border; west of this line it is hard, to the east it is soft, although there are variations within each region.
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IVORY.pdf - 1 views

diigo.com/0sesbb Mandisa Sithole
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  • mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
     
    Ivory trade was not in a high rate in Africa, it was highly contributed by the high demand coming from other continents. During the days of the Roman Empire, the ivory exported from Africa largely came from North African elephants. African and Arab traders of enslaved people travelled inland from the coast, purchased and hunted down large numbers of captives and ivory, then forced the enslaved people to carry the ivory.
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Trade and ivory - 2 views

diigo.com/0sbu99 Mandisa Sithole
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  • Led by Henry M. Stanley, this expedition crossed Africa, Canadian Journal from the Congo River via Lake Albert and Lake Victoria to Zanzibar between of~evelopment 1887 and 1889
  • Rather, the assumption is that ivory production neces- Studies sarily moved through space, continually driven by the need to find more elephants to kill
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      in order for ivory trade to expand it meant more elephants had to be killed
  • Fourth, several important works on the ivory trade assume that there was no demand for ivory within Africa. The trade was therefore entirely driven by demand outside the continent
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      The high demand that came from other continents is the main drive to an increase of ivory trade in Africa
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Ivory ornaments sometimes served as a mark of the expertise and prowess of these hunters, the best documented example of this being Kamba ivory armlets (ngotho). The value of these armlets grew as a result of the increasing scope and intensity of the ivory trade during the 19th century. At the same time, their meaning and uses changed (Kasfir, 1992, 'Trade and p. 323-4). Ivory objects could also be used to create and mark kinship and crmnsforrnation: political ties.
  • First, ivory had important and widespread political meanings as a sign of authority and an item of tribute. This was frequently expressed in terms of rights to the "ground tusk:' the tusk from the side of the dead elephant that lay on the ground
    • mandisasithole
      mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23
       
      Ivory brought power to politicians, and ivory was mostly known to be used to bribe government officials, because it was rarer than money or gold.

IVORY.pdf - 0 views

diigo.com/0sesbb Mandisa Sithole
shared by mandisasithole on 25 Apr 23 - No Cached
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