Chapter 165 The Development of Ras Kambouri Trade Market
Somalia, Ras Kambouri, a former small village, prospered due to the establishment of the Ras Kambouri Trade Market in the East African colonies.
The village of Ras Kampoli does not belong to the East African colony, but is located in Somalia. However, the East African colony wanted to save trouble and was too lazy to name the market, so it took the local name and named it directly.
So Ras Kampoli Market and Ras Kampoli Village are not the same concept, but belong to the East African colonies and the Goledi Sultanate in southern Somalia. The Goledi Sultanate was formerly the Sultan of Ajulan. The Ajulan Sultanate had been in a state of fragmentation, and was later unified by Adel, the founder of the Gradi Sultanate.
This era was at the end of the power of the Geledi Sultanate. The previous Sultan Yusuf Mahmoud Ibrahim made great achievements and defeated the then Oman Empire (including Zanzibar). However, according to the original history, in 1871, the Sultanate of Zanzibar defeated the Sultanate of Gradi and became its vassal until the arrival of Italian colonists.
Therefore, the Sultanate of Gradi, like the Sultanate of Zanzibar, has declined. Its national strength only looks better on the surface, but in fact it can be destroyed with a single blow.
Many Arab merchants gathered at the Ras Campoli trade market to purchase supplies and goods from here to promote to the interior of North Africa.
The village of Ras Kampoli under the rule of the Gledi Sultanate has also benefited from the Ras Kampoli trade market. Businessmen are more cost-conscious, so many small businessmen will choose to stay in Ras Kampoli Village. Save some money.
Even so, some businessmen still choose to live directly in hotels in the Ras Campoli Trade Market.
Because the architecture of the Ras Kampoli Trade Market is completely European style, and the facilities are relatively complete. It is far from being comparable to a small village under the rule of the Gradi Sultanate. Some people pay more attention to enjoyment or have a better face. businessmen will still choose the hotel in the Ras Campoli Trade Market.
After more than half a year of development, the Ras Kampoli trade market has become quite prosperous. Only large cities such as Mogadishu in the Goledi Sultanate can compare with the Ras Kampoli trade market.
This has also become the first tax-rich area in East Africa. The Ras Campoli trade market basically monopolizes the trade of the entire East African colonies and North Africa. The original route for Arab merchants to travel south was forced by the expansion of the East African colonies. Interrupt.
And the East African colonies did not stop. In order to prevent the return of indigenous people and the so-called explorers from entering the East African colonies to inquire about the situation, they directly sealed the borders, so that Arab merchants and slave traders were also shut out.
Destroying people's wealth is like killing their parents, so while sealing the border, East Africa opened the Las Campoli trade market to trade with North African merchants.
In addition, the East African colonies did not increase the prices of the original East African products, and frequent wars led to a continuous decrease in the price of slaves. The costs of Arab merchants fell instead of rising.
Logically speaking, the Ras Campoli Trade Market should not be very profitable in the East African colonies, because coastal cities like Mombasa and Dar es Salaam should be the most elite commercial areas in East Africa.
However, the colonial governments of East Africa basically did not collect taxes along the coast, or only charged some symbolic service fees.
After all, the colonists at sea are not easy to mess with. It is not easy to establish the East African colonies, so we still have to continue to pretend to be grandsons.
As for sovereignty, just listen to it in this era. Even after Germany was unified in its previous life, without the support of maritime power, overseas colonies were still a piece of meat in the mouths of Britain and France.
After World War I, it was divided up by various countries. Of course, the German navy itself was not weak, but it was a pity that the British blocked it at home and beat it.
After the reunification, Germany was a top power, and its national power was so strong. Even so, the East African colony, as an African "isolated island" with its own territory, naturally did not have the strength to negotiate terms with those maritime powers.
Portugal and the Netherlands, which have declined in the eyes of Europeans, are maritime powers in the eyes of the East African colonies, not to mention Britain and France.
Collecting taxes is simple, and East Africa can resist for a period of time relying on the fortifications built along the coast, but the Hechingen ships at sea are the foundation of the East African colonies. The immigration and commercial routes between Europe and the Far East were maintained. Without the immigrant population, the colonial population of East Africa could only slowly rely on the existing immigrant population to grow. It took at least twenty years for a generation to grow up, and the day lilies would be cold in twenty years. .
East Africa cannot grow by relying on natural population growth. In the future, it will at most reach the level of South Africa in its previous life, or even be inferior to South Africa. After all, South Africa still has abundant resources.
Although East Africa is rich in resources, the most important resources such as coal, iron and oil are relatively scarce.
And the population does not reach that level. Faced with the threats from Western powers in Africa, East Africa may not be able to deal with it. After all, East Africa is a German colony. If it does not handle international relations well, it is likely to be beaten by groups.
Although the number of immigrants from East Africa now far exceeds the number of colonists in Africa in previous generations, they still have natives who can be used as cannon fodder.
In short, it is impossible to collect taxes in economically developed port cities such as Dar es Salaam. In the era before the Suez Canal, so many merchant ships docked in East Africa. If a strong enemy was provoked, it would be impossible. Wonderful.
Of course Ernst was not afraid of the colonists from various countries, but that East Africa would suffer too much if it had disputes with them. It would be tantamount to sacrificing its own development potential and causing discomfort to other colonists.
The Ras Campoli Trade Market is different. The audience is mainly Arabs from North Africa. The East African colonies are afraid of the colonists from the Western maritime powers, but they have never been timid when facing the Arabs in North Africa.
After all, the trade routes in North Africa are mainly on land. On the sea, East Africa is really good. On the African land, East Africa is like a great power.
So the tariffs in East Africa are concentrated in the Ras Campoli trade market, while the North African market is not small, especially the tribes living in the Sahara desert and oases, who are short of everything.
Before the colonization of East Africa, only Egypt, Ethiopia and some countries in West Africa were planting food crops on a large scale. Although food crops were also grown in sub-Saharan Africa, they lacked high-quality seeds, such as wheat. Rice, corn...these staple foods were brought over by later immigrants when they colonized Africa.
So it is difficult to describe the cultivation industry of indigenous Africans in one word. Take the eight northwest countries that have just been wiped out in East Africa as an example.
It is still in a state of half farming, half herding, half fishing and half hunting. The East African colonies can occasionally see some technological innovations on the land they originally cultivated.
For example, terraced fields, water conservancy facilities, etc. have appeared in some areas, but Africa's backward status has not allowed these innovations to spread.
These innovations discovered in the northwest countries are also an exception. The reason is very simple. Africa is too comfortable, and it is not convenient to just wait for various tropical fruits and vegetables to mature.
Moreover, in Africa, which lacks good seeds, crop yields may not be as good as those of wild plants. In addition, Africa is overrun with animals. If Ernst were an African, he would not have the motivation to engage in planting.
Africa’s agricultural output is inherently poor. In addition, North Africa is influenced by Arab culture, and its eating habits are completely different from those in sub-Saharan Africa.
Therefore, North Africa mainly relies on the Mediterranean or the Middle East to import food. Now the East African colonies provide an additional channel for it. In particular, Arab merchants in Somalia can also participate in competition with merchants from the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
(End of this chapter)