Senegambia (Dutch West India Company)

For the late 20th-century confederation between Senegal and Gambia, see Senegambia Confederation.

Senegambia

Bovenkust

1617–1678


Flag	Coat of arms

Scheme of the fortifications on Gorée in 1772
by Jacobus van der Schley

Capital

Gorée

Languages

Dutch

Religion

Dutch Reformed

Political structure

Colony

History

•

Established

1617

•

Disestablished

1678

Succeeded by

French West India Company

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Senegambia, also known in Dutch as Bovenkust ("Upper Coast"), was the collective noun for the fortifications and trading posts owned by the Dutch West India Company (DWIC) in the region now known as Senegal. The main purpose of these trading posts was to obtain slaves in order to ship them to the Americas. The government of the territory was based on Gorée. In 1677, the Dutch lost this island to France. The next year, the French also conquered all DWIC trading posts on the Senegalese coast as well as the island of Arguin.

Having lost almost all the trade in gum arabic, bezoar stone, ambergris and ostrich feathers, the DWIC wanted to regain its position. The Frenchman Jean du Casse, head of the Compagnie de Sénégal, reached an agreement with the local leaders, who decided to destroy the Dutch trading posts and the DWIC lost its position for good.

Senegambia possessions of the DWIC

Gorée: 1617 - 1663, 1664 - 1677.

With the fortifications: Nassau and Orange.

Trading posts:

Portudal: 1633 - 1678. Here the DWIC bought slaves and ivory.
Rufisque: 1633 - 1678.
Joal: 1633 - 1678.

Dutch Empire

Colonies and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company (1602–1798)

Governorate General	Batavia

Governorates	Ambon Banda Islands Cape Colony Celebes Ceylon Coromandel Formosa Malacca Moluccas Northeast coast of Java

Directorates	Bengal Persia Suratte

Commandments	Bantam Malabar West coast of Sumatra

Residencies	Bantam Banjarmasin Batavia Cheribon Palembang Preanger Pontianak

Opperhoofd settlements	Myanmar Canton Dejima Mauritius Siam Timor Tonkin

Colonies and trading posts of the Dutch West India Company (1621–1792)

Colonies in the Americas	Berbice ¹ Brazil Cayenne Curaçao and Dependencies Demerara Essequibo New Netherland Pomeroon Sint Eustatius and Dependencies Surinam ² Tobago Virgin Islands

Trading posts in Africa	Arguin Gold Coast Loango-Angola Senegambia Slave Coast

¹ Governed by the Society of Berbice ² Governed by the Society of Suriname

Settlements of the Noordsche Compagnie (1614–1642)

Settlements	Jan Mayen Smeerenburg

Colonies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1962)

Until 1825	Bengal Coromandel Malacca Suratte

Until 1853	Dejima

Until 1872	Gold Coast

Until 1945	Dutch East Indies

Until 1954	Curaçao and Dependencies ³ Surinam ³

Until 1962	New Guinea

³ Became constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Suriname gained full independence in 1975, Curaçao and Dependencies was renamed to the Netherlands Antilles, which was eventually dissolved in 2010.

Kingdom of the Netherlands (1954–present)

Constituent countries	Aruba Curaçao Netherlands Sint Maarten

Public bodies of the Netherlands	Bonaire Saba Sint Eustatius

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