Kunta Kinteh Island and Related Sites

James Island and Related Sites present a testimony to the main periods and facets of the encounter between Africa and Europe along the River Gambia, a continuum stretching from pre-colonial and pre-slavery times to independence. The site is particularly significant for its relation to the beginning of the slave trade and its abolition. It also documents early access to the interior of Africa.

Criterion iii: James Island and Related Sites on the River Gambia provide an exceptional testimony to the different facets of the African-European encounter, from the 15th to 20th centuries. The River Gambia formed the first trade route into the interior of Africa and became an early corridor for the slave trade. Criterion vi: James Island and Related Sites, the villages and the batteries, were directly and tangibly associated with the beginning and the conclusion of the slave trade, retaining its memory related to the African Diaspora.

James Island and the related sites on the Gambia River provide exceptional testimony to the different facets of the African-European encounter, from the 15th to the 20th centuries. The river formed the first trade route into the interior of Africa and became an early corridor for the slave trade. The sites were directly and tangibly associated with the beginning and the conclusion of the slave trade, retaining its memory related to the African diaspora.

The property consists of seven separate sites: the whole of James Island, the remains of a Portuguese chapel and a colonial warehouse in the village of Albreda, the Maurel Frères Building in the village of Juffureh, the remains of a small Portuguese settlement of San Domingo, as well as Fort Bullen and the Six-Gun Battery, which are located in three different districts in Gambia. Fort Bullen and the Battery are at the mouth of the Gambia River, while James Island and the other sites are some 30 km upstream. Albreda, Juffureh and San Domingo are contained within a large buffer zone, which stretches 12 km along the coastline of the Gambia River, extending some 500 m inland from the high-water line. James Island is a small island (0.3 ha) in the middle of the Gambia River, which made it a strategic place from which to control the waterway.

The original structures comprise the fort itself, the slave house, the governor's kitchen, the blacksmith's shop and a store, all now in ruins. The fort is situated in the middle of this low island and is vulnerable to flooding by the tidal waters. Albreda, a Mandingo village on the north bank of the river, is surrounded by agricultural land and is part of the buffer zone, but it contains two buildings that are included in the inscription. The chapel, built by the Portuguese in the late 15th century, is in ruins. Just 30 m to the west of the chapel is a free-standing wall, which is contemporaneous with the church. The Compagnie Française d'Afrique Occidentale Building, at the water's edge near the wharf, is a two-storey building with an adjacent warehouse. The ground floor served as a shop and store for goods and the top floor as a residence.

Juffureh, a typical Mandingo village, consists of traditional buildings, family compounds surrounded by woven fences, and small public open spaces. The Maurel Frères Building was constructed around 1840 by the British and was later used as a warehouse by a Lebanese trader named Maurel. Now it is a small museum on the Atlantic Slave Trade in the Senegambia.

San Domingo, 1 km east of Albreda, was a colonial settlement first established by the Portuguese in the late 15th century. It used to contain gardens, a church, a cemetery, and a well; today only ruins of a small house remain, built from lateritic stone and lime mortar. Close by there are remains of the former English settlement of Jillifree.

Six-Gun Battery was completed in 1821 in Bathurst, founded in 1816, now Banjul, on Saint Mary Island. The Battery consists of six 24-pounder guns, installed on rails, and protected by a large parapet made from stone and lime mortar. Fort Bullen is at the end of Barra Point, opposite the city of Banjul, on the north bank of the river at the point where it meets the ocean. The fort is protected from the sea by a defensive wall of stone and boulders. The site is close to the Banjul-Barra ferry landing. The fort buildings include the Old Rest House built from mud, the residence of the Travelling Commissioner of the colonial administration at the beginning of the century.

The area of the Gambia River has long been inhabited. The territory was under the rule of the Kingdom of Kaabu, an offshoot of the Mali Empire (c . 1200-1867), and the Jollof Kingdom (c . 1300-1500). Kaabu played an important role in Atlantic-oriented trade before Europeans arrived, being in contact with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, as well as the Arabs (from 1000 CE). The Portuguese reached the Senegambia between 1446 and 1456, when searching for the sea route to India. In the 16th century, English ships ventured into the Gambia region, and by the end of the century the Dutch also arrived. Slaves became another trading item, especially in the 18th century, until slavery was abolished.

The region of the Gambia River has long been inhabited, as evidenced, for example the old stone circles and burial mounds (mbanar) known in the empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. The territory was under the rule of the kingdom of Kaabu, an offshoot of the Mali Empire (c. 1200-1867), and Jollof Empire (circa 1300-1500). Kaabu played an important role in trade towards the Atlantic before the arrival of Europeans, as it was in contact with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, and the Arabs (from 1000 AD. J. - C.). The Portuguese reached the Senegambia between 1446 and 1456, while searching the sea route to India. In 1482, they built Fort São Jorge da Mina (Elmina) on the Gold Coast (now Ghana). In the sixteenth century, British ships ventured into the region of the Gambia, followed by the end of the century by the Dutch. Slaves became another subject of trade, trade in "Ebony" in full swing in the eighteenth century until the abolition of slavery in Britain and the United States in 1807, then in French colonies in 1848.

The Gambia River to access the interior, coastal areas became the main border of acculturation. Kaabu retained its traditional religion, barring the road to Islam until the nineteenth century. The Portuguese established contact with the indigenous population, the Niuminkas, initiating a period of trade and intercultural relations, which over the next five centuries, greatly altered the face of the Gambia. The River Gambia is one of the most easily navigable rivers of Africa, it also has the distinct advantage of allowing access to the vast hinterland. James Island and associated settlements contain physical evidence of the major European traders stands the fifteenth to the nineteenth century and the encounter between Europe and Africa.

James Island was used as a resting place for fishermen long before Europeans arrived. Its hereditary rulers were and still are Niuminkas, which it was bought by a company of the Duchy of Courland (now Latvia), who began building the first fort in 1651. It was taken over by the British, who named James Island, named after the Duke of York. The fort was destroyed and rebuilt several times, passing from hand to hand between the British, French, Dutch, but also pirates and mutineers. In 1815, James Island was abandoned and has since remained in ruins.

San Domingo, to the east of the village of Juffureh, is the first Portuguese settlement in the region. He supplied James Island in drinking water is also where European merchants met their African counterparts. Albreda, probably another Portuguese settlement, was leased to French traders in 1681. It became the site of the French trading post in the Gambia. Albreda and San Domingo were the main trading posts of the kingdom of Niumi and the "final destination", to the west, the long trade routes coming from the interior. At the request of the British, the French abandoned the site in 1857 but returned, as shown by the remains of buildings of two French merchant companies, Maurel Brothers and CFAO. Juffureh is the village of Mandingo merchants, the place where the British did their business and from which they ruled the region.

The Six-Gun Battery (1816) and Fort Bullen (1826), located on both sides of the mouth of the Gambia, were built with the intention to eliminate the slave trade after it declared illegal in British Empire, after the passing of the Abolition Act in 1807. The sites were abandoned in 1870. During the Second World War, the British Army Fort Bullen reuse as an observatory and artillery base to protect against a possible attack of the French, who controlled Senegal. After the Second World War, the fort was again abandoned.