Editing Albreda

{{EngvarB|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
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|official_name          =Albreda
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|subdivision_name       = The Gambia
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|subdivision_name1      = [[North Bank Division]]
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|subdivision_name2      = [[Upper Niumi]]
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|population_total               = 1829
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{{History of the Gambia}}
'''Albreda''' is a historic [[Human settlement|settlement]] in The Gambia on the north bank of the [[Gambia River]], variously described as a 'trading post' or a 'slave fort'. It is located near [[Jufureh]] in the [[North Bank Division]] and an arch stands on the beach connecting the two places. As of 2008, it has an estimated population of 1,776.<ref>[http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&geo=-88 World Gazetteer] {{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, retrieved 20 August 2008</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Gambia cfao building aggeboe.jpg|thumb|left|Albreda today]]
According to [[Wolof people|Wolof]] oral tradition, Musa Gaye, a Wolof [[marabout]] founded it sometime between 1520 and 1681. Wolof traders called the island Draga, while the [[Mandinka people|Mandinkas]] called it Albadar.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:70nphckEPacJ:portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/file_download.php/9557f8f6604efb516db19f052e080219CDROM_slave_trade_GAMBIA.doc+Unesco+National+Records+Service+Musa+Gaye&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiPN2SS3KaE2zy6g6obtGsKycjxM3u1C7htXoKwL26bD--j9msfUbg_KQ2g6nzXwiLxPselzeJ9zmwFHqcYjErzGkyiD2zkap3jSUc2_hi4QlymZOfzVO_zhv9i2U3NERk_Ls8G&sig=AHIEtbTmqlM2vZp90uimocXvcD9hD5yGBQ CD-ROM: NRS – GAMBIA]</ref>

In 1681, the local [[Mansa (title)|mansa]] or king of [[Niumi]] (the [[Upper Niumi]] District takes its name from this kingdom), gave the land to the French because his people depended on trade with Europeans. The French [[exclave]] was never very large (never more than one factory) but its location was inconvenient for the British, who otherwise had a monopoly on trade on the [[Gambia River]]. The British also possessed Fort James on [[James Island (Gambia)|James Island]], which was less than two miles away on the opposite bank, and which fulfilled a similar function. There was constant tension and occasional skirmishes between the two powers, with Fort James changing hands between them several times. 

Following a French attack, the English abandoned Fort James in 1779. The French abandoned Albreda in 1804.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Donald R. |title=THE WORLD AND A VERY SMALL PLACE IN AFRICA A History of Globalization in Niumi, The Gambia |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |page=118 |edition=4th}}</ref> In 1816, however, the British returned, establishing [[Banjul|Bathurst]] on St Mary's island at the mouth of the river. Shortly afterwards, the French returned to Albreda.<ref>Mbaeyi, P. M. “THE BARRA-BRITISH WAR OF 1831: A RECONSIDERATION OF ITS ORIGINS AND IMPORTANCE.” Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, vol. 3, no. 4, 1967, pp. 618. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41856904. Accessed 4 June 2023.</ref>

Albreda was transferred from [[French colonial empire|French control]] to the [[British Empire|British empire]] in 1857. Today it contains a [[Slavery|slave]] museum which opened in 1996.<ref name = love>{{cite web | url = http://www.lovegambia.co.uk/travel/albreda.php | title = Albreda | access-date = 2016-11-25 | publisher = lovegambia.co.uk}}</ref>

==Roots==
There is a family in the town who claim to be descendants of [[Kunta Kinte]] and oral historian Kebba Kanji Fofana, the man who was supposed to have told the ''[[Roots (novel)|Roots]]'' story to author [[Alex Haley]], although the home of Kunta Kinte was the neighbouring village of [[Juffure]].<ref name = love/>

==See also==
*[[List of French possessions and colonies]]
*[[Portuguese Chapel of Albreda]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=waW03E44v3AC&pg=PA129 Katharina Kane. The Gambia and Senegal]

{{Commons category|Albreda}}

{{coord|13|20|04|N|16|23|12|W|region:GM-N_type:city(1656)|display=title}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Gambia]]
[[Category:Gambia River]]
[[Category:Slavery in Africa]]
[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:Former French colonies]]
[[Category:1681 establishments in the French colonial empire]]
[[Category:1857 disestablishments]]
[[Category:North Bank Division]]