Isaac Samuel

Cloth trade and production in the great textile belt of central Africa. ca. 1500-1900

Added 2024-11-10 16:59:58 +0000 UTC

The region extending from the Atlantic coast of Congo to the western shores of Lake Tanganyika was home to what is arguably the largest contiguous cloth-producing region on the continent, known as the 'Central African textile belt'.

The Portuguese visitors to 16th-century Kongo described its textiles as "so beautiful that those made in Italy do not surpass them in workmanship," also mentioned that most of the highly coveted textiles were imported into Kongo from further inland by traders from societies in the interior of central Africa.

Societies in this region created a vast corpus of textiles that now constitute one of the great artistic and ethnological treasures of Western museums, and represent one of the many examples of pre-capitalist currencies on the continent. These luxury raffia cloths were used across all facets of central African society; they were worn, gifted, traded, hoarded, hung on walls, used as floor covering and as massive burial shrouds.

The cloth trade across multiple societies of central Africa, whose production volumes reached pre-industrial levels during the 17th century, attests to the dynamism and vast scale of pre-colonial African exchanges that are often overlooked in studies of Africa's economic history.

This article explores the history of cloth trade in west-central Africa from the coast of Loango and Kongo to the interior societies of the Kuba and the Luba.

17th-century illustration of the Loango court, depicting one of the large pieces of textiles that were described as covering his throne. Kuba textiles at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

A brief background to the history of cloth production in the textile belt of central Africa.

Along the southern margins of the great forests of central Africa, palm trees grew in such profusion that a late 16th century account referred to the region as "the land of palms." From the coast of Loango to the Luba kingdom near the western shores of lake Tanganyika, the weaving of raffia cloth was practiced by nearly every society where raffia trees grew.

Map showing the great textile belt of central Africa and related kingdoms mentioned in this text.

These trees were both cultivated and grew wild. An early 17th-century account notes that "of their palm trees which they keep watering and cutting every year, they make velvets, satins, taffetas, damasks, sarsenets and such like; out of the leaves, cleansed and purged, drawing long threads and even, for that purpose." Another account from 1612 indicated the care with which the trees were planted at the Loango capital, writing that they "were planted like grape vines"

(Power, cloth and currency pg 1)

A 16th-century account from Kongo mentions the careful pruning and lopping of palm trees. In the 19th century, orchards were common in the Kwilu area of Zaire, among the neighboring Lele and Kuba and further east still among the Songye north of the Luba kingdom. Sources for related baKongo groups in the lower Zaire region indicate that palm trees belonged to the families of those who had planted them and were inheritable property.

(Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 266, Power, cloth and currency pg 1)

Raffia tree of Kongo in a 17th-century manuscript; "Short wet palm, called matombe makes rather [sic] and sweet, and very fresh wine. The palm also serves to make cloth. They make thread from the leaves and weave them."

detail of a 19th-century Loango ivory tusk depicting the harvesting of palm oil, on the right is a postcard by Robert Visser in Loango, photos at the Smithsonian

The processing of palm leaf to cloth in the textile belt was broadly similar to that described in the kingdom of Kongo, and so did the type of looms, which were mostly single heddle looms set vertically or horizontally. The process of combing the thread, setting up the loom, weaving, sewing lengths together, and tailoring was done by adult men weavers, while picking the leaves and obtaining the fibre, among the Kuba at least, was a job for older boys. Beating cloth and embellishing it was women’s work. According to a 17th-century account from Loango, "the men of this kingdom make a good store of palm cloth of sundry sorts, very fine and curious. They are never idle for they make fine caps of needlework as they go in the street."

(Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 267-268, Power, cloth and currency pg 2)

The size of a woven piece of cloth was determined by the lengths of the palm fibers, ranging from 40x40 cm to 52x52 cm, with luxury cloth measuring upto 67x67cm. These were sewn together to form strips of equal length that were joined together for a waist-cloth. The basic cloth was a plain weave, but a variety of colors could be achieved by exposing the fibers in the sun for different periods of time or through coloring them with takula (redwood), charcoal, and chalk. A 17th-century account from Kongo notes that "and as to the range and brilliance of the dyes, they excel those in Europe." The most common additional techniques to embellish cloth were embroidery, sometimes in relief, the creation of a velvet like pile cloth, as well as quilting and applique, especially among the Kuba.

(Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 267-268)

17th-century manuscript illustration depicting the Safou plant [Dacryodes edulis] of central Africa, used to make red dyes for cloth.

carved wood cosmetic boxes for carrying tukula (dye), decorated with anthropomorphic features and geometric patterns, Kuba kingdom, 19th century, British Museum

Domestic demand for cloth, estimates from the 17th century.

Cloth was essential in many of the important events in an individual's life. The newborn was laid on a piece of raffia cloth; young people at initiation wore raffia cloth skirts; it was the main form of bridewealth; it was used to pay legal fees; and made into burial shrouds.

Everyone but small children wore an everyday knee-length raffia skirt, which had to be renewed about thrice a year. Costumes for special occasions consisted of several layers of skirts, or plaited skirts many times longer than an ordinary wrapper. Raffia cloth was also used for togas or long coats, bags and accessories.

(Power, cloth, and currency pg 3, Textiles: production, trade, and demand, pg 266)

The elites used cloth to manipulate power. Wealthy individuals distributed cloth to dependents who lacked it, titleholders in the kingdom's administration celebrated their authority through the exchange of cloth on important political occasions such as at the installation of rulers and the appointment of chiefs. The wealthy also hoarded baskets of cloth in their homes as savings for such extraordinary expenses and for times of crisis. Even kings such as the ruler of Loango, who in 1612, was reported to have "houses full of ivory, copper, and libongos."

(Power, cloth and currency pg 3)

A 17th-century depiction of the court of the ruler of Loango, showing him and his courtiers wearing the signature patterned textiles and wall hangings.

Kongo luxury cloth: cushion cover, 18th-19th century, Nationalmuseet Prinsens Palæ

Cloth could be used at once in local markets as currency; it could be used as wall-hangings, bags, carpets, or bed coverings; or they could be a store of value for future expense. Raffia panels could be packaged together in units of four, ten, twenty, forty, or a hundred. A unit of account in Loango was called a mukuta, which consisted of ten lengths of cloth wrapped or sewn together in a strip, was commonly found on the Loango Coast, in the lower Zaire region and at Luanda. In Kakongo around 1770, a libongo could buy a day's supply of food, and goods were divided into equal portions each worth a makuta.

(Power, cloth and currency pg 4,7, Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg)

Assuming that cloth for daily use would last four months, The historian Jan Vasina estimates that it would have required at least 2,000,000 lengths (or 1,040,000 meters) to as much as 3,000,000 for the plain weave cloth per year just for the kingdom of Kongo during the 17th century. The whole region from the Loango coast to the Kwanza river and inland as far as the Kwango river may have used up to twice that amount.

This doesn't include the massive quantities of luxury cloth used by royals, such as the 34x20 m carpet of the loango King in the 17th century, or the multiple lengths of cloth wore by the elites of Kongo and Tio, church vestments, and cushion covers. This implies that total raffia production in West Central Africa must have reached what Vansina refers to as proto-industrial levels during this period.

(Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 270-271, 276)

A woman kneels beside a rectangular stick loom, weaving a white length of cloth on it. ca. 1920, D.R.Congo, ca. 1920, USC library. Weaver of cloth in Kongo, detail of a 17th century illustration by a capuchin priest, Virgili Collection

Cloth trade from the interior to the kingdoms of Loango, Kongo and Angola ca. 1500-1870.

Map showing some of the states mentioned in this essay.

A substantial amount of this cloth was imported from further inland. According to a 16th century Portuguese account, "The inhabitants [of Sundi] trade with the neighboring regions. In return they receive cloth from the palm, ivory, sable and marten furs and belts made in palmleaves which are highly esteemed in these regions." Weavers in the kingdom of Ngoyo produced a cloth called 'panos nsambes', which was also exported to the Kongo province of Sonyo. The name suggests that one of the royal families of the kingdom, Nsambo, may have originally commissioned the cloth or controlled its distribution.

(Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 12 Power, cloth and currency pg 3)

Nsundi was an eastern province of Kongo, next the provinces known as 'Mbata' and Mpangu which were part of the region known as Momboraes. According to the same account, Nsundi, Mpangu, and Mbata paid the king “the bulk of his income, because in them they make all the cloth and rich things for clothes and costumes in their fashion.” Most of this cloth came from the markets of Kundi and Okanga on the Kwango river and beyond.

(Afonso I Mvemba a Nzinga, King of Kongo pg 4, Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 12)

In the early 17th century, European traders bought palm cloth from the northeast of Kongo and Loango, and sold it in Angola where it was in demand as a currency, for clothing, house decoration and funeral goods, as well as to be exchanged for slaves. The importance of cloth was such that the Portuguese issued a contract in Lisbon to an individual to maintain a factory at Loango for the export of cloth to Luanda. He was granted a monopoly and the Angolan government further tried to control the value and circulation of the cloth currency by stamping the arms of Portugal once or twice on the imported raffia cloth.

(The Mbundu and neighbouring peoples, pg 146, Power, cloth and currency pg 4)

According to the Luanda customs official, Pedro Sardinha, this trade had expanded enormously in the seventeenth century. Sardinha described the differing sizes and qualities in which these panos, or pieces of palm cloth, were made. Cloth was packed in oblong baskets or mutete, that weighed about thirty kilograms.

The best sort was called ’painted cloth' and cost 640 reis a piece, of which 12,000-15,000 were brought to Luanda each year at a cost of about eight million reis. The second quality cloth, called 'songa' [ from east of Okanga], was priced at 200 reis a piece and 40,000-50,000 were bought every year at a cost of nine million. A further 30,000-40,000 pieces of the cheapest cloth called kundi [from Kundi in Okanga], worth 100 reis, were also bought.

In addition to these cloths from beyond Kongo, a number of cloths called 'exfula' were imported from the Loango coast. Each year two or three small vessels went there to fetch cargoes of 7,000 pieces. A rarer and more valuable Loango cloth was the 'ensaca' of which only about 500 were obtained each year costing 1,200 reis apiece.

(The Mbundu and neighbouring peoples pg 146-147)

Vasina estimates these exports add up to 61,998 lengths for Loango and 220,000 for Kongo, or; 25,038 meters for Loango and 114,400 meters for Kongo, which constitutes just 11% of the internal demand.

After the 1665 Kongo-Portuguese war, the kingdom was forced to pay an indemnity of 900 basketfuls of palm cloth equivalent to 225,000 lengths or 117,000 meters, which was what Kongo exported in cloth a year. The kingdom later sank into civil war and its capital, the largest market for luxury cloth was destroyed in 1678. In Loango, imported textiles also competed with raffia cloths but replaced them at a much slower pace, such as in marriage gifts, but the masses still wore it in the 1770s. As to cloth for currency, while exports from eastern Kongo and beyond to Luanda dropped after 1641 and ceased after 1665, exports from Loango actually increased until the turn of the 18th century.

(The Mbundu and neighbouring peoples, pg 201, Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 272, n. 52, 56.)

In the 18th century, the burial of the dead with large amounts of cloth was mandatory in Loango. An account from 1786 by the French trader, Degrandpre, describes lengthy burial ceremonies of great men that could last a year, during which his family and followers brought tributes of raffia cloth to wrap his body. These could be larger than a typical house, and one was so large that it was transported on a massive wagon pulled by 500 men.

(Power, cloth and currency pg 5-6)

19th-century engraving depicting the burial of a local ruler in Loango, from the expedition of Stanely

18th century engraving showing the funeral process of Andris Poucouta, a Mafouk of Cabinda on the Loango coast, made by Louis de Grandpre.

Similar burial practices were reported in the 18th and 19th centuries from the Loango, Kongo, Teke and Kakongo kingdoms, with even poor peasants in the latter kingdom going into debt to procure cloth for burials. One observer estimated that an average major funeral consumed 9000 lengths of cloth, another in the 1890s suggested that two-thirds of all cloth imported into the lower Congo was used for burials. Another concluded that;

"Contradictory as it may seem, the strong incentive among people to industry, to travel and to trade, is not so much to procure the money with which to buy food (their wives can supply that), but to hoard enough cloth ... for a grand funeral that will be the talk of the district; for they believe that the grander their funeral, the better will be their reception in the spirit land..."

(Power, Cloth and Currency pg 7, Textiles: production, trade and Demand, pg 273, Power, cloth and Currency pg 6)

In 1694, the Angolan authorities attempted to substitute the cloth currency with copper coins, after the value had declined --especially the Loango cloth, but this monetary experiment only lasted a year. A report of 1769 noted that the ordinary money in Angola was “cloths of straw made in Congo,” and nzimbu shells. Even Portuguese in Angola “use them for their purchases just as civilized nations customarily use money of gold, silver or copper.”

(A history of west-central Africa pg 196-197, 290)

In the 18th century, Luxury cloth was still used by local rulers and retained its demand in Luanda for cushions and blankets as before and now also for pillows, sails and hammock curtains as late as 1824. Data from 1780 indicates that the price per length had declined slightly to about 80 reis [from 100]. The inhabitants of Angola still wore dyed raffia cloth in 1874, most of which came from the interior region known as Songo.

(A history of west-central Africa pg 196-197, Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 272-273, n.54, 58)

Cloth trade in the interior regions of the kingdoms of Lunda, Luba, Kuba and the Lele societies. ca. 1680-1900.

According to Vansina, while the Portuguese didn't cross the Kwango river there are indications that the cloth trade route ran further east to the region referred to in 17th-century accounts as Songo (pannos songos ). This textile-producing region supplied the abovementioned market of Okanga where Kongo obtained alot of its own cloth until the 1660s. Portuguese attempted to restore this trade but were discouraged by high taxes imposed by local rulers, so the trade was taken over by local African traders.

(Textiles: production, trade, and demand, pg 274-275, 277)

A Portuguese account from 1681 describing the interior kingdom of Kasanje mentions that those who went out in the vast region further to the east reported that the Imbangala went out eastwards and had heard of the Kasai river "one month eastwards." They also met people who came from the other bank of the river to trade their cloth for salt, and to give "gifts of clothing to keep them in a good mood and that the good intercourse and friendship not be damaged". This is account is the earliest known reference to raffia cloth from beyond the Kasai river, and points to the Lunda's early control of extensive textile-producing regions.

(Kinguri's exodus and its consequences pg 398-399)

The major trade routes connecting regional centres of textile production, as well as copper and ivory, traversed the Lunda heartland. One end of this trade was controlled by the king of Kasanje, while the other end was controlled by Lunda king and the provincial lord of Kazembe. As Lunda domination spread, new subjects brought in goods that were scarce in the original Lunda homeland, such as copper and palm cloth, from the lands of the Luba and Songye, both items being marketable on the Kwango river.

(The Cambridge history of Africa Vol. 5, pg 371, 374)

The Ovimbundu trader Jao Baptista who traversed the Lunda empire in 1808, noted that raffia cloth, a specialty of the Lunda region, was exchanged there. Luba traders carried raffia cloth as far north as the region between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Mweru, as described by the coastal trader Tippu Tip in the 1870s, who mentions 'warua' [baLuba] traders from 'urua' [Luba] who brought 'viramba' cloth in strips of 9 inches which were the unit of exchange in this region. He also observed Luba weavers making raffia cloth on his trips further south.

(The Rainbow and the Kings pg 96-98)

According to the historian John Thornton, the abovementioned 'Songo' of 17th century Portuguese accounts, who exported cloth to Kongo may have been the 'Bushoong' group of the Kuba. However, Jan Vasina argues that the 'Songo' were the modern Tsong, whose markets were supplied by the Mbuun, a neighboring group of the Kuba whose cloth they later imitated. The Kuba are renowned weavers, even among the cloth-producing people of the textile belt; in later times the name Kuba was assigned to them by all their neighbours, a term rooted in the idea of weaving their celebrated embroidered raffia cloths.

(A history of west-central Africa pg 145, The Children of Woot, pg 189-191)

Kuba textiles from the early 20th century, Baltimore Museum of art.

Kuba textiles, early 20th century, British Museum.

After the withdrawal of Portuguese traders from the market for 'Songo' cloth, accounts of the cloth trade in the Kuba kingdom only reappear in the late 19th century, when the carravan of the Portuguese trader António Ferreira da Silva Porto reached the market of Kampungu in 1880. He mentioned that the Kuba produced high-quality raffia textiles, and that only the royals and a few titleholders could wear imported cloth. The Kuba refused to accept any imported cloth, they instead exchanged their ivory for cowries.

(Being colonised: the Kuba experience pg 15)

Like in Kongo and Loango, the Kuba textile industry was extensive. Contemporary observers were struck by the manufacturing activity and capacity of Kuba settlements. An estimated 20,000 population required some 600,000 lengths of cloth per year. This excludes raffia cloth for other uses such as velvet or embroidered lengths used at funerals.

Internal demand for cloth [to pay taxes, for bridewealth, house decoration, burial shrouds, and clothing] persisted well into the colonial period: even as late as the 1950s, at least two-thirds of all the clothes worn by them were raffia costumes. A significant proportion of Kuba cloth was also exported to Europe for various uses, and some ended up in the ethnographic collections of Western museums.

(Cloth and the Human Experience pg 120- 128, Being colonised: the Kuba Experience pg 123-124)

In the neighboring societies of the Lele, raffia cloth was used extensively in the internal economy for the payment of services and the acquisition of status. Fathers were given gifts of cloth from their sons upon reaching adulthood, the bride's family was given cloth at weddings, and the deceased were buried in bundles of cloth. The Lele were among the most important exporters of cloth in the Kasai region, Lele merchants sold cloth to the Chokwe and the Pende, among other groups.

(Raffia Cloth Distribution in the Lele Economy pg 111-115)

While raffia cloth was used as a currency in Lele societies, it wasn't always convertible to other currencies (like the colonial era franc) nor was its production organized like an early industry (like in the Sokoto empire). According to Vasina's study of the Tio and Mary Douglass' study of the lele, cloth was primarily produced by small households to for specific social payments. large settlements of cloth were settled by the community, rather than by entrepreneurs hoarding the cloth, and it was this which resulted in demand outstripping supply.

(Raffia Cloth Distribution in the Lele Economy pg 117-122, Textiles: production, trade and demand, pg 17-18)

However, these were very small societies, where markets operated differently than in larger kingdoms. In 17th century Kongo capital of Mbanza Kongo for example, wealthy residents commissioned weavers to make cloth for the market, where cloth could be exchanged for nzimbu shells and pay for other goods, not just services.

In Loango, raffia cloth was used as a currency within the kingdom and was also exported to Angola as currency, where it could purchase all kinds of goods, pay soldiers, and be converted to Portuguese currency. Cloth was hoarded, not just by the king, but also by the local Vili merchants, who considered it a means to store wealth and provided the massive burial shrouds in which important persons were buried.

(External trade of the Loango coast pg 68-73)

Conclusion.

The above overview of cloth trade in the textile belt of central Africa sheds light on an often overlooked aspect of the region's economic history. The textile tradition of the interior kingdoms of central Africa, and their extensive cloth trade helps to explain the origins of Kongo's massive cloth exports of the 17th century, which unlike the Sokoto textile industry were not solely archived by expanding domestic production but by increasing imports from the mainland.

Hopefully, further studies on the history of cloth production and trade in central and East Africa will explore the origins and growth of textile industries in the African mainland, and reveal the scale of productivity in the continent's industries and economies during the pre-colonial era.