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Fort Ruychaver, also Fort Ruijghaver, was a Dutch trading post in the hinterland of the Gold Coast, in contemporary Ghana. It existed between 1654 and 1660 on the banks of River Ankobra. The name of the post goes back to Jacob Ruijghaver, the director of the Dutch West India Company's possessions on the Gold Coast, who ordered its establishment. The aim of the trading post was to enhance the trade in gold, as the area surrounding the fort was locally renowned for its gold mines. The classification of the trading post as a fort is a product of modern literature. The trading post was probably not as reinforced as the term "fort" implies, and likely consisted of a simple lodge and a few smaller huts. == Location == In the literature, two possible locations for the fort are given. The map shows both these locations. One possibility is that Fort Ruychaver was situated on the right bank of the Ankobra River, opposite the Bonsa River, in the Egwira Region. Doorman, among others, was of this school. The other theory, primarily advocated by Daaku, takes a diary entry of Director-General Valckenburg as the point of departure. The entry says that the trading post was situated 30 miles from the coast. As one Amsterdam mile equals 5,754.53 metre, that would mean the fort's location is 173 kilometres inland. At this distance ("as the crow flies") indeed a settlement called Sanaya is situated, where according to Daaku once stood Fort Ruychaver. At both locations, exhausted gold fields exist, that were also centres of gold production in pre-colonial times. It seems rather unlikely, however, that the Dutch travelled through vast gold fields in order to establish a fort 173 kilometres inland. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fort Ruychaver」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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