From the National Archives of Scotland
To mark Black History Month, the National Archives of
Scotland is featuring some of the documents in their
holdings which record connections between Scots and people
of African descent.
Since pre-Roman times, Europeans have been aware of the
continent of Africa and the wealth of its natural
resources. Scottish interest in a possible trade route to
Africa and India (another fabled continent) was stimulated
at the end of the 17th century with the setting up of the
Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the
Indies, whose trading settlement at Darien ended in
disaster.
Maps of Africa from the 18th and 19th centuries are
understandably inaccurate by modern standards and show a
lack of knowledge of the interior of the continent.
However, they are valuable as a visual record of the early
history of the rulers and people of the many African
kingdoms and cities; and in showing how Europeans then
considered Africa to be a continent of almost limitless
possibilities.
Previous Documents of the Month
May
Treaty of Perpetual Peace
June
Register of Sasines
July
Architectural sketch of seaside shelter
August
The shirt with a message in Hindustani
September
Letter to Charles II in 1664
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