SALAGA AND THE SLAVE MARKET

 Salaga is a town in Ghana's Northern Region and the capital of its East Gonja District. Salaga is the fifty-ninth most populous in Ghana, in terms of population, with a population of 25,472 people.In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Salaga served as a key market town of the Ashanti kingdom, particularly for the busy regional slave trade and kola trade controlling Salaga gave the Ashanti a monopoly over trade to the North and trade to the South Situated in the southernmost reaches of the Sahel, Salaga was referred to as "the Timbuktu of the south" for its cosmopolitan population and varied trade. Muslims formed the most dominant religious group.Visitors to Salaga today can still see the Salaga pond, where slaves would be washed before selling to make them look as attractive as possible, and a young baobab tree on the site of the old slave market. Many of the Slaves were brought from central Africa

The name Salaga comes from the Dagbani word "salgi" which means "To get used to a place of abode" The area under the control of the Bimbila Naa and was called Bopelani. One of the Naumba princes by name Wumbei used to hunt around Bopelani (later Salga). He eventually made a home there and refused to come back home. When it was time for him to become chief, he was asked to come back home he said "N salgi ya", which means I am used to the place. And he refused to go back home. Thus the place became known as Salga (note the dagbani spelling). cont.reading