1400 to 1820

The Grain Coast

Long before 1821 the land is home to many peoples: the Kru, Bassa and Grebo on the coast, the Vai and Gola in the west, the Kpelle, Loma, Dan and Mano inland. Some of them arrive from the north as the Mali Empire breaks up. Portuguese sailors reach the coast in the 1460s and name it the Grain Coast, after the melegueta pepper sold there.