Re:The oldest company in almost every country (that is still...
by vidarh on Thursday February 27, 2020 @07:38AM
(#22432680)
The big problem with finding evidence either way with respect to this is that sheer amount of destruction by colonial powers.
E.g. after the third Anglo-Ashanti war, the conquering British noted how impressive the palace was, and called out the number of books in different languages, and then they promptly burned it... So vast amounts of information about the operation of the Ashanti just went up in smoke.
Similarly they burned the entire capital city of the Benin empire to the ground.
It was not just that these empires ended; they were in many cases close to being erased from history.
E.g. after the third Anglo-Ashanti war, the conquering British noted how impressive the palace was, and called out the number of books in different languages, and then they promptly burned it... So vast amounts of information about the operation of the Ashanti just went up in smoke.
Similarly they burned the entire capital city of the Benin empire to the ground.
It was not just that these empires ended; they were in many cases close to being erased from history.