Pisania (trading post)

Pisania was a short-lived English trading post established in present-day Ghana in 1660. Located on the Gold Coast, its primary purpose was to engage in trade with local African populations, primarily in gold, ivory, and enslaved people. The settlement was founded by the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa, a venture chartered by King Charles II of England.

Pisania served as a smaller outpost compared to other European settlements along the Gold Coast, such as Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle. Its existence was largely defined by its role in the transatlantic slave trade, contributing to the forced removal and enslavement of Africans.

The trading post's duration was brief, as it changed hands between various European powers throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Control shifted multiple times due to warfare and competing commercial interests among the English, Dutch, and other European entities vying for dominance in the region's lucrative trade routes. Information on its precise final fate and date of abandonment is somewhat limited and often conflated with the broader history of English involvement in the Gold Coast region. Sources suggest that by the late 17th century, the importance of Pisania had diminished as larger and more strategically located forts became the focus of European trading activities.