History.—The Ivory Coast is stated to have been visited by Dieppe merchants in the 14th century, and was made known by the Portuguese discoveries towards the end of the 15th century. It was thereafter frequented by traders for ivory, slaves and other commodities. There was a French settlement at Assini, 1700-1704, and a French factory was maintained at Grand Bassam from 1700 to 1707. In the early part of the 19th century several French traders had established themselves along the coast. In 1830 Admiral (then Commandant) Bouët-Willaumez (1808-1871) began a series of surveys and expeditions which yielded valuable results. In 1842 he obtained from the native chiefs cessions of territory at Assini and Grand Bassam to France and the towns named were occupied in 1843. From that time French influence gradually extended along the coast, but no attempt was made to penetrate inland. As one result of the Franco-Prussian War, France in 1872 withdrew her garrisons, handing over the care of the establishments to a merchant named Verdier, to whom an annual subsidy of £800 was paid. This merchant sent an agent into the interior who made friendly treaties between France and some of the native chiefs. In 1883, in view of the claims of other European powers to territory in Africa, France again took over the actual administration of Assini and Bassam. Between 1887 and 1889 Captain Binger (an officer of marine infantry, and subsequently director of the African department at the colonial ministry) traversed the whole region between the coast and the Niger, visited Bontuku and the Kong country, and signed protectorate treaties with the chiefs. The kingdom of Jaman, it may be mentioned, was for a few months included in the Gold Coast hinterland. In January 1889 a British mission sent by the governor of the Gold Coast concluded a treaty with the king of Jaman at Bontuku, placing his dominions under British protection. The king had, however, previously concluded treaties of “commerce and friendship” with the French, and by the Anglo-French agreement of August 1889 Jaman, with Bontuku, was recognized as French territory. In 1892 Captain Binger made further explorations in the interior of the Ivory Coast, and in 1893 he was appointed the first governor of the colony on its erection into an administration distinct from that of Senegal. Among other famous explorers who helped to make known the hinterland was Colonel (then Captain) Marchand. It was to the zone between the Kong states and the hinterland of Liberia that Samory (see [Senegal]) fled for refuge before he was taken prisoner (1898), and for a short time he was master of Kong. The boundary of the colony on the west was settled by Franco-Liberian agreements of 1892 and subsequent dates; that on the east by the Anglo-French agreements of 1893 and 1898. The northern boundary was fixed in 1899 on the division of the middle Niger territories (up to that date officially called the French Sudan) among the other French West African colonies. The systematic development of the colony, the opening up of the hinterland and the exploitation of its economic resources date from the appointment of Captain Binger as governor, a post he held for over three years. The work he began has been carried on zealously and effectively by subsequent governors, who have succeeded in winning the co-operation of the natives.
In the older books of travel are often found the alternative names for this region, Tooth Coast (Côte des Dents) or Kwa-Kwa Coast, and, less frequently, the Coast of the Five and Six Stripes (alluding to a kind of cotton fabric in favour with the natives). The term Côte des Dents continued in general use in France until the closing years of the 19th century.
See Dix ans à la Côte d’Ivoire (Paris, 1906) by F. J. Clozel, governor of the colony, and Notre colonie de la Côte d’Ivoire (Paris, 1903) by R. Villamur and Richaud. These two volumes deal with the history, geography, zoology and economic condition of the Ivory Coast. La Côte d’Ivoire by Michellet and Clement describes the administrative and land systems, &c. Another volume also called La Côte d’Ivoire (Paris, 1908) is an official monograph on the colony. For ethnology consult Coutumes indigènes de la Côte d’Ivoire (Paris, 1902) by F. J. Clozel and R. Villamur, and Les Coutumes Agni, by R. Villamur and Delafosse. Of books of travel see Du Niger au Golfe de Guinée par Kong (Paris, 1892) by L. G. Binger, and Mission Hostains-d’Ollone 1890-1900 (Paris, 1901) by Captain d’Ollone. A Carte de la Côte d’Ivoire by A. Meunier, on the scale of 1:500,000 (6 sheets), was published in Paris, 1905. Annual reports on the colony are published by the French colonial and the British foreign offices.
IVREA (anc. Eporedia), a town and episcopal see of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Turin, from which it is 38 m. N.N.E. by rail and 27 m. direct, situated 770 ft. above sea-level, on the Dora Baltea at the point where it leaves the mountains. Pop. (1901) 6047 (town), 11,696 (commune). The cathedral was built between 973 and 1005; the gallery round the back of the apse and the crypt have plain cubical capitals of this period. The two campanili flanking the apse at each end of the side aisle are the oldest example of this architectural arrangement. The isolated tower, which is all that remains of the ancient abbey of S. Stefano, is slightly later. The hill above the town is crowned by the imposing Castello delle Quattro Torri, built in 1358, and now a prison. One of the four towers was destroyed by lightning in 1676. A tramway runs to Santhià.
The ancient Eporedia, standing at the junction of the roads from Augusta Taurinorum and Vercellae, at the point where the road to Augusta Praetoria enters the narrow valley of the Duria (Dora Baltea), was a military position of considerable importance belonging to the Salassi who inhabited the whole upper valley of the Duria. The importance of the gold-mines of the district led to its seizure by the Romans in 143 B.C. The centre of the mining industry seems to have been Victumulae (see [Ticinum]), until in 100 B.C. a colony of Roman citizens was founded at Eporedia itself; but the prosperity of this was only assured when the Salassi were finally defeated in 25 B.C. and Augusta Praetoria founded. There are remains of a theatre of the time of the Antonines and the Ponte Vecchio rests on Roman foundations.
In the middle ages Ivrea was the capital of a Lombard duchy, and later of a marquisate; both Berengar II. (950) and Arduin (1002) became kings of Italy for a short period. Later it submitted to the marquises of Monferrato, and in the middle of the 14th century passed to the house of Savoy.
(T. As.)
IVRY-SUR-SEINE, a town of northern France, in the department of Seine, near the left bank of the Seine, less than 1 m. S.S.E. of the fortifications of Paris. Pop. (1906) 30,532. Ivry has a large hospital for incurables. It manufactures organs, earthenware, wall-paper and rubber, and has engineering works, breweries, and oil-works, its trade being facilitated by a port on the Seine. The town is dominated by a fort of the older line of defence of Paris.