Elmina, the earliest European slave-trading station in Sub-Saharan Africa, was established by the Portuguese in 1482 as a trade center for slaves. Although the castle was originally built to serve as a centre for the gold trade (thus the name 'Elmina' – the mine), by 1500, it had also become a base for the slave traffic, according to historians. People taken from the interior of the continent were kept captive at the castle, driving directions where they were guarded by troops until they were transferred to ships heading for the colonial territories. The Dutch acquired control of the fort in 1637 and used it as a base for their own slave trade activities until 1814, when the practice was outlawed in the country by the Netherlands.