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2009
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Situated in Eastern Africa, the Portuguese captaincy of Mozambique comprehended, in its maximum length, an area between the bay of Lourenço Marques (today's Maputo) to the south, and Cape Delgado to the north, being that its most inland point was Zumbo. Up until the end of the 18th century, Portuguese presence was centred in several points of the coast and in a vast area by the Zambezi River.
As the 16th century began, Portuguese interests turned to Sofala, the southernmost area of the Swahili region where the gold route led to, through the karanga plateau (Monomotapa, Manica and Quiteve). This gold was indispensible to buy Indian spices. In 1505, a trading post and a fortress were built there; in 1507, an identical measure was taken in the Island of Mozambique, which had an amazing port. The island stored cloths for Sofala and served as port of call for the carrack ships on Carreira das Indias. Created as early as 1505, the captaincy of Sofala became part of the State of India. From the 1530's on, the nominees for the captaincy lived on the island for long periods, making it the main administrative centre. Its importance was later reinforced by the use of its name in the captains' titles, designated as "of Mozambique".
The project of the Portuguese crown consisted in imposing the monopoly of the trading post of Sofala in the Indian cloths and beads trade, leaving the inland routes for the Africans and Muslims. In order to do so, it orchestrated the blockade of the seaways by a fleet stationed in Malindi. However, the construction of the royal monopoly faced the opposition of Sofala merchants and the competition of several other contenders, amongst which could be found royal employees and Portuguese scattered through the backcountry. Moreover, just before the arrival of the Portuguese to the Indian Ocean, the relocation of Monomotapa to the north of the plateau led to a new route that transported the gold through the Zambezi to a group of coves centred in Angoche. A succession of exploring trips to the backcountry and measures to keep an eye on the delta traffic followed a failed attempt to eliminate this Swahili port (1511). In 1530, with the new Regimentos of Sofala, the crown tried to consolidate the monopoly over the gold trade and spread it to the ivory commerce. There was a reinforcement of the control of the sea with ships that sailed between Mozambique and Sofala. In the 1540's, the captains of Sofala already had a factor in the Zambezi delta to trade ivory, a merchandise with increasing importance in the commerce of India. The private merchants' activity along the river led to the settling of Portuguese villages in Quelimane, the main port of the delta, Sena and Tete. In these locations, the merchandise was sold to Christian and Muslim traders, who took it to the markets, the main ones being Massapa (in Monomotapa), and Chipangura (in Manica). Besides dominating the oceanic trade, the Portuguese also participated in inter- African trading networks, by selling locally manufactured cloths, but they declined gold mining exploration, which had been offered by the mutapa (emperor). Finally, royal monopoly reached all the commerce in the Zambezi region, Rios de Cuama (Rios de Sena), through official orders issued in 1564.
The increase of private activity in international trading, associated to the demand for ivory, was complemented by the dispersion of trading points and it originated exploration trips of the coast. To the south, the Portuguese frequented the coast of Inhambane and the bay of Lourenço Marques (1540's). To the north, they traded in the Quirimbas Islands (then, Maluane), where they later settled. The Portuguese also strengthened their presence in the Island of Mozambique, by building settlements in Terra Firma, in Mossuril, Cabaceira Grande and Cabaceira Pequena.
Along with the coast's exploration, several territorialisation programmes of the Portuguese presence were set into motion in Rios de Cuama, through the appointment of governors - conquerors and the dispatch of military expeditions. The first arrived to the Indian Ocean in 1570, lead by Francisco Barreto, governor of the "Monomotapa domain's enterprise", with jurisdiction over the territory between Sofala and Malindi. The journey had as first cause the death of a Jesuit priest, Dom Gonçalo da Silveira (1561), ordered by the mutapa. But underlying this, there was the goal of conquering the mines of Monomotapa and Manica. As the military goals were put aside, the expedition established forts in Sena and Tete and spread the royal administration to the Zambezi valley, until then in the hands of merchants. The news about the discovery of silver in Chicova and of treaties with the Monomotapa (1607 and 1629) stimulated new occupation projects. Governors were nominated to specifically administer Rios de Cuama, leaving castellans in Mozambique. As the royal exploration of the mines was not successful, the Portuguese spread through the plateau located south of Zambezi, where they created fairs, until they were driven out by Butua (1690's) and headed to the territory north of the river. The missionaries accompanied this process, by baptizing the mutapas and other leaders and by maintaining churches in the fairs (Dominicans) and in the valley settlements (Dominicans and Jesuits). The territorial expansion led to the dominance of vast areas in Rios de Cuama, which were bestowed as prazos da coroa. These lands were at the basis of the power of the prazos landlords, the elite of the captaincy recruited in Portugal, India and in the region, which had the donas (ladies) mestizas as its main symbol.
During this period, Mozambique's trade became the most significant for the State of India. In the presence of increasing financial difficulties, circa 1595, the monopoly of commerce was leased to the captains. The contract pertained to the area of Rios de Cuama, which included the closed ports south of the Island of Mozambique, and had as main point of entrance in the backcountry the Zambezi, through where the most part of the trade took place. The monopoly system, with different administration routines and segmented by brief periods of free trade, survived until the middle of the 18th century. The inhabitants of the Island of Mozambique had ensured free trade with the mainland's coast, with the north of the island and with the islands in the Indian Ocean, namely São Lourenço (today's Madagascar) and Comoros.
Meanwhile, external supplies also experienced some changes. In 1686, Companhia de Manzanes de Diu (company owned by a caste of traders) was granted the exclusivity of the journeys between this port, the main provider of textiles, and Mozambique. Soon, Banean traders from that city dominated commerce in the Island of Mozambique and on the coast. Circa 1771, they expanded to Rios de Sena.
The dispute over Eastern Africa by the different maritime powers introduced new dynamics in the Portuguese dominance of the region. The Turkish advances in the Indian Ocean led to the decision of constructing the new fortress of São Sebastião, in the Island of Mozambique, in the 1540's. The Omani expansion threatened the captaincy, in the second half of the 17th century. The attack to the island, in 1669, helped the crown decide to reinforce the defences of Mozambique, by sending couples and by sending the Viceroy of India in 1678. Since the turning to the 17th century, several European potentates, especially the Dutch and the British, tried to take over the Portuguese positions. The most critical situation happened with the Dutch sieges (1607 and 1608), but the Island of Mozambique, with its new fortress, was effectively defended. However, the Dutch persisted in attacking the auriferous regions, even after establishing a colony in the Cape (1652). Between 1721 and 1730, they maintained a trading station in Lourenço Marques, from where they sent a ship to Inhambane. As retribution, the Portuguese set up a settlement in this location, circa 1722.
Amidst the incapacity of the State of India to guarantee defence and invigorate Mozambique's commerce, the crown, through a royal decree of 19 April 1752, placed the captaincy under the direct ruling of Lisbon and appointed Francisco de Melo e Castro (already in the position) as Governor. India's Conselho da Fazenda (Council of the Treasury) continued to administer the monopoly of commerce, which was only extinct by judicial order in 1755. The latter decreed the freedom of trade for the subjects of the State of India, which was later extended to all the traders of the empire, in a law from 1761.
Applied from 1763 on, Instruções (1761) and other contemporary laws defined new political orientations, inspired in the legislation for the captaincies in Brazil. As a consequence of these instructions, there was the modernisation of the administration with the institution of a Secretary of Government, of a Junta do Crime (a council for crime), and of a Junta da Provedoria (council of the purveyor), which was substituted by Junta da Fazenda (Council of the Treasury), in 1787. Municipal administration was extended to the captaincy, where the Misericórdias of the island and Sena had fulfilled several of its prerogatives. In 1763, it was established the Town Hall of the Island of Mozambique and, until the following year, the same happened in Ibo, Quelimane, Sena, Tete, Zumbo, Sofala and Inhambane, villages which became towns.
Freedom of commerce, allied to the exclusivity of the links with the subsidiary ports, guaranteed in 1761, allowed for the growth of the mercantile elite of the Island of Mozambique, which benefited from the expansion of slave trade. Despite having been forbidden by the crown, the intervention of the French in the slavery circuits, to supply the islands of Bourbon and France, gave a new dimension to this type of trade. Exports grew after 1770 and, especially, in 1789, when in an attempt to contain the detour of the slaves taken by the yao to Quiloa, French commerce was authorised by António de Melo e Castro, following secret orders from the crown. This route was joined by the one which supplied America and the Cape of Good Hope. In the 1790's, exports to Brazil became significant and were maintained even after the ban of slave trade, what led to the outflow of people from Eastern Africa.
The last decades of the century witnessed the expansion towards south, as an answer to the British and Austrians. In 1778, the Austrian Trade Company was established in Lourenço Marques, from where it was forced out in 1781. Its facilities were then used as a prison. In the end of the 19th century, Lourenço Marques became the capital city of the modern colony of Mozambique, in a new context of the Anglo - Portuguese dispute over the region.
Bibliography
ANTUNES, Luís Frederico Dias, O bazar e a fortaleza em Moçambique. A comunidade baneane do Guzerate e a transformação do comércio afro-asiático (1686-1810), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Dissertação de doutoramento, 2001. AXELSON, Eric, Portuguese in South-East Africa 1488-1600, Cape Town, C. Struik, 1973. CAPELA, José, O tráfico de escravos nos portos de Moçambique, 1733-1904, Porto, Afrontamento, 2002. LOBATO, Alexandre, História do Presídio de Lourenço Marques, Lisboa, 1949. NEWITT, Malyn, A history of Mozambique, London, Hurst & Company, 1995. RODRIGUES, Eugénia, Portugueses e Africanos nos Rios de Sena. Os prazos da Coroa nos séculos XVII e XVIII, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Dissertação de Doutoramento, 2002.
Author: Eugénia Rodrigues
As the 16th century began, Portuguese interests turned to Sofala, the southernmost area of the Swahili region where the gold route led to, through the karanga plateau (Monomotapa, Manica and Quiteve). This gold was indispensible to buy Indian spices. In 1505, a trading post and a fortress were built there; in 1507, an identical measure was taken in the Island of Mozambique, which had an amazing port. The island stored cloths for Sofala and served as port of call for the carrack ships on Carreira das Indias. Created as early as 1505, the captaincy of Sofala became part of the State of India. From the 1530's on, the nominees for the captaincy lived on the island for long periods, making it the main administrative centre. Its importance was later reinforced by the use of its name in the captains' titles, designated as "of Mozambique".
The project of the Portuguese crown consisted in imposing the monopoly of the trading post of Sofala in the Indian cloths and beads trade, leaving the inland routes for the Africans and Muslims. In order to do so, it orchestrated the blockade of the seaways by a fleet stationed in Malindi. However, the construction of the royal monopoly faced the opposition of Sofala merchants and the competition of several other contenders, amongst which could be found royal employees and Portuguese scattered through the backcountry. Moreover, just before the arrival of the Portuguese to the Indian Ocean, the relocation of Monomotapa to the north of the plateau led to a new route that transported the gold through the Zambezi to a group of coves centred in Angoche. A succession of exploring trips to the backcountry and measures to keep an eye on the delta traffic followed a failed attempt to eliminate this Swahili port (1511). In 1530, with the new Regimentos of Sofala, the crown tried to consolidate the monopoly over the gold trade and spread it to the ivory commerce. There was a reinforcement of the control of the sea with ships that sailed between Mozambique and Sofala. In the 1540's, the captains of Sofala already had a factor in the Zambezi delta to trade ivory, a merchandise with increasing importance in the commerce of India. The private merchants' activity along the river led to the settling of Portuguese villages in Quelimane, the main port of the delta, Sena and Tete. In these locations, the merchandise was sold to Christian and Muslim traders, who took it to the markets, the main ones being Massapa (in Monomotapa), and Chipangura (in Manica). Besides dominating the oceanic trade, the Portuguese also participated in inter- African trading networks, by selling locally manufactured cloths, but they declined gold mining exploration, which had been offered by the mutapa (emperor). Finally, royal monopoly reached all the commerce in the Zambezi region, Rios de Cuama (Rios de Sena), through official orders issued in 1564.
The increase of private activity in international trading, associated to the demand for ivory, was complemented by the dispersion of trading points and it originated exploration trips of the coast. To the south, the Portuguese frequented the coast of Inhambane and the bay of Lourenço Marques (1540's). To the north, they traded in the Quirimbas Islands (then, Maluane), where they later settled. The Portuguese also strengthened their presence in the Island of Mozambique, by building settlements in Terra Firma, in Mossuril, Cabaceira Grande and Cabaceira Pequena.
Along with the coast's exploration, several territorialisation programmes of the Portuguese presence were set into motion in Rios de Cuama, through the appointment of governors - conquerors and the dispatch of military expeditions. The first arrived to the Indian Ocean in 1570, lead by Francisco Barreto, governor of the "Monomotapa domain's enterprise", with jurisdiction over the territory between Sofala and Malindi. The journey had as first cause the death of a Jesuit priest, Dom Gonçalo da Silveira (1561), ordered by the mutapa. But underlying this, there was the goal of conquering the mines of Monomotapa and Manica. As the military goals were put aside, the expedition established forts in Sena and Tete and spread the royal administration to the Zambezi valley, until then in the hands of merchants. The news about the discovery of silver in Chicova and of treaties with the Monomotapa (1607 and 1629) stimulated new occupation projects. Governors were nominated to specifically administer Rios de Cuama, leaving castellans in Mozambique. As the royal exploration of the mines was not successful, the Portuguese spread through the plateau located south of Zambezi, where they created fairs, until they were driven out by Butua (1690's) and headed to the territory north of the river. The missionaries accompanied this process, by baptizing the mutapas and other leaders and by maintaining churches in the fairs (Dominicans) and in the valley settlements (Dominicans and Jesuits). The territorial expansion led to the dominance of vast areas in Rios de Cuama, which were bestowed as prazos da coroa. These lands were at the basis of the power of the prazos landlords, the elite of the captaincy recruited in Portugal, India and in the region, which had the donas (ladies) mestizas as its main symbol.
During this period, Mozambique's trade became the most significant for the State of India. In the presence of increasing financial difficulties, circa 1595, the monopoly of commerce was leased to the captains. The contract pertained to the area of Rios de Cuama, which included the closed ports south of the Island of Mozambique, and had as main point of entrance in the backcountry the Zambezi, through where the most part of the trade took place. The monopoly system, with different administration routines and segmented by brief periods of free trade, survived until the middle of the 18th century. The inhabitants of the Island of Mozambique had ensured free trade with the mainland's coast, with the north of the island and with the islands in the Indian Ocean, namely São Lourenço (today's Madagascar) and Comoros.
Meanwhile, external supplies also experienced some changes. In 1686, Companhia de Manzanes de Diu (company owned by a caste of traders) was granted the exclusivity of the journeys between this port, the main provider of textiles, and Mozambique. Soon, Banean traders from that city dominated commerce in the Island of Mozambique and on the coast. Circa 1771, they expanded to Rios de Sena.
The dispute over Eastern Africa by the different maritime powers introduced new dynamics in the Portuguese dominance of the region. The Turkish advances in the Indian Ocean led to the decision of constructing the new fortress of São Sebastião, in the Island of Mozambique, in the 1540's. The Omani expansion threatened the captaincy, in the second half of the 17th century. The attack to the island, in 1669, helped the crown decide to reinforce the defences of Mozambique, by sending couples and by sending the Viceroy of India in 1678. Since the turning to the 17th century, several European potentates, especially the Dutch and the British, tried to take over the Portuguese positions. The most critical situation happened with the Dutch sieges (1607 and 1608), but the Island of Mozambique, with its new fortress, was effectively defended. However, the Dutch persisted in attacking the auriferous regions, even after establishing a colony in the Cape (1652). Between 1721 and 1730, they maintained a trading station in Lourenço Marques, from where they sent a ship to Inhambane. As retribution, the Portuguese set up a settlement in this location, circa 1722.
Amidst the incapacity of the State of India to guarantee defence and invigorate Mozambique's commerce, the crown, through a royal decree of 19 April 1752, placed the captaincy under the direct ruling of Lisbon and appointed Francisco de Melo e Castro (already in the position) as Governor. India's Conselho da Fazenda (Council of the Treasury) continued to administer the monopoly of commerce, which was only extinct by judicial order in 1755. The latter decreed the freedom of trade for the subjects of the State of India, which was later extended to all the traders of the empire, in a law from 1761.
Applied from 1763 on, Instruções (1761) and other contemporary laws defined new political orientations, inspired in the legislation for the captaincies in Brazil. As a consequence of these instructions, there was the modernisation of the administration with the institution of a Secretary of Government, of a Junta do Crime (a council for crime), and of a Junta da Provedoria (council of the purveyor), which was substituted by Junta da Fazenda (Council of the Treasury), in 1787. Municipal administration was extended to the captaincy, where the Misericórdias of the island and Sena had fulfilled several of its prerogatives. In 1763, it was established the Town Hall of the Island of Mozambique and, until the following year, the same happened in Ibo, Quelimane, Sena, Tete, Zumbo, Sofala and Inhambane, villages which became towns.
Freedom of commerce, allied to the exclusivity of the links with the subsidiary ports, guaranteed in 1761, allowed for the growth of the mercantile elite of the Island of Mozambique, which benefited from the expansion of slave trade. Despite having been forbidden by the crown, the intervention of the French in the slavery circuits, to supply the islands of Bourbon and France, gave a new dimension to this type of trade. Exports grew after 1770 and, especially, in 1789, when in an attempt to contain the detour of the slaves taken by the yao to Quiloa, French commerce was authorised by António de Melo e Castro, following secret orders from the crown. This route was joined by the one which supplied America and the Cape of Good Hope. In the 1790's, exports to Brazil became significant and were maintained even after the ban of slave trade, what led to the outflow of people from Eastern Africa.
The last decades of the century witnessed the expansion towards south, as an answer to the British and Austrians. In 1778, the Austrian Trade Company was established in Lourenço Marques, from where it was forced out in 1781. Its facilities were then used as a prison. In the end of the 19th century, Lourenço Marques became the capital city of the modern colony of Mozambique, in a new context of the Anglo - Portuguese dispute over the region.
Bibliography
ANTUNES, Luís Frederico Dias, O bazar e a fortaleza em Moçambique. A comunidade baneane do Guzerate e a transformação do comércio afro-asiático (1686-1810), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Dissertação de doutoramento, 2001. AXELSON, Eric, Portuguese in South-East Africa 1488-1600, Cape Town, C. Struik, 1973. CAPELA, José, O tráfico de escravos nos portos de Moçambique, 1733-1904, Porto, Afrontamento, 2002. LOBATO, Alexandre, História do Presídio de Lourenço Marques, Lisboa, 1949. NEWITT, Malyn, A history of Mozambique, London, Hurst & Company, 1995. RODRIGUES, Eugénia, Portugueses e Africanos nos Rios de Sena. Os prazos da Coroa nos séculos XVII e XVIII, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Dissertação de Doutoramento, 2002.
Author: Eugénia Rodrigues
Image credit
Eugénia Rodrigues