Publication Date
2009
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A seaport in the coast of Mozambique, south of the mouth of the Pungwe River, currently submerged.
Designation of Arabic origin for the African gold region (Al-Mas'udi, 10th century), the commercial area between the Pungwe and the Sabe (Al-Idrisi, 12th century and Ibn Battuta, 16th century), the town (Yacut, 13th century) and the harbour (Al-Mahri, 16th century) where the hinterland gold left from.
Being related to the existence of gold and its trade, Sofala was marked by the Portuguese as their gold trade port of clearance (Relação do Piloto Anónimo, 1500). Muslim merchants used to arrive there when crossing the Indian Ocean to get gold from Monomotapa in exchange for cloths and beads from India. Sofala was the end of a route of which Kilwa was the Islamic metropolis prevailing over commercial activities in the African Indian Ocean.
The existence of gold and the control of its trade were decisive for the creation of Portuguese trading-stations in the area; information about Sofala and its connection to Kilwa were essential for their location. Assuming that Sofala was dependent on Kilwa and that the latter was dependent on Sofala for its power, Portuguese presence proved necessary in both of them: in Sofala, in order to secure access to the gold, and in Kilwa in order to ensure its trade, controlling the handling of goods used in the exchange process.
In the beginning of the 16th century Sofala was divided into 3 main centres - Sangwe and Langwe, near the Sofala River (a branch of the Buzi which no longer exists) and Inhansato, an island next to the sea bar - ruled by King Yusuf, with whom Pedro de Anaia (the 1st Captain of Sofala, Sept. 1505-May 1506) negotiated the construction of the fortress.
The Sofala fortress, later named Fortress of São Caetano (1761), was built far from the settlements, in a low and sandy promontory near the sea bar, accessible to the anchoring-place and safe for the construction of the warehouses, the cistern, the hospital, the church and other structures that were vital for the population. The structure developed from an initial wooden construction, made of mangrove (a hard and resistant to water type of wood) and "ola" (palm tree) leafs according to the local knowledge and workmanship. By 1507 the first stone structures, the tower and the wall that replaced the wooden palisade had already been added to it. This construction was a hard, long and expensive work. Ditch diggers, masons and carpenters had to be sent from the Realm in order to enable this type of construction which had never been done in the area before, and which involved technical knowledge and procedures which were unknown to the local people. The materials - stone, iron, tiles -, being scarce in the area, had also to be brought from the Realm or nearby regions.
From another perspective, it meant an effort that was never compensated by a relevant demographical nucleus. The poor land and the insufficient supplies caused hard living conditions. The apothecary's shop was based on needs felt in the Realm and was therefore unprepared to heal the local health problems (76 deaths between February and June1506). In addition to this, the staff in the fortress was insufficient to meet the demands and there was little encouragement to attract new settlers.
Immediate difficulties were also felt in what concerned access to the harbour and goods. The harbour was dangerous, gold was scarce, profits were below expectations, goods from the Realm were difficult to trade, and the attempt to replace Moorish merchants only caused them to come up with new routes.
High costs were expected to keep the establishment running. For this reason, some people argued that the settlement should be moved further into the north even if traders had to come down to Sofala, as local merchants did, for commercial purposes.
This idea was considered for some time, and took many shapes - for example, the leasing of Portuguese possessions to individuals or their commercial exploration by influential moors of the region -, but the crown never accepted it, even after a fortress in Mozambique (Fortress of Saint Gabriel, 1508) was built. An investment was made in order to secure royal monopoly over commerce and later the exclusive right over the privileges pertaining to the Captain of Sofala. In fact, royal income was considerably insignificant as compared to the personal gains of the captains; sometimes, heavy losses affected the crown whereas the captains increased their profits. On some occasions, the importance of Sofala as the keeper of the southern gateway which granted access to the mines was mentioned, and plans were made for its reinforcement. The court was, however, also impervious to these claims, and never until 1860, when the state of the village and the fortress were strikingly bad - swallowed by the sea and deprived of drinking water - came the order of moving the population and the administrative facilities to the Island of Chiloane. A small contingent was left behind in the decaying fortress.
Back in the 16th century, however, the Fortress of Sofala was considered vital for blocking the progress of Moorish merchants, and was a crucial element of Portuguese presence. As it mirrored the goals of the crown, the construction of a fortress/trading-station presented a sharp contrast with the local market system and announced further changes with respect to the daily routine of both the population and those who interacted with them.
Since the 9th century Sofala and its hinterland had been part of the commercial complex of the Indian Ocean, dominated by Muslim merchants who had established market networks based on family relationships connecting coastal trading centres, inland kingdoms and Islamic cities in the northern coast. Personal ties and great mobility were the essential cornerstones of these networks, which had no need for fixed permanent structures - like the one belonging to the Portuguese settlement - especially in regions that were geo-climatically unstable and lacked the facilities to withstand the increase in human pressure that such structures would bring about.
Being aware of this difference and of its consequences for the region, Moorish merchants led the first confrontations against the Portuguese in 1506. And even after the defeat of those who opposed Portuguese presence and some initial success of the trading-station, the daily lives of its people were cyclically disturbed by the boycott of supplies, which made it difficult to run.
It became obvious that the settlement would depend on a diplomatic game involving agreements and concessions to be viable; the support and acceptance of local leaders being essential to preserve its existence. On the other hand, the Muslims' presence was hard to neutralize and everyday-life showed the advantages of cooperating with them, even if this went against royal decisions determining that the Muslims should be totally replaced by the Portuguese.
These issues were the more relevant as the whole region became affected from the late 15th century onward by political, social and economic instability, as a result of the dismantling of the Monomotapa Empire and of the struggles that led to the emergence of new kingdoms, such as that of Kiteve, which was placed between it and the coast. All this determined the restructuring of local trading routes with consequences for Sofala which had been one of main commercial seaports.
These factors, along with physical changes in the coastline, resulting from river siltation and the rise of the sea level, had already rendered the port of Sofala practically useless before the Portuguese arrival, and made merchants seek for alternative routes. It was in this context that the Zambezi became the main trading course of the region, in the 16th century. The growth of the trading-station of Mozambique and of the Portuguese settlements along the Zambezi after the thirties were the Portuguese response to these changes, while Sofala, steeped in the kingdom of Kiteve, was losing importance, limiting its role to the support and control of trading activities in the Mozambique Channel.
Bibliografia:
Documentos sobre os Portugueses em Moçambique e na África Central (1497-1840), 9 vols., Lisboa, NARN / CEHU, 1962-1966. FELICIANO, J.Fialho e NICOLAU, V.Hugo (1998), Memórias de Sofala, Lisboa, CNCDP.ROQUE. A. Cristina (2004), Terras de Sofala: persistências e Mudança. Contribuições para a História da Costa Sul-Oriental de África nos séculos XVI-XVIII (Tese de Doutoramento, UNL, não editada). Author: Ana Cristina Roque
Translated by: Ana Toste
Designation of Arabic origin for the African gold region (Al-Mas'udi, 10th century), the commercial area between the Pungwe and the Sabe (Al-Idrisi, 12th century and Ibn Battuta, 16th century), the town (Yacut, 13th century) and the harbour (Al-Mahri, 16th century) where the hinterland gold left from.
Being related to the existence of gold and its trade, Sofala was marked by the Portuguese as their gold trade port of clearance (Relação do Piloto Anónimo, 1500). Muslim merchants used to arrive there when crossing the Indian Ocean to get gold from Monomotapa in exchange for cloths and beads from India. Sofala was the end of a route of which Kilwa was the Islamic metropolis prevailing over commercial activities in the African Indian Ocean.
The existence of gold and the control of its trade were decisive for the creation of Portuguese trading-stations in the area; information about Sofala and its connection to Kilwa were essential for their location. Assuming that Sofala was dependent on Kilwa and that the latter was dependent on Sofala for its power, Portuguese presence proved necessary in both of them: in Sofala, in order to secure access to the gold, and in Kilwa in order to ensure its trade, controlling the handling of goods used in the exchange process.
In the beginning of the 16th century Sofala was divided into 3 main centres - Sangwe and Langwe, near the Sofala River (a branch of the Buzi which no longer exists) and Inhansato, an island next to the sea bar - ruled by King Yusuf, with whom Pedro de Anaia (the 1st Captain of Sofala, Sept. 1505-May 1506) negotiated the construction of the fortress.
The Sofala fortress, later named Fortress of São Caetano (1761), was built far from the settlements, in a low and sandy promontory near the sea bar, accessible to the anchoring-place and safe for the construction of the warehouses, the cistern, the hospital, the church and other structures that were vital for the population. The structure developed from an initial wooden construction, made of mangrove (a hard and resistant to water type of wood) and "ola" (palm tree) leafs according to the local knowledge and workmanship. By 1507 the first stone structures, the tower and the wall that replaced the wooden palisade had already been added to it. This construction was a hard, long and expensive work. Ditch diggers, masons and carpenters had to be sent from the Realm in order to enable this type of construction which had never been done in the area before, and which involved technical knowledge and procedures which were unknown to the local people. The materials - stone, iron, tiles -, being scarce in the area, had also to be brought from the Realm or nearby regions.
From another perspective, it meant an effort that was never compensated by a relevant demographical nucleus. The poor land and the insufficient supplies caused hard living conditions. The apothecary's shop was based on needs felt in the Realm and was therefore unprepared to heal the local health problems (76 deaths between February and June1506). In addition to this, the staff in the fortress was insufficient to meet the demands and there was little encouragement to attract new settlers.
Immediate difficulties were also felt in what concerned access to the harbour and goods. The harbour was dangerous, gold was scarce, profits were below expectations, goods from the Realm were difficult to trade, and the attempt to replace Moorish merchants only caused them to come up with new routes.
High costs were expected to keep the establishment running. For this reason, some people argued that the settlement should be moved further into the north even if traders had to come down to Sofala, as local merchants did, for commercial purposes.
This idea was considered for some time, and took many shapes - for example, the leasing of Portuguese possessions to individuals or their commercial exploration by influential moors of the region -, but the crown never accepted it, even after a fortress in Mozambique (Fortress of Saint Gabriel, 1508) was built. An investment was made in order to secure royal monopoly over commerce and later the exclusive right over the privileges pertaining to the Captain of Sofala. In fact, royal income was considerably insignificant as compared to the personal gains of the captains; sometimes, heavy losses affected the crown whereas the captains increased their profits. On some occasions, the importance of Sofala as the keeper of the southern gateway which granted access to the mines was mentioned, and plans were made for its reinforcement. The court was, however, also impervious to these claims, and never until 1860, when the state of the village and the fortress were strikingly bad - swallowed by the sea and deprived of drinking water - came the order of moving the population and the administrative facilities to the Island of Chiloane. A small contingent was left behind in the decaying fortress.
Back in the 16th century, however, the Fortress of Sofala was considered vital for blocking the progress of Moorish merchants, and was a crucial element of Portuguese presence. As it mirrored the goals of the crown, the construction of a fortress/trading-station presented a sharp contrast with the local market system and announced further changes with respect to the daily routine of both the population and those who interacted with them.
Since the 9th century Sofala and its hinterland had been part of the commercial complex of the Indian Ocean, dominated by Muslim merchants who had established market networks based on family relationships connecting coastal trading centres, inland kingdoms and Islamic cities in the northern coast. Personal ties and great mobility were the essential cornerstones of these networks, which had no need for fixed permanent structures - like the one belonging to the Portuguese settlement - especially in regions that were geo-climatically unstable and lacked the facilities to withstand the increase in human pressure that such structures would bring about.
Being aware of this difference and of its consequences for the region, Moorish merchants led the first confrontations against the Portuguese in 1506. And even after the defeat of those who opposed Portuguese presence and some initial success of the trading-station, the daily lives of its people were cyclically disturbed by the boycott of supplies, which made it difficult to run.
It became obvious that the settlement would depend on a diplomatic game involving agreements and concessions to be viable; the support and acceptance of local leaders being essential to preserve its existence. On the other hand, the Muslims' presence was hard to neutralize and everyday-life showed the advantages of cooperating with them, even if this went against royal decisions determining that the Muslims should be totally replaced by the Portuguese.
These issues were the more relevant as the whole region became affected from the late 15th century onward by political, social and economic instability, as a result of the dismantling of the Monomotapa Empire and of the struggles that led to the emergence of new kingdoms, such as that of Kiteve, which was placed between it and the coast. All this determined the restructuring of local trading routes with consequences for Sofala which had been one of main commercial seaports.
These factors, along with physical changes in the coastline, resulting from river siltation and the rise of the sea level, had already rendered the port of Sofala practically useless before the Portuguese arrival, and made merchants seek for alternative routes. It was in this context that the Zambezi became the main trading course of the region, in the 16th century. The growth of the trading-station of Mozambique and of the Portuguese settlements along the Zambezi after the thirties were the Portuguese response to these changes, while Sofala, steeped in the kingdom of Kiteve, was losing importance, limiting its role to the support and control of trading activities in the Mozambique Channel.
Bibliografia:
Documentos sobre os Portugueses em Moçambique e na África Central (1497-1840), 9 vols., Lisboa, NARN / CEHU, 1962-1966. FELICIANO, J.Fialho e NICOLAU, V.Hugo (1998), Memórias de Sofala, Lisboa, CNCDP.ROQUE. A. Cristina (2004), Terras de Sofala: persistências e Mudança. Contribuições para a História da Costa Sul-Oriental de África nos séculos XVI-XVIII (Tese de Doutoramento, UNL, não editada). Author: Ana Cristina Roque
Translated by: Ana Toste