The Contest for the Swahili Coast

EARLY MODERN AFRICA and the WIDER WORLD HIST 1301 | History The Contest for the Swahili Coast Kilwa, the most potent of the Swahili coast's city-states, was situated on an island off the coast of modern-day Tanzania. Legend has it that Ali ibn al-Hassan Shirazi, the tenth-century founder, was the son of an Ethiopian slave owner and a Persian nobleman. It is said that Ali bought the island from a Bantu ruler living there and populated it. Many Arab and Persian traders settled at Kilwa because of its island position, which made it more advantageous to participate in the Indian Ocean commerce than its competitor city to the north, Mogadishu in modern-day Somalia. On the African continent, in what is now Mozambique, the port city of Sofala was taken over by the Kilwa monarch in the 1180s. Sofala was rich and strong because of the gold that poured through it from the mines of the Kingdom of Mutapa. Being in control of Sofala allowed the Kilwa sultan to break free from Mogadishu's domination—previously the most potent city along the East African coast. Kilwa was also able to build or take over control of other East African towns and island governments, such as Mombasa, Pemba, Mafia, Mozambique, Malindi, Imhambane, Comoro, and Zanzibar, because to the gold. With the support of internal dissension within the Sultanate of Kilwa, Portugal made an attempt to appropriate the wealth of the Swahili coast at the beginning of the sixteenth century. AlFudail ibn Suleiman was crowned sultan of Kilwa in 1495 by Emir Muhammad, the head of state administration. After Emir Muhammad passed away soon after, Emir Ibrahim, his successor, planned al-Fudail ibn Suleiman's murder. Then, Emir Ibrahim took over and said that he was the ruler in place of a prince who was not there. However, the leaders of a number of the Kilwa Sultanate's cities saw the Portuguese as possible partners in their quest for independence and were unwilling to recognise Ibrahim as their king. To compete in commerce with Kilwa and the rival city of Mombasa, the Sheikh of Malindi had previously inked a trading pact with Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in 1498. In an effort to resist Kilwa's hegemony, Sofala's ruler, Sheikh Isuf, also inked a treaty with the Portuguese in 1502. Because of their long-standing rivalry in commerce, the city-states along the Swahili coast were unable to come together in the face of Portuguese dominance. Counsellors had urged Emir Ibrahim to accept Portuguese commerce, but at first he had refused them. Another Portuguese adventurer, Francisco de Almeida, landed 500 Portuguese soldiers on the island of Kilwa in 1505, replacing Emir Ibrahim with Muhammad Arcone, an aristocrat from Kilwan who was more receptive to Portuguese rule. Muhammad Arcone was killed the next year by Emir Ibrahim's followers, and their favourite ruler took over. The Portuguese deposed the new Sultan Micante and installed Arcone's son, Hussein ibn Muhammad, on the throne out of concern that he would be difficult to subdue. A large portion of Kilwans disliked Portuguese meddling in their city-state's governance. They also objected to Portugal's rule that only Portuguese-owned ships may be used for Kilwan trade, which hurt a lot of Kilwan business owners financially. Enraged merchants and supporters of Sultan Micante clashed in the streets with Portuguese soldiers and Hussein's adherents. Gangs burn buildings on fire, forcing residents to flee the city. In addition to supporting Hussein, the Portuguese made the sensible decision to alter shipping regulations, which allowed merchants to gradually return to the city. Portugal established commercial stations and expanded its dominance over the remaining stretch of the Swahili coast. Since the coastal city-states had never before faced maritime attacks, they lacked fortifications at their ports, making it difficult for them to repel the Portuguese. Like they had done in India, the Portuguese had little interest in engaging in fair commerce with East African merchants. Instead, they would plundered and wrecked the ships of their competitors, the majority of whom were Muslims. Trade decreased as a result of several merchants moving northward and out of the area. The Portuguese sought to capitalise on Mutapa's richness along the southern coast and conquered the kingdom in 1633, but by then the gold reserves had been mostly depleted, and their attempts to convert the populace to Roman Catholicism had led to strife. A few Portuguese individuals succeeded by wedlocking African women and obtaining property and trading privileges from nearby African leaders. However, for the most part, Portugal found it impossible to take advantage of the region due to ongoing hostilities with city-states and the impact of tropical illnesses like malaria. Portuguese encroachment into East Africa was feared and loathed by both the Ottomans and the Somalis living in the Mogadishu region. Beginning in the latter part of the 1500s, combined Ottoman and Somali invasions severely disrupted Portuguese attempts to establish dominance over the area. The Omani Sultanate launched attacks in the 1650s in response to these invasions. In 1507, Portugal took over sovereignty of the Oman coast. But the Omani tribes banded together in the 1650s to expel the Portuguese, and they soon started to take on the Portuguese in East Africa as well. The Portuguese outpost in Mombasa, Fort Jesus, was overrun by Omani forces in 1698. Fort Jesus has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. With the exception of Mozambique, Portugal soon lost control of all of its other possessions along the Swahili coast. The Portuguese effort to rule the area had been ended by the Omani Sultanate. The city-state of Zanzibar gained even more notoriety once the Omanis arrived. The lucrative slave trade and the robust ivory trade, which had long supported Zanzibar's economy, were both carried on by the Omanis. Zanzibar and the other islands were dubbed Africa's Spice Islands after land on the island was allocated to Omani Arabs and spice plantations were developed, mostly cultivating cloves.