African Kingdoms

A.
Rita-Ferreira
AFRICAN KINGDOMS
and
ALIEN SETTLEMENTS
in
CENTRAL
MOZAMBIQUE
(c.l5th - 17th Cent.)
VERSÃO ORIGINAL E INÉDITA, 1999
AS TRÊS CARTAS QUE ANTECEDEM O INÍCIO DESTE TRABALHO,

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REFERENCIADOS NESTE LIVRO, VÁ À
SECÇÃO "MAPAS", DISPONÍVEL NO
SITE.
A)
Resumo elaborado por João Morais
Programas de Investigação: Origens do Urbanismo na África Austral (1987 - 1992).
Coordenação científica: Paul Sinclair, Instituto de Arqueologia, Universidade de Uppsala.
Entidade de coordenação administrativa: The Central Board of Swedish Antiquities

(Riksantikvarieambetet) .
Países participantes: Somália, Quénia, Tanzânia e Zanzibar, Moçambique, Zimbabué,

Zâmbia,
Botswana, Comores e Madagáscar.
Objetivos do trabalho:
B) Avaliação sumária da relevância da documentação portuguesa para o tema do
programa de
investigação "Origens do Urbanismo na África Austral";
C) Pormenorização do estudo de casos em que os documentos possam dar a perceção
da
organização sócio-económica e espacial de cidades e estabelecimentos como
Mogadíscio
(Brava?), Kilwa, Somaná/Nacala, ou de outras áreas onde as fontes portuguesas
possam
contribuir para melhor compreensão do tema do programa de investigação.
Adicionalmente,
seriam de grande utilidade referências a mapas e planos de cidade ou de região.
Prazo: até finais de 1991.
Extensão do trabalho: até cerca de 30 pagmas de texto (A4 a 2 espaços) mais bibliografia e
ilustrações. Texto em inglês (ou a verter para aquela língua).
Publicação final: a ser publicado numa monografia de avaliação do Programa de

Investigação no decurso de 1992.
A. Rita-Ferreira
12th August 1996 Rua da Escola Velha, 15,
The Central Board ofNationalAntiquities Bicesse
P. O. Box 5405, S - 11484 Stockholm Sweden 2765 Estoril
Portugal
Dear Sirs,
During the last months of 1991 and the first months of 1992, under the supervision of Dr. João
Morais (at present with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) I wrote a study for your Central
Board of National Antiquities to which I gave the following title: EARLY PORTUGUESE SOURCES
AS A RESEARCH TOOL FOR THE STUDY OF CENTRAL MOZAMBIQUE (c. 16th - 17th
Centuries).
The receipt of this study - to which I dedicated so much effort and time - was never acknowledged.
You were not even kind enough to give neither an opinion on it nor a simple word about its
publication.
As I pretend to come to a decision regarding this and other yet unpublished material I have
contacted the "Society for the Defence of Author's Rights", of which I am an old member. It was found
that your behaviour, besides being ethically censurable, is also foreseen in art. 90 of the respective
Legal Code approved by Decree 63/85 and Law 45/85, later modified by law 114/91.Whoever orders a
study of that kind has not the right to keep it indefinitely unpublished.
Therefore, I am advising you that from now on I consider myself the sole owner of the mentioned
paper with the right to do with it as I please. My present intention is to submit it to international
knowledge and criticism by means of its publication in English in a Portuguese scientific periodical,
with a different title and some new data, references and modifications.
In case you have any objections I expect to be informed until the 15th September 1996. If up to that
date no news are received from you, I will take it that your agreement was given.
Rest assured that on the preface it will be mentioned the CBNA as the agency which ordered and
financed the paper.
Yours faithfully
A. Rita-Ferreira
CONTENTS
FOREWORD .............................................................................................................................. 1
1. EARLY TRADE IN THE SOFALA COAST WITH ARABIA,

PERSIA AND INDIA................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 NOTES ............................................................................................................................ 7
2. COLONIES OF IMMIGRANTS FROM MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA.

THE RISE OF A LOCAL CIVILIZATION: THE SWAHILI AND THE MŃGWANA .................... 8
2. 1. The Arab seven days week ............................................................................................ 12
2. 2. The New Moon .............................................................................................................. 13
2. 3. Dress .............................................................................................................................. 13
2. 4. Pottery............................................................................................................................ 14
2. 5. Sundry notes .................................................................................................................. 14
2. 6. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 16
3. THE INTRODUCTION OF USEFUL PLANTS ..................................................................... 18

3. 1. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 23
4. MAIN PORTS AND NAVIGABLE WATERTWAYS. SEA AND RIVER CRAFT. ............ 25
4. 1. Sea and river craft .......................................................................................................... 28
4. 1. 1. Dug-Outs (almadyas. koshos. ballons)................................................................................ 30
4.2. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 32
5. ANCIENT OVERLAND TRADE ROUTES ........................................................................... 34

5. 1. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 39
6. THE FORMATION OF THE MUTAPA EMPIRE.................................................................. 41

6. 1. The northward expansion .............................................................................................. 41
6.2. The east and southward expansion ................................................................................ 45
6. 3. A standing army of both sexes ? .................................................................................... 46
6. 4. The annual extinction of fires ( 27 ) . ............................................................................ 46
6. 5. Toll-gates along the Zambesi......................................................................................... 46
6.6. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 48
7. THE TEVE KINGDOM AND THE BANDIRE AND INYAOSHE MINES ....................................... 51
7. 1. The Bandire mines and fair............................................................................................ 55
7. 2. The Inyaoshe mine......................................................................................................... 56
7.3. N O T E S ...................................................................................................................... 58
8. THE EASTWARD EXTENSION OF ROZVI INFLUENCE.................................................. 60

8.1. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 64
9. SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN ALIEN SETTLEMENTS ........................................... 66

9.1. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 69
10. GOLD. IRON AND COPPER. ................................................................................................. 70

10. 1. ESTIMATED PRODUCTION OF GOLD .................................................................... 70
10. 2. EAST AFRICAN IRON ................................................................................................ 74
10. 3. COPPER ........................................................................................................................ 74
10. 4. NOTES. ......................................................................................................................... 76
11. COTTON WEAVING .............................................................................................................. 78

11. 1. NOTES .......................................................................................................................... 80
12. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ..................................................................... 81

12.1. NOTES ............................................................................................................................ 83
EPILOGUE ............................................................................................................................... 84
BIBLIOGRAPHY MENTIONED ............................................................................................ 86
LIST OF MAPS ........................................................................................................................ 98

RITA-FERREIRA, A. - AFRICAN KIDGOMS AND ALIEN SETTLEMENT IN CENTRAL MOZAMBIQUE
FOREWORD
When writing this, paper it was not my purpose to review thoroughly the documents
which are fundamental for the study of the initial centuries of the Portuguese arrival and are to be
found in several and well identified archives. I confined myself to select a reliable and significant
number of sources and printed collections of documents. The latter are separately mentioned in
the final bibliography. The former may be divided into two categories:
a) Portuguese authors, either officials and missionaries with a direct knowledge of the
physical and human environment (Diogo do Couto, Francisco Monclaro, Manuel Barreto,
Vasco Fernandes Homem, João dos Santos, Gaspar Bocarro, António Gomes, Gaspar de Macedo,
António da Conceição, Filipe de Assumpção, etc.) or chroniclers and historians who preferred to
produce synthetis and global approaches (Gaspar Correia, Tomé Pires, Duarte Barbosa, Joao de
Barros, P. Barreto de Rezende, F. Lopes de Castanheda, J. J. Teixeira Botelho, Alexandre
Lobato, Vitorino Magalhães Godinho, etc.);
b) Foreign authors who made intensive research of Portuguese records, both published
and unpublished, and have their books and papers edited mainly in English and French: D. P.
Abraham, E.A. Alpers, J. Aubin, E. Axelson, D. N. Beach, H.H. K. Bhila, C. Bouchon, C. R.
Boxer, K.N. Chaudhuri, R.E. Gregson, F. Hoppe, i. Khoury, G. Liesegang, S.I. Mudenge, M.D.D.
Newitt, I.R. Phimister, H. von Sicard, Justus Strandes, R. Summers, P. Verin, etc.
oOo
Many of the pioneering Portuguese who wrote about the realities of the East African
region where present day Mozambique is situated were men with a sound classic education, well
read in Latin and even in Greek and, naturally, in History and Geography. Through close contact
with the Arab colonisation across Northwest Africa and the Iberian Peninsula itself they had
enough knowledge of the islamic political and religious organization.
They knew how to use, as correctly as possible at that time, terms like "empire",
"emperor", "kingdom", "king", "lord", "petty king" or "regulo", "vassal", "sultan", "shaykh",
"vizier", "emir", "sharif", etc. Thus, there is no reason for doubting their judgement. On reflection
I shall maintain their terminology and classify as "empires" - at least during their dynamic
expansion - the huge and pluri-ethnical political units founded by remarkable conquerors. This is
the case of the Mutapa empire, founded by Mutota and Matope, the Maravi empire, founded by
Karonga Muzura, the Rozvi empire, founded by Changamire Dombo. Nevertheless it must be
1
recognized that the empires formed by these talented leaders were of short duration and hardly
survived their founders. This was undoubtedly due to the lack of rapid means of communication
and transportation, like horses or camels, to the absence of an efficient network of routes, with
bridges and other forms of overcoming natural obstacles and, finally, to the ignorance of writing,
intelligible cartography and other skills required to maintain the centers of decision well and
timely informed. Their expansion was based less in pitched battles than in quick, ruthless
campaigns with the purpose of reducing by terror the mass of the population under attack. They
behaved in a way similar to other well known conquerors through the ages in different parts of the
world. Thus the Mwene Mutapa was "The master of ravaged lands" ( see ref. 15, p. 60), the
Maravi practised cannibalism over the conquered population (see ref. 130, p. 123), to the Rozvi
was applied the surname of "The destroyers" (see ref. 95).
oOo
The question of the most adequate designation to be given to the several colonists with
Islamic traits is particularly hard to deal with. I choose to employ four different terms, more or
less dependent on the context but which are difficult to define with precision. Thus I use the
generalized "Islamic" or "Muslim" to describe what seem to be either individuals or groups who
respected the basic norms of the Koran. Whenever I mention or quote Portuguese texts I maintain
the centuries old cultural and religious designation of "mouro" which came from the North Afrika
Berberes who followed the Arab invaders of Iberia during the 8th century.
I will keep the customary "Swahili" (Suahili or Suaile in Portuguese) when the context
deals with afro-islamic mainly sailors and middlemen with undoubted sea, trade and even
religious links with towns and villages, probably of Arabian or Persian origin, spread through the
coast of East Africa and the Comoro and Madagascar islands. Finally the term "M'ngwana"
(Mulunguana in Portuguese), commonly used in the Swahili world, will be reserved to the cross-
breeds whose way of life was traditionally connected with hinterland trade. Many of them were
settled in present Central Mozambique along both the Zambesi valley and the sea-shore from the
delta of this big river to the Bazaruto Islands. But their brethren expanded both to the north and
south coasts.
2
EARLY TRADE IN THE SOFALA COAST WITH ARABIA, PERSIA AND INDIA
Between the 7th and the 12th centuries the Muslim countries were the most dynamic
and progressive of their time. Situated as they were between the Mediterranean and the
Indian Ocean, they absorbed numerous exotic contributions which, in turn, they helped
to spread. A symbiotic and original civilization was developed having a new worldwide
approach and creating a new social order. At the same time a remarkable expansion of trade
activities was encouraged. A great free market stimulated local production. Goods, people
and. their ideas circulated easily and in security. Identical consumer habits and similar
technologies were dispersed over much of the known world ( 1 ) .
In the Persian Gulf the rise of the Abhasid Caliphate spurred the expansion of
the Oman Arabs. By the middle of the 8th century the Omanites conquered the strategic
Socotra island and from there on increased the annual expeditions to capture African
slaves who were known individually by kafir, the infidel, the pagan, the atheist, the
unbeliever ( 2 ). Thereafter the word became the English "kaffir" and the Portuguese "cafre".
Regarding the Persian connections with East Africa T.M.Ricks pointed out that only
after the rise of Siraf during the 9th and 10th centuries as a chief port and trading center did
the ancient commercial links became really profitable ( 3 ). These "golden years" lasted until
the 12th century. On the other hand, the trade connections of Kish (12th - 14th cent. ) and
Ormuz (14th-16th cent.) with East Africa were a continuation of the Sirafian period which
promoted the foundation of settlements along that coast as a means of facing competition
with both the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean huge markets ( 4 ).
Claude Cahen is one amongst the great scholars who came to the conclusion that
the Muslim world, at the end of the Middle Age, was already facing a strongly marked
commercial decay based on deep structural causes. On the other end Western Europe was
increasingly in advance. The Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India was merely
one of the last acts of this dramatic decline and not the prelude of the Muslim increasing
decadence. Only due to an internal pre-existent weakness can it be explained that Egipt, with
its priviledge situation, could not manage to forbid militarily or neutralize economically
the Portuguese expansion in the Indian Ocean ( 5 ).
As far as the East Coast of Africa was concerned, J.C. Wilkinson thinks that political,
ethnic and religious differences did not impair the cooperation among the traders of different
origins operating there. This being the case, the Omanites activity, despite their superior
3
naval power, cannot be dissociated from that developed by several competitors ( 6 ) . Similarly
along the so called "Sofala coast" there was for certain a pacific co—existence amongst the
various communities of foreign traders. The competition was based on free market rules. The
search for alternatives routes between the ocean, the Zambesi river and the gold producting
plateau was undertaken for centuries before the arrival of the Portuguese.
To better understand the bonds between East Africa, the Gulf of Cambay and the
Indian coast of Malabar it seems convenient to attempt a summary of the main points.
According to Geneviève Bouchon the eastbound Arab sailors and traders to resist
better until the next monsoon temporary married Hindu women of the lowest
castes. In time, these obscure islamic communities became more numerous,
generating their own dynamism and getting increasingly rich ( 7 ). This
islamisation was, obviously, a long and pacific progress. It is therefore possible that
only after 1392, when the sultanate was consolidated, did the Gujarati of Cambay obtain
a dominant position in the Indian Ocean trade ( 8 ). They had simultaneously the support
of powerful sultans, a core of competent merchants, an efficient long-distance fleet, a
large production of textiles and also the finantial capital of the vanyia ( 9 ) and other
Hindu castes strictly dedicated to sedentary commercial activities.
K.N.Chaudury recently emphasized that the coastal towns of Vest India due to the
monsoons and to their geographical position and industrial skills, were in a position to
export most of their total production in exchange for precious metals and luxury
goods. Cambay was the greatest intermediate centre of a free and peaceful system of
exchange with distant markets. Transactions were rapid, voyages were short and goods
were varied ( 10 ).
Contrary to what happened in most of the export regions of the Indian Ocean, East Africa
produced not only gold but also luxury and high-value goods like pearls, ebony, ambergris, rhino
horns, hippo and elephant ivory and last but not least excellent slaves. Low-value goods like
timber amounted only to one fifth of the total (11 ). To better understand the reasons for the high
demand for ivory in the Indian market it suffices to quote the following passage written by the
British trader Ralph Fitch in 1584: "Here (Cambay) the women weare upon their armes infinite
numbers of rings made of elephants teeth, wherein they take so much delight that they had rather
be without their meate, than without their bracets" ( 12 ). And further on he added: "... but if there
happen any famine, the people will sell their children for very little" ( 13 ).
Anyway according to E.A.Alpers "exaggerating the volume of this trade (with East
Africa) would be a mistake: in 1600 it was probably no more than about four per cent of the total
4
export trade of western India. East Africa's share of this trade was probably not much different at
the end of the 17th century"( 14).
Early Portuguese sources provide the first global and detailed accounts of this situation.
Specially important are the books by Tomé Pires ( 15 ) and Duarte Barbosa (16 ). The network of
trade they describe had certainly come into being by the tenth century. Those sources confirmed
otherwise the sound information given be Idrisi about 1150 ( 17 ). Here is one of his statements as
presented in English by Chittick and Rotberg ( 18 ):
"Sayuna is medium in size and its inhabitants are a collection of people from Hind,
Zunuj, and others. It is situated on the shore of the sea (bahr) and is the residence of the ruler of
this country. He has an army of foot soldiers for they have no horses. This town is situated on an
estuary (khor) into which the ships of the voyagers can enter. From it to the town of Bukha along
the coast (al as-sahil) is three majras".
Sayuna was situated probably in the whereabouts of Quelimane which was then the largest
outfall of the Zambesi, well protected against winds and tides, invisible from the sea, surrounded
by rich alluvial soil proper for rice cultivation and coconut plantations and which allowed to by-
pass the dangerous delta.
The first Portuguese reports confirm alike the existence of a previous Indian presence
along the East Coast of Africa. According to a reliable chronicler Vasco da Gama's fleet met with
no less than three ships from Cambay before arriving in Quelimane (The River of Good Signs)
(19 ). R.W.Dickinson's statement that "Portuguese documents do not appear to distinguish the
presence of Indians on the East Coast before the second half of the 16th century" should be duly
corrected ( 20 ). For instance, in 1505 Dam Francisco de Almeida's fleet found in Mombasa three
ships from Cambay laid aground; also some merchants from Cambay were captured ( 21 ). In
1507 Figueroa reported the existence of Hindu traders settled in Malindi: "... they lead a strict life
and are called buzarates (i.e.Guzarates), very shy and little given to talk; many of them do not eat
... anything that can be killed and has blood ... by another name they are called Brahmins ( 22 ) .
As summarized by João Morais - based on recent arqueological research - the area

between the Sabi river, the seacoast and the Bazaruto archipelago, nowadays backward and
scarcely inhabited, not only supported a denser population but also maintained close contacts with
the Zimbabwe culture and the merchant-sailors of the Indian Ocean ( 37 ). Hola - Hola was a
riverine farming settlement in the latter part of the first millennium. Manyikeni, c. 50 km. west of
Vilanculos, belonged to the Middle Age Zimbabwe tradition complex and comprised a stone-
walled enclosure and surrounding settlements. Finds of gold, iron, spindle whorls, sea shells,
imported porcelain and glass beads were made there. Chibuene, close to the seashore 5 km. south
5
of Vilanculoa, was a coastal trading station of the late first and early second millennium AD. It is
worth mentioning a remarkable collection of first millennium imported blue and white splashed
ware, a tomb most probably Islamic and at least one crucible used for melting down gold. In
Dundo, on the southernmost tip of Bazaruto Islands, fragments of Sassanian/Islamic ware were
found ( 7th century ? ).
The century-old almost autonomous economic activity of this southern region,

intermediate between the plateau and the Indian Ocean, was maintained until modern times.
As late as 1893 Ivens Ferraz ( 38 ) described in detail the coherence of the deep-
rooted relationship between Muslims (Port."mouros") and Hindu (Port."baneanes")
traders from Chiluane island and the inhabitants of the Bazaruto Arquipelago. Forty to fifty
boats, normaly engaged in exchanges between Beira and other places along the coast, made
sail with the above mentioned traders and their African divers for a season of pearl fishing
at the archipelago during the months of May and June. The pearls and seed pearls were
exported directly to India in pangayos. The value of the pearls in Chiluane was calculated
on a basis of a hundred times their weight in silver. In 1880, spured by a disastrous famine,
the inhabitants of the archipelago managed to survive during two months by fishing
desperately many thousands of oysters and by exchanging the pearls for rice and sorgho
supplied by the Indian merchants of Chiluane. The value of this excepcional catch was at
the time estimated at about sixteen thousand pounds sterling.
Besides fishing, the most important industry was kilns for making lime with the
shells heaped up on the beaches, lime used in Chiluane buildings.
Numbered among the resources of the archipelago, specially in Benguerwa island,

were big fat-tailed sheep, of ancient Asian origin, called since the 16th century by the
Portuguese "carneiros de cinco quartos". Testudo Mydas tortoises laid great number of
eggs on Bangwe island. This and other uninhabited islands were covered by enormous
casuarina trees.
6
1.1 NOTES
1 ) Ref. 77.
2 ) Ref. 68, pp. 205/6. Ref. 93, p. 125.
3 ) Recent archaeological research confirmed that this early trade network extended
as far as Bazaruto and Vilanculos were important finds of blue green glazed Sassanic Islamic
wares were made in the sites of Dundo and Chibuene as mentioned hereupon.
4 ) Ref. 129, p. 357.
5 ) Ref. 43, pp. 359-366.
6 ) Ref. 150, p. 281.
7 ) Ref. 30, p. 30.
8 ) Ref. 21, p. 24.
9 ) The designation baneane(s), commonly used by the Portuguese, comes from the
plural, vaniyan.
10 ) Ref. 47, p. 108-110.
11 ) Ref. 47, map 18, pp. 186-187.
12 ) The original orthography was maintained. It should be added that, according to
Hindu custom, the widows had to break their ivory bracelets at the funeral ceremonies.
13 ) Ref. 63.
14 ) Ref. 21, p. 39.
15 ) Ref. 123.
16 ) Ref. 56.
17 ) Ref. 81. It ought to be emphasized that this Arab geographer used the term
"Sofala" in a very broad sense. For him Bilad-as Sufala (The Land of Sofala or Sofala of the Zanj)
as well as Ard at-Tibr or Ard adh-Dhahab (The Land of Gold) meant the vast region between
rivers Rovuma and Limpopo.
18 ) Ref. 48, p. 126, note 28.
19 ) Ref. 156, pp. 93/94.
20 ) Ref. 59, p. 102.
21 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I ) p. 535.
22 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 623.
37 ) Ref. 102.
38 ) Ref. 80.
7
2. COLONIES OF IMMIGRANTS FROM MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA.

THE RISE OF A LOCAL CIVILIZATION: THE SWAHILI AND THE
MŃGWANA
There are no doubts that the peak of the gold production was attained during the five
centuries prior to the arrival of the Portuguese. That was time enough for the establishment of
numerous alien settlers who took local wives, probably chiefs" daughters according to some oral
traditions. The settlers chose, naturally, good strategic sites with high agrarian potential specially
for rice, sugar and banana cultivation.
It cannot be considered exaggerated the information given in 1511 by Ant6nio de

Saldanha to the king of Portugal: " ... in the land of the Monomotapa there are more than ten
thousand Moors spread out at random and that it is impossible to cast them out" ( 1 ). I do not,
therefore, agree with neither Malyn Hewitt ( 2 ) nor David Beach ( 3 ) who considered this
number a wild and grotesque exaggeration. And I disagree based on the following line of reason:
a) The Mutapa territory (to which Saldanha specifically referred to) was not limited
to the plateau, but spread from the tributary Hunyani along the right bank of the Zambesi down to
its very fertile and densely populated delta;
b)The "Moor" communities were more prolific and numerous due to: instituted
poligamy and concubin; relative abundance of food, including fish and seafood proteins;
greater resistance to tropical diseases; social acceptance of their mixed offspring; territorial
grouping in large patriarchal clans united by close religious, juridical and economic bonds, the
well known kabila, which I will refer hereinafter;
c) These "Moor" settlements had been developed in conditions of security and peaceful
relationship with the local chiefs and their subjects as emphasized by R.E.Gregson ( 4 );
d) The non-existence of firearms had the fortunate result of developing throughout the
centuries an extended but peacefull trade network.
As far as the qualitative aspects are concerned I regret to contest the interpretation
made by Victor V. Matviev in his otherwise remarkable synthesis on the rise of the
Swahili civilization. According to him it suffered from a structural weakness caused by an
excessive dependence on external trade. So "nearly all the commodities produced or
obtained by the Swahili civilization were not for internal use but for exportation ...
Well, trade was by itself insufficient to support the basis of this civilization and its
flourishing" ( 5 ).
8
Sufficient evidence will be given in the present paper to refute this opinion. Even
so it is tempting to compare, from the start, those two peripherical regions of the
Muslim world: the Iberian Peninsula and East Africa. It is inevitable to draw the
conclusion that in the latter the amount of production reserved to internal
consumption was much higher. Oliveira Marques described vividly the economic
prosperity, the urban infrastructure, the monetary circulation, the agrarian
development, the introduction and disperson of new plants, the importance of fishing and
long-distance sea trade, etc. that disguished the southern Muslim half of Iberia from the
stagnant northern Europe in the mid-eleventh century ( 6 ). The Swahili superior productive
capacity is easy to understand: virgin and fertile aluvial soils, better food and useful
plants, higher quality timber, fibres and pitch for shipbuildin g and maintenance;
metallurgy of gold, iron, copper and even tin; hunting and collecting of luxury exportable
goods; intensive use of submissive African slaves or cheap labour; numerous and
prosperous commercial towns along the northern coast; monsoons promoting fast
transportation to the huge Indian markets, etc.
Nevertheless ancient conditions for long-distance overland trade were marked by

uncertainty and unreliable information. These handicaps were greater in Africa due to the
longer distances, to the absence of roads, bridges and wheeled vehicles, to the dismissal of
animal energy to transport people and goods, to the opressive and dangerous wild faunna, to
the malignancy of tropical diseases, etc. In order to reduce these handicaps alien settlers
tended to concentrate in villages close to the coast or to navigable rivers. As it happened in
many other countries bordering the Indian Ocean the growth and the continued use of these
centers depended on the facilities offered to both oversea and overland traders: assistance
to crews, supply of fresh food, repair and maintenance of ships, sound stocks of
exchangeable goods, etc. ( 7 ). Angoche, Quelimane, Luabo, Pungwe, Sofala, Chilwane,
Mambone, Bazaruto, Sena, Inhyakoro, Tete, etc. fulfilled these conditions. Those who traded
in the hinterland were backed by sea and river ports which in their turn were served by fleets
of cabotage and sea-worthy ships operating in free, peaceful and competitive conditions.
As I have more than once emphasized the Swahili civilization was profoundly
linked with the sea, the use of its resources and the facilities it offered for regular
trade. On the other hand the African cultures composed by peasant farmers,
herders, hunters, miners and warriors regarded the sea with suspicion, were afraid
of the threats it could bring including horrible monsters ready to annihilate every
human being. It is not surprising that all native political units had their capital far
from the sea. Sea fishing was not practiced and there were ethnic groups such as
9
the Nguni among whom the consumption of fish was a strict taboo. The navigators
and merchants of the Indian Ocean took good advantage of this fear when they
founded their first settlements. This behavior comes out in the remark made by Diogo
de Alcaçova in 1506: " ... the kingdom whence the gold comes to Sofala is called
Ukalanga and it is a very great kingdom in which there are many large towns
and many other villages besides and Sofala itself belongs to this kingdom as does
all the land along the shore, and the kings of the interior do not care (8 ) whether
the Moors take possession of it and journeying along the seashore and into the interior
some four leagues they dare go no further for the kaffirs rob and kill them" ( 9 ).
However it is known that in those times "a Moslem king lived up-river on the confines of the
kaffirs although he could not have been many journeys from Sofala" ( 10 ) . João dos
Santos also confirms this preference to settle along the coast: " ... formerly upon the
shore along the coast especially at the mouths of the rivers and on islands, there
were large settlements inhabited by Moors, its boundaries full of palm-groves and
commodities and each of these cities had a king as this Zufe (Issufo) was king of Sofala and
they were at peace and had commerce with the kaffir kings who were lords of the interior.
But now only a small number of these Moor kings still exists because most of them
disappeared with the arrival of the Portuguese ... " ( 11 ).
Many African slaves were necessary to maintain the prosperity of these alien settlements.
For instance, in Mombasa there were "many negro slaves of the white men (Arabs ?) their
captivity being more a matter of obedience than subjection like those of Kilwa" (12 ). Akote, the
Muslim born in Abyssinia (Somalia ?) and who was settled in Sofala in May 1506 took sides with
Pedro de Anhaya together with all his family and one hundred slaves who fought bravely ( 13 ).
Mention will be made, opportunely, of two "Moors" of Sena and Luabo with more than five
hundred slaves.
Implicity or explicity many Portuguese authors always recognized the importance of that
pre-existent islamic colonization. As late as 1620 António Gomes after mentioning the foundation
of the numerous towns North of the Rovuma and also of Mozambique, Angoche e Sofala added
that "others carried on far inland so that all this hinterland of Manica and Mocaranga was
populated with this people and thus when the Portuguese arrived in these parts already Tete and
Sena were theirs and a great many others in the interior" ( 14 ).
The question can be asked on how to define the type of influence which these aliens
exerted. I disagree with Alexandre Lobato when he affirmed that they were not true
landlords. Instead they were exclusively interested in trading and, at most, they might have small
10
palm-groves. According to him the property of the real landlords would be extensive in area and
feudal in type. As a matter of fact the lord had the right to judge, to collect tribute, to demand
personal services of which the more relevant was to engage in warfare ( 15 ).
My own perspective is rather different. As it happened afterwards with the euro, indo and
afro-Portuguese, the Mńgwana rarely settled permanently in the distant and insecure backwoods.
The majority had their extended families and properties near the main coastal and riverine
centers. From there they took up the normal routes and went from fair to fair, from chiefdom to
chiefdom buying and selling the more profitable trade goods. As Gregson puts it: "... It may be
that the pattern of markets prior to the Portuguese arrival did not entail extensive settlement by
outside traders - that is that their agents were dispatched from coastal (and Zambesi valley)
entrepots into the gold produciong areas" ( 16 ).
However, Portuguese documents allow the conclusion that, with or without effective
permanence in the plateau, the Muslim leaders had enough political and even military influence.
This is clearly deduced from the famous Diogo de Alcaçova's letter when he asserted: "I laboured
to find by what manner to make peace between these two the king of Ucalanga and Toloa
(Torwa) and I was told that this cannot be done save by the king of Sofala or the king of Kilwa" (
17 ) . In point of fact it seems that the so called 'Moors' "had effective non-military weapons at
hand, and their experience of several centuries ... contrasted to Portuguese ignorance in the area
..." (18 ).
Inasmuch I may be inclined to believe that the majority of the M'ngwana was based along
the coast and the Zambesi valley, it seems doubtless that they had influential colonies within
some specific areas of the hinterland as it happened in that distant but very rich western region
known as Torwa, a term that "means simply stranger or foreigner, with the exact meaning
depending on the context" ( 19 ). Even after the increased influence of the Portuguese in the
Mwene Mutapa kingdom the Afro-Muslims continued to be represented at court as mentioned by
António Bocarro (20). According to the report of António Caiado - who in 1561 was present at
the execution of Dom Gonçalo da Silveira - it was indeed essential the role of a magician and
diviner from Mozambique Island. He convinced the king that Silveira was a muroy ( 21 ) with
powers of malignant witchcraft, this being the utmost serious accusation in many African
societies ( 22 ).
During the second half of the 17th century the existence of a dominating colony of
"Moors" in Maungwe was emphasized by Manuel Barreto ( 23 ). Close to the end of the 18th
century it was also reported a "mulunguana" colony in Barwe ( 24 ) .
In Portuguese records strong evidence can be found confirming that the
11
"Moors" could make use of substantial military forces, either formed by their own slaves
or by means of alliances with the African chiefs. This happened in August 1505 when
Francisco de Almeida launched an attack against Mombasa. And also during May 1506
when the warriors around Sofala assaulted the stockade built by the Portuguese. And again
during the punitive expedition of 1523 against Ibo, commanded by Pedro de Castro.
Also the Mńgwana spread throughout the gold bearing plateau could count on
military power. It is known that a powerful sharif ( 25 ) gave military aid to the Mwene
Mutapa Mavura in 1628/29 who gratefully rewarded him with the vast territory of
Entumbwe near the Portuguese fair of Tafuna ( 26 ) . But the more remarkable case occured in
1644 with another sharif settled in the rich kingdom of Butwa, as recorded by António
Gomes (27 ) and Sisnando Dias Bayão who succeeded in defeating him ( 28 ).
I think I gave sufficient evidence to confirm that the M'ngwana managed to exert
localized political and military influence even after the Portuguese were well-grounded.
Obviously in time such influence vanished, The Muslim communities of the Lower Zambesi
amongst which there were rich and educated men suffered heavily during the 1571/2
expedition as described by Diogo do Couto, historian and eye-witness ( 29 ). In the 1620's
the islamized settlers along the Zambesi delta were so important that they called the
attention and the repressive zeal of some catholic missionaries. For this reason they were
submited to imprisonment, torture, deportation to goanese galleys and many other physical
and psychological violences to adopt Christianity together with their vast households.
This was vividly and candidly recognized by António Gomes ( 30 ).
Anyway, the members of the so called "Swahili civilization" in spite of their cultural
and technological handicaps vis-a-vis the Portuguese not only managed to resist outcrying
antagonism but even expanded to coastal and hinterland areas. I agree, accordingly, with
the conclusions of Malyn Newitt´s paper: the arrival of the Portuguese "led to the
development of different aspects of the coastal economy and encouraged the dispersal of
Muslim families ... The economy of these (new coastal) settlements became largely based on
supplying the Portuguese with foodstuffs, local manufactures and manpower ... In this (ivory)
trade the Muslim families largely ceased to be principals and assumed the role of middlemen ... "
(31 ).
2. 1. The Arab seven days week
An important information given by António Fernandes has escaped general notice. It is
12
about the weekly fair of "Onhacouce" (Inhacoche, Inyakoshe, Inyaoshe ?). Most probably in the
Mutapas´ kingdom the islamic calender was used ( 32 ). In fact for the fairs to be regularly held
and to be efficiently operated an uniform system of time reckoning was needed. It is evident that
Fernandes was accompanied by M'ngwana guides from Sofala. In this assertion my line of
reasoning is simple: a) the African peoples of the hinterland could not know the Portuguese
calendar; b) Fernandes was illiterate, completely isolated and without any means of reckoning
time. Nevertheless, only through a systematic documental study could the current employment of
the Arab seven days week by the ancient ethno-linguistic groups of central Mozambique be
known.
2. 2. The New Moon
We know that the Kur'an expressly makes the moon a measurer of time. The first day of
the month was determined by the hilal (first light of the New Moon) which was observed at
sunset (33). Therefore the day ended at sunset and a new one started.
We also know through João dos Santos that on the lands of the Teve kingdom the cult of
the New Moon was observed, and that "every year in the month of September when the New
Moon appears the Sachiteve ascends to a very high mountain to perform grand obsequies for the
kings, his predecessors, which are all buried there" ( 34 ). We do not know, however, how the
correction of the twelve lunar months to coincide with the solar year was carried out. Bivar Pinto
Lopes writing three centuries later makes the beginning of the solar year to coincide with the
rebirth of vegetation, which took place in the first New Moon between September and October,
advancing consequently about one month ( 35 ). It may well happen that from time to time some
system of correction was enforced. At the end of the 18th century Reis e Gama merely mentioned
that, amongst the "Moors" of Sofala, the New Moon was greeted with dancing and druming and
that the next day they did not work ( 36 ) .
2. 3. Dress
An important item was the turban of utmost religious significance ( 37 ). From the 16th to
the 19th centuries it appears in Portuguese records as "fota" and "touca" ( 38 ). As far as dress
was concerned we know that in 1506 "the white "Moors" (of Kilwa) ... wear two cotton cloths
namely one tied at their waist that reaches to the feet. And another that falls loosely from the
shoulders and covers the waistband of the other and their bodies are well shaped and their beards
large and frigthtening to see" ( 39 ). In fact, for ritual purposes the Muslims wore a particular
13
dress in which no seems were allowed. It consisted into two pieces: a sheet from the navel to the
knees and another thrown round the body which partly covers the left shoulder ( 40 ). The
Portuguese also noted that "all persons of quality carried praying beads" ( 41 ).
Generally speaking dress and ornaments were used to mark cultural and religious
differences between the Wa-Shenzi. barbarians ( 42 ) and the Wa-Mńgwana. free, educated
and civilized people ( 43 ).
2. 4. Pottery
Sousa Monteiro gave an interesting account of the pottery made by the "Moorish" women
of Sofala. It was dried in the sun, scraped with shells when still wet, and then painted red with
ochre and blue with earth similar to lapis lazuli. Polished with stones it became like enamel. After
the pieces were completely dry a fire was lighted over them and they were hardened by heat ( 44 )
. I suggest the possibility of this special pottery being in any way related to that found by
Dickinson during his diggings in Sofala. 1 repeat his remark: "Red and black polished plates seem
even more foreign to the rest of the pottery context of the Sofala coast than the raised pattern
pots" ( 45 ).
2. 5. Sundry notes
It is worth investigating the possibility of circumcision to have been introduced by

Muslims among several ethnic groups of Mozambique ( 46 ) .
An important aspect of the islamic coastal technology was the manufacture of lime from
coral or shells of which Amaro Monteiro gave a few examples conected with buildings for human
use and resistent reservoirs along the northern seashore ( 47 ). Lime was also made in Bazaruto up
to the turn of the century resorting to enormous amounts of oyster shells heaped up on the beaches
( 48 ).
The Portuguese often recorded the employment of political, juridical and social
terminology typical of the islamic world such as sharif, shaikh, amir, vizir. muhalim. khasiz
(from Syria?), etc., which may help to define the M'ngwana institutions and organization.
Toponymy may also give some clues to study the Muslim presence. An example is
bandar. harbour, which may be found in relation to Sofala, in the Zambesi river opposite to
Tambara (ancient Inyakoro) and on Pemba Bay (colonial Porto Amélia).
14
The tomb of an important Muslim religious personality, Abdurramane, who possibly

precede the arrival of the Portuguese, was worshiped in Sofala as still verified by F. Balsan in
1962 ( 49 ) .
15
2. 6. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 17.

2 ) Ref. 109, p. 402.
3 ) Ref. 34, p. 108.
4 ) Ref. 71.
5 ) Ref. 76, p. 521.
6 ) Ref. 96, pp. 59-73.
7 ) Ref. 47, chapter 8.
8 ) The Portuguese textual expression "não curam muito nem pouco" is idiomatic and
was maintained up to the present to mean an attitude of total indifference.
9 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 391.
10 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 373.
11 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 72) p. 188.
12 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 533.
13 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) pp. 501-511.
14 ) Ref. 70, p. 198.
15 ) Ref. 90, p. 122.
16 ) Ref. 71, p. 418.
17 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) pp. 395-397.
18 ) Ref. 71, p. 417.
19 ) Ref. 34, p. 107.
20 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 3º.) p. 358.
21 ) I corrected the translation into English of the word "moro" found in the
portuguese text. The writer's intention was not "Moor" but "muroyi", antisocial person who
inflicts harm on others generally by witchcraft (see M.Hannan, ref. 75, p. 402).
22 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 5.
23 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 32) p. 487.
24 ) Ref. 85, p. 29.
25 ) The title of Sharif was given to a noble, exalted person, meaning primarily a
freeman, who can claim a distinguished position because of his descendant from illustrious
ancestors (see Gibb & Kramers, ref. 68, p. 529).
26 ) Ref. 99, p. 150.
27 ) Ref. 70, p. 196-197.
28 ) Ref. 39.
16
29 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) pp. 277-278.

30 ) Ref. 70, pp. 176-177.
31 ) Ref. 111, p. 125.
32 ) With some modifications the Swahili adopted from the Arabs the seven days week.
Ijumma was "the day of assembly". The five following days were reckoned by ordinals from the
first to the fifth. The day before Ijumma was called Alpamisi (see A.C.Madan, ref. 93, p. 7).
33 ) Ref. 68, p. 579).
34 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º) p. 196.
35 ) Ref. 91, p. 15.
36 ) Ref. 85, p. 17.
37 ) Ref. 68, pp. 596-599.
38 ) The identification of "fota" and "touca" as turbans is explicit in Constancio's
dictionary (pp. 571, 934 and 948). The translation of "touca" as "coif" - made in ref. 13 - V I I I , p.
395 - is unacceptable. To better understand the difference between turban and male coif see ref.
114, figs. 45 and 55, pp. 83 and 85.
39 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 529.
40 ) Ref. 68, p. 159 (entry IHRAM). A slightly different dress was used by the Sofala
"Moors" (see ref. 13 - V, p. 359).
41 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 529.
42 ) It is amazing to find in Chi-Nyungwe, the language around Tete, this same word
applied to themselves by the natives, i.e. mu-sendzi (see ref. 54, p. 60).
43 ) Ref. 93, pp. 239 and 405.
44 ) Ref. 101, p. 144.
45 ) Ref. 59, pp. 93.
46 ) Ref. 13 (DPNAC - VII) p. 505.
47 ) Ref. 100.
48 ) Ref. 80.
49 ) Ref. 31, pp. 101-102.
17
3. THE INTRODUCTION OF USEFUL PLANTS
The first Portuguese found near the main towns along the East Coast and the Zambesi
valley some livestock and many useful plants of extra-African origin. Only those introduced by
the Arabs into the Iberian Peninsula, such as rice, were known by them. The dispersal in Africa of
these kinds of exotics was a remarkable contribution to the improvement of local living
conditions. Thanks to them and to fishing and sea food the Swahili communities could escape
from the dreadful famines that regularly afflicted the aborigenes who, up to then, cultivated with
hoes a scarce number of food-plants. As David Beach puts it, even in the plateau more favourable
environment " ... in four years out of five would be normal rainfall (but) it was probable that in the
fifth there would be a shangwa (drought, calamity) in which the community would be forced to
look outside agriculture for its survival" ( 1 ).
It should be noted also that the African physical and social environment was not favorable
to the dispersion of exotic trees. To the opressive macro and micro fauna, from elephants to
minuscule insects and unknown microorganisms was added the voracity of domestic animals,
such as goats, and finally the hunting practices based on bush-fires during the dry season. This
explains the reason why certain species were planted in uninhabited off-shore islets.
There were also rigorous taboos which forbade the planting not only of exotic trees but
also of any African fruit trees. It is imperative that a systematic survey of these taboos should be
made. As examples I mention only two ethnic groups who still in the very beginning of the
present century were obeying them. About the Tsonga, South of the Sabi river, H. A. Junod wrote
that "...tree cultivation is almost entirely absent in...agriculture: villages move so frequently,
owing to contamination by death, accusations of whichcraft, or exaustion of the soil, that nobody
takes the trouble of planting trees ... it was formely considered a taboo to plant foreign kinds, such
as bananas, oranges, etc. . . . The desolation of a ruin (of an old village) has been connected with
the presence of new trees, as they have often been noticed together. Hence the idea that the trees
are the cause of the desolation. Planting new trees is consequently a taboo" ( 2 ). On the Sena of
the Lower Zambesi valley M, M. Lopes informed that " ... one of the most noxious superstitions
believed in by the Sena people is the notion that he who plants a tree will die when it begins to
bear fruit. Owing to this belief, and to the abundance of unoccupied land available for cultivation,
no one thinks of acquiring permanent property in land" ( 3 ).
The exotic plants shall be described in some detail, including their medicinal value, to
better understand the settlers of islamic origin regarding their high productive capacity and self
sufficiency to survive in an hostile environment. That detail will also help archaeologists to
18
trace "Moor" settlements often mentioned in the 16th and 17th Portuguese documents.
The many uses of the coconut palm tree (Cocus nucifera L.) are well known. João dos
Santos after describing them on eight pages finished with this remark: "And with reason can these
trees be considered the best and most profitable in the world" ( 4 ). It is not surprising therefore
that they were so intimately connected with the Swahili civilisation. The supposition that the tree
was scattered on the east coast of Africa by mere oceanic currents and tides is not acceptable. The
existence of plantations was indispensable to the surviving of the coastal alien communities. The
practice heard about 1620 by Antonio Gomes in an Indian Ocean archipelago having many
uninhabited islands (Maldive ?) was most probably repeated on the African coast. He learned that
the deliberate planting of coconut palm trees was formalized in an annual ceremony headed by the
king himself. The natives explained that they might need to take shelter when fishing among the
islands. In that case they could put in at the neareast island an there they always found food,
beverage, shelter, firewood, fibres, leaves and wood to repair or even make new sails and boats
( 5 ). Along the coast of Mozambique trees must also have been planted on islands free from
elephants, and that were reached easily by the settlers living nearby. Only on the Zambesi valley
does the coconut have a name similar to the Ki-Swahili mńuzi (pl, mi), In Chi-Sena it was known
as mńazi ( 6 ) and in Quelimane and Tete by munazi (7 ) that is, a form closer to the nazi used in
Sofala by 1505 ( 8 ).
Rice was probably introduced by the Indonesians who settled temporarily on the African
coast before moving definitely to Madagascar where this cereal became the main staple food ( 9 )
. In the Indian Ocean rice was for many centuries a valuable food and trading commodity. It
could be stored in husk for several years with the advantage of improving in taste and resisting
insects ( 10 ), The oldest variety spread along the Mozambique coast and in the Zambesi
valley was perhaps Orysa montana, dry rice. The first Portuguese described rice farming as
characteristic of the islamic settlements, In the 1590´s rice was already important among the
produce that the inhabitants of Morrumbala mountain sold at Sena (11 ). In 1616 rice was offered
to Gaspar Bocarro by the Maravi Paramount Chief whose headquarters were situated on the
highlands near the Middle Shire valley. Modern agronomists praise its "marvellous power to
adapt to the soils in which it is practically impossible to grow other plants" ( 12 ). However, this
general statement may be taken with some reticence having in mind the information given by F.
Henriques Ferrão in his report prior to 1820 on the cropping practices between the rivers Pungwe
and Sabi. He mentioned seven different varieties ripening from February to June and stated: "Of
all grain, rice is the most difficult to cultivate, because it requires a particular soil; if too damp it
rots, and if too dry it will not grow" ( 13 ). I think that the Indian Ocean emigrants when choosing
places for settlement gave preference to those more suitable for rice cultivation. The ancient bed
19
of the Sofala river (slowly closed off by stilting or by a tectonic tilt) became a chain of shallow
lagoons, exceptionally suitable for rice. Anyway, K. N. Chaudhury's map on the subject needs to
be rectified so as to include part of Mozambique and, for stronger reasons, the Island of
Madagascar ( 14 ).
The banana-tree, also introduced by the Indonesians, scattered rapidly through the
coast and the hinterland where it found favourable conditions. Murdock ( 15 ) and other
authors defend that the adoption of the banana as stable food gave origin to the demographic
explosion on which was based the Bantu expansion. The tree was found by the first
Portuguese in all "Moor" settlements. M.F.Figueroa described it in 1505 in Sofala: "There
are also fig-trees with marvelous fruit, whose figs ( 16 ) change into butter in the mouth;
whose leaves are as big as leather shields" ( 1 7 ). It should be emphasized that in 1616
when Gaspar Bocarro passed through the headquarters of the already mentioned Maravi
Paramount Chief, he was served meals of rice and bananas ( 18 ) . This information may give
some support to C.Ehret hypothesis according to which linguistic data prove that the
banana-tree spread to the region of the Great Lakes brought directly from the South, more
precisely from the Zambesi basin ( 19 ).
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) was an important oil seed crop rapidly adopted in
East Africa and beyond. An infusion was made with the leaves to be used as an
analgesic and to cure inflammations. It was introduced long before the Portuguese
arrival since in 1516 Duarte Barbosa stated that in the Mwene Mutapa kingdom much use
was made of gingelly oil ( 20 ). In a long paragraph João dos Santos gave a detailed report
of its properties stressing that the husks were eaten with millet instead of butter. By
washing in and applying this oil the Africans healed their wounds ( 21 ).
Groves of citrus were important and indispensable in the "green belt" which
sorrounded the "Moor" settlements. Portuguese sailors who managed to survive the long
voyages through the Atlantic and Indian oceans found in Sofala, Ibo, Kilwa, Mombasa,
Malindi, etc. quick relief from the dreadful scurvy. It was there and for the first time
that they became acquainted with sweet oranges of Indian origin which were soon
introduced in Portugal. In the 16th century lemons from inland abandoned orchards
were transported by rivercraft, properly processed and exported in barrels from Sofala to
India ( 22 ). The more resistant lemon trees were deliberately scattered on the distant
highlands ( 23 ).
The sugar cane (Saccaharum spp. ) was one of the exotics most often mentioned by the
first Portuguese. It was a precious food complement rich in vitamins and mineral salts.
20
Along the Solala river big cane plantations were husbanded annually by "Moors" and Africans
not to make sugar but to eat being a great part of their sustenance ( 24 ) . Both the leaves and the
bark were stripped away and used together with the chewed marrow to feed small stock or a
compost for the soils to be cultivated.
The jambolan tree (Eugenia Jambos L. ) was called jambeira or Jangomeira by the
Portuguese. it was referred to by Ibn Battuta on his visit to Mombasa in 1331. It was spread over
many places along the coast of Mozambique and the Zambesi valley. Besides its fruits the plant
has medicinal properties. An eye witness stated that around 1620 the uninhabited islands were
used by the Swahili of Angoche to catch tortoises and to plant big groves of this tree ( 25 ).
P.Barreto de Rezende confirms this information adding that "they have the best jagomas known
upon that coast where all are good" ( 26 ).
The pomegranate tree was already known in ancient Mediterranean and Middle East. Its
presence in East African towns, including Sofala, is often referred to in the first Portuguese
records. In Ki-Swahili it is called nkoma manga (27). Besides the tasty and refreshing fruit the
alkaloid contents of its bark and roots were used to combat intestinal worms. The pericarp
contains high quantities of tannin used in tanning.
The literal meaning in Arabic of tamarind (Tamarindus indica) is "ripe date of India"
( 28 ). It was intensively cultivated in India as mentioned in 16th century Portuguese
sources. Its leaf was chewed together with betel. Its presence along the East Coast of Africa is
referred to by Arab authors of the 10th and llth centuries. Before the Portuguese arrival it was
probably planted at regular intervals on some trade routes between the plateau and the coast or the
main rivers. For instance, spreading in all directions from an ancient itinerary between the Low
Sabi river and the lands of Inhambane this tree, called quatzo by the natives, propagated so well
that it is considered as plentiful in the most recent botanical study and its vegetation map ( 29 ).
The same "Flora Zambesiaca" mentions that, in northern Mozambique, the tamarind occurs
commonly on termite mounds probably to profit from their characteristic water accumulation.
Therefore it is resistant to xylophagous insects.
The borassus palm tree (Borassus flaberliformis Murr.) was economically important in
India as a source of jaggery, the course brown sugar made from palm sap ( 30 ). It was also used
for making a sort of wine. Bread was made from a farinaceous substance extracted from the
marrow. This is a passage from a Portuguese report written in 1505 about Kilwa: "Here the palm
tree do not bear dates, there are some that give a wine from which they also make vinegar but do
not bear coconuts which is the fruit of the others" ( 31 ). C. von Oidtman maintained that these
trees were used to mark a trade route between the plateau and the Zambesi valley and that remains
21
of them could be seen on the ridges of Mavita, Zembe and Gondola mountains ( 32 ).
The mango-tree (Mangifera indica L.) was commonly cultivated in India where there are
countless varieties, some of them very choise and stringless ( 33 ). This ever-green tree may be
thirty meters high, with a thick trunk and a large leafty top. The fruit besides a juicy pulp has a
stone inside with a nourishing nut. Green or half ripe it is used in cooking. Among the Swahili the
mango-tree became connected with political power ( 34 ).
Casuarinas (Casuarina spp. ) are ever—green and quick-growing trees of different sizes.
The trunk may have 60 to 70 cms. in diameter. They are well adapted to sandy conditions near the
sea, where few other trees will grow ( 35 ). This explains why they are so often employed to fix
coastal dunes. The bark, rich in tannin, was used for tanning hides, as a dye, and also in medicine
as an astringent. The hood is hard, compact, heavy, difficult to work and to polish but resistant to
insects and submersion for a long time. In the same way as coconut and jambolan trees they were
planted on uninhabited offshore islets for later use. Strandes translated the name of Kilwa Kivinji
as "Kilwa of the casuarinas" ( 36 ). On the coast of Mozambique there are several islets with this
same name, as for instance in the Primeiras ( 37 ) and Bazaruto archipelagos ( 38 ).
In the region including Mozambique at least two kinds of beans of Asian origin were
found by the Portuguese. One has the scientific name of Cajanus indica Spreng. and grows into a
bush three to four meters high, with pods of three to six seeds, similar to lentils. It is known as
boere in Northern Mozambique.
The other is commonly called feijão soroco or mungo da India (Phaseolus radiatus L. ). It
is rich in proteins, vitamin B, and the black variety is greatly appreciated by the Asians ( 39 ).
Many other vegetables were cultivated by the islamised communities such as cucumber
(Cucunis sativus) , melons (Cucumis melo) , radish (Raphanus sativus) and peas (Pisum sativum).
It must not be forgotten, finally, the pre-Portuguese diffusion of hemp (Cannabis sativa)
emphasized among others by B.M. du Toit ( 40 ). In central and southern Mozambique it is
known by its Persian and Indian name, mbanghe. Roger Summers includes soapstone pipe bowls
among the cultural details of the plateau ancient mines ( 41 ). Silver and soapstone pipes were
found within the stone-walled enclosures of Mount Zembe ( 42 ).
The ancient introduction of hemp can also be infered by its generalized social
acceptance mentioned already by the 16th and 17th.centuries authors like João dos Santos ( 43 )
and António Gomes ( 44 ) .
22
3. 1. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 34, pp. 28-29.

2 ) Ref. 82, II, pp. 15, 29, 30.
3 ) Ref, 92, p. 351.
4 ) Ref. 133, I, pp. 293-301.
5 ) Ref. 70, p. 159.
6 ) Ref. 42, p. 28.
7 ) Ref. 42, p. 43.
8 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 595.
9 ) Ref. 145.
10 ) Ref. 47, p. 29.
11 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 190.
12 ) Ref. 52, p. 72.
13 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 72) p. 390.
14 ) Ref. 47, p. 26, map 4.
15 ) Ref. 107, p. 273.
16 ) Bananas are still known as figo in the languages of Tete, Sena and Quelimane
(see Cabral, ref. 42, p. 33).
17 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 595. The text in English is hereby corrected. In fact
dagger corresponds to the Portuguese adaga; the facsimile of p. 594 reads clearly adarga which
in the Iberian Peninsula meant "leather shield", its origin being the Arabic addarca (see
Constancio, ref. 51, p. 21).
18 ) Ref. 74.
19 ) Ref. 77, p. 675.
20 ) Ref. 56, p. 13. Gingelly is the English adaptation of the Indian name (see Howes,
ref. 79, p. 107). The Portuguese adaptation is gergelim.
21 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 72) p. 49.
22 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 50.
23 ) For instance, in 1872 St. Vincent Erskine was hospitably received by the Ndau
of the Upper Lucite (tributary of the Busi) and had offerings of thick-skinned lemons which
were found in most of the river valleys.
24 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 50.
25 ) Ref. 70, pp. 162-163.
23
26 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 22) p. 426.

27 ) Linguistic data may also give some help. The word manga in Ki-Swahili means
"Arabia", specially the Muskat area. In current speech it meant at first plants or animals related
to Arabia, as for instance pilipili manga (black pepper) , nkoma manga (pomegranate), njiwa
manga (a variety of pigeon) (see Madan, ref. 93, p. 207). Later on the word, passed on to the
other languages in Mozambique and was applied to a number of plants from overseas. Thus
among the Mang'anja of the Zambesi left bank the name tonje manga was given to an exotic
variety of high quality cotton (see Alpers, ref. 20, p. 24, based on the botanist John Kirk).
Maize, brought from the American continent by the Portuguese, became known as mapira
manga for instance among the Sena (see Schebesta, ref, 136).
28 ) According to Masao and Mutoro (see ref. 77, p. 637) the Swahili name for the
tamarind tree is mkwanju, a word similar to that mentioned by Al-Biruni. Madan's dictionary
uses instead mkwaju (ref. 93, p. 235). None of these two variations should be confused with the
cashew tree, kanju (p. 130 of the same dictionary) which was brought from South
America by the Portuguese.
29 ) Ref. 149. Furthermore the tamarind is also very resistent to conditions of
aridity.
30 ) From the Indo-Portuguese jagara derived from the Hindi shakhar. sugar (see
Howes, ref. 79, p. 34). In Portuguese the name was transformed into açucar.
31 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 527.
32 ) Ref. 113.
33 ) Ref. 79, p. 156.
34 ) Among the islamized Yao of the plateau east of Lake Malawi, sultan Mataka I
Nyambi (1800-1876/79) anxious to demonstrate his affinities with Kilwa ordered numerous
mango trees to be planted.
35 ) Ref. 79, p. 49.
36 ) Ref. 142, p. 46, note 4.
37 ) Ref. 13 (RSEA - 22) p. 425. Writing in 1634, Barreto de Rezende stated exactly
that one of the island was called Arvores "because the trees on it are numerous and large".
But the Fogo Island was greater in extent and more thickly wooded.
24
4. MAIN PORTS AND NAVIGABLE WATERTWAYS. SEA AND RIVER

CRAFT.
Lord Hailey in the first pages of his 1956 monumental survey wrote ( 1 ):
"That Africa, for instance, remained for so long "the dark continent" in the eyes of the rest
of the world was largely due to the fact that much of its interior was unusualy difficult df
access" ... it is equaly true that the coastline of Africa had furnished few facilities to those
who might seek to approach the interior from the sea. The coasts afford little safe
anchorage for ships, and the rivers cannot usually be used as routes to the interior"
..."The East Coast has a larger place in the history of African development than the west;
the Muslim cities on the east coast as far south as Sofala and the mouth of the Zambezi
were described by Ibn Batuta in the thirteenth century, and the penetration into the interior
along the Zambezi in the six-teenth century followed closely upon the voyage of Vasco da
Gama in 1497".
In the last forty years these and other similar points of view were radically modified
thanks to the results reached by interdisciplinary scientific research where archaeology had a
prominent place. It is now admited that in East Africa the geographic peculiarities far from
hindering had the effect of making those contacts easier. I have in mind mainly the well known
monsoons regime. There exists also a sort of maritime amphitheatre formed, in the west, by the
coast line going from Mozambique Island to the mouth of the Rovuma. On the east side it goes
from Cape St.Andre to Cape dÁmbre, in Madagascar. The centre of this natural amphitheatre is
occupied by the Comores archipelago. Both in the northeast of Mozambique and in the northwest
of Madagascar the coast lines are much idented, offering to seamen numerous harbours, bays,
creeks, shelters, river mouths, offshore islands, etc. Furthermore, as far as Mozambique is
concerned, there are many sand shallows uncovered at low tide on which sailing boats could
easily load and unload, floating in high tide. This is the case of the famous Sofala Coast proper
where Ibn Magid mentioned, between the Kwama Bay (Zambesi) and the island of Vazah, the
following places: Sofala, Sitawa, Manara, southern Mulbayuni, Malabati, Sanduwa islands with
Vasika included ( 2 ) .
The probable navigability of the Sabi river up to the Lundi confluence called the attention
of Raymond Mauny ( 3 ), Harald von Sicard ( 4 ) and Roger Summers ( 5 ). As I will mention
François Balsan was sceptical on this issue ( 6 ). But recent archaeological research carried on
Manyikeni, Chibuene, Dundo, Hola-Hola and other sites ( 7 ) ( 8 ) confirmed the early importance
25
of that long waterway. On the Bazaruto archipelago the seamen could find shelter, rest, potable
water, small stock, some arable and pastureland, abundance of fish and seafood, etc.
The renowned Sofala river was in ancient times an excellent waterway, connected to the
Buzi river still at the beginning of the last century. According to Baptista´s 1892 map the Buzi
river was also navigable for 130 km. up to its confluence with the Luciti ( 9 ). Another tributary of
the Buzi, the Revwe, was used regularly as far as the cataracts where the modern dam was built.
Furthermore the navigability of the Pungwe was reckoned in 1875 by the Manyika provincial
governor when aboard a small steamboat he and his train went upstream for about 130 km. taking
three days for the voyage.
Naturally the Zambesi was by far the most important waterway not only because of its
gigantic catchment area but also for the depth of its penetration in the core of Southeast Africa,
The importance of this river, together with gold production, should always be taken into account
to understand the development of the two overseas colonizations which, in different periods, took
place in what are today Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Up to the start of the past century the so called "Quelimane river" was in fact a branch of
the Zambesi running a long way from Manzaro up to the sea. Southwards there was another
mouth: Linde. But the mouth which could be used the whole year round was Luabo. The floods
took place usually in March and April, the waters overflowing the banks specially after the
junction with the Shire, the whole delta becoming excepcionally fertile.
These are the four tributaries which had decisive impact: Kafue, Luangwa, Ruenya and
Shire. The last was navigable for about 180 km. and allowed a regular supply of produce from
Morrumbala Mountain to reach the inhabitants of Sena. The second permitted the dug-out canoes
to reach the regions between Lake Nyasa and what is now the Copperbelt, regions where great
quantities of ivory could be found. They appeared in Portuguese documentation with the names of
either Orange (Lenge) or Anvua (Ambo) in the second half of the 17th century ( 10 ) ( 11 ). Only
during the first half of the 19th century did the Portuguese toponomy turned to Marambo, more
clearly connected with Ambo ( 12 ).At the junction Luangwa-Zambesi there was the Zumbo
settlement probably founded, before the Portuguese arrival, by the Indian Ocean traders. The
settlement of Ingombe Ilede, made famous by the archaeologists who dig evidence of contacts
with East Coast, was founded upstream near the mouth of the Kafue.
Ruenya was the last tributary which had historical importance although it was not
navigable. Its catchement area and mainly its tributaries Mazoe and Ruya, covered the
northeastern part of the plateau including the core of the Mutapa kingdom as well as many areas
rich in gold. At its junction with the Zambesi there was a peculiarity in the river bed which forced
26
the rowers to stop at a beach in the right bank. This oddity, together with many others, shows
clearly how important was the knowledge gained and transmited through centuries of experience.
It was near this famous beach that in the second half of the 17th century a powerful landlord
called Manuel Pais de Pinho "much respected and feared even by the Maravi ..." ( 13 ) built his
main settlement. From 1849 to 1888 the members of a Creole dynasty, later called Vicente da
Cruz, were strong enough to rout no less than four well armed Portuguese military expeditions.
The plan of their fortified capital, called Massangano, was studied by M. D. D. Newitt and
P.Garlake ( 14 ). Later on the first of these authors, in his main book, emphasized that "the
importance of the ´da Cruz´ family had been first and foremost in the position of their aringa
between Tete and the sea" (15 ). Only recently did I find a reasonable explanation for such
strategic importance in the following passage of a private letter written in Paris by Paiva de
Andrada during 1923 ( 16 ) :
" ... the strong current of the Ruenya waters coming together with those of the Zambesi,
forced all boats to come very close to the small beach under the bank above which the
aringa was built. In the middle the water of the Zambesi is so deep that poles cannot be
used, nor oars because of the current; the left bank of the Zambesi, at this time, does not
allow towing. Thus it was necessary that the boats be brought very near to the beach on
the right bank, in order to enter the Ruenya, go upstream this river for a while and then
make a turn and sliding downstream with the force of the current get to the left bank of
this river before joining the Zambesi so that, very close to land, they could return to the
Zambesi free of the Euenya current".
The Cahora-Bassa rapids formed one of the numerous peculiarities of the Zambesi river
bed. They were the origin of another two more important settlements: Chicoa and Songo which
will be referred to hereinafter.
To summarize, I am sure that between Cahora-Bassa and the Zambesi delta it would be
possible to find many archaeological sites far more valuable than those of Ingombe Ilede and
other known pre-Portuguese settlements. In fact the region had simultaneously:
- denser population;
- stronger political units;
- richer gold deposits;
- higher agro-pastoral potential;
- bigger forests and better timber;
27
- larger number of pachyderms;
- more important tributaries;
- better navigability of the Zambesi;
- more numerous overseas traders;
- more accessible sea ports.
4. 1. Sea and river craft
As might be expected within the same trading coast or river, each type of ship or boat was
adequate for different purposes and natural features: sailing conditions, depth of water, strength
of currents, cargo carrying capacity, resistance to rocks and coral reefs, balance between
passangers and sailors or oarsmen. The needs were indeed distinct and accordingly there were
marked differences in the shape and size of hulls and sails. This is the only reasonable
explanation for the amazing variety of names: sambuk, pangayo, lusio, kosho, ballon, almadya,
etc. Even in modern conditions that variety is surprizing along the coast of Mozambique: lansha,
kahike, mashwa, dhaw, mitumbwi, inshow, kumpulo, kangaya, muterere, kalawa ( 17 ) .
The craft of ship building was localized due to the need to get proper timber and
competent shipwrights. The timber had to be hard and dense, very resistant to salt water
even when submerged during a long time. A.R.Moura mentions two kinds: Burkea africana
Hook, and Pterocarpus angolensis DC ( 18 ). I believe that some kinds of casuarinas were also
used. A nearby river or lagoon were also essential so that logs or heavy dug-out boats could be
floated from the forests.
As the term sambuk (zambuco) applied by the first Portuguese to sea-worthy vessels soon
fell into disuse I shall only employ the general designation of pangayo used until the present
century. It must be emphasized that stitched vessels, where no iron was used, were already sailing
in the western Indian Ocean at last six centuries before the Europeans' arrival.
According to Portuguese reports, this is the probable order of construction of the sail
boats they found when they arrived in East Africa. As saws were unknown ( 19 ) the planks were
made by splitting the logs down the middle with axes. Then each block was trimmed with adzes
until obtaining two planks. Keels, ribs and the rest of the timbers were also hand-hewnned. The
planks were fastened to the timbers with wooden treenails. Thousands of holes were carefully
hand-drilled and, through them, many miles of coir cord were passed bounding together the
whole hull. The coir was made of coconut husks submitted to a special preparation before being
28
rolled and hand-twisted. Also the cables and cordage were made of coir. The hull was caulked
with a mixture of lime and tree gum or resin. Lime and fish oil were used both to preserve the
timbers from shipworms and to maintain the resistance and flexibility of the coir. The main and
second masts supported spars where large sails were hung. At the bow there was a small jib.
What suprized most the Portuguese were the sails. They were made with palm matting
simultaneously strong, light, tighly woven, quick-drying and easy to repair and substitute.
I shall now mention a very peculiar sailboat which was used both for cabotage and in
navigating the Lower Zambesi: the luzio. The origin of this name its enigmatic. C.R.Boxer did
not find it for any Arab vessel. He suggested that the name may have had something to do with
the old Swahili port of Luziwa (which was usually written "Luzio" by the Portuguese) situated on
the mainland not far from the island of Lamu, in what is now Kenya. The nautical dictionary of
H.Leitão and J . V. Lopes - although identifying the luzio as a sail ship used in East Africa -
accentuates that its caracteristics are unknown ( 20 ). The Portuguese documents refer to luzios
which helped the castaways of the 1547, 1589 and 1623 shipwrecks. To give support to the
1571/2 expedition against the Mwuene Mupata, Francisco Barreto ordered twenty luzios to be
built in Quelimane fit for sailing upstream. According to Monclaro they were smaller than
pangayos and all sewn with coir. They had in the middle a cabin with a shelf platform above it,
where they carried clothes and other commodities ( 21 ). But the writer who made the best
description of these ships was A. Gomes. They were "sewn with coir so watertight and well built
that they did not look as they were made by kaffirs". They carried a considerable cargo. The deck
was divided into three parts: in the stern there was the helmsman and twenty four sailors. In the
prow there was a big stove to cook for the crew and passengers. In the hold there were casks,
barrels, cloth in packing cases to protect it from water. In the middle there was a double-deck
with two cabins: in one there were two small beds and space for passenger's luggage: in the other
there were two chairs and a sideboard for china, glasses, cutlery, etc. From here the sails could
easily be opperated. The luzios could also be moved by oars, long poles or to be towed from the
banks.
Fleets of twenty to thirty luzios departed from Quelimane. They took fifteen to twenty
days to arrive at Sena. The work was done slowly but regularly. Songs in chorus followed the
rhythm marked by small drums and bells, the helmsman acting as maestro ( 22 ). In the evening
the ships rested on any sandy inlet.
So intensive was the employment of local craft that records rarely mention ships
constructed according to the European technology. The best case I could trace was referred to by
Lacerda de Almeida. When passing through Chupanga on the right bank of the Zambesi he
29
visited a forest famous for the excellence of its timber for dug-outs and for planks. A brigantine
had been built and another with a fifty foot hand—hewn keel made from a giant log was under
construction ( 23 ).
4. 1. 1. Dug-Outs (almadyas. koshos. ballons)
One of the first Portuguese chroniclers who wrote about almadyas was Duarte Barbosa,
His main book was translated, annotated and edited by Mansel L. Dames who, based on Dozi's
glossary, asserts that the word derives from the Arabic al-Ma´diya and seems to have a Berber
origin. Dames also quotes one Vieyra in whose opinion it is "an Indian boat made of an entire
piece of timber", i.e. , a dug-out ( 24 ).
During the 1571/2 expedition which followed the Zambesi to conquer the core of the
Mutapa country, the almadyas were intensively used to carry messages, provisions and the sick
and even to tow bigger boats as recorded by Monclaro ( 25 ). Vasco Fernandes Homem's
expedition which he organized after the disastrous retreat of his predecessor was a remarkable
example of the almost total Portuguese dependence on local shipping. His 360 men-at-arms were
transported by pangayos from Mozambique Island to Sofala were they landed in 1574. Here the
horses died of unknown diseases. The troops were therefore forced to use navigable rivers taking
"many boats with baggage" ( 26 ) . He left on the 5th December probably across the right banks
of three rivers: Sofala (still navigable), Buzi and, finally, its affluent Revue, until the river boats
reached the cataracts. All sorts of obstacles were overcame between there and the Manyika
kingdom. Here the Spanish miners made a quick reconnaissance of the Manyika gold fields and
its practical value. Then the force returned to Sofala to embark on pangayos for Luabo. From
there they proceeded in other rivercraft to Sena. Then, in less than one year, Vasco Fernandes
Homem and his soldiers and African helpers managed: a) to row about 400 km. upstream
overcoming the difficult Lupata Gorge; b) to repair the fort and settle other defence problems in
Tete; c) to row 130 km. more and leave the boats in the Luya affluent of the left bank; d) to walk
20 km through difficult terrain by-passing the Cahora-Bassa rapids; e) to wait for a raft to be built
"sewn with coir and fastened with wooden pegs" ( 27 ) in order to disembark - if necessary by
force - in the right bank; f) to test the existence of silver fields in rugged mountains during forthy
three days; g) to return by foot to the Luya; h) to row downstream to catch the pangayos at
Luabo; i) to sail to Mozambique Island in order to hand the government to Fernando de Monroy
on 13th March 1577 ( 28 ).
At the end of the 18th century there evolved two specific adaptations of the dug-outs. The
koshos were bigger in tonnage and used mainly for transport of cargo. The rowers were seated at
30
the stern and only two were at the bow to help work the rudder and call out for the pilot in case of
any danger. They were used to carry cloth, provisions and everything perishable. There were
koshos which carried six to seven tons ( 29 ) and could thus substitute between 240 to 280
porters. The ballons had an awning, carried passengers and non-perishable cargo. The rowers
were seated along its length and used short oars. Lacerda e Almeida, who gave these details,
informs that in 1797 he and his wife embarked in one of these ballons and that it was 48 spans
long and 8,5 wide ( 30 ). Another author of the 18th century claims to have seen dug-outs which
were over 60 spans long and 10 to 15 wide (31 ) .
Each craft was under the command of a malemo ( 32 ) and a mukadamo, each with
different responsabilities.
These huge dug-outs were for centuries so important in connecting the coast with the
hinterland that they deserve to be studied on their own, in as much as eye-witnesses are numerous
( 33 ). A good example is given by João dos Santas during his overland journey in 1590 from
Sofala to the Zambesi delta. He described the felling of gigantic trees for making hallowed-out
almadyas ( 34 ). The following information collected among the Sena of the Lower Zambesi by
Schebesta in the first quarter of the present century is remarkable for its retroactive interest ( 35 ) :
"The making of canoes is very popular. There are distinguished master craftmen. The
chosen tree is first brought down by means of a great fire made in such a way that it burns inside.
The trunk is also hollowed-out by fire but in such a way as not to damage the outer layer. With
the help of axes the cavity is enlarged and smoothed. The villagers help to remove the new canoe
from the forest by knotting together long and strong lianas to a big branch attached to it in a
transverse position. Smaller branches bound at intervals on the lianas serve as handholders. The
leader stands in front of the canoe and directs the whole operation. Men positioned by the sides
put underneath round branches as thick as an arm to help roll it over the ground. Songs and the
pounding of feet mark the rhythm of pushing. Near the village women join the procession to a
place by the river, muadia, where the canoe receives the last touches. The labour ends with a big
ritual feast and collective fertility dances. The oar is short and shaped like a shovel. The handle
ends with a knob in the shape of a half moon so that it can be grasped".
31
4.2. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 73, p. 1.
2 ) Ref, 84, pp. 32-33.
3 ) Ref. 97.
4 ) Ref. 139.
5 ) Ref. 143.
6 ) Ref. 31.
7 ) Ref. 141.
8 ) Ref. 102.
9 ) Ref. 30 (see map next to the final index of this excelent report).
10 ) Ref. 50, p. 65. These Anvua were undoubtedly the Ambo (Karabonsenga) whom
G.P.Murdock included among the Lala of the Bemba Cluster (see ref. 107, p. 294).
11 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 32) p. 481.
12 ) Ref. 67, 12, pp. 136-138; 22, p. 165. During his far reaching travels North of the
Zambesi by the end of last century, the German trader Carl Wiese, settled in Tete, also
gathered information that the Luangwa was navigable five to six months a year from paralel 122
downstream to Zumbo (see ref. 148, p. 14).
13 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 32) p. 477.
14 ) Ref. 108.
15 ) Ref. 110, pp. 253 and 274.
16 ) Ref. 2.
17 ) Ref. 103.
18 ) Ref. 103, p. 21.
19 ) In the northern coast of Mozambique, saws were introduced by J.J.da Costa
Portugal during 1779/1780 (see ref. 25, p. 227).
20 ) Ref. 86, p. 332.
21 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) pp. 363.
22 ) António Gomes was the eye-witness of a tasty episode. The African sailors
catched the Portuguese menacing words shouted by a newly arrived captain furious with their
slowness. With those words someone formed instantly a motto for a inedit song which was
happily sung in chorus during the rest of the voyage. The laughing reactions included the
impacient captain.
32
23 ) Ref. 18, p. 8.
24 ) Ref. 56, p. 14, note 3.
25 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) pp. 369 and 421.
26 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 315.
27 ) Ref. 55, p. 101.
28 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) pp, 516-521.
29 ) Ref. 25, p. 162.
30 ) Ref. 18, p. 8. It is worth remarking how the author was impressed with the
formidable physical strengh and resistance of the African rowers so much so that he was in
the position of comparing them with the native rowers he knew on the brasilian hinterland
rivers.
31 ) Ref. 25, p. 360.
32 ) By the end of last century malimo was the navigator on the larger Arabian Sea
vessels, but not actually a pilot. In Mozambique the title was applied to all kinds of pilots.
33 ) For instance, to transport the military colony from Quelimane to Tete in
1860, twenty koshos and 198 rowers were needed. The bigger ones could carry 12 to 14
bales of cloth and 20 to 24 soldiers (see ref. 10, 1863, pp. 67-70). Another author who in
January, 1853, lost five days to overcome the strong current of the Lupata Gorge,
emphasized that only the koshos were strong enough to resist the collisions against the rocks
as they were towed from the banks (see ref. 10, 1863, p. 93).
34 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º) p. 252.
35 ) Ref. 136.
33
5. ANCIENT OVERLAND TRADE ROUTES
When in May, 1506, the artillery repelled the mass attack mounted by the African
warriors against the stockade built by the first Portuguese in Sofala the news spread fast and
inspired great alarm. As E.Axelson pointed out "this is the first of the decisive battles recorded in
south-east Africa. It also demonstrated the futility of any challenge by Africans against Europeans
armed with firearms; a handful of Europeans ... had the power to defeat multitudes of tribesmen
and subjugate vast areas of Africa" ( 1 ). The fame of this battle influenced no doubt the attitude
of the hinterland peoples towards the musket and the inquiries of Antonio Fernandes, the first
explorer, from January, 1511, to October, 1512 ( 2 ), He was undoubtedly received with dread and
distrust. This attitude is evident from the comments of Gaspar Veloso about the last journey from
Baro or Barwe: "... from there he came to Sofala in twenty days. He brought with him kaffirs for
the first time, who dared come with him despite the fear of us that the Moors put into them and
they brought nine hundred meticals (of gold)" (3 ). This same attitude appears in the speech made
by the "Onhaqouro" king to Fernandes in 1513: "Which king said he was very pleased to see him
and that he had heard of us, that we were men who wrought damage to the Moors who went to
trade in his lands, and asked him whether there was any truth in this" ( 4 ).
Dated the same year in which António Fernandes left for his first voyage of exploration
(1511) a letter of Capt. António de Saldanha included a passage about thirty men he left in
Mozambique Island, Fifteen among them were convicts to be "lançados", i. e. launched men to
explore the hinterland. On the margin of this letter was ordered: "To withdraw the launched men
together with the Moors of the launching. Immediately" ( 5 ). This passage proves that the
"lançados", to better perform their duty were guided by the Swahili and Mńgwana traders who
knew quite well the routes, the chiefdoms, the fairs and the gold production areas of the
hinterland. Undoubtedly Fernandes used to travel with these necessary partners. He was with
Mńgwana traders on his mission to Paramount-Chief Inhymunda ( 6 ). It is known also that in
one of his voyages to the Mutapa capital he fell ill and was treated by the "Moors" ( 7 ).
Now, beyond a doubt Fernandes spoke fluently the language of Sofala. But inland there
were many dialects which he ignored but his M"ngwana partners could understand better. Nor did
he speak the (Bo)Tonga language, very different from that of the Sofala Karanga as emphasized
by a qualified observer like Joao dos Santos, also fluent in Sofala speach ( 8 ). The
abovementioned adress made by the "Onhaqouro" king could only be translated for Fernandes by
some Mfigwana interpreter, As these (Bo)Tonga spread on the right bank of the Zambesi at least
from Sena to Tete, I am inclined to sustain that the M'ngwana gave him limited information and
34
conducted him only to those places where the presence of the feared alien was not inconvenient.
This is the only plausible explanation for the indistinct report written by Veloso with scarce data
about the fairs and the gold mining and with false, absurd and out of place details about cannibals
with "tails like sheep" who worshiped cows "and if one of them dies they eat him and bury a cow,
and the blacker a negro is the more they pay to eat hira, and they say that the meat of the white
men is more salty than that of the black men" ( 9 ). It is evident that the M'ngwana tried to
frighten Fernandes and hid from him the existence of more important fairs along the Zambesi near
the villages which the Portuguese later called Sena and Tete. On the way to the Mwene Mutapa
court they only took him to the "Ynhacouce" fair which did not have gold but instead provisions
and ivory. I will now try to give some suggestions for tracing the site of this fair.
The fact that the king of "Ynhacouce" was also "captain-in-chief" of the Mwene Mutapa
inclines me to maintain that his lands were situated in the eastmost territory of the empire. With
this prolongation he tried to reach the sea and dominate the right bank of the Zambesi. This kind
of large corridor was crossed in 1590 by João dos Santos who defined precisely the frontier
between the Mutapa and Teve kingdoms: the Tendaculo river, i. e. the present Sambaza ( 10 ).
This being the case the "Ynhacouce" fair and provincial capital visited by Fernandes may have
some connection with "Inhacoche", whose exact position I have been unable to trace but which a
18th century document defines as a "considerable settlement and the head of Gorongosa lands ..."
(11 ). In fact, about 1750 it was the headquarters of Dona Inês Gracias Cardoso that "formidable
personality" ( 12 ) owner of the huge Prazo Gorongosa among others ( 13 ). A linguistic hint may
support this eastward placing of the fair: the word sembaza applied by Veloso to qualify the
"Ynhacouce" fair is still employed in Chi-Sena, in verbal form, ku-sambadza, meaning "to trade
by journeying" (14). It is also worth tracing why and when the already mentioned 16th century
Tendaculo river changed its name to Sambazo. Anyway, the vast region limited by the Zambesi,
the Indian Ocean, the Pungwe river and its tributary Vanduzi, was very rich in big game and had
an annual rainfall between 1 000 and 1 400 mm.(15). Pachyderms were hunted down there to
obtain precious spoils for export.
Among the different places referred to by Fernandes with indication of their distances
reckoned in daily journeys only the capitals of the Mutapa and Butwa-Torwa kingdoms can be
identified archaeologicaly. This distance is now about 550 km. reckoned on modern roads. No
doubt that on foot it would be somewhat longer. This being the case, the ten days distance
indicated by Fernandes is unacceptable. It must be born in mind that the explorer was illiterate
and that much of the information he transmited to Veloso was obtained through indirect and
naturally reluctant sources. Again his verbal report should be taken caustiously.
35
Regarding the peripheral "Ynhoqua" (Inyokwa ?) kingdom some conjecture might me

made. It had most probably easy and direct access to the coastal traders and by means of cloth and
beads bought with gold it was in a favourable condition to support an armed conflict with the
Mutapa kingdom. If such easy and direct access did not exist the caravans coming from the coast
could be intercepted by the Mutapa warriors and the gold of "Ynhoqua" would serve no purpose.
Therefore I imagine "Ynhoqua" as having not only its own gold production but also a territory
accessible by the Zambesi. The basin of its tributary Angwa seems to fulfill these conditions.
According to Manuel Barreto it was one of the four richest gold producers under the name of
Ongoe (16).
From another important document we have some data on the economic geography of the
region and the planning of Fernandes' journeys. António de Saldanha wrote in 1511: " ...
(Kwama) is a very great river and ... (the traders) land a good six leagues upstream at the house of
a honoured kaffir ( 17 ), king of those lands and there pay duties and ... he gives them almadyas to
take the cloth up river. And further on there is a narrow pass (Lupata) which the almadyas cross
after they have been unloaded. When reloaded they go another twenty leagues or so, where there
is a mountainn they call Otonga and there lies a large village where it is said all the kaffir and
Moor merchants of the land gather together and where they sell and set up their markets" ( 18 ).
This large village can only be that which later was called Tete, as proposed by A. Lobato ( 19 ). It
is to be noted that the root Tonga was applied later both to the local ethnic group and to the
alluvial gold washed from the sands of the Ruenya river that passes through its territory. The
mountain referred to by Saldanha was in all probability the Caroeira which rises so imposing
south of Tete ( 20 ).
I would at this stage like to give my interpretation of the second journey of António
Fernandes to the Mwene Mutapa's court. Coming back from the hinterland in October, 1512, the
traveller found Simão Madeira installed as Captain of Sofala. Making use of information gathered
by his predecessor he gave Fernandes little time to rest. At the beginning of 1513, accompanied
by a party of M'ngwana, he was sent directly to the Zambesi river which he had not seen in his
first journey. Perhaps he had orders to visit the big settlement and fair near the Otonga mountain,
located upstream the Lupata Gorge according to the abovementioned Saldanha's letter. But the
M'ngwana did not take him there. They took him instead to another big settlement and fair also on
the right bank of the Zambesi, but downstream the Lupata Gorge, which was called "Onhaqouro"
(21). But as he also received orders to visit once again the Mutapa court he did not stop there in
spite of the local king's insistence to whom he gave, however, a musket and a slave probably
36
learned in the use of firearms. This journey took him the whole of 1513 and most of the next year.
When on 25th October, 1514, the Vice-Roy
Afonso de Albuquerque wrote from Goa to the king of Portugal he only knew that the
officials in Sofala "had received news of the man they had sent to discover that city of Mwene
Mutapa whence the gold comes. . ." ( 22 ). The visit by Fernandes to the abovementioned town of
"Onhaqouro" is known thanks to a long letter João Vaz de Almada, the factor of Sofala, wrote to
the king of Portugal on 26th June, 1516, that is, a year and a half after the explorer''s return at the
end of 1514. That return was thus taken by Almada as an incidental event as it was his bold action
during the big hurricane which fell on Sofala at the end of February. Such letter was written in a
context of evident self-assertiveness ( 23 ). Anyway, from its contents and from other documents
it is clear that the "Moors" continued very active both along the coast and in the hinterland,
managing to trade almost as usual because Portugal, dispersed through the whole Indian Ocean,
lacked the naval power to impose an efficient blockade along the south-east coast of Africa and
specially the Zambesi river.
The local of "Onhaqouro" is, by chance, easy to find. I do agree with the suggestion made
by Lobato on its proximity to the present day Tambara ( 24 ). In favour of this place I advance
some new and stronger arguments. Inhacoro was for a long time the official name of the
headquarters of the extensive Tambara administrative post and is still so called in the
Administrative Division printed in 1955 ( 25 ). According to Almada this "king lives in a city by a
big river and was a man of great lands and many people, a land where there is much money and
which lies four days journey from where they mine the gold" ( 26 ). The ancient choosing of
Inhacoro (Inyakoro) for a provincial capital and a long distance trade center is explained by the
following advantages: a) it was equidistant from the Mutapas' court, the gold producing Manyika,
the rich gold fields crossed by the Rwenya and specially its affluent Mazoe and, finally, the vast
hunting grounds of Gorongosa and Cheringoma; b) it avoided the narrow, difficult and dangerous
Lupata Gorge; c) it offered direct transport from the Middle Zambesi to Luabo and the ocean, out
of reach of the Portuguese via the old Kwakwa mouth which flowed into Quelimane.
d) it had established facilities to handle, store and trade the imported goods put on board
ship in upstream Bandar, meaning harbour in Arabic ( 27 ) . Probably the trade route between
Bandar and the northern coastal towns followed the stages proposed by R. A. Hamilton and W.
Rangeley in regard to the 1616 journey made by Bocarro from Tete to Kilwa ( 28 ). Having these
facts in mind it is not surprising that the "Onhaqouro" king had his own ships and pilots and
offered to send Fernandes on board back to Sofala ( 29 ) .
As far as the region south of Sofala is concerned, the trade network is more difficult to
37
define. For instance, because he did not agree with the hypothesis put forward by Roger Summers
and others on the navigability of the Sabi river, Francois Balsan in 1962 carried out field research
to find another ancient overland route between Sofala and the Great Zimbabwe both situated in
the same parallel. He was based on information given by old men, on the geographical traits and
on various other signs(30)
South of the Sabi river the recent archaeological study of Manyikeni gave new credit to an
alternative trade route. Capt . C. Afonso dos Santos, governor of Inhambane (1930-1934)
mentioned the existence of a "kind of an ancient itinerary marked by secular and luxuriant
tamarinds - a tree entirely alien to the local flora. This line of isolated tamarinds placed regularly
at about 25 km. intervals crosses Vilanculos coming from far North . . . and ends abruptly at
Massinga . . . Each isolated tamarind marks a daily journey. Now and then a group of tamarinds . .
. throw their shade over some ancient well or escavation of doubtful use now filled with debris.
One day in 1932 the Administrador of Massinga (F.G.Xavier de Brito) decided to put to good use
one of these wells . . . and tried to find water so scarce in the region. The natives sent down the
well cried out in distress begging to be pulled out as they were being suffocated by gases. This so
frightened the local population that they moved their homesteads". The governor ends by writting:
"Later I was at the place and saw the opening of the well in the shade of the tamarinds and
verified that none of this was due to nature. . . " ( 31 ) .
38
5. 1. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 28, p. 53.

2 ) Ref. 88, III, p. 105.
3 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 189.
4 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - IV) p. 287.
5 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 12. Translation corrected.
6 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 283.
7 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 560. In the translation into English this reference by
Afonso de Albuquerque to Fernandes' illness and his nursing by the M'ngwana was
forgotten but can be seen in the opposite page within the Portuguese text.
8 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 199.
9 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 185.
10 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 164. In one of his notes to Hugh Tracey's essay, Caetano
Montez (see ref. 155, note 1, p. 38) questions whether this "Ynhacouce" had some relation
to "Inyaoshe" where more than three centuries afterwards a gold mine was worked. This doubt is
unreasonable so much so that it is now acknowledged that the Inyaoshe mine was located a long
distance southwards the Tendaculo (i.e. Sarabazo) river in the core of the 16th century Teve
kingdom (see paragraph 7. 2. of the present paper).
11 ) Ref. 25, p. 399.
12 ) Ref. 110, p. 161.
13 ) Ref. 11 (AC - IV) p. 120.
14 ) Ref. 22, p. 184.
15 ) Ref. 141, p. 41, fig. 4. In the core of this region was created the modern
Gorongosa National Park.
16 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 3º) p. 482.
17 ) Actually he was a "Moor" called Mungualo (Mungo Ally ? ) as informed precisely
by Duarte Barbosa (see ref. 13 (DPMCA- V) p. 363.
18 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA- III) p. 15. The sense of the Portuguese text was altered
twice by the English translation: the almadyas could not have been loaded "by him"; also the
expression "he says" must be changed to "it is said".
19 ) Ref. 88, III, pp. 103-104.
20 ) J.R.Santos Junior found there in 1937 a territorial cult of special importance,
39
called dzimbagwe, where in times of calamity the surrounding population gathered during one or
two weeks, indulging in drinking and ritual dancing, making repeated prayers and offerings to the
spirits of their ancestors, both ancient and recent (see ref. 135). It is of some interest the additional
information given by this researcher about the sacred site. There was a perennial source of water
and a great tree called nćhenje. Next to it there was a smaller one know as kassikeribanda. From
the latter the modern Indian traders used to gather small branches to make, by chewing the ends,
brushes for teeth cleaning. Could it be one more exotic plant deliberately introduced ? Did the
ancient Muslims pretended to associate with the local territorial cult ?.
21 ) I follow the paleographic reading of Axelson, Tracey, Montez and Lobato. The
last and more competent one re-read Almada's letter. Only recently appeared the
spelling "Ounharouro" (see ref. 13 (DPMCA - IV) p. 287.
22 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 561.
23 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - IV) pp. 275 and 295.
24 ) Ref. 88, III, pp. 243-244.
25 ) Ref. Ref. 60.
26 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 561.
27 ) The dactiloscript of José Fernandes Junior (see ref. 6, fl. 13), in a passage
referring to the end of last century, still mentions the centuries old facilities for crossing the
Zambesi between Bandar and Tambara, alternative name for Inyakoro.
28 ) Ref. 74.
29 ) In the English translation the word "aqui" - which in the context meant "back to
Sofala" - is lacking. Everything indicates that the Inyakoro king was himself a "Moor". Moreover
it is inconceivable that an African hinterland chief should have in his service pilots capable of
taking Fernandes back to Sofala downstream the Zambesi and throughout the Indian Ocean.
30 ) Ref. 31.
31 ) Ref. 132, pp. 140-141.
40
6. THE FORMATION OF THE MUTAPA EMPIRE
Portuguese records, when compared with oral traditions and other available data,
could be used to support the following line of reasoning which is not new and offers, as far
as I can see, a sound foundation for future research.
The lineages of rulers which migrated northward closer to the Zambesi valley about
mid-15th century, already had formed a concept of state based on a stratified society, a
centralized political structure, a permanent military force, etc. The monopoly of
foreign trade and the ownership of cattle tended to be royal prerogatives.
The main objective of north and laterly eastward expansion was to control not only
the trade routes to the Zambesi valley, but also of all up and down stream trafic along the big
river, Simultaneously the rulers had in mind to increase both the gold production and their
wealth in cattle. These objectives succeeded due to: a) the choise of areas
appropriate both to human settlement and animal husbandry; b) the maintenance of a
standing army whose rank and file was possibly composed by youths of both sexes; c) the
confirmation of their sovereignty by the annual control of a basic need namely fire; d) the
establishment of provincial capitals in strategic positions for the control of overland and
river routes and the collecting of tolls on caravans and canoe flotillas; e) the settling of a
network of fairs obeying to a weekly callendar, which fostered the contacts between
the Indian Ocean merchants and the African miners, hunters and gatherers.
6. 1. The northward expansion
The modern data on soils, vegetation, physiography, tsetse distribution, mean annual
rainfall, agricultural potential for sorghum and millet throw into relief the logic choice made
by the founding rulers of the new Mutapa state ( 1 ). In fact, the geographic position of the
occupied lands made it easier to levy tolls on trade passing through the Zambesi waterway. In
addition, the Ruenya catchement area proved very rich in gold deposits. Finally, the region had a
high agro-pastoral potential. Portuguese experts who in recent times studied the Zambesi valley,
before the construction of the Cahora-Bassa dam, classified the Dande country as a "select
agricultural area". The Chidima and Tawara countries were classified alike as the largest zone in
the whole valley for livestock development. Between the river and the Mavuradonha range the
vegetation was composed mainly by tree and shrub savanna with a rain-fall presently between 600
and 800 mm. but possibly higher in ancient times. Soils were of medium to good fertility with
41
sweet pastures.
Although the distribution of tsetse fly during the 15th century is unknown, it is reasonable
to suppose that when the Mutapa state was formed, the Chidima area was free of that scourge. But
in 1862 A.Pacheco attested the existence there of tsetse infestation none the less pointing out that
formely the Dande country had been rich in cattle but that the herds had been plundered by the
"landim" invaders ( 2 ). The environment changed again in seventy years because in 1931 it was
recognized by experts that the entire right bank between the Unyani and the Ruenya was
completely free from tsetse ( 3 ) .
For all these reasons it is acceptable to conclude that the migration to new territories was
the result of an informed choice and was carried out in obedience to a somewhat planned strategy.
David Beach presented some sound arguments in support of this same perspective ( 4 ). He made
a careful evaluation of the data supplied by António Bocarro about 1635 (5 ), Pinto de Miranda
about 1766 ( 6 ), Harald von Sicard ( 7 ), D.P.Abraham ( 8 ) and some other authors. According to
him "... the name Mbire . . . appears in every case to refer either to Mbire 1 or Dande or to Mbire
II or Gore, both of them in the Mutapa state, neither of them particularly well known" ( 9 ). In a
former chapter he presented the hypothesis that a group of ruins in the Dande country must have
been more or less contemporaneous with the rise of the Mutapa state and that probably some if
not all of them were its capitals, though "no absolutely accurate link between traditions and ruins
can be made" ( 10 ).
Now, what seems to be an accurate link was found in the Dande country in Sept. /Oct.
1958 by the geographer Sales Grade while re-mapping the frontiers of Tete. He was allerted by
Velez Grilo to the possible existence of an important site, also looked for by D.P.Abraham in
July/Aug. of the same year ( 11 ). I was lucky to collect the following cornmunication from the
discoverer:
"A Portuguese trader, Almeida Melo, who kept a shop in the Unhyani (Panhame) mouth,
being fluent in the local language and married to a daughter of chief Nhanchenge (Nyanshenje),
gathered confidencial information on the existence of a nearby important tomb ( 12 ). Sales
Grade, fearing an obstrutive reaction similar to chiefs Makombe, took it upon himself to use the
stratagem of exhibiting a paper, purporting to be a testament left by a long deceased ancestor,
instructing him to visit the tomb of the first Mwene Mutapa who had had contact with the 16th
century explorer António Fernandes. From the start an official named Shawa - probably the
medium and spokesman for the royal ancestor's spirit - flaunted the most obstinate resistance.
Then Sales Grade reacted making it clear that he would not raise his camp in the chief's village,
without accomplishing the will of his ancestor. Finally Nyanshenje overruled the opposition of
42
Shawa and led Sales Grade to the village of Mepaco (near a mapped slight rise of land, altitude
444 m.) where he gave orders for a track to be opened through the bush. Some weeks later, in his
second visit, Sales Grade, driving the jeep in a south-easterly direction, reached the surroundings
of the secret place. After clearing the defensive thicket, the group arrived at a sacred tree under
which mumerous pots of old offerings could be seen. The tomb itself was surrounded by a very
solid clay wall with 300 to 400 paces in circumference. Sales Grade estimates that it may
originally have been about three meters both in height and width. At the center of the enclosure
was a tomb covered with stones. Next to it could be seen a baobab tree with green leaves as if it
was regularly watered. To his surprise over the eroded wall was aligned an impressive number of
very old firearms. He informed the attendants that the testament ordered him to remove these
firearms to be put in a safer haven. In fact he sent them to Tete and from here they were trasported
to the Historical Museum of Mozambique. There were about twenty muzzle-loaders with very
long barrels, a small bronze cannon one metter long cast in Goa (Portuguese India) with the arms
of King Manuel I (1495 - 1521), a hexagonal cast iron cannon of probable Arab origin, two pistols
of different caliber one of them of refined manufacture and having the barrel decorated with a
fleur-de-lis motif in silver, and finally, a musket of an unusual type. The barrels of the muzzle-
loaders had rusted away and only their locks, made with an alloy of tin, could be sent to the
Museum. No photos were taken. The drawings made during a second visit by the land surveyor
Guedes Campos have unfortunately not come to light. He ignores also the where-abouts of the
notes taken by Velez Grilo as mentioned in his article published ten years later ( 13 ). According
to chief Nyanshenje and all his attendants the buried personality was called Mbire Nyantekwe.
The tomb was situated undoubtedely North of parallel sixteen. Velez Grilo also collected samples
of the pottery, pieces of glass-ware and a tin spoon delivering all this material to Museum "Alvaro
de Castro". No study was made of this extraordinary find ( 14 ) .
The whole collection, specially the bigger pistol with a fleur-de-lis motif, may base the
hypothesis that the firearms were captured from Portuguese troops massacred in two different
occasions in the Chicoa area. The first slaughter occured in 1576 when Vasco Fernandes Homem,
after fourty two days in search of the silver deposits (a metal sacred to the Mutapas) left there a
garrison of two hundred men under the command of captain Antonio Cardoso de Almeida.
According to JoSo dos Santos, they were diverted, ambushed and besieged no survivors being
found ( 15 ). The second attack took place in 1807 when the Governor of Tete, Vilasboas Truao,
with most of his men, were killed by Mutapa warriors, the famous va-nyai, in the aftermath of a
thoughtless punitive expedition he decided to organize against mambo Chuofombo, who claimed
to be descendant of the ancient emperor. This violent reaction was due to the fact that Truão
ordered the burning of four royal tombs, massanzas ( 16 ).
43
Undoubtedly other records on this subject may be found. For instance, a place called
"Nhanteque" can be seen over the 312 meridian on a 1903 Portuguese map, but south of paralel
16, that is in the present territory of Zimbabwe ( 17 ). Aparently in the cartography of this place
the travellings of Carl Wiese were once more involved. Harald von Sicard detailed this possibility
because some ruins called "Inhanteco" west of the river Kadsi appear on a 1890 Portuguese map
recording the journeys of the German trader and explorer ( 18 ). But Sicard wrongly identified
Kadsi as an alternative name for river Utete. In truth the first forms part of the border line
between Zimbabwe and Mozambique where the delimitation made by paralel 16 is discontinued.
The river Utete proper is situated slightly to the south. The ruins numbered 153 and named
"Ruswingo rwa Kasekete" by Roger Summers in his 1953 occasional paper are close to the
Kadsi in lat.16 25´S, long.3° 45É. They also had a baobab tree inside. Further North the ruins
discovered by Sales Grade are in the tributary Mbire, already within Mozambique.
It is tempting to imagine that this Mbire Nyantekwe is the sepulchre of the true founder of
the Mutapa empire, the famous Matope. In 1862 Albino Pacheco collected in Chidima and Dande
areas the two ancient surnames given to Matope: Nobeza or Nhantéguè. Before dying Matope
declared that his spirit would be immortal and that he would continue to protect and look after the
welfare of his subjects in the form of a lion spirit, mphondoro. who would adress them by means
of a living medium, mvura_. The subsequent Mutapas adopted this belief in their own immortal
spirits. This tradition was confirmed in more recent times by D.P.Abraham who wrote: "(Matope)
built himself a new Zimbabwe in the country of Bedza, which lies on the Biri river, a tributary of
the Kadzi which enters the Mussengezi about 25 miles from its confluence with the Zambesi.
Matope ... was known as Nyanhehwe when he grew up. However he afterwards got the title
Ńobedza' or "Nebedza" , . . On the death of Matope who was buried at Bedsa ..." ( 19 ). The
Tawara countries conquered by Mutota and his son Matope are therefore closely associated with a
toponymy of identical origin: Dande, Chidima, Bedza, Mbire. We may add Nyantekwe to this list.
The double aspirated ´h´ of Nyanhehwe possibly underwent some sort of phonetic change as it
happened with other sounds. For instance, Guruuswa used by the Shona was transformed into
Gunuvutwa in its Tawara version.
A systematic search of Portuguese documents may help to locate more precisely this
original imperial core, For instance, the embassy lead by Francisco Rafaxo sent to the Mutapa
court by Francisco Barreto arrived in Musapa on the 17th February 1573. It set out northwards on
the 24th March and needed a whole month to reach the Mutapa capital. Only on the 28th April
was it received by the emperor. More detailed is Francisco de Sousa, in his monumental eulogy of
the Jesuists heroic deeds. He gave some helpful estimates for the relative distances in leagues:
fifty from Tete to Masapa; thirty from Tete to Cahora-Bassa; twenty five from Masapa to the
44
Mutapa court; twenty from Cahora-Bassa to this same court.
6.2. The east and southward expansion
As far as I can see the problem of the Mutapa rulers (and later on the Changamire's) tried
to solve can be found in many other land-locked states which undertook either by pacific means
or by open warfare to have access to navigable rivers and sea ports.
Matope, the second Mwene Mutapa, after reinforcing his hold over the Tawara, decided to
subjugate the Tonga and all the other ethnic groups down to the Zambesi delta. Taking afterwards
a southwestly course he also subdued the Barwe, Manyika and Teve kingdoms. The
abovementioned historian D.P. Abraham, as well as at a latter stage David Beach, reinforced the
existence of this tradition. The latter stressed that "Mbire and Mutota are also cited as places of
origin by the Tonga dynasties in the Ruenya valley immediately to the east, and there can be little
doubt that these people came from the heart of the Mutapa state, whether Mbire I or Mbire II is
meant" ( 20 ). The same historian emphasized further on that the earliest eastern migrations -those
to Barwe, the Ruenya valley, Budya, Maungwe, Inhambane area, etc. - all came from the Mutapa
state area either the plateau segment of Mu-karanga or the valley lowlands of Chidima, Mbire I
or Mungari" ( 21 ) .
In many XVI century Portuguese sources can be found clear mentions to the
aftermaths to this castmost and southmost military expansion occured on the preceding
century. For instance, the "Ynhacouce" visited by Fernandes about 1511 was captain-in-chief of
the Mutapa and had his capital in the eastmost province of the loose and declining empire. In 1560
the missionary Gonçalo da Silveira did not dare to baptize king Inhamiore, a league from Sena,
because he made it clear that he was a vassal to the Mutapa, According to Monclaro - leading
religious figure of the 1572 expedition - in Sena "there was a Moor , son of Mopango, a great lord
but vassal to the Monomutapa" ( 22 ). In 1590 when the missionary and writer João dos Santos
and a colleague went overland from Sofala to Luabo, the border between the Teve and the Mutapa
kingdoms was clearly defined by the Tendaculo river (present day Sambazo) some 140 km.south
of the Zambesi delta. From the Tendaculo to Luabo "the land was inhabited by heathen kaffirs and
Moors, both black and white, some of whom are rich, and although they are subjects to the
Monomutapa they live here almost independent, being at a great distance from the court of the
king" ( 23 ) .
45
6. 3. A standing army of both sexes ?
I think it deserves some credit the information given by Duarte Barbosa about 1518,
regarding the existence in the Mutapa state of a standing army made up of youths of both sexes
(24 ). The rapid and e.xtensive conquests lead by the first Mutapas required, obviously, the
intensive mobilization of many human resources. We know that most va-nyai were poorer youths
who had no cattle for their bride-price ( 25 ) . As it happened with many other African conquerors
(such as the last century Nguni) female slaves or prisioners of war were certainly given as reward
tc brave young fighters. It would not be surprising that the Karanga girls themselves were
mobilized during the campaigns of Matope to form auxiliary forces with the duty of transporting
and preparing food supplies and to look after sick and wounded warriors. We know that girls
were used in significant numbers by the Karanga in underground mining. Pacheco in 1862
defined the mu-nyai as a free man-at-arms at the service of the Mwene Mutapa or the Chidima
princes. He also mentioned the oral tradition according to which Matope´s Zimbabwe was
"peopled by many va-nhay of both sexes" ( 26 ) .
6. 4. The annual extinction of fires ( 27 ) .
This was another mean of imposing political dominance over the submitted peoples. The
Mwene Mutapa sent out envoys yearly to re-ignite fires that had been extinguished as a sign of
vassalage. Failure to comply with this order was considered open rebellion and elicited immediate
attack by armed forces.
6. 5. Toll-gates along the Zambesi
Based on the right bank of the Zambesi under their sovereignty a system of imposing tolls
to the traffic up and down stream seems to have been organized by the rulers of the Mutapa's
state. Apparently special advantage was taken of the Cahora-Bassa rapids and the consequent
interruption of navigability.
Portuguese records clearly informed that the riverine chiefdoms demanded heavy
tolls to the merchants who used the Zambesi for their journeys hinterland. For example,
Manuel Barreto in 1660´s knew personally a goanese trader from Sena who managed to buy in
Ambo country more than fifty bars of ivory (approx. twelve tons) with a profit of eight hundred
percent ( 28 ). Between Zumbo and Chicoa the canoes were intercepted twice and the trader
was compelled to give half of his ivory to two chief vassals of the Mwene Mutapa ( 29 ) .
46
According to Albino Pacheco the original Chicoa was located on the left bank. The ivory
and other goods for export were stored there waiting for porters who carried them overland
overpassing the Cahora- Bassa rapids where navigation was resumed. The later Chicoa was built
over the Karirira plateau with a superb range of vision and excellent conditions to serve as a toll-
gate capable of intercepting in time the loaded canoes coming fast downstream. Besides that
advantage there was also the connection with the gold producing Zezuru country and the ever—
present possibility of re-discovering the silver deposits (30 ).
The stone walled enclosure located on the Songo plateau and described by Miguel Ramos
( 31 ) was also undoubtedly connected with the Cahora-Bassa rapids existence. Everything
indicates that it was once the heaquarters of a provincial chief of the Mutapa kingdom. Not only it
could be easily defended but also it was proper for human settlement. Also the vast region to the
south, southeast and southwest of Songo to the rivers Ruenya and Mazoe was and still is
eminently favorable to cattle breeding. The plateau could also be an exceptional observation post
for quick detection and interception of boats rowing slowly upstream situated as it is about 10 km,
from the river bed. A probable sign of the ancient presence of merchants from overseas at Songo
is a big palm that Ramos suggested was a remnant of deliberately planted ancient trees of the
Hyphaene sp. (crinita?) ( 32 ).
47
6.6. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 141, fig. 2 to 8. It is worth comparing this mass migration with a similar
one composed by cattle herders which ocurred about 1839 when Soshangana-Manukusse, the
founder of the Gaza empire, moved his capital from the Chimanimani highlands southwards
to the distant Limpopo valley lowlands.
2 ) Ref. 120, pp. 39 and 52. These "landim" invaders were actually the subjects of the
migrant state under the leadership of Zwanguendaba and his Nguni warriors whose wanderings
are well known. They crossed the Zambesi in 1835 (see ref. 124) probably in Cachomba where
the Portuguese later built a fort.
3 ) Ref. 44.
4 ) Ref. 34, pp. 61-62, 84-85, 118-119.
5 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 3°) pp. 322 and 355-356.
6 ) Ref. 25, pp. 303-312.
7 ) Ref. 138.
8 ) Ref. 15, pp. 76-78.
9 ) Ref. 34, p. 286.
10 ) Ref. 34, p. 84.
11 ) Ref. 15, p. 59.
12 ) The knowledge and the writtings of Almeida Melo deserve due attention. He
was an administrative officer before settling with a small business on the mouth of the Unyani.
He gathered important oral traditions and was well read in ancient Portuguese records on the
Mwene Mutapa empire. In an article dated 25th February, 1958 (see ref. 98) he refuted with
sound evidence two well known archaeologists (R. Summers and R. Robinson) about the
occupation of Great Zimbabwe by the Mutapa dynasty as defended by them in a interview to
a Rhodesian newspaper at the end of 1957 or start of 1958. In his critique Melo clearly
supported the identification of the Mbire Nyantekwe Zimbabwe as the tomb of the famous
Matope. He stressed that:
"Kanhaya was the Mbire kingdom visited by Fernandes, in the present Zumbo
area. The mambo Nhanchenge, our neighbour, says and proves by tradition that he
is a direct descendent of the famous Mwene Matope. More than that, he knows
facts that appear in old chroniclers" (see ref. 98).
Furthermore Almeida Melo stated that is was not convenient for him to reveal an
important tomb nor the name of the king buried there in the middle of the 15th century. This may
48
be the reason why, strongly supported by chiefs Makombe and Nyanshenje, he may mislead Velez
Grilo and Simões Alberto when in September 1956 they tried unsucessfully to find the site. Only
two years afterwards did Sales Grade discovered it using the stratagem herein referred to. It
should be noted that Almeida Melo never writes Mwene Mutapa but always Mwene Matope (see
ref. 98).
13 ) Ref. 72.
14 ) Nevertheless, in the official report he presented to his department in Lisbon Sales
Grade emphasized the importance of the find (see ref. 49, p. 256).
15 ) Ref. 133, I, pp. 216-217, The Africans" reluctance to reveal the mineral deposits
may be explained by the utmost ritual value given to silver in Mwene Mutapa's court (see ref. 14
(RSEA – 3º) p. 505.
16 ) Based on primary sources, Almeida d'Eça, In his monumental history of the
Zambesian wars, dealt with the motives of this massacre (see ref. 19, I, 1st part).
17 ) Ref. 94.
18 ) Ref. 138, pp. 100/102.
19 ) Ref. 15, p. 65.
20 ) Ref. 34, p. 165.
21 ) Ref. 34, p. 179.
22 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 371.
23 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º) p. 252.
24 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - V) pp. 360-361.
25 ) Ref. 34, p. 245.
26 ) Ref. 120, pp. 23-24. The famous_Ferrão family of Sena is known to have formed
special battions os women within his contributions to the 1887/8 military campaign against the
rebels of Massangano lead by Bonga I I . This practice seems to be the origin of the nomi
labour societies studied by J . M, Schoffeleers (see ref. 137).
27 ) According to Heinz Wieschhoff this practice was maintained until modem
times in the domains of the ancient Barwe kingdom (see ref. 146).
28 ) This large cargo of ivory could only have been brought by rivercraft downstream
the tributary Luangwa. It would have been unprofitable and even impossible to recruit, feed,
shelter, discipline and pay some five hundred porters and guards necessary for the overland route.
And, moreover, to get substitute porters whenever the caravan reached the territorial boundaries
of each different chiefdom.
29 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 3º) p. 481. A report written as recently as 1860 by the
Governor of Tete mentioned the complains of several long distance traders against the payment
49
of heavy tolls to sucessive Chidima chiefs. -They stressed that their business was unprofitable
because the tolls exceeded 25% the overall expenditure (see ref. 10 (ACU - 1863) p. 89. In
his already mentioned eye-witness report of Tete military occupation, José Fernandes Jr. also
emphasized how important were to the Vicente da Cruz dinasty the toll-gates exacted at
Massangano through the end of last century (see ref. 6, pp. 36-37).
30 ) Ref. 120, pp. 13, 27 and 65. Pacheco also reported that the strategic importance of
Karirira was recognized in 1807 by the Governor of Tete, Villas Boas Truão, who was planning
its conquest when he was slaughtered with most of his soldiers.
31 ) Ref. 125.
32 ) A newspaper article published in "Notícias" (Lourenço Marques) during August
1966, mentioned the use of palm-trees of this same species planted at 5 km. intervals to mark an
old trade route between the territory of present day Zambia and the Quelimane coast,
probably one of those suggested by E. Alpers (see ref. 20, p. 123, map 5).
50
7. THE TEVE KINGDOM AND THE BANDIRE AND INYAOSHE MINES
As it happened with other great monarchies known through oral tradition,

archaeological research and written documentation (Butwa-Torwa, Mwene Mutapa, Karonga
Mozura, Changamire Rozvi, Gaza, etc.) the Teve kings - herein mentioned by their real
dynastic title, i.e. Sachiteves - often moved the site of their capital. What seems not to have
moved was the site of the royal tombs: the Mawe Mountain. The following overview was based
on records of several reliable sources from 1574 to 1922. However, in this instance I will not
repeat the details given in my "Pre-Colonial History of Mozambique" and I will concentrate
mainly on the traditional succession of the Teve royalty and on the possible Changamire
Rozvisínterference. This interference - likely extended to other easternmost political units
between the Sabi and the Pungwe Rivers - seems to have had the strategically objective of
controlling from their westernmost capital the free access and safe transit to Sofala, Chilwane,
Mambone and other ports of the Indian Ocean.
To maintain a diachronic approach and to better understand the subject I will

enlarge the time period up to the twentieth century. My line of reasoning will go as
follow: a) Mount Mawe was maintained as the site of Teve. royal tombs from the 16th to the
20th century; b) the 16th century capital I seems to have been in its neighbourhood; c) also
during the 16th century the succession was kept within the royal family under either a
son or a brother who, in the view of the king, was the more virtuous, competent and
dedicated to assure a good government; d) the ritual sacrifice of some noblemen is also
documented since the 16th century during the investiture ceremonies but with the formal
explanation that their departure was needed to serve the last king in the next world; e)
sometime during the 18th century the succession system seems to have been altered by the
Changamire Rozvis and the new kings became to be chosen by two female dignitaries
with the hereditary titles of Ngomanye and Nemaunga, both of likely Rozvi origin; f) also
during the 18th century the capital was moved first to-a site on the high-lands near the
Bandire gold mines which were discovered meanwhile and then to the lowlands of Ussema,
only three days journey from Sofala; g) during the second half of the 18th century the collective
and obstinate resistance of the lords against their ritual sacrifice is documented; h) by the first
years of the 19th century this same resistance increased due to growing disrespect for the
royal monopoly of external trade giving rise to internecine fighting and causing a deadlock in the
king's induction with the disruptive result that the throne was vacant for more than twenty
years, the royal duties being performed by one or the other of the two female dignitaries, no
51
documented reference being made to Tatte, the paramount-grandee; i) after ' the catastrophic
first Nguni invasion led by N'qaba in 1827 the Teve high-ranking men tried for several times to
enthrone a king capable of organising the defence but the meetings to perform the complex
rituals were routed without delay; j) the second Nguni invasion (c. 1836) led by
Sochangana defeated and put to flight N'qaba and his people; k) struck by an epidemic of
smallpox Sochangana, after changing his name to Manukusse, returned southwards to the
distant and fertile Limpopo valley but left his son Muzila to subdue and govern all the territory up
to the Zambezi valley, which was systematically plundered; 1) the two ancient female
dignitaries - as well as Moribane mentioned by Julião da Silva as one of the pretenders
to the Teve throne - were still honoured well within the 20th century.
The first source is the well-known campaign of Vasco Fernandes Homem and his
men-at-arms who landed in Sofala on May 1574, as already mentioned. Here they got
dugout canoes which took them upstream the Rivers Buzi and Revwe until the cataracts existing
in longitude 33° 30' E (1). Here they occupied and enlarged the local village of Bandamutakwa.
Before leaving on 7th July 1575, they set fire to the whole place. Homem also ordered the
destruction of the river craft to cut the eventual intention of his soldiers to retreat. During the
straight route towards the Manyika mines the expedition was systematically ambushed by
the Teve warriors and finally it found them prepared for pitched battle on a hill called
Citabotonga. Here they were easily put to fight by firearms (2). Soon afterwards the royal
capital or Zimbabwe was occupied and the Teve warriors were once again routed. Homem
wrote: "I set the whole town aflame and then the houses and some outlying places" (3).
In the face of all these data I think that the expedition proceeded directly in a
northwestern direction along the right bank of the Revwe. Obviously the M'ngwana
guides brought from Sofala knew that this river would take the Portuguese to the core of
the Manyika kingdom as it did in fact. The Teve capital might have been therefore in any of
the numerous hills of the double range which spreads in the South-North direction, the nearest
to Revwe being the sacred one: Mawe. Its site is approximately 33° 9' E; 19° 15' S.
By his geographical proximity, by the overall truthfulness of his data and by his
knowledge of the local language, it is impressive what the missionary João dos Santos wrote
about the Teve kingdom based on information collected during his stay in Sofala between 15S7
and 1590. I will quote only two passages about the male and valid population of the capital and
the annual rites held on the sacred mountain ( 4 ) :
"Quiteve is accustomed to hold certain royal hunting parties, taking with him all
the men of the city on which he dwells, who are three to four thousand, a little
52
more or less".
Accompanied by many people both from his capital and those he called from other parts
of the kingdom "every year in the month of September when the New Moon appears, the
Sachiteve ascends to a very high mountain situated near the city called Zimbaoe (Zimbawe) on
which he dwells, on the summit of which he performs grand obsequies for the kings, his
predecessors, who are all buried there" ( 5 ).
About 1698 Philipe de Assumpção who lived for fourteen years between Sofala and the
Zambesi river reported that the zimbawe of the Teve kings was three days journey from Manica
and seven days from Sofala ( 6 ) .
Half way through 1796 the governor of Sofala, Eeis e Gama, wrote an interesting ethno-
historical account. He emphasized the fact that Mount Mawe served as the burial place for
the Sachiteves. The body was left to decompose and when withered, was wrapped in a white
indian cloth and the black skin of an ox. The funeral procession ( 7 ) could last from two to three
years until it reached Mount Mawe where some members of the aristocracy were sacrified. About
the two important noble women belonging to the Teve kingship structure he added: "Quiteve is
not hereditary and only that of "Ningomanhe" and "Nemaunga" the latter the Queen the former
the Empress; in other kingdoms the name of the king is hereditary and that of the Queens is not"
(8).
Francisco Henriques Ferrão wrote in the 1820´s: "The court (of Quiteve) was at Ussema
formerly, which is three day´s journey from Sofala, and the Zimbawe is still kept there. The
last king called Fica, died in 1803, since when the kingdom has been without a ruler ...
Ningomanhe is the title given to the first wife, who must be of royal descent, as also the second,
who is styled Nemaunga. Both have their Zamboe (Zimbawe) at Hhanganhé (Hanganyeh) which
is in High Quiteve, three clays journey from Ussema and seven from Sofala" (9 ). The author
introduces, however, a new detail which causes some confusion. He says: "There are three noted
mountains in Quiteve which are Magomo ( 10 ) where is the burial place of the kings "and Queens
of Quiteve (and the others) Gembe and Dombo . . . The queen of Quiteve names the person whom
is to accompany the remains of the deceased king to Magomo, who is looked upon as the sucessor
... (he) approaches, and makes a visit to the cave to see the bones of the former kings ..." ( 11 ).
Thus F. H. Ferrão's report together with Reis e Gama's make me believe that in the
beginning of the 18th century the Teve court could have been moved to the south-east, closer to
Sofala. This change may have been caused by the eastward extension of the Rozvi´s influence or
by the attack launched in 1702 by Moraes Sarmento, governor of Sena, against king Sakakato
( 12 ).
53
Later, in 1884, Paiva de Andrada crossed the Pungwe river and entered the kingdom of
Uteve "as it is pronouced there". He heard about the queens "Mahongo" and "Gomani". He called
on only the first who lived nearer to his route. Her village was probably near Mount Manzoro,
altitude 761 m., southwest of Mount Zembe (33º 20É; 19º 19´S). She nominally possessed vast
territories but she was, like most of the kingdom, reduced to extreme poverty due to the constant
extorsions made by the Gaza empire warriors. On his way to the court of Gungunhane
(Ngungunyane) he crossed the Zauve lands ruled by Paramount-Chief Murinane (i.e. Moribane).
The Inyarumirwa rocks which interrupted the navigation of the Revwe were less than two hours
downstream the Moribane capital. The ancient gold mines of Bandire were located at one and half
day's march ( 13 ).
In 1891 the members of Renato Baptista´s expedition slept at the headquarters of chief
Zixixe and marched to the foot of Xicara Mountains and soon after to Mount Mawe where the
"notables of Moribane hold meetings when a new chief is to be chosen and it is at this same place
where the chiefs are buried" ( 14 ).
Moribane, who was not visited, lived near Mount Inyaurombe and the important
"Gomani" queen was visited near either Mount Dutungwe or Mount Nyauranga (33º 40É;
19°13'S).
The oral traditions gathered by Bivar Pinto Lopes in 1922 are a fine example of the
historical distortions, frequent in Africa, made by conquerors pretending to justify by their global
superiority and higher tecnology the subjection of conquered peoples. Thus, the invaders, coming
from Urodzi or Umbiri, claimed to be superior in inteligence to the natives of (Ma)Teve origin
who lived like brutes, having no notion of government, wearing tree bark, ignoring agriculture
and eating only what they hunted and gathered. The Rozvi brought in seeds and taught them to till
the land. The Teve people offered his submission peacefully and willingly. It would have been
Changamire himself who sent his grandson Mecio to take possession of the easternmost new
dominions. This Mecio settled down in Moribane, at the place called Mawe and assumed the title
of Sachiteve. Queen Ingomani was his sister. To other relatives Changamire gave the government
of Makaya, Madanda, Buzi and Cheringoma.
Although he mentions that they had the right to special funerary ceremonies, Pinto Lopes
does not indicate the name of the mountain were Paramount-Chiefs Moribane and Zixixe were
buried. The choice of any new Moribane and Ingomani was surrounded by complex rituals ( 15 ).
54
7. 1. The Bandire mines and fair
With the sole exception of Manyika, all the Portuguese settlements on the plateau were
never re-established after their destruction or evacuation due to the hostilities opened by the
famous Changamire Dombo. These abandoned sites enabled the archaeologists to use the method
"dating by association" mainly based on the study of imported ceramics. The importance of this
method derives from the fact that most of the recoverable overseas imports are beads and these are
of limited value for dating purposes because they often maintain for centuries the same colour,
shape and style. Furthermore, 18th century places are too recent to be dated by the carbon-14
method ( 16 ) .
For these and other reasons I will concentrate ray attention on the fair and mines of
Bandire. As far as those of Manyika are concerned sufficient data from H.H.K.Bhila´s writings
based on sound Portuguese documents can be obtained.
It is Bhila precisely who emphasized the existence of a fair at Bandire since 1580, this
date being presented by Sousa Monteiro in his geographic dictionary ( 17 ). Giving no further
precise dates, Monteiro asserts that the fair was controlled by the Teve rulers through a local
chief, adressed as inyamassango, to whom the captain of Sofala was required to pay an annual and
highly symbolic tribute in the form of a "long tunic, a piece of cloth, a cap, a hood, a
handkerchief, all in red, and also a rod and a walking stick in this same colour, as a sign that all
his lands were of gold" ( 18 ).
The abovementioned date is however disputable for the beginning of gold extraction.
Homem, Santos, Rezende, Gomes and Conceição did not refer to the existence of this metal in the
Teve kingdom. Homem reported after his 1575 campaign: "Although Your) Magesty was
informed that this king of Quiteve has mines in his lands it is now understood that this is not the
case" ( 19 ). More precise is Manuel Barreto when he wrote, about 1667: "In the lands of Maravi,
in ours and in the old empire of Quiteve not a grain (of gold) is to be found" ( 20 ) .
However, at the end of the 17th century it became known that gold was found in the Teve
kingdom according to Filipe de Assumpção ( 21 ). This is confirmed by Pedro Coelho de
Carvalho's report written in Sofala at the beginning of August, 1698, in which two places are
mentioned where gold was mined, one at five and the other at eight days journey. It seems more
probable, nevertheless, that at this time the only gold found was from alluvial deposits ( 22 ) .
I am more inclined to believe that mining itself started at the beginning of the 18th century
after euro, indo and afro-Portuguese had been ousted from and even forbidden to enter the
plateau. These men started looking for new sources of gold both North of the Zambesi and the
55
eastern fringes of the plateau where the attitude of the Rozvi kings regarding aliens was perhaps
more friendly. Probably a systematic prospecting for gold started only after the campaign of 1702
strongly supported by the traders of Manyika ( 23 ). Already well within the 18th century both
Caetano Xavier (24 ) and the anonymous writter of the memoirs dated 1762 extolled the gold
obtained in the Teve kingdom. The last mentioned author is very precise as to its quantity and
quality: "The great kingdom of Quiteve . . , produces much ivory and the best gold which up to
now has been discovered in the mines of Africa, exceeds by its excelent quality ten and twelve per
cent (in value) of all that reaches India". The annual export through Sofala amounted to fifty
´pastas´, that is, little more than twenty five kilos ( 25 ). Unfortunately the governor-general
Pereira do Lago reporting in 1768 recognized the disastrous break in production due to political
insecurity and internecine fighting ( 26 ) . The fair was abandonned in 1774 after being attacked
and looted by Teve warriors with orders to execute a Portuguese trader who have induced to
commit adultery one of the wives of the reigning Sachiteve .( 27 ) .
Francisco Ferrão, writing during the decade 1820´s also confirmed the excelence of the
Te've gold and the interruption of the workings due to insecurity and civil wars. He, himself, was
entrusted with the commission of requesting the territory to be restored to the Portuguese Crown.
This request was accepted by the queens Ningomanye and Nemaunga, who governed the kingdom
on the demise of the king. But no alien merchant seemed to be interested (28).
After 1820 the Nguni invader N´qaba and his warriors devastated the old kingdom and
supressed the Portuguese presence between the Sabi and the Pungwe. However the fame of
Bandire was maintained until the end of the 19th century ( 29 ).
The paper published in 1946 by Pires de Carvalho, mining engineer in Manyika, reports
the discovery of ancient shafts in the Xiluma hills of Bandire. Their inside was enlarged in the
form of a baloon. The depth varied between three to four matters. On the surface the diameter of
the openning was about one and a half meter ( 30 ) .
The territory of Bandire is crossed by the Muchinga river, a tributary of the Revwe and is
therefore to the east of the Mucuta Mountains and the north-east of the present headquarters of
theMavita Administrative Post, most certainly in the area where four mining sites are marked.
7. 2. The Inyaoshe mine
Baptista reported that this gold mine began to be worked by African prospectors about
1794 ( 31 ). In September 1827 the diggings were visited by a commission of several settlers and
officials from Sofala, including the governor himself, all of them planning to form a company for
56
developing the production ( 32 ) .
The best information to locate this site in given by Paiva de Andrada ( 33 ). It should be
close to Mount Xiluvo, five km, to the east of meridian 34º over the Beira railway line.
57
7.3. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 28, p. 161.

2 ) Contrary to what has been suggested, the "Citabotonga" of the 16th century did
not correspond to the modern Sitatonga range which is more to the South, between
the Euzi and its tributary Lucite,
3 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 456.
4 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 7º) p. 208.
5 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 7º) p. 196.
6 ) Ref. 6, p. 38.
7 ) ----
8 ) Ref. 85, pp. 19-20.
9 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º) p. 378.
10 ) According to the short vocabulary collected around Sofala in 1891 by an officer of
Renato Baptlsta´s expedition, magomo means "mount" (see ref . 30, p. 28). This is confirmed by
Hannan's Shona dictionary (see ref. 75, p. 191). Perhaps the sacred character given to Mawe
raised it to the status of THE MOUNT par excelence.
11 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º) p. 381-382.
12 ) Ref. 8
13 ) Ref. 23, pp. 15 e 17.
14 ) Ref. 30, p. 56.
15 ) Ref. 91, pp. 3, 44, 47.
16 ) Ref. 105, p. 385.
17 ) Ref. 101, pp. 139-140.
18 ) Bhila's translation contains several errors and omissions and it is therefore
corrected (see ref. 35, p. 81).
19 ) Ref. 55, p. 100
20 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 3º) p. 469.
21 ) Ref. 4, p. 38.
22 ) Ref. 5
23 ) Ref. 131, p. 103.
24 ) Ref. 25, p, 115.
25 ) Ref. 25, pp. 206 and 219.
26 ) Ref. 25, p. 323.
58
27 ) Ref. 101, p. 139.

28 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 7º) p. 381.
29 ) Ref. 30, p. 14.
30 ) Ref. 45, p. 24.
31 ) Ref. 30, p. 15.
32 ) Ref, 10 (ACU - 1861) pp. 193-196. I strongly suggest to historians and
anthropologists the careful study of this report. The long formalities and complex
rituals and cerimonies needed to be fulfilled while crossing the tribal boundaries
deserve special attention.
33 ) Ref. 23, p. 15.
59
8. THE EASTWARD EXTENSION OF ROZVI INFLUENCE
Heinz Wieschhoff ( 4 ) , Santas Juniór ( 2 ) , Pires de Carvalho (3 ), C. von Oidtman (4 )

and Roza de Oliveira (5 ), ( 6 ) , ( 7 ), (8), (9 ), (10 ) are the authors who first described the stone-
walled enclosures spreading along the highlands between the Zambesi and Sabi rivers. The reports
and findings of these authors will not be summarized herein. Their pioneering efforts could not
unfortunately be done with the care and depth required in modern scientific archaeology. Be that
as it may their writtings appear in the bibliography and ought to be carefully studied before the
start of more precise research.
From the data gathered by them it is easy to conclude that the Rozvi mambos were
responsible for the building of those enclosures. I agree readily with Roza de Oliveira when he
emphasizes the political and religious power of this ruling minority markedly distinct from their
local subjects. The rulers demanded different kinds of tribute such as labour, cattle, produce,
ivory, metals, manufactured goods and even imported ones. They were the mupeta wa mambo
referred to by S.I. Mudenge. According to him it is unlikely that the Rozvi have carried out a true
military conquest of the eastern territories. If this had taken place, numerous references would be
found in Portuguese documentation as it is the case with the Rozvi well known offensive against
the northernmost fairs of the plateau. As far as I can see this Mudenge's perspective is broadly
acceptable. More than once he accentuates that the Rozvi kings gave strong military support to the
remaining Portuguese fairs of Zumbo and Manyika. They were ready even to dispatch
expeditionary forces to regions well beyond its territorial boundaries with the clear objective of
maintainig peaceful transit conditions favourable to Rozvi external trade and political interests
(11 ).
There is no doubt that the victories of the Changamire´s Rozvi warriors made the deepest
impression among the peoples with whom they were ethnicaly and linguisticaly related, at present
known as Shona and to whom the Portuguese called "Mucaranga". That strong impression by
itself can explain the great prestige attained by the victorious Rozvi leaders even in the outlying
kingdoms of Teve, Barwe and Danda. As emphasized in the anonymous memoir on Manyika,
"Changamire became yet more feared and respected than the Manomutapa himself, in such a way
that the kings of the more remote regions showed him supreme obedience" ( 12 ). Changamire
was still an honorific title applied to important chiefs among the Rupire mambos two centuries
after the abovementioned events ( 13 ).
It seems justified then the inclusion of the Teve among the groups David Beach classified
as "Eastern Shona". There is also sufficient evidence to place both the Barwe and the Danda
60
within the "Rozvi zone of influence" proposed by him ( 14 ).
Two main reasons may have inclined the Rozvi to impose some form of sovereignty over
the eastern lands. The first relates to the search for favourable cattle breeding areas, with good
pasture, high rainfall, mild temperature, healthy environment, less virulent tropical diseases, etc.
The second was concerned with the efective control of trade routes to the coast and the Zambesi
valley.
It is generally accepted that among the Rozvi the real economic basis was composed
by cattle. It was not only a source of food but also a means of accumulating wealth and
attaining power and prestige. Mudenge dedicates some pages to this subject and mentions
reliable Portuguese records on the abundance of livestock in Butwa and specially the utmost
importance given to cattle by the Rozvi ( 15 ).
In that respect it is worth mentioning that the Chimanimani range have an mean annual
rainfall of 2 000 to 1 600 mm. (16 ). It is sorrounded by a vaster area with 1 400 mm. which
starts at Spungabera and ends at Mount Zwira. Another still more extensive area had 1 200 mm.
and included the southern Sitatonga Mountain and a prolongation to the northeast. The trade
route Mavita-Zembe-Gandola was operated herein. Roza de Oliveira often overflew this rugged
and beautiful region and confirmed the existence of numerous and unknown ruins ( 17 ) .
North of. the Pungwe river, more precisely in the renowned Choa mountain, belonging
to the Barwe country, the Nyamara stone-walled enclosure was built in the core of a zone
with exceptional rainfall (2 000 - 1 400 mm. ) and high cattle breeding potential ( 18 ).
As far as the control of trade routes was concerned, some reliable evidence can be
found. Santos Jr. studied in Mavita a Rozvi rock-cult with a tomb under an oblique and gigantic
granite monolith with anthropomorphic paintings, called Dombo-ra-Orozui, In important
religious meetings, held during great calamities, either the royal spirits or the High-God
Mweri were evoked (19 ). At a day march to the north-east of Mavita some important
sites were found on Zembe Mountain. One of probable special significance is the rock
painting representing an ox, found by Oliveira in Mount Marobsi. He rightly emphasized the
reverential attitude maintained by the porters who clapped their hands in a special manner
evoking the Rozvi spirits ( 20 ). In the opinion of C.von Oidtman, a nearby trade route was
marked regularly by Borassus palm trees. Mavita, Zembe, Gondola and other places were
some of its rest-stations (21 ). Pires de Carvalho reported the finding nearby of silver and
soapstone pipes for smoking cannabis ( 22 ).
At this point I suggest that direct connections existed between the distant Rozvi kingdom
61
and the Zambesi river. This last mentioned trade route would turn to the North after Gondola, by-
passing the western slopes of Gorongosa Mountain, crossing the Barwe country ( 23 ) and taking
rivercraft in the old Inyakoro port. Thereafter it was possible to go downstream and reach any of
the Zambesi mouths in a matter of days.
The enclosures at mounts Nyamara ( 24 ) and Bunga ( 25 ) seem to have been well
defended rest-stations of another alternative route which followed the ridges of the range parallel
to the Gairezi river, tributary of the Ruenya. Before these two rivers met the route would turn to
the northeast and follow the valley of the Mwira until reaching the abovementioned port of
Inhakoro.
It may be that part of this route was the work of the M'ngwana who settled strategically in
Barwe ( 26 ) and Maungwe ( 27 ) . A sound evidence is given by a bronze scale beam found in
1930 by Wieschhoff during his three months escavations in Nyamara ( 28 ). He pointed out that
"the place had a "wide view over the plain; the Gorongosa mountain some eighty miles to the East
could be seen clearly". Only an old and instituted form of deep relationship can explain the
attitude of utmost reverence and the ritual prayers adressed to the spirit of Changamire by his
guide and informant, Shungano. They had met near M´toko in the northern part of Rhodesia, and
Shungano claimed he was a descendant of the last Barwe royal house ( 29 ). More recently Rudolf
Gerharz published an explanatory paper based on Wieschhoff's field notes ( 30 ).
I am inclined to accept the hypothesis of oxen being used by the Rozvi in the route which
followed this mountain ridge. Monclaro gave clear information on the fact that the distant Butwa
kingdom supplied much cattle not only for slaughter but also to draw twenty five wagons
belonging to the 1571/2 expedition which tried vainly to conquer the Mwene Mutapa kingdom.
They were huge and docile animals ( 31 ). The report about Manyika written in the last quarter of
the 18th century mentioned the use of cattle for packing and riding ( 32 ).
Regarding the southern vast region, both oral traditions, written documents and
anthropological and linguistic data, agree that Butwa and Rozvi influence spread at least to the
Danda kingdom between the Buzi and Sabi rivers. It is claimed that "in 1600 the Muslims were
forbidden entry to the Zambesi area, whereupon they made increasing use of the alternative Sabi
river route to the interior and maintained contact with Butwa" ( 33 ).
In my pre-colonial history of Mozambique I emphasized the close relationship amongst

the 16th century king Inyamunda, the old kingdom of Danda, the southmost extension of Rozvi
influence and the modern Paramount-Chief Mecupe ( 34 ). I was based on four authors who
independently collected data from reliable local sources: Bivar Pinto Lopes (1922), Gunther
Spannaus (1931/2), Philippe Junod (1933) and R.W.Dickinson (1971). It is worth mentioning that
62
here the traditional rulers often belong to the nkomo clan, connected with the heart, entrails and
blood of oxen. On the other hand the clans of the ancient subject population are related to wild
animals.
It is possible that in this area archaeological evidence of trade contacts between hinterland
peoples and the overseas settlements on Chiluane Island, Old Mambone, Bwanye (i.e.Sofala) and
even the Bazaruto archipelago, may be found. Both Lereno Barradas ( 35 ) and R. W. Dickinson
( 36 ) presented some clues concerning the ancient settlement of Mambone.
63
8.1. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 147.
2 ) Ref. 134.
3 ) Ref. 45.
4 ) Ref. 113.
5 ) Ref. 7.
6 ) Ref. 115.
7 ) Ref. 116.
8 ) Ref. 117.
9 ) Ref. 118.
10 ) Ref. 119.
11 ) Ref. 106, pp. 380-391.
12 ) Ref. 3.
13 ) Ref. 24, p. 21.
14 ) Ref. 34, pp. 333-335.
15 ) Ref. 106, pp. 338-390.
16 ) Ref. 26, p. 23.
17 ) Ref. 7, p. 47.
18 ) During a 1942 stay on the summit of Choa mountain I remarked that the cattle
left by (or stolen to) some Afrikaner families who have settled there in the beginning of the
century thrived so strikingly both in quantity and quality that caused real admiration to all
visitors.
19 ) Ref. 134. David Beach deals at lengh with the presumed association between
the Rozvi and the High-God Mwari (see ref. 34, pp. 247-254).
20 ) Ref. 115.
21 ) Ref. 113.
22 ) Ref. 45, pp. 34 and 70.
23 ) The Barwe kingdom, although allied to the Rozvi, maintained its independence
during most of the 18th century and even extended its territory up to the Ruenya river,
possibly collecting tolls from other caravans (see ref. 130, p. 144),
24 ) Ref. 117.
25 ) Ref. 118.
26 ) Ref. 85, pp. 29-30.
64
27 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 3º) p. 487.

28 ) Ref. 147. Wieschhoff recalled that balances of this type were used at Egypt and
the Middle East and that "they are found wherever Arabs or Indians travel and trade" (p. 55).
29 ) Ref. 147, p. 43.
30 ) Ref. 153. For comparative purposes Gerharz presented two different plans of the
Nyamara enclosure. The first one was given by Wieschhoff in his 1941 paper. The second one
can be seen in the Maputo Natural History Museum and it is subscribed by V. Ries with the title
"Grudiss des Niamara". Again according to Gerharz the archaeological material offered by
Wieschhoff to a Berlin museum disappeared during the last World War. Therefore only some
remaining artifacts can still be found in the Maputo Museum.
31 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VII) p. 379 and 397. Apparently that impressive distance
could be easily overcome. It is worth mentioning that, during the colonial period, herds of
cattle were bought in Chikwarakwara to be slaughtered in the capital. Each herd took only
fifteen days, in good whether conditions, to march about 600 km. along the left bank of the
Limpopo river up to the Guijah railway station. The cattle was lead by young herders mounted
in specially trained bulls which set the speed (personnal communication from Arlindo Malosso).
Be it as it may a route following the mountain ridges between the highlands and the Zambesi
valley is practicable. In the beggining of the present century the Afrikaner settlers of Mount
Choa used it to operate an ox-cart liaison between Tete and Beira.
32 ) Ref. 3.
33 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - IX) p. 171.
34 ) Ref. 130, pp. 76, 77 and 113.
35 ) Ref. 32.
36 ) Ref. 58.
65
9. SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN ALIEN SETTLEMENTS
As far as I know F. Lopes de Castanheda´s description of a "moorish" village is the oldest

and most complete existing in Portuguese records. Referring to Sofala he informed: "The king's
dwellings were located by the river next to a village called Sangoe, with about one thousand
inhabitants, among them many traders. These houses were big and storeyed, the walls were of
lattice covered with clay, and so smoth as they were made with planks. The floor was of mortar
and the roof was made of palm leaves. Within doors they had many roofless inner court-yards
encircled by groves of trees. The houses were surrounded by thorn bushes very leafy to make
them strong ( 1 ) .
The poligamous marriage and the social organization based on large pratriarchal clans, the
kabila (2 ) - true economic and judicial organic units - may explain the existence of villages where
between four hundred and one thousand neighbours lived. These villages were clearly distinct in
lay-out from the traditional African homesteads. Diogo de Alcaçova in 1506 wrote on this matter:
"The king of Sofala, Sire, was a Moor and all. the men in Sofala are Moors, some kaffirs live
around them but not amongst them" (3 ). The inhabitants of these semi-urbanized settlements
must have had plantations, orchards, kitchen-gardens, tilled fields, herds and floks, granaries,
warehousds, etc, in order to be independent as far as food was concerned. After the definite
instalation of the Portuguese in Sofala the situation might have changed as João das Santos
conveyed in the 1580's: " ... These Moors of Sofala live scattered in the palm-groves around the
fortress, which are like farms in Portugal and are sometimes almost a league distant from each
other" ( 4 ). For this purpose they needed a sufficient number of slaves. As I have already stressed,
the report on the attack on Mombasa by Francisco de Almeida recounts that the Moors "were
defended by not less than five hundred bowmen all of them Negro slaves of the white men, their
captivity being more than a matter of obedience than subjection like those of Kilwa (5 ). M.Newit
interprets these situation in a way I think appropriate and which can be applied to both
colonizations of Muslim roots and of Christan roots: " ... slavery was a common practice in the
area and had been so before the Portuguese arrived ... (It was) a form of clientship familiar in
most other African societies ... It was a way of creating an artificial "family" unit when blood
kinship has proved itself an inadequate form of protection and support in times of difficulty. Even
before the arrival of the Portuguese ... the Zambesi settlements evolved a unique set of
relationships, rich in their own traditions an values" ( 6 ). Be it as it may the housing of these
numerous slaves must have been an important part of any alien settlement.
Monclaro reports that along the Lower Zambesi banks, not far from Sena, there were
66
settlements of "rich, honoured and turbaned Moors" (7 ). Among them was certainly the one
mentioned by Diogo do Couto who had forty relatives and pages and more than five hundred
slaves" ( 8 ). Antonio Gomes in the 1620's also referred to the existence in Luabo of a community
of "Moors", rich, educated and literate in Arabic. One of them also had around five hundred
slaves ( 9 ) .
However, I did not find records mentioning "Moor" settlements surrounded by stockades.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese fortifications were not needed because the relationship
maintained with the African population was a peaceful and cooperative one. Afterwards the
"Moors" did not dare to build stockades either, as it might have been interpreted as a challange
and been destroyed by artillery.
Regarding the habitat of the euro, indo and afro-Portuguese it must be born in mind that
their relationship with the African communities was based more in force than in co-operation.
The monopoly and intensive use of firearms, including artillery, fostered an entirely different
type of territorial occupation. Here is the description of Manuel Barreto in the 1660's about
Quelimane: "It (the chuambo) consists of a strong palisade of large stakes so close together as
almost to form a wall ...". And in the following pages he gave some details:" . . . as the
chuambo fortification is so easy, each inhabitant surrounds his house and garden with it, so that
every house is like a fortress, and only the straw huts of the Kaffirs suffered (with the
previous attack launched by the Maravi warriors) which (huts) were outside the chuambo, and
those who did not take refuge within in time". Regarding Sena he remarked: "... but the town has
no fort whatever except the mud walls by which each house is converted into as good a fort as if it
where a chuambo. especially if the walls have hoop holes opening inwards, of which little care is
taken, because Sena has never been attacked by any enemy whatever" ( 10 ),
At the end of the 17th century Antonio da Conceição found the same type of habitat far
inland in the Manyika highlands. The settlers were dispersed far from each other which made
impassible any defensive action in case of attack. Also the religious assistance became very
difficult. The efforts to concentrate them into a village failed. As an excuse they claimed that
living far from each other decreased the chances of conflict. However, outsiders remarked that the
real reason was different: they intended, stealthily, to obtain information from Africans working
to rival settlers ( 11 ),
About 1778, when J.B.Montaury wrote his report, the twenty richest Indian and european
settlers of Quelimane maintained the same type of habitat. They lived in large states defended by
stockades, sorrounded by tilled fields and spread out at random without defined roads. Nearby
there were several African villages ( 12 ).
67
As emphasized by A.Lobato, in the 18th century Crown Lands known as "Prazos" was
developed what may be called the "Zambesian house" described in detail by F. de Melo e Castro
( 13 ), It included the vast house of the master, the stores, the kitchens, the barns, the workshops,
the gardens, the households for the. guards, domestic servants and specialized slaves. The
compound occupied a large area surrounded by a strong stockade with watchtowers. The whole
was built on high ground near a river or its tributary. It was easy to defend for its access was
difficult. Big trees were planted a short distance from the stockade as a shield against bush fires.
The settler with at least five hundred people under his direct command was considered a powerful
man. It was the luane or chuambo. which later evolved into the aringa.
68
9.1. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 46, p. 232.

2 ) J.G.Cota, during his 1940 field research on customary law, still found the kabila
as an organic unit in some places of the northern coast of Mozambique. In the Tungue
district alone he collected the surnames of thirty two kabilas as well as the names of
their founders. The kabila corresponds more or less to the notion of "clan" in social
anthopology: big families made up of all agnatic descendants of a patriarch who had
over them almost absolute power. Their own defense was organized with no help from
strangers. The chief, n´ze, had judicial authority and the ownership of all the kabila´s
property (see ref. 53, pp. 90-91).
3 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 397.

4 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 7º) p. 222.
5 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - I) p. 533.
6 ) Ref. 110, pp. 189, 191, 203,
7 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 395.
8 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 277. The translation was corrected. In the 16th
century "criado" did not mean "servant". "Criado" comes from the verb "criar", bring
up. Actually it meant "young man who was brought up and educated by his master or
protector " (see ref. 51, p. 330). The English "page" corresponds more to that old
and formalized status of "criado".
9 ) Ref. 70, pp. 176-177.

10 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 3º) pp. . 469-470-472.
11 ) Ref. 50, p. 45.
12 ) Ref. 25, p. 355.
13 ) Ref. 89, pp. 160-162.
69
10. GOLD. IRON AND COPPER.
10. 1. ESTIMATED PRODUCTION OF GOLD
Roger Summers published in 1969 his well known estimates of gold production available
for trade. He gave the following explanation after emphasizing that production was at its height
between the 9th and 13th centuries: "Using the hypothetical prospecting plan and applying to it
the chronology ... assuming an overall production of 22,000,000 oz. of which 2,000,000 are
eluvial and the remainder mined gold and bearing in mind the very small amounts secured by the
Portuguese in the 16th and 17th. centuries. the production diagram has been constructed ... (it) is,
of course, hypothetical but it does accord with the geological and mining probabilities first of all
and, in its last three centuries, with Portuguese records and with the archaeological record of
Rhodesia's ruined towns ... It is suggested that once the gold trade got under way anything from
20,000 to 30,000 oz. of gold was flowing (annually) out of Rhodesia, through the Arab and Indian
merchants. . ." ( 1 ).
Also based on the study of about four thousand mines, their dimensions, the width of the
reef mined, the tonnage extracted and the value of the ore removed, I.R.Phimister published in
1976 an alternative histogram based on different arguments and current archaeological research.
He suggested that the total gold available for trade and internal consumption would, at best, have
been between seven and nine million ounces, with the peak of production between the 12th and
15th centuries ( 2 ) .
I shall here attempt to make a comparison between the estimates of these two
archaeologists and the data found in Portuguese records of the 16th and 17th centuries on the
amount of gold legally exported and of the profits in gold amassed by the governors. On this as on
many other matters it is necessary to gather and study systematically the available data including
the wealth in gold left by high officials, missionaries, merchants and landlords which were object
of inventories due to sudden deaths. Having in mind the limited scope of this paper it will be
enough to mention only a few of the reliable witnesses.
The first is once more João dos Santos who in July, 1591, wrote: " We remained in this
port (Quelimane) seven days and then embarked in one of four pangayos sent thither by the
Captain of Mozambique in which was a chest containing a hundred thousand cruzados ( 3 ) in
gold dust, chips and nuggets in payment of the contract made by Dom Jorge de Menezes ( 4 ) with
the governor of India, Manuel de Sousa Coutinho (5 ). The gold is generally taken out of the
rivers (of Kwama) every six months" ( 6 ). Thus the commercial monopoly granted to the
70
Captain-General gave him a profit of about 760 kgs. of gold per year ( 7 ). More than twenty years
later, in April, 1614, in a letter written to the king, the Council of the Treasury informed: " . . .
when the lands are peaceful and prosperous the most that can be obtained from this trade is
150,000 to 200,000 meticals of gold ..." ( 8 ). If we establish the metical at 4.25 grs. we will get
between 637 and 850 kgs. per year. Ten years afterwards Braz de Figueiredo who lived for thirty
years in Mozambique wrote from Sena in July, 1633: " ... I was then Captain of Sena, Captain-in-
Chief of the Rivers and factor of Diogo de Sousa de Menezes during the three years of his
captaincy (i.e. Captain-General) and more than forty ´quintalsóf gold belonging to him and
several private persons left these Rivers. I with my own hands weighed thirty 'quintals'" ( 9 ) As
each "quintal" had 58,752 grs. ( 10 ) the total amount would have been a little more than 2,350
kgs. But it was said that Menezes only stayed two years and if that was the case the annual
accumulation ought to be reduced to more than one metric ton which anyway seems excessive.
Should he have stayed three years his annual share would have been more acceptable i.e. the best
part of 783 kgs. This amount is also confirmed by the case of Francisco de Lima, governor from
1653/4 to 1657. He died two years afterwards as a political refugee in Spain, leaving to a charity
institution (Misericórdia) a fortune of about one million cruzados ( 11 ). He had amassed thus
some 3,800 kgs. of gold which corresponds to an annual average between 950 and 760 kgs.
whether we reckon a governorship of four or five years.
In 1667 Manuel Barreto reported: "When we first entered the Rivers, Sofala was the port
for all the gold, but afterwards the bulk of the commerce was removed to Sena and Quelimane.
Today some gold from Manica is exported from Sofala, which I think does not exceed five
hundred "pastas" whereas that annualy exported from Quelimane is nearly three thousand"
( 12 ). The annual export totaled thus 1 487 kgs. , taking the "pasta" to be worth one hundred
meticals and each metical 4.25 grs.
Changamire Dombo´s attacks at the end of the 17th century and the destruction or
evacuation of the hinterland fairs undoubtedly reduced the gold trade. But, in 1752, the judge
Moraes Sarmento sent by the Court of Goa to make a judicial enquiry wrote about Sena and
Quelimane that the annual remittances of gold to the capital still amounted to eight hundred
"pastas"; from Sofala were exported only fifty "pastas" ( 13 ) . We ignore whether by the
middle of the 18th century these 85 000 meticals were classified as "current" of 4.83 grs. or
"botonga", i.e. gold dust weighing 7.53 grs. according to Hoppe ( 14 ). Whatever it might have
been, in the middle of the 18th century, already in great decline, the known annual production
oscillated between 410 and 640 kgs., so much so that it already included the new mines
discovered within both the Teve kingdom territory and the whole region of Tete, north of the
Zambesi.
71
A good way of checking these estimates is by obtaining reliable data on the gold coinnage
in Portuguese India. C. Boxer informs that "... from about 1547 onwards . . . the Goa mint
commenced the issue of the 'São Tomé", a gold coin which held its own for centuries alongside . .
. other gold coins which circulated throughout the East" ( 15 ). V. Magalhães Godinho gave due
attention to this problem and fixed the weight of the ' pardau São Tomé" at 3.425 grs. His annual
figures for the export of gold from Mozambique are the following: more than 500 kgs. c. 1585;
about 700 kgs. a little later; about 850 kgs. during the first decade of the 17th century; 1,400 kgs.
c. 1667 ( 16 ).
Such being the case, the cautious estimation of legal and illegal exports of gold may be
fixed at a minimum of seven hundred kilos a year, that is about 1,875 lb. Troy in weight, each
with 373.24 grs. Calculated in ounces Troy the result will be 22,500. Thus, from 1500 to 1700 the
amount of gold sent out mainly to India was at least of one hundred and forty thousand kilograms,
corresponding to 4 500 000 ounces Troy. This would mean that during the first two centuries of
Portuguese presence, the gold sent out surpassed largerly the average that Phimister estimated for
the whole period from 950 to 1500 (i.e. eight million ounces) when the gold production attained
its peak. Even the amount calculated by Summers of fifteen to twenty five million ounces for the
period 600 to 1883 seems quite modest. David Beach realised the insufficiency of these two
estimates and suggested for the centuries before 1500 the annual production of one and a half
million ounces which I dare to consider as exorbitant. But the limits he proposed between 25,571
and 53,120 ounces a year for the 16th and 17th centuries are more in agreement with my data ( 17
). The explanation for these discrepancies may be found in the difficulty to calculate, as Phimister
stressed more than once, the significant quantity of alluvial gold that was always gathered.
Be that as it may, these and other records referred to the production declared and
accounted. Nothing is known about the gold in the hands of traders, landlords, missionaries, etc.
Many took advantage from the latent tendency for corruption and the lack of efficient control.
Actually they acted almost freely and directly with India and the Middle East by means of the
elusive fleets of pangayos. Muslim, Swahili, Hindu as well as Euro and Indo-Portuguese engaged
in smuggling. The Hindu exceeded them all in skills and ruses to obtain gold and send it to their
crowded patriarchal households in India ( 18 ).
Alexandre Lobato, in some pages apparently misplaced in one of his main studies on the
Delagoa Bay Portuguese entrepot, presented a synthesis of utmost importance regarding the final
destiny of the Mozambique gold ( 19 ). He consulted but unfortunately could not copy out the
customs records of Goa and Diu. This was indeed regretable so much so that he considered them
fundamental for the general understanding of the problem. In them he found the legal entries of
72
gold, year by year, ship by ship and even merchant by merchant. The destiny of the precious metal
was well known: the whole coast of Gujarat and Cambay, where, together with ivory, it was
exchanged for Indian cloth for Mozambique.
Thanks to Mozambique gold, Diu became a sort of active "Central Mint", priviledge of the
Jesuits. They had a mission in town and a foundry in the fortress. With its profits they supported
several activities mainly missions spread to other Indian States and to Ethiopia. The merchants
took the gold to the Jesuits to be minted and then bought either cloth woven in the interior or
cotton thread for weaving in the litoral. Through its minting, Diu became the money-changer for
that part of the East because in the hinterland only its coins were accepted as their quality was
strickly maintained. To the market of Diu flowed also the foreign silver both in bars and in coins
to be converted into Portuguese coins generally preferred due to the agio thus obtained. Even the
Goa Royal Treasury was aware of this oriental psychology and, accordingly, often sent to Diu
large loads of its own "xerafins" for recoinage, acting as money-exchanger to favour the Public
Finances. It was a skilful way to cover the expenses involved with the vital and regular supply of
Gujarat rice to the population of Goa, supply closely controled to avoid inflation and speculation.
It must be taken into consideration that the silver minted in Diu could be converted into gold due
to the annual bullion received from Mozambique. Nevertheless the market was never overflowing
with coins because the precious metals were melted down to make Jewells and ornaments for men
and women according to the customary values of each caste, profession and social status.
Should a study of trade between Mozambique and Diu-Damão be made (with special
emphasis on the social, economic; and financial details of the Diu money market) it could reveal,
still according to Lobato, one of the more amazing secrets of Portugal's permanence in the Orient:
the regulator, stabilizer and guarantee of the commercial and financial relationship between two
structures interdependent over many centuries: Cambay and Eastern Africa. Unfortunately he did
not mention the misdeeds caused on this ancient relationship by the expulsion of the Jesuits
(1760).
Strangely enough Edward Alpers, in his well founded study on trade between Gujarat and
East Africa (c. 1500-1800) did not make reference to this problem nor to the precious customs
records consulted by Alexandre Lobato in Portuguese India ( 20 ).
73
10. 2. EAST AFRICAN IRON
The sites between the Sabi and Zambesi where evidence of iron metallurgy was found are
reasonably catalogued and therefore it is unnecessary to repeat here the available information, I
shall only mention a document written in 1696 which confirms the excelence of the iron
manufactured in the Zambesi valley. Custódio de Almeida e Sousa, referring to the convenience
of prospecting the ores south of Chicoa where it was known that silver could be found, insisted
that it was necessary to have not only miners but also navvies "to break the stone where the silver
lode is found" and, finally smiths "to manufacture the tools that may become necessary out of this
same iron which in these lands is stronger than ours from Portugal and is more like steel than iron
...". He stressed this point giving a precise example. Fonseca Coutinho (1695-1698) ordered that
in the prospecting for silver, tools brought from Portugal by the couples who settled in 1680
should be used. It was then seen that they dented and became useless which did not happen to
those "made with local iron in spite of their looking like pegs as the kaffirs did not know how to
make others" ( 21 ),
However, the existing evidence indicates that this excelent iron was melted down by the
Maravi inhabiting the lands of the Zambesi left bank. They quickly learned to produce a
remarkable variety of tools because in 1806 Villas-Boas Truão wrote this information: "The
Maravi work the iron in these inlands for trade, exporting ... every kind of farm and domestic
tools ... This iron I can assure you is of the best quality by its resistence and the property it has of
being easily converted into steel" ( 22 ).
Nevertheless the naturalist Galvão da Silva who visited Manyika in 1788 reported that "in
exchange for our goods we get gold, ivory and mattocks which are well tempered and held in
higher esteem than those of the Maravi which are obtained through Tete, and those which the Yao
bring to Mozambique Island"( 23 ).
10. 3. COPPER
I have already mentioned the westward extention of the Rozvi's influence and the
existence of several stone walled enclosures spread through the northern and western mountainous
fringes of the old Barwe kingdom. Copper artifacts were found in them: rings, beads, bangles,
gongs, etc. It is probable that the copper came from two different areas to which Roger Summers
gave numbers 14 and 20. The first spread from Untali, in Zimbabwe, to Manyika in Central
Mozambique; the latter was defined as a "formation known as Gairesi series with two ancient
74
copper mines crossed by the present day border ..." ( 24 ).
To the South, more exactly west of Spungabera, about 15 km. from the present border,
twenty five ancient copper mines were catalogued in Area n2 18. They belong to the
geological formation known as "Unkonde System". In fact, Portuguese sources did mention
copper production in the old Kissanga kingdom. During the 18th century copper was exported
through Sofala 5: .. sold to the factory by Africans coming from far inland ( 25 ). A detailed
document was written in 1817 by Calavanti de Albuquerque wherein he stated that fine copper
was exported from Kissanga to Sena and Tete via Uteve and Manyika. The working were
organized by the Mutema himself, dynastic title given to the kings of Kissanga ( 26 ). Perhaps
the hoard of copper H-shapped ingots found c. 1950 near the Guengere stream, a small tributary
of the Buzi river, came from these mines ( 27 ).
On the left bank of the Zambesi, next to the famous Lupata Gorge, copper was also
produced. In his comments to R.A.Hamilton´s paper ( 28 ), W.H.J.Rangeley pointed out that
Gaspar Bocarro after leaving Tete in March, 1616, and crossing the Zambesi, did not take the
direct northeastern route to the headquarters of Muzura, the Maravi king. He went first to
"Inhampury" to purchase one thousand bracelets of copper wire, the best means of exchange for
food and other commodities required for the long and difficult journey to Kilwa. Apparently the
production was so well organized that he had no difficulty in buying without delay the amount of
bracelets he wished. Now, dropping the common Mang'anja Nya prefix, Rangeley made inquiries
about Mbuli or Mbure and soon this toponlmic was identified as the country north of Lupata
Gorge. After all, the area had always been famous for its copper work ( 29 ), Most fortunately, on
the 1:250,000 scale map, the Mount Maza-Mbulo can be seen exactly north of the
abovementioned gorge. In all probability archaeologists will meet with interesting remains there.
It is rather puzzling the finding in 1964 of a "loaf" of copper underwater near the
Mozambique Island fortress ( 30 ). It had 17 cm. in diameter and weighted 9,600 grs. It is known
that Gaspar Veloso in the notes he adressed to the King in 1512 informed that "in this land ( 31 )
there is much copper and it is from there that copper is brought to Monomotapa in loafs like ours,
and throughout this other land" ( 32 ). Strangely, Vaz de Almada did not mention ´loaves´ but ´St.
Andrew´s crosses´ ( 33 ) coming from the same contry adding that "both those from there and
those from here set the same value on the copper crosses in the trade with this king ... " ( 34 ).
75
10. 4. NOTES.
1 ) Ref. 143, pp. 194-195.

2 ) Ref. 122, pp. 16-17.
3 ) According to Theal "the weight of the cruzado of king Sebastian was given by the
curator of the coin department of the British Museum as 58.7 grains Troy (i.e. 3.803 grs) and its
purity as practically the same as that of English gold" (see ref.14 (RSEA-8º) p. 364).
4 ) Dom Jorge Tello de Menezes received by contract the government of
Mozambique from 1586 to 1589.
5 ) Actually his true name was Tome de Sousa Coutinho.
6 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º.) p. 364.
7 ) By the end of the 16th century the weight of a cruzado was 3.803 grammes.
8 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - IX) p. 367.
9 ) Ref. 99, p. 147.
10 ) Ref. 154, p. 130.
11 ) Ref. 40, p. 293.
12 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 3º) p. 479.
13 ) Ref. 89, p. 242.
14 ) Ref. 78, p. 240. See also Strandes who dealt at lengh with the widely divergent
value of the metical and other Portuguese coins (see ref. 142, pp. 281 to 288).
15 ) Ref. 40, pp. 60-61.
16 ) Ref. 69, II vol., pp. 71 and 75.
17 ) Ref. 34, p. 26. Summers (ref.143, p.195, table 10) estimated an annual average
production of merely 10 000 (16th cent.) and 5 000 (17th cent.) Troy ozs. Phimister
(ref.122, p.17) proposed from the 16th to the 19th century an annual production of less than
1 000 Troy ozs.
18 ) For instance, C.Boxer mentions the wealth of many Hindu traders living in Goa
by the mid-17th century (see ref.41).
19 ) Ref. 151, II, pp. 351-353.
20 ) Ref. 21.
21 ) Ref. 9, pp. 40-41.
22 ) Ref. 10 (ACU - 1857) p. 411.
23 ) Ref. 64, p. 328. Modern archaeology confirmed the information given by Edrisi
c. 1 150 on the excellent quality of iron cast by natives of the so called "coast of Sofala" (see ref.
76
81, p. 65). From iron melted by means of the simplest, more primitive methods the best steel
could be obtained through an exceptional incorporation of carbon (see ref.127, p.19).
24 ) Ref. 143, pp. 46, 47, 49.
25 ) Ref. 78, pp. 106-107.
26 ) Ref. 1.
27 ) Ref. 119, p. 59 and plates. The hiding may have been due to the plundering and
devastation carried out between 1827 and 1837 by the warriors of the Nguni chief W'qaba
defeated by Chaka and compelled to leave his homeland. A document dated 1830 explained that
the invader's specific objective was to get hold of the Quissanga copper mines. They were so
eager to this metal that they forced the local women to give up all their bangles (see ref. 12, II, p.
222).
28 ) Ref. 74.
29 ) Ref. 126, p. 16.
30 ) Ref. 65.
31 ) This westernmost country was named "Mombara" by Veloso. It was
probably situated near the sources of river Angwa, an affluent of the Hunyani, where copper
have been mined in modern times.
32 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 185.
33 ) Translation corrected. "Aspa" must be translated as "St. Andrew's cross" and not
"rod" (see ref. 51, p. 123).
34 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - IV) p. 289.
77
11. COTTON WEAVING
It is known that the oldest spindle-whorls found by archaeologists in South-East Africa go

back to centuries before the Portuguese arrival. The cloth, made out of cotton, was most probably
introduced by the first alien settlers. Antonio Fernandes, during his 1515/1516 exploration of the
vast Sofala hinterland, reported the existence in the kingdom of Moziba or Mozambia - whose
exact location is unknown - of an handicraft industry of cotton cloth for exchange in the Mwene
Mutapa lands ( 1 ). Also the famous "Book of Duarte Barbosa", finished around 1516, mentioned
this manufacture for commercial purposes. He detailed that coloured threads unraveled from
Cambay cloth were used to intermingle with the white cotton cloth produced locally so as to
obtain a more beautiful fabric with greater appeal to the gold producers of the plateau ( 2 ) .
No doubt the archaeologists have before them a difficult task: to find explanation to the
disappearance of the technique based on spindle-whorls, and the appearance instead of a new low
loom mounted on the ground. Would it be possible that the greater body flexibility of the Africans
and the fact that they were not used both to benches and chairs led to a decisive preference for low
looms ?
Reporting in 1572 Francisco Monclaro gave this interesting notice: "All of them
commonly wear loosely-woven cotton cloth called machiras, as I saw being made near Sena.
These machiras may mesure two rods and a half in length and a rod and a half across, being worn
around the body and crosswise over the chest, the rest remaining uncovered". Since the
(Bo)Tonga gold prospectors of the Zambesi right bank payed one metical for each machira made
by the (Bo)Roro occupying the left bank, the cunning priest proposed to the king of Portugal a
most profitable middleman activity based on the employ of cheap Indian beads to buy machiras
and then exchanging them for gold dust with a profit of 3,000% ( 3 ) .
Also João dos Santos, some twenty year later, referred to cotton plantations "which the
kaffirs sow, cultivate and prune almost in the same way as vines . . .". Further on he added: "There
are . . . weavers who make a kind of coarse cotton cloth as middle sized bed sheet ( 4 ) . . . This
cotton is spun by the women ..." ( 5 ). Mentioning the Teve kingdom specifically he informed that
"the king's and the lords' dress was of fine cotton or silk wrapped around from the waist to the
ankles. There was a large cloth either of silk or cotton with which they covered the head and
shoulders as if it was a cape. The left point was so long that it touched the ground" ( 6 ).
As enigmatic as the disappearance of spindle-whorls is the forsaking of the technique of

dyeing cotton cloth with indigo (Indigofera spp.). João dos Santos described in detail the
78
manufacture of this dye by the Moslims of Kirimba Islands ( 7 ). António Gomes extolled the
big cotton plantations and the remarkable talent of the Moslem weavers from Madagascar.
These two missionaries and other authors praised the excelence of the indigo (in Portuguese
called ánil´) found everywhere in Mozambique ( 8 ). It may have been the Southern Africa
"Bush Indigo' referred to by Howes ( 9 ).
The same Antonio Gomes praised alike the production of cotton in the Zambesi valley. In
his opinion if it were spun with care and worked in proper looms a cloth production higher than
that of Cambay could be obtained. These machiras were bought in exchange for Indian cloth and
taken by traders to Karanga and Manyika lands were they got higher prices. Also Manuel Barreto
pointed out that machiras had "great demand in Mokaranga ( 10 ).
These and other similar data back up the suggestion that machiras had more value on the
plateau because they gave better protection against cold. In fact the temperatures fall substantially,
specially at night, In many places there is frost and some Portuguese documents even mention
snow. On the other hand Afzal Ahmad is very explicit on the inferior quality of cloth exported to
Africa at least between 1600 and 1663 ( 11 ).
Beliefs in witchcraft may also explain the preference for local cotton cloth. One
Portuguese chronicler informs: "no cloth of foreign manufacture can touch his (Mwene Mutapa)
person, but all must be made in the country through fear that any coming from the hands of
strangers might be infected with some evil quality to do him harm" ( 12 ).
Anyway the increased imports of Indian cloth must have caused a loss in value of the local
machiras. We know from a reliable document that the nearly 2,500 machiras payed as taxes by the
inhabitants of Gorongosa and Cheringoma lands were worth 1,240 meticals. This means that in
about two centuries their value per unit decreased to half ( 13 ).
The first scientific report on cotton cultivation among the Mangánja of the Shire valley -
descendants of the (Bo)roro - was made by the botanist John Kirk who in 1858-1863 took part in
the well known expedition of Livingstone to the Zambesi and Lake Nyasa region. E. Alpers gives
a summary of Kirk's report ( 14 ).
Some highly specialized weavers maintained their activity until the middle of the present
century. In the First Colonial Exibition (Oporto, 1934) the Mozambique Company had a stand at
which the weaver Paulino Apeso and his son and helper Rebeca, both from Marromeu in the
Zambesi delta, were present. It was a craft inherited in the family. F.C.Pires de Lima published an
interesting paper on this subject. It gives details and figures of the weaving methods, the tools
used and the symbolic drawings made with white, red, black and blue threads ( 15 ).
79
11. 1. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 155, p. 26.

2 ) Ref. 56, p. 9.
3 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) p. 381 and 393.
4 ) Theal's translation was corrected. In Portuguese, "lençol" means "bed sheet";
the meaning of "lenço" is "handkerchief".
5 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 7º.) pp. 207 and 261.
6 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 82,
7 ) Ref. 133. I, p. 279.
8 ) Ref. 70, pp. 222 and 232. '
9 ) Ref. 79, p. 130.
10 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 3º) p. 481.
11 ) Ref. 16, p. 219.
12 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA – 6º) p. 270.
13 ) Ref. 64, pp. 350 and 356.
14 ) Ref. 20, pp. 24-25.
15 ) Ref. 87.
80
12. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
I have found a significant amount of Portuguese records about many items which
was impossible to cover in this paper. These are the most important:
a) Warfare between different tribes and political units;
b) Wars of sucession and secession;
c) Effects of local endemics as well as diseases introduced by overseas settlers;
d) Drougts, floods and other calamities caused by abnormal weather conditions;
e) Aboriginal vegetation, its properties and practical use;
f) Dispersal of wild fauna and symbolic value given to some species as for instance
the lion in the Teve kingdom, the python among the Maravi, the different totemic emblems,
etc.;
g) Political, social and economic disruptive effects of witchcraft accusations and

the legal use of poison ordeals to discover the supposed culprits;
h) Introduction of different livestock by the Muslims, as for instance, the zebu

cattle on Kerimba ( 1 ) and the fat-tailed sheep ( Blackhead Persian ? ) on Bazaruto;
i) The distance between different settlements reckoned by days of journey. The

divergences amongst the several authors were apparently due to fact that the lengh of a
day's journey varied with the performance of marching attained by Europeans (c. 20 km), by
cross-breeds (c. 25 km) and by Africans (c. 30 km);
j) Local production and supply of coir, pitch and other manufactures needed by
ships and other craft;
k) The selective use of beads and other non-perishable ornaments. Beads had
deep magic and religious meaning according to their shape, colour, material and place of
attachement to the body. The overseas centre where the beads were made may give clues
for their dating. For instance "Balaghate beads" mentioned by António da Conceição ( 2 )
about the end of the XVII century were preferred near the Kafue mouth and started to be
imported by the Portuguese mainly because of their conflict with the Dutch and the British
off the ports of Gujarat ( 3 ).
l) The origin and meaning of findings, not mentioned in the text, which were alien to
local cultures or techological knowledge:
81
- The bronze elm found near Buzi, made with 89% of copper and 11% of tin ( 4 );
- The fine bracelets with near 30% of zinc ( 5 );
- The side-blown ivory trumpet (mbiu ?) 487 cm long, found in the south-western
part of the Sofala fortress wall foundations. "Above the mouth piece, a collar has
been formed by careful carving and smooting of the ivory. The remainder of the
mbiu ( 6 ) has been formed into what may be interpreted as a stylised human figure"
( 7 ).
82
12.1. NOTES
1 ) Ref. 133, I, p. 277.

2 ) Ref. 50, p. 65.
3 ) Balaghat was in the territory of Bijadur, central India plateau, about 800 km,
east of Bombay. The blunder made in ref. 13 (DPMCA - IX), p. 375), which
confounded this Balaghat with a similar Balakot, near modern Karachi, will increase
the doubts of T.I.Mattews who search in vain for the origin of the "magologoto" beads
as called in the Gwambe valley [see "Journal of African History", 22 (1) 1981).
4 ) Ref. 45, p. 31 with plate.

5 ) Ref. 45, p. 25 with figures.
6 ) Ref. 93, p. 217.
7 ) Ref. 61.
83
EPILOGUE
As far as I can see the limited scope of this paper has been attained. To reconstruct the
historical context of the period I was concerned with, the exceptional value of Portuguese
documentation has been demonstrated.
I tried to confine my research to the region occupied by present day Central Mozambique
and the Eastern Zimbabwean plateau. From all the above it is clear that long before the initial
years of the 16th century this region was included within the vast trade network of the western
half of the Indian Ocean.
It is to be regreted that the Muslim-inspired local civilization has left so scanty written
information. Pierre Verin who dedicated so much effort to archaeological research of its remains
made the following opportune remark: "The bourgeois way of life gave place to a Muslim
subculture which provided larger facilities but did not contribute to the development of arts and
sciences as it did in other parts of the islamic world" (see ref. 145, p. 77). For my part I am
inclined to support that the main shortcoming of this "Swahili civilization" was the small use it
made of the written word and the lack of interest in maintaining records. This being the case the
Portuguese documents are particularly valuable. It is worth quoting a comment of another great
scholar, Jean Aubin: "It is impossible to extract from islamic annotations either quantitative data
or a collection of concrete information on anything to do with the sea. Since the first years of the
16th century, on the contrary, the immense data in Portuguese documentation, stick to realities,
alive, very informed, throw light on Indian Ocean life, on navigation, on trade, on coastal towns,
on islands, on circulation of people and goods. The data allows, in this way, to percieve the
situation before the Portuguese arrival, to put together the information in crumbs which we have
on previous periods. Not only for its own time, but also for the preceding century, the Portuguese
records give much more than what is given as a whole by arabian-persian registers for the
medieval period" (see ref. 27, p. 5).
84
Unfortunately, Portuguese ancient records and even modern information have been either
misrepresented or grossly overlooked. The time has come indeed to rethink both in the light of the
more scientific research carried on the vast region where Mozambique is included, so much so
that they are of capital importance to reconstruct the African past. The wealth of data they contain
must be studied repeatedly and systematically taking naturally in consideration the context in
which they were written. Our judgment may change and the knowledge thus collected may give
renewed insights when compared with elements supplied especially by archaeology, linguistics,
oral tradition, etc.
85
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97
LIST OF MAPS
MAP 1
In this map only ports, rivers, mountains, settlements, political units, ethnic groups,
ancient routes and trading centers referred to in the text are indicated.
MAP 2
Partial reproduction of map 6 of the Atlas mentioned in ref. 26. In this westernmost part
of Tete a circle over Bire, a small affluent of the Musengezi, marks the tomb of an ancient and
important Mutapa leader at present known as M'bire Nyantekwe.
MAP 3
Partial reproduction of map 4 of the Atlas mentioned in ref. 26. It represents the
southeastern part of Tete and the northern part of Manica e Sofala. Numbered circles mark the
following details:
1 — Tete settlement and Mount Caroeira (early 16th century Otonga);
2 - Massangano river beach and forced stop in upstream navigation due to the
strength of the Ruenya current;
3 - Maza-mbule Mountain (ancient Inya-mpury) where Gaspar Bocarro bought one
thousand copper bracelets in 1611;
4 - Tambara village (early 16th century Inyakoro);
5 - Lifumba lagoon with isolated rocky islet where a huge tamarind tree was standing
out in the 1590´s (see ref. 133, 1, p. 134);
6 - Mount Bunga with stone-walled enclosure described by Roza de Oliveira (ref. 118 );
7 - Walled Nyamara settlement, east of modern Vila Gouveia;
8 - Direct route from Sena to Manyika, followed by Galvão da Silva in 1788. The route
drawn by W.J.Simon (ref. 140, fig. 11) was here corrected. To cross the rivers Muazi, Xitora
(present Txatora) and Inhazonha (present Nhazónia) this naturalist had -inevitably to follow a
path north of Gorongosa Mountain. The Portuguese fair of Aruangwa (present river Pungwe)
- end of Silva´s journey - was located near the mouth of its tributary Honde, about 20 km
from today's border with Zimbabwe.
98
MAP 4
Partial reproduction of map 3 of the Atlas mentioned in ref. 26. It represents the southern
part of Manica and Sofala. From North to South numbered circles mark the fallowings details:
1 - Inyaoshe gold workings, near Mount Xiluvo, oficially visited in 1827;
2 - Residence of Queen Ingomani near Mount Dutungwe in 1891 and probably closer to
Mount Nyauranga of the 1940´s;
3 - Mount Mawe, the centuries old burial site of the Teve kings;
4 - Zembe Mountain with stone-walled enclosure and other archaeological sites;
5 - Residence of Queen Nemahunga near Mount Manzora in 1884;
6 - Ancient palm-tree trade route Gondola - Zembe - Mavita;
7 - Bandire mines and fair by the turn of the 17th century;
8 - Headquarters of Paramount-Chief Moribane in 1891;
9 - Moribane lands in the 1940´s;
10 - Guengere river where a hoard of H-shaped copper ingots was found;
11 - Lands of Paramount-Chief Mecupe in the 1940"s;
12 - Chiluane island;
13 - Old Mambone,
MAP 5
Physiography around the Nyamara stone-walled enclosure according to Roza de Oliveira

(ref.117 ).
MAP 6
Enlargement of Zembe Mountain according to C.von Oidtman (ref .113 ) .
MAP 7
Ancient trade route between Sofala and the Great Zimbabwe according to François Balsan
(ref.31 ).
99

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A.

VERSÃO ORIGINAL E INÉDITA, 1999

AS TRÊS CARTAS QUE ANTECEDEM O INÍCIO DESTE TRABALHO,

PARA VISUALIZAR OS MAPAS

Resumo elaborado por João Morais

Programas de Investigação: Origens do Urbanismo na África Austral (1987 - 1992).

Coordenação científica: Paul Sinclair, Instituto de Arqueologia, Universidade de Uppsala.

Entidade de coordenação administrativa: The Central Board of Swedish Antiquities

Países participantes: Somália, Quénia, Tanzânia e Zanzibar, Moçambique, Zimbabué,

Prazo: até finais de 1991.

Publicação final: a ser publicado numa monografia de avaliação do Programa de

1. EARLY TRADE IN THE SOFALA COAST WITH ARABIA,

2. COLONIES OF IMMIGRANTS FROM MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA.

3. THE INTRODUCTION OF USEFUL PLANTS ..................................................................... 18

5. ANCIENT OVERLAND TRADE ROUTES ........................................................................... 34

6. THE FORMATION OF THE MUTAPA EMPIRE.................................................................. 41

8. THE EASTWARD EXTENSION OF ROZVI INFLUENCE.................................................. 60

9. SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN ALIEN SETTLEMENTS ........................................... 66

10. GOLD. IRON AND COPPER. ................................................................................................. 70

11. COTTON WEAVING .............................................................................................................. 78

12. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ..................................................................... 81

BIBLIOGRAPHY MENTIONED ............................................................................................ 86

LIST OF MAPS ........................................................................................................................ 98

As summarized by João Morais - based on recent arqueological research - the area

The century-old almost autonomous economic activity of this southern region,

Numbered among the resources of the archipelago, specially in Benguerwa island,

2. COLONIES OF IMMIGRANTS FROM MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA.

It cannot be considered exaggerated the information given in 1511 by Ant6nio de

Nevertheless ancient conditions for long-distance overland trade were marked by

In Portuguese records strong evidence can be found confirming that the

2. 1. The Arab seven days week

An important information given by António Fernandes has escaped general notice. It is

2. 2. The New Moon

It is worth investigating the possibility of circumcision to have been introduced by

The tomb of an important Muslim religious personality, Abdurramane, who possibly

1 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - III) p. 17.

29 ) Ref. 13 (DPMCA - VIII) pp. 277-278.

3. THE INTRODUCTION OF USEFUL PLANTS

1 ) Ref. 34, pp. 28-29.

26 ) Ref. 14 (RSEA - 22) p. 426.

4. MAIN PORTS AND NAVIGABLE WATERTWAYS. SEA AND RIVER

- stronger political units;

- richer gold deposits;

- higher agro-pastoral potential;

- bigger forests and better timber;

- larger number of pachyderms;

- more important tributaries;

- better navigability of the Zambesi;

- more numerous overseas traders;

- more accessible sea ports.

4. 1. Sea and river craft

4. 1. 1. Dug-Outs (almadyas. koshos. ballons)

5. ANCIENT OVERLAND TRADE ROUTES

Regarding the peripheral "Ynhoqua" (Inyokwa ?) kingdom some conjecture might me

1 ) Ref. 28, p. 53.

6. THE FORMATION OF THE MUTAPA EMPIRE

6. 1. The northward expansion

Mutapa court; twenty from Cahora-Bassa to this same court.

6.2. The east and southward expansion

6. 3. A standing army of both sexes ?

6. 4. The annual extinction of fires ( 27 ) .

6. 5. Toll-gates along the Zambesi

7. THE TEVE KINGDOM AND THE BANDIRE AND INYAOSHE MINES