A History of the East African Coast

by Charles Cornelius

  Trouble also came from the African interior. From the 1540s, some inland tribes were showing severe signs of restlessness and occasionally raided the towns of the coast. One such tribe were the Segeju, notorious for cutting off and swallowing the foreskins of their slain enemies. The Segeju had attacked Malindi in 1542 and the fact that many ruins date from this period does suggest that they were adding to the woes of the Swahili.

  In 1569 a Jesuit priest, Father Monclaro, visited the coast. His account of life there makes depressing reading. Zanzibar was in a state of destruction, the result of attacks from a mainland tribe who had been hunted down and wiped out by the Portuguese. Kilwa had been reduced to the status of a minor trading settlement, engaged solely in commerce with the Comoros Islands and selling ivory to the Portuguese, while Malindi had been partly destroyed by tidal flooding. Pate still enjoyed a brisk trade exporting silk to India and Arabia, but her relations with Portugal had reached a low. An attempted uprising against the Portuguese had been put down, but as soon as the Portuguese ships had left, many of the Portuguese merchants in the town had been massacred. Mombasa seems to have been the only town still thriving. It was described as large and populous, was still visited by big trading ships, and was apparently on good terms with the Portuguese. Monclaro summed up the dire situation:

   

  “The principal kings here used to be those of Kilwa and Malindi, but all are now petty rulers, poor and without power, more worthy to be called sheikhs than kings. The people are generally poor and wretched in nearly all these parts, and the Portuguese are already becoming so through the loss of commerce and navigation taken from them by their enemies.”

   

  Monclaro did not explain who these “enemies” were, but if they were outsiders they were almost certainly connected with the Turks. The fact is that Portugal had chosen the worst possible moment to try to assert her power and influence in the Indian Ocean because at the very same time as she was doing this, Turkey, one of the world superpowers of the sixteenth century, began to do precisely the same thing.

  Turkey, under her Ottoman sultans, had been a rising power ever since the fourteenth century, when Turkish forces had crossed into south-eastern Europe. Early in the fifteenth century, Syria, Arabia and Egypt fell under Ottoman rule. The great Greek citadel of Constantinople fell in 1453. During the reign of Suleiman The Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire reached its height. Hungary fell to the Turks and Vienna was besieged. Persia was captured in 1534. By 1547, Turkish ships controlled the Red Sea, while North Africa had been subjected to client status. By mid-century they were able to launch raids on southern Arabia.

  They then turned to the Swahili coast. Shortly before 1569 there had been a Turkish attack on Cambo, a town situated on the mainland opposite the Lamu Archipelago. Her queen had been friendly to the Portuguese and refused to hand Portuguese merchants over to the Turks when they raided her town, so the Turks took her instead. The queen escaped by diving overboard and became something of a heroine to the Portuguese. This raid was a one-off, but twelve years later the Turkish attacked and destroyed the Portuguese fortress in Muscat. By then, the Turkish presence off the coast was something that could no longer be ignored.

  Then in August 1585, a Turkish admiral named Ali Bey, a former prisoner of the Spanish who had been involved in the attack on Muscat, arrived in Mogadishu with two ships. He claimed to have been sent by the sultan of Turkey and promised his fellow Muslims help freeing them from the Portuguese. A renowned pirate and privateer, he was almost certainly acting under the orders of no-one but himself. Nevertheless, within weeks, most of the towns of the northern coast had come out in open support for Ali Bey including Mogadishu, Brava, Pate, Faza, Lamu, and Mombasa. During the uprising, around fifty Portuguese were imprisoned, including the former Captain of Malindi, Roque de Brito Falcao, who was captured in Lamu. In nearby Faza, a Turk was proclaimed king and a Portuguese inhabitant murdered. The few Portuguese on the coast were unable to offer much in the way of resistance, but they did dispatch a dhow to Goa, urgently requesting help from the viceroy in India. Meanwhile, Ali Bey returned to the Red Sea, laden with tributes from the Swahili towns, various forms of booty, a motley collection of prisoners and a promise to return the following year.

  It took time to arrive, but when a Portuguese fleet of eighteen ships finally arrived from Goa in January 1587, it quickly made up for its delay with brutality. Faza, which had been particularly enthusiastic in her support for Ali Bey, was singled out for the most brutal retribution. Every human - men, women and children - and every other living creature was massacred. An account of a Portuguese soldier describes how Faza's men held out to the last, fighting on until the last of them was dead. The town was looted and burned, and all the dhows in the harbour were destroyed. Then the Portuguese tore up the plantations near the town, the mainstay of the town's economy. Ten thousand palm trees were said to have been pulled up in ten days. The town's king, Stambul, was beheaded and his head preserved in salt before being sent to Goa where it was paraded through the streets on the end of a lance. When the Portuguese reached Mombasa, they found an almost deserted town, its inhabitants having fled upon hearing of the devastation in Faza. Nevertheless, they burned the town and tore up her plantations, before the fleet sailed to Arabia in order to monitor Ali Bey's next move. Next time, the Portuguese would be better prepared.

  Word reached the Portuguese at the end of 1588 that Ali Bey was on the move again, this time with a slightly larger fleet of five ships. Once again, most of the towns supported him as he sailed down the coast, although he demanded a somewhat hefty military levy in return for his anti-Portuguese services. The Turkish fleet sped past Malindi when the Portuguese garrison began firing upon Ali Bey's ships so instead they headed for Mombasa where they started to build strong fortifications to fend off the expected Portuguese attack. Even though the Turks sailed no further than Mombasa, the coast further south was also in turmoil. The sultan of Pemba, having refused to support Ali Bey, was thrown from office and, in one night of bloodletting, all the Portuguese on the island were massacred. Meanwhile, a Portuguese fleet of twenty ships, containing nine hundred men under the command of Thomé de Souza, had set sail from Goa. Both sides were ready for a final showdown. 

  It just so happened that at the same time as the coast was in rebellion, a warlike, cannibalistic tribe called the Zimba was busily killing and eating its way northwards towards Mombasa. The Zimba seem to have emerged from the interior of Africa south of the Zambezi River and had massacred a Portuguese garrison of a hundred and thirty people at Sena the previous year. Five thousand Zimba warriors then attacked Kilwa where they killed or captured three thousand Swahili. The prisoners were later eaten. Then they headed for Mombasa.

  When the Zimba arrived on the mainland south of Mombasa, they found five Turkish ships protecting the island. The Turks, realising they now faced two potential threats, moved their best troops to the south of the island and attacked the Zimba with two of their ships. A few days later, the Portuguese arrived.

  When the Portuguese fleet entered Mombasa harbour, the quickly-built Turkish fortifications opened fire. They were no match for the Portuguese cannon, whose power caused many of the Turks to abandon their guns for the relative safety of the town's streets. The three Turkish ships remaining in the harbour were quickly captured. Unaware of the presence of the Zimba, the Portuguese then moved to attack the two Turkish ships defending the south of the island. Turkish resistance here was stronger but the Portuguese again prevailed.

  At this point, a message reached Thomé de Souza from the Zimba chief. Realising the predicament of the Mombasans and the greater power of the Portuguese, he politely requested that, once the Portuguese had finished their attack, the Zimba be allowed to enter the town in order to “to kill and eat every living thing on the island”. De Souza agreed.

  On 7th March 1589, five hundred Portuguese troops landed on the island. Most of the inhabitants had already fled
the town for the interior of the island and so the Portuguese were left relatively free to loot and burn. A few days later, the Zimba swept across the island to sample the culinary delights of Mombasa. The few Turks and Mombasans who could escape hurled themselves into the arms of the Portuguese. Since the Portuguese were at sea, many drowned in the attempt. Only two hundred escaped the slaughter. Ali Bey was one of them, seen riding his horse into the sea towards a Portuguese ship. He was taken to Portugal where he converted to Christianity.

  Meanwhile, the Zimba continued hungrily up the coast to Malindi. At the time, the town was protected by just thirty troops and would certainly have fallen had it not been for the arrival of the foreskin-swallowing tribe, the Segeju, normally a constant menace to Malindi. As the Zimba attempted to scale the walls of the town, three thousand Segeju attacked the Zimba from the rear and annihilated them.

  The Lamu Archipelago was first to feel the full force of Portuguese revenge for the uprising. In Lamu, the king, Bashir, who was held responsible for the capture of Roque de Brito four years earlier and his handing over to the Turks, was put in chains and taken to Pate, where he was joined by the kings of Pate, Faza and Siyu together with the entire population of the town. Bashir was declared a traitor and publicly beheaded, along with some nobles of Kilifi and Pate. Their mutilated bodies were put on public display. Pate and Siyu were ordered to demolish their fortifications. The Portuguese then attacked Manda, but finding that her inhabitants had already fled, destroyed the town's houses and plantations instead. In Pemba, the mere arrival of a few Portuguese ships was enough to convince the rebels to end their uprising. The previous king was restored - for the time being.

  The uprising was over, but it made clear to the Portuguese that if a small Turkish fleet crewed by a few hundred poorly armed men could overthrow Portuguese rule along much of the Swahili coast simply by sailing into its ports, they would have to start taking the job of garrisoning the towns much more seriously. So it was that in 1592 the Portuguese took the drastic step of moving her coastal headquarters from her ally, Malindi, to the backyard of her enemy, Mombasa. The King of Malindi, al-Hasan bin Ahmad, was declared King of Mombasa and plans were made for the construction of a permanent fortress on Mombasa Island.

  The construction of Fort Jesus began in 1593 on a site which overlooked the town and harbour. The Portuguese employed the renowned Italian military engineer, Jao Batista Cairato, to construct the fort. Cairato had built many such fortifications for the Portuguese but Fort Jesus was his last and perhaps greatest achievement. Brilliantly designed, it was in itself a small, fortified town, almost impregnable with walls built at such an angle that anyone attempting to scale them could always be attacked from one of the towers. Fort Jesus was ready for occupation within two years, while a customs house and Augustinian chapel were built nearby.

  It seemed that with the completion of Fort Jesus, Portugal's control of the Swahili coast was unassailable. However, it simply marked the high point in her authority and despite the stronghold Fort Jesus gave them in Mombasa, the Portuguese grip on the coast began to slip away.

   

  The Decline of Portuguese Control

  If the Swahili, Turks, Zimba and Segeju weren't already enough of a threat, new rivals to the Portuguese began emerging at the end of the sixteenth century. In 1591, three English ships under the command of the Elizabethan privateer, Sir James Lancaster, were sent to investigate opportunities for breaking the Portuguese monopoly on trade in the Indian Ocean. The merchants of London, whose confidence exploiting commerce in new parts of the world was fast growing as a result of ventures in North America, were starting to view India as the next target. The Portuguese, still licking wounds inflicted by the Turks, certainly did not relish the prospect of another rival and warned the Swahili that this new breed of whites were, in fact, cannibals. The Swahili kept their distance, but Lancaster's reports of the riches of Zanzibar and India encouraged the formation, nine years later, of the East India Company, a commercial organisation that would later become the dominant military and political force in the sub-continent. Soon after, the French formed a similar trading company in the region, as did the Dutch who later gave herself control of access to the Indian Ocean from Europe by establishing a territorial colony at the Cape of Good Hope.

  In the north, Portuguese control in Arabia was gradually being eroded by the Omani and Persians, powers at the fringes of the Turkish empire which would grow as Ottoman control of the region began to diminish during the seventeenth century. In 1622, the Portuguese suffered a psychologically devastating defeat at the hands of the Persians which cost them control of Ormuz, the port that controlled access to the Persian Gulf. In 1643, the Portuguese fort at Sohar fell to Oman under her ruler, Nasir bin Murshid. The seventeenth century therefore saw Portugal become just one of many players in the commercial and political world of the Indian Ocean.

  As if the complications of these new rivals were not enough, the Portuguese even managed to develop strained relations with the usually loyal King of Malindi. Things had become so bad that in 1614, the king sailed to Goa to complain of Portuguese arrogance. On his return he was murdered by Nyika tribesmen employed by the Captain of Malindi. As a means of ensuring that the king's eight year old son, Yusuf bin Hasan, would turn out to be a more reliable successor, the Portuguese sent him to Goa to receive a western upbringing. Converting to Catholicism, Yusuf adopted the name Don Geronimo Cinghallia and married a Portuguese woman, returning to Mombasa in 1630.

  The Portuguese were confident that this Christian Swahili would prove to be a reliable puppet. Then, on 15th August 1631, when many of the Portuguese merchants, soldiers, priests and administrators were gathered in the town for the Day of the Feast of the Assumption, Don Geronimo paid a visit to the Portuguese commandant of Fort Jesus. A Portuguese account describes their meeting:

   

  “The king sent to the Commandant of the fortress, Pedro Leitao de Gamboa, to say that he wished to pay him a visit. He came, and the Commandant handed him the keys of the fortress ... Sitting down and putting on his hat, the king drew a knife, and attacking the aged and innocent captain, cut his throat without giving him time to shout. The followers of the king entered the gates of the fortress and killed every Portuguese in it. Then the king went to the walls of the fortress and gave the signal to those outside, in order that they might keep all the Portuguese occupied by setting fire to their houses. And whilst they were trying to extinguish the fire, they were shot down with arrows by these treacherous barbarians, who thus set fire to every house of Christians in the land.”

   

  The Portuguese in Mombasa fled to the safety of the Augustinian convent, among them Don Geronimo's wife, and sent a priest to negotiate with the king. Don Geronimo ordered the priest to convert to Islam but when he refused, he was murdered and hanged from the walls of Fort Jesus. Then Don Geronimo went after his Portuguese in-laws, killing his wife's father and brother. The following day, concerned at the disappearance of the priest, Don Geronimo's wife left the safety of the convent to speak with her husband. She was promptly imprisoned and the Christians with her were sent off to Pate. Don Geronimo then continued his anti-Christian bloodletting, decapitating any who refused to convert to Islam.

  If Don Geronimo had been planning a general uprising of the coast against the Portuguese, it didn't happen. Pate joined in, but few others appear to have become involved with such a maverick and brutal person as Don Geronimo. News of the revolt reached Goa via some merchants from Pate on 28th September and a fleet of eighteen ships was organised with remarkable speed, arriving in Mombasa on 8th January. By now, of course, Fort Jesus was in the hands of the Swahili, allowing them to use it to keep the very people who had built it at bay. After a few weeks, the Portuguese abandoned their attack and returned to Goa.

  In May of that year, fearing a larger Portuguese force - or possibly because he had been expelled by his fellow Swahili - Don Geronimo abandoned the islan
d. His followers moved inland while Don Geronimo himself sailed north to enlist help from the Turks. None came and the Portuguese sent a fleet to reoccupy the town, although the viceroy in India was initially concerned to hear that thirteen Dutch ships had been sighted heading for Mombasa, presumably with the intention of beating the Portuguese to it. Nevertheless, the Portuguese were able to reoccupy Mombasa and Fort Jesus without further complication while Don Geronimo toured the Middle East, continuing to agitate in vain for an uprising against the Portuguese. He died five years later at Jeddah. His uprising was recorded in an inscription placed over the gateway of Fort Jesus which can still be seen today.

  After 1650, Portuguese control in the Indian Ocean collapsed. By then Portugal had lost much of her wealth and, having suffered serious losses to her European rivals during the Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648, was less able to support her Indian Ocean possessions. At the same time, Oman was growing in ambition and in 1651, led by Sultan bin Seif, she drove the Portuguese from Muscat. It was a devastating blow to Portugal's strategic interests in the Indian Ocean, making the crossing to India a far more hazardous undertaking. It also encouraged the Omani, now that they had consolidated control in southern Arabia, to look for conquests further afield. The Swahili towns, led by Pate and Mombasa, began to view Oman as a potential new saviour and they started to bombard the Arab sultanate with pleas for help against the Portuguese. Eventually Oman came to their assistance, raiding Portuguese bases in Pate and Zanzibar in 1652 and occupying Mombasa and Fort Jesus in 1660. The Omani also drove the Portuguese from Faza, but this occupation was not adequately enforced and the Portuguese soon recovered, butchering those who had gone to Oman to enlist her support.