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The Sack of Kilwa (Portuguese: Saque de Quiloa) was a military campaign carried out by the Portuguese on 24 July 1505, led by Dom Francisco de Almeida, against the city-state of the Kilwa Sultanate. The operation resulted in a decisive Portuguese victory and the sacking of Kilwa, a prominent trading hub along the Swahili Coast .
Kilwa’s economy also saw significant involvement in the slave trade, with the majority of slaves coming from the Bantu peoples of the interior, as well as from the highland regions of East Africa and occasionally from Somali and other groups from the Horn of Africa. Slaves were often captured in raids or conflicts and sold to markets in the ...
As putative overlord of the Swahili Coast, Kilwa could probably close down all the Portuguese staging points in East Africa, including the all-important Mozambique Island (the critical stop after the Cape crossing) and the attractive port of Sofala (the entrepot of the Monomatapa gold trade, which the Portuguese were trying to tap into).
By the 11th century, Kilwa, on the coast of modern-day Tanzania, had become a fully-fledged affluent center of a Muslim-governed trade in slaves and gold. [ 9 ] Exports of slaves to the Muslim world from the Indian Ocean began after Muslim Arab and Swahili traders won control of the Swahili Coast and sea routes during the 9th century (see ...
Miraculously, he manages to restore some semblance of order in Kilwa (although it quickly fell apart again after he left). Arriving in Sofala in December 1506, Nuno Vaz Pereira invoked his credentials as the new captain of Sofala and relieved the factor Manuel Fernandes (much to the latter's annoyance - seemingly Fernandes had hoped Barbudo ...
In the following centuries, trade in goods from the African interior, such as gold, ivory, and slaves stimulated the development of market towns such as Mogadishu, Shanga, Kilwa, and Mombasa. These communities formed the earliest city-states in the region [ 39 ] which were collectively known to the Roman Empire as " Azania ".
Kilwa had about 4000 inhabitants but its economic fortunes were on the decline. [1] Like most polities on the east African coast, Kilwa was an Islamic sultanate and the Portuguese were poorly received by the local elites. In 1502, the Portuguese reduced Kilwa to the status of tributary vassal.
The trade in salt was vital for the sustenance of large populations and the functioning of complex societies. Ivory, exported from various regions of Africa, was also significant, sought after for its beauty and utility in crafting luxury goods. The slave trade was a grim but integral part of these networks.