FACTORS FOR COMING PORTUGUESE IN EAST AFRICA AND FACTORS WHICH LED PORTUGUESE FAILED TO SPREAD CHRISTIANITY IN THE COAST OF EAST AFRICA.

I.                   INTRODUCTION

                 Meanwhile, the Portuguese were starting settlements in Brazil. Like the Spaniards in other parts of the Americas, they took over land and forced the native population to work it. Also, Portuguese explorers were establishing a very different sort of commercial empire in the Indian Ocean. This system was based on trade and war, rather than on taking large amounts of land and dominating its people. At first the Portuguese had no competition: the Chinese had called their fleets home; Indian and Arab ships did not carry guns; and other European nations had not yet entered the field.

                    By the early 16th century the Portuguese had established a string of strategic bases, including Hormuz at the tip of the Persian Gulf, Goa on the western coast of India, and the Straits of Molucca, the gateway between the Indian Ocean and the China Sea. From these bases, the Portuguese could control and monitor the sea-going trade of the entire region. Portuguese power, however, was entirely naval, and they were unable to threaten the internal strength of land-based empires. Moreover, when larger European nations arrived in the area, Portuguese naval supremacy vanished.

                  The Portuguese were the first Europeans to have contacts with the people of the East African Coast. They were adventurous and in search for the sea route to India. This led them to the East African Coast where they stayed for 200 years.

In 1497 King John 11 sent Padro da Covillha on a land journey to India to gather information about the Eastern trades and the sea routes.

In 1498 Bathromew Diaz sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, thus proving that there was a way round South Africa to the Indian Ocean. With this information in mind Vasco da Gama set out with three ships bearing a red cross. By 1499, he went back and sailed down the coast to Portugal.

“Between 1497- 1499 Vasco da Gama at the command of [1]King Emmanuel the fortunate of Portugal visited mozambique, Mombasa  and Malindi on his way to India.”

In response to Vasco da Gama’s expeditions, the king of Portugal sent fleets of ships to conquer the important trading towns of the East African coast.  In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral attempted to capture Sofala with its Gold trade but he failed.

                         In 1502 Vasco da Gama came back with 19 ships aiming at capturing Kilwa because it was the most important and prosperous. He captured the palace, imprisoned the Sultan and only released him when he accepted to pay tribute to Portugal. However, he stopped it when the Portuguese left.  From Kilwa he invaded Mombasa, which tried to get assistance from Malindi but since they were great rivals Malindi refused to give assistance, this disunity made the work of conquest easy. 

                        In 1503 Ruy gLaurence Ravasco was sent with a number of ships and forced the islands of Mafia and Zanzibar and other towns to pay tribute to Portugal.

                       In 1504, Lopez destroyed gold trade at Kilwa. Attacks were too much on the harbour that trade came to a standstill. But again the Arabs failed to unite to fight the Portuguese.

                       In 1505 Francisco D’Almeida arrived at the coast on his way to Gao where he had been appointed the first Portuguese viceroy (governor) of the Eastern empire.  With 1500 men and 20 ships, he attacked Sofala which surrendered without  struggle because she was tied of Kilwa’s rule and therefore preferred the Portuguese to fellow Arabs.  His forces continued Northwards and attacked Kilwa. The Sultan and his followers took off to the bush while the Portuguese looted and burnt down before he departed to India.

                      In 1506 – 1507 Tristian Da Cunha took the Northern towns of Socotra, Oja, Brava and Merka towns that submitted without struggle were only asked to pay tribute to Portugal, Malindi was even excused from paying tribute due to her friendship with the Portuguese. 

                       In 1509 Alba quiqui captured the remaining towns i.e the work of conquest was completed with taking the islands of Pemba, Mafia, Zanzibar. 

                       In 1510 for purposes of effective administration, the coast was divided into two strips i.e. the Northern strip north of Cape Delgado with headquarters at Malindi while the Southern strip had headquarters at Mozambique.

The strong hatredge the coastal people had for the Arabs might have made them easily accept Portuguese authority. At the time of the Portuguese invasion, the coastal states were already weakened by the expansionist policy of Kilwa ,for example, Sofala supported the Portuguese rather than being under Kilwa. 

The Portuguese were able to realize their goals in the East African coast through Vasco da Gama’s expedition of 1498.

FACTORS FOR COMING PORTUGUESE IN EAST AFRICA

A.      The need to establish a commercial empire in order to get the products of East Africa e.g. ivory, gold, silks and spices were mainly controlled by the Arabs merchants.

2. They wanted to obtain control of the main trading towns, e.g. Kilwa, Mombasa etc.
3. They wanted to defeat the Moslem traders and rulers who had monopolized the Indian Ocean trade.
4. They wanted to prevent other European rivals from gaining access to the Indian Ocean Trade e.g. the French, Dutch, British
5. Desire to get revenue for the development of their country.
6. The Portuguese wished to share in the profits of the Indian Ocean Trade by imposing taxes and forcing wealthy coastal towns to pay tribute to the king of Portugal.
7. The coast had natural harbors where ships could anchor on their way to and from the East for fresh food and water.  The Portuguese therefore wanted to establish a calling station for resting, refresh, treating the sick, repairing wrecked ships e.t.c
8. The coast was strategically located and this made it easy to control sea pirates and other rival powers.
9. They wanted to revenge on the Moslem Arabs who had conquered Portugal in 711 AD by converting them to Christianity and stop the spread of Islam i.e. the Arabs had ever run the Iberian Peninsula and forced the Christians to accept Islam.
10. They hoped to get assistance of King Prester John thought to be in the interior of north –east Africa. They hoped the king would help them in their crusade against the Moslems. 
11. They had hope of stopping Egyptians and Turks from sending military aid to their fellow Moslems on the coast.
12. They were interested in exploration and adventure, this was a period of Renaissance (means to be born again/change) in Europe. Hence hoped to search for the unknown, new knowledge and sailing across un mapped seas.
13. Desire to acquire revenue for the development of their country.

POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION,  ECONOMICS,  SOCIAL  AND  WAY  OF  LIFE  IN THE  EAST AFRICA  UNDER  PORTUGUESE.

A.     Political  Administration.

                     By 1510, the conquest of the East African coast was over and administration fell into the hands of the Portuguese. For easy administration, the coast was divided into two zones;

i.         The area North of Cape Delgado was ruled by the Captain at Malindi.

2. The area South of Cape Delgado was ruled by Captain at Mozambique.

“By 1507, Mozambique had become the headquarters of the southern portion in charge of a Portuguese viceroy. Another [2]Portuguese captain in charge of the area North of Delgado was stationed at Malindi.”

Both captains were answerable to the Portuguese viceroy at Goa on Indian coast at the General headquarters. Cape Delgado was made the mid point of the East Africa possession. Sofala was made the regional headquarters but still under the charge of the captain who took his orders from the vicory at Goa. Later, the Captain in the North was stationed at Mombasa after the construction of Fort Jesus in 1593 because they were rebellious.  Other forts and garrisons were established at Sofala and Kilwa. 

The Portuguese captains were responsible for the collections of tributes from coastal rulers. They imposed the customs dues on all imports and exports.  They were also responsible for the suppression of rebellions on the coast.  The Portuguese had problems with administration because they could not provide enough troops to all garrisons their strongholds.

The Portuguese captains collected import duties, export duties and tributes from the local leaders. The Portuguese were more interested in gold trade which passed in Sofala land they ignored the towns.
Unfortunately, they failed to develop this trade because of the following;

There were wars in the mining areas between the Portuguese and Coastal people.   

As a result the Portuguese were so cruel that any sign of disobedience was punished with maximum brutality to serve as a warning to others who might choose to rebel. This partly explains the unpopularity of the Portuguese on the coast.

 B.     Economics.

                  The relationship with the subjects was not good. They lived in isolation of each other by race and religion. The Portuguese established their own settlements, built their own churches and had their own priest. This could be the reason why their religion was rejected and hatred increased.

                 In addition, the few Portuguese officials were corrupt, plundered and ordered destruction on the coastal town. All this earned them hatred and opposition from the people and it was not a surprise that they were nicknamed "AFRITI" meaning Devil.

                The Portuguese did not mix freely with Africans because they considered themselves to be a special race.

                  During the Portuguese reign, the glory of the coastal states was no more. The high standards of living the coastal people had enjoyed were no more. The trade that had made them rich was declining.  Many buildings were in ruins and there was widespread poverty and misery.

II. FACTORS  WHICH LED  PORTUGUESE  FAILED  TO SPREAD CHRISTIANITY IN THE COAST OF EAST AFRICA.

A.    Economic factors.

      Poor  infrastructure system led Portuguese man power filed to spread the Christianity  in the coast of east Africa is lacking man power to preach religion  effectively all parts of east Africa coast.

“So few man power led Portuguese to failed to spread Christianity in the coast of east Africa in many of them based on trade in accumulation of wealth”[3]

                   Unequal exchange of trade , Portuguese also  helped under time their own position  many officials used their position to make money for themselves.

                       Imposition of taxes led Portuguese failed  to spread Christianity in the coast of east Africa because of the imposition of tst Africa taxes. People of east Africa had a faith of islam that tax of exploitation is sin against God, so they lost hope to the religion which brought by Portuguese which impose taxes were collected in harsh way and  people who failed to pay were punished badly , so this made people of the coast to have hard hearts to receive the religion brought by Portuguese.

               They based much on trade, Portuguese destruction of arabs trading system of the Indian ocean also under mined the wealth of the east Africa coast.

B.     Social factors.

They lived away from their subject, one of their aim had been to spread Christianity. A number of churches were built but only small numbers were converted to Christianity once the Portuguese  left  east Africa Christianity at the coast died out.

           Presence of Islamic faith, in the coast of east Africa were already islam faith existed brought by arabs. So it was difficult to spread Christianity by Portuguese among people of the coast of the east Africa. Most of the people  of east Africa were islam people. Arabs were the first to came in the coast of east Africa  and brought islam faith. So it was difficult for the people of east Africa  coast  to received  Christianity.

“The Portuguese had also hope to spread Christianity among Muslim and non muslim  and more so wanted to revenge against Muslim for the humiliation that the junks had mered on European Christianity.”[4]

Christianity was against to the some African culture, Portuguese falied to spread Christianity in the coast of east Africa because Christianity was against traditional and customs of the society like circumcision, polygamy. So people of the coast of east Africa refused to accept Christianity because it was against of the some their culture.

“Friend relation had been established early on with the sultan of malindi but further to the south of the people of Mombasa resisted the Portuguese.”[5]

c.  Political factors.

                  Portuguese organization of the Portuguese in the spread of Christianity in the coast of east Africa. The Portuguese also found themselves with a shortage of personal for administrative position and the army, yet the Portuguese a small country with a small population.

                 Harsh treatment of the Portuguese system of governing by the Portuguese were not fan to the people of the coast of east Africa  because were treated in harsh so this situation led people of the coast of east Africa not to believe to the Portuguese. That is why the spread of Christianity was difficult.

“Within three years of their occupation revenue from trades started to decline because of their harsh rule and direction of the towns.”[6]

III.             FACTORS WHICH  LED TO THE COLLAPSE OF PORTUGUESE RULE IN EAST AFRICA.

            Portugal was a small country that could not provide enough administrators and officials for such a large coastline that extended from Sofala in the south to Mogadishu in the north.

      It had few soldiers and could not keep fortified garrison along the coast.

    Authority was left in hands of incompetent and corrupt officials who were after enriching themselves.

             The Africans hated the Portuguese due to differences in religion, that is to say, Moslems against Christians (Portuguese).

               The Portuguese were cruel, harsh and brutal, they always punished the coastal people whenever they attempted to rebel and made them to be hate

               The Portuguese also used divide and rule policy for example, they allied with Malindi against Mombasa.

    The territory was too big and long for effective control and administration.

                 There was decline of trade due high taxes on imports and other restrictions hence smuggling of goods, which affected the Portuguese economy.

                 Due to decline in trade, the people became poor and dissatisfied and they continuously rebelled.

              The Portuguese failed to support their own allies at the coast, some even betrayed them.

             Portugal had been forced into a union with Spain between1580–1640 which weakened her control of the trading colonies as she was no longer interested in the overseas empire.

              Portugal was challenged by other European powers, which began competing with the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean Trade e.g. Dutch, English, French, Turks and others.

“The challenge from the other European power the Portuguese faced the challenge from other European powers like the British. Turkey and French challenged much the Portuguese in trade of African and other parts of the world hence the situation led to the collapse of the Portuguese.”[7]

           

 The coastal people found useful allies against the Portuguese due to their bad rule e.g. Turks, Oman, and Arabs

                   They were faced with constant rebellions along the coast. This greatly disrupted life at the coast  e.g. Pate, Mombasa

               Tropical diseases which claimed their life like smallpox, malaria making it difficult for them to administer the coast effectively. Disease such as malaria had a common in many part of east Africa. Many Portuguese had not lived in places where there was malaria and so had no resistance to disease.

                       The Portuguese were greatly weakened by a group of cannibals the Zimba, who attacked the East African coast.

                           The unhealthy climate made the area unattractive for them to work for instance, some places where too humid and hot while others where too cold.

                      The distance between Portugal and the East African coast was too far hence reinforcement delayed. Led to be travelled in the interior were a further problems. Africa leaders often did not want the new religion to be taught as they thought it might undermine their own position.

         There was a problem of communication barrier, the Portuguese refused to learn the African languages and these made their administration difficult. They did not know the language of the people, so to whom they were going. In east Africa there was no written language to help them, apart from a little writing of   Kiswahili at the coast.      

              The income obtained from the gold trade was not enough to pay for administration i.e. soldiers and officials.

             The Portuguese lost muz in 1622 to the Persians during the struggle with Arabs and  in 1650 the Oman Arabs won back Muscat.

             The Capture of Fort Jesus their stronghold in 1698 by the Omani greatly contributed to their decline. This was depend on economic, political and military so after the fall of fort Jesus the Portuguese rule started to collapse.

REFFERENCES.

Hodder B.W(1978) AFRICA TODAY;  Methren

Leeming D’ etat (2010). History of East Africa. Macmillan publishes.

Mwijage kamara Fr. E. Jovitus (2004): MAJOR EVENTS IN AFRICAN    HISTORY. Salvatoriam publishers.

Ranger T. O(1961): EMERGUNG THEMES IN AFRICAN HISTORY; East african publishing House; Nairobi.