End of the Middle-Ages View on: 'An Ocean filled with Ships' by the Portuguese.
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With Idrissi (1150) mentioning that the Zanj have no ships of their own (to travel to Asia) it is important to have some idea how busy the east African Coast had become on at the end of the Middle Ages (the moment the Portuguese arrive). Under I give a list of early Portuguese interactions with other ships on the East African Coast.
Note the following words:
League= 5.5km
mitical: 4.25gr of gold
Almadias: A small African canoe made of the bark of trees.
Zambuk- Sambuk; is a type of dhow, a traditional wooden sailing vessel.
Taken from: The first Booke of the Historie of the Discoverie and Conquest of the East Indias by the Portingals, in the time of King Don John, the second of that name. By Hernan Lopes de Castaneda. Translated into English by Nicholas Lichefield 1582.
(When describing the first trip of Vasco da Gama to India: 1497–1499).
………… The governor (of Mozambique) came on board, accompanied with many men, all well appareled in silk, having many ivory trumpets and other musical instruments, on which they played almost without ceasing. The governor was a lean man, of good stature, dressed in a linen shirt down to his heels, over which he wore a long gown of Mecca velvet, having a cap of silk of many colors, trimmed with gold, on his head; at his girdle he wore a sword and dagger, and had silk shoes.
(Close to Mozambique when trying to take hostages)
……… On this occasion, Paulo de la Gama seized four Moors who were in a boat; but a great many Moors in other boats escaped, by hastening on shore and leaving their boats behind, in which our men found much cotton cloth, and several books of their Mohammedan law, which the general ordered to be preserved. …………..
………… (Mombasa) The harbor is good and much frequented by shipping, and it receives from the African continent in its neighborhood, great quantities of honey, wax, and ivory. ……………… on shore to show them the city. In going through the streets, our men saw many prisoners in irons; but not knowing the language, they could not ask who or what these were …………… Our men were likewise carried to the house in which the merchants of India dwelt, who were said to be Christians. ……………
……… (Leaving Mombasa) Towards vespers, the general came up with and captured one of these pinnaces, but the other escaped to the land. In the captured pinnace there were seventeen Moors, among whom was an old man who seemed master over the rest, and had his young wife along with him. In this boat there was great store of silver and gold, and some victuals. ………
……….. On the same evening the fleet came to anchor off Melinda, which is eighteen leagues from Mombaza, and is in lat. 3° S. This place has no good harbor, being only an almost open road-stead, having a kind of natural pier or reef of rocks on which the sea beats with much violence, owing to which the ships have to ride at a considerable distance from the shore. ………
………….. In this city also there are many Gentiles from the kingdom of Cambaya in India, who are great merchants and trade to this place for gold, which is found in this country, as likewise ambergris, ivory, pitch, and wax; all of which commodities the inhabitants of Melinda exchange with the merchants of Cambaya for copper, quicksilver, and cotton cloth, to the profit and advantage of both parties. ……………
…………… On the last day of the week after Easter, and in the afternoon, the king of Melinda came off in a great boat to our fleet. He was dressed in a cassock of crimson damask lined with green satin, and wore a rich cloth or turban on his head. He sat in a chair of the ancient fashion, very well made and wrought with wire, having a silk cushion; and on another chair beside him, there lay a hat of crimson satin. An old man stood by him as his page, who carried a very rich sword with a silver scabbard. In the boat there were many sacbuts (trombone), and two ivory flutes eight spans long, on which they played by a little hole in the middle, agreeing and according well with the music of the sacbuts. The king was likewise attended by about twenty Moorish gentlemen, all richly dressed. When the king had nearly attained our ships, the general went to meet him in his boat ……
(When describing the first trip of Vasco da Gama on his way back from India: 1497–1499).
……….. Not being sure how far it was to Melinda, and fearing to overshoot that port, he lay too every night; and on Saturday the 5th of February, lying over against a village of the Moors, named Pate, 103 leagues from Magadoxo, there came off eight terradas, or boats of that country, filled with soldiers, and making direct for our fleet, from whence we shot off so many pieces of ordnance, that they soon fled back to the shore, and our people could not follow for want of wind. …………….
………….. the fleet procured a considerable quantity of hens from a village on the coast called Tangata (somewhere close to Tanga). Leaving this place, the two remaining ships came on the 20th February to the island of Zenziber, ………... This is a considerable island, having other two in its neighborhood, one called Pemba, and the other Moyfa (Mafia). ……….. The inhabitants are Moors, who are by no means warlike and have few weapons, but are well clothed in silk, and cotton vestments, which they purchase at Mombaza from the merchants of Cambaya. The women are ornamented with jewels of gold and silver, the former being procured at Sofala, and the latter from the island of St. Lawrence, or Madagascar. Each of these three islands has a separate king, who, with all their subjects, are of the Mohammedan religion. (They stayed for 8 days on Zanzibar). …………..
(Voyage of Pedro Alvarez Cabral to India in 1500)
…… Proceeding in this manner, the general came to Sofala, with which the pilots were unacquainted, near which lay two islands, [Named Inhazato] close by one of which two vessels lay at anchor. These immediately made for the shore on seeing the Portuguese ships, and being pursued were taken without resistance. The principal person belonging to these vessels was a near relation [According to De Faria, this person was uncle to the king of Melinda, and was named Sheikh Foteyma] of the king of Melinda, and was going from Sofala to Melinda with gold. The people were so much afraid on seeing our ships, that they threw a great part of the gold into the sea, and most of them escaped on shore. The general was much concerned at his loss, especially that it should have fallen on the subject and relation of a prince who was in friendship with the king his master; and after showing him every civility, restored the two vessels with all the remaining gold. …………..
……….. (At Kilwa) The king came in an almadia, accompanied by many principal Moors in other boats, all decked with flags, and with many trumpets, cornets, and sackbuts, making a great noise. On the arrival of the king, the whole Portuguese ordnance was fired off, by which the king and his train were much alarmed, not having been accustomed to such a salute. …………
…… and arrived at Melinda on the 2d of August. At this port he found three ships at anchor belonging to Moorish merchants of Cambaya; but, though laden with great riches, he would not meddle with them, out of respect for the king of Melinda. ……….
(Voyage of Alonso and Francisco de Albuquerque to India in 1503)
………. (On the return) Ruy Lorenzo appeared before the town of Mombasa, the king of which place sent out a number of armed almadias or paraws to take his ship: But Lorenzo armed his long boat with a crew of thirty men, which took four of the almadias and killed a great many of the Moors……
………. (On the return) From Mombasa, Ruy Lorenzo sailed for Melinda, the king of which place was much oppressed by him of Mombasa, on account of his connection with the Portuguese. On his way he took two ships and three small vessels called zambuccos, in which were twelve magistrates of Brava, who submitted their city to the king of Portugal, and engaged to give 500 meticals of yearly tribute. …………
……………. (On the return) Ruy Lorenzo being ambitious to distinguish himself, he went to the island of Zanzibar, twenty leagues short of Mombasa, where he took twenty small vessels. ……………
………… (On the return) Ruy Lorenzo was parted from (the fleet) in a storm which drove him to Mozambique, whence he held on his course for Quiloa, where he took some small prizes (= he behaved as a pirate). ………….
(Voyage of Don Francisco de Almeyda from Lisbon to India 1505)
(He defeats Mombasa)
………… several of his men had been wounded while attempting to burn some ships in the port belonging to Cambaya, …………. driving the enemy out at the other side of the town, ………… he received notice that his ships had succeeded in their attack on those (ships) belonging to the Moors of Cambaya, all of which were burnt. ……………
Taken from: Da Ásia de João de Barros, dos feitos que os Portuguezes fizeram no descubrimento e conquista dos mares e terras do Oriente ; João de Barros 1552. (first decade)
(Vasco Da Gama’s first voyage to India 1498)
(In 1498 when the ships of Vasco da Gama start leaking). …………. Because of fear they sailed so fast, that he passed without seeing the town of Cofala,……… and he went to enter a very large river fifty leagues (past Sofala) (a Portuguese Maritime League is 5.5km * 50=275km past Sofala puts us right at the place of Kuvama) further, seeing boats with palm sails coming into it. ……………
……………………… after a few days they reached a town called Mozambique, and went to land on some islands separated from it, a little more than a league into the sea. The islanders, who now call themselves of S. Jorge (Sint George Island) because this was the name which Vasco da Gama gave it, saw three or four boats coming, which are locally called zambucos, with long palm sails, and by rowing. The people of whom came dancing and singing, the best of whom were well treated (this festive arrival is also mentioned at Kilwa by Ibn Majid in 1470), and among them were white men with caps on their heads and dressed in cotton like the Moors of Africa, which was a great pleasure for us …………
…………… (at Mombasa) Returning to the end of April, on the eve of Palm Sunday, they arrived at the port of a city called Mombasa in which the Moor said, that there were Christian Abexijs, and from India …………..
(The return voyage of Vasco Da Gama’s first voyage to India 1499)
……………… a town called Paté, from which seven, or eight, very well-armed local zambucos made their way to him, with the intention of committing him, which he defeated in such a way with artillery, that they no longer wanted to close him down. …………
Taken from: A description of the coasts of East Africa and Malabar, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Duarte Barbosa 1514. Transl Stanley.
SOFALA.
…………. a town of the Moors called Sofala, …………… And the mode of their trade is that they come by sea in small barks which they call zanbucs (sambuk), from the kingdoms of Quiloa, and Mombaza, and Melindi; and they bring much cotton cloth ……………
RIVER ZUAMA.
Leaving Sofala for Mozambich, … a very large river, … the Zuama .. it goes towards Benamatapa, … In the mouth of this river there is … Mongalo. Much gold comes from Benamatapa to this town … by this river, which makes another branch which falls at Angos, where the Moors make use of boats (almadias …… to bring the cloths and other merchandise from Angos, …..
ANGOY.
…… a town … called Angoy, …… And the Moors bring these goods from Quiloa, and Monbaza, and Melynde, in small vessels hidden from the Portuguese ships; and they carry from there a great quantity of ivory, and much gold. And in this town of Angos there are plenty of provisions of millet, rice, and some kinds of meat. These men are very brown and copper coloured; they go naked from the waist upwards, and from thence downwards, they wrap themselves with cloths of cotton and silk, and wear other cloths folded after the fashion of cloaks, and some wear caps and others hoods, worked with stuffs and silks; and they speak the language belonging to the country, which is that of the Pagans, and some of them speak Arabic. These people are sometimes in obedience to the king of Portugal, and at times they throw it off, for they are a long way off from the Portuguese forts.
MOZAMBIQUE ISLAND.
……….. It has a very good port, and all the Moors touch there who are sailing to Sofala, Zuama, or Anguox ……………
ISLAND OF QUILOA.
……………… and from hence there is trade with Sofala with ships, which carry much gold, which is dispersed thence through all Arabia Felix, ………
ISLAND OF MOMBAZA.
………… It is a town of great trade in goods, and has a good port, where there are always many ships, both of those that sail for Sofala and those that come from Cambay and Melinde, and others which sail to the islands of Zanzibar, Manfia, and Penda, which will be spoken of further on. ……………
MELINDE.
…………. The trade is great which they carry on in cloth, gold, ivory, copper, quicksilver, and much other merchandise, with both Moors and Gentiles of the kingdom of Cambay, who come to their port with ships laden with cloth, which they buy in exchange for gold, ivory, and wax. …………….
PENDA, MANFIA, AND ZANZIBAR.
…………… The inhabitants trade with the mainland with their provisions and fruits; they have small vessels, very loosely and badly made, with-out decks, and with a single mast; all their planks are sewn together with cords of reed or matting, and the sails are of palm mats. ……………
PATE.
…………. on the coast there is a town called Pate, and another town … called Lamon; all these trade with the Gentiles of the country, ……………
MAGADOXO.
…………… and is a place of great trade in merchandise. Ships come there from the kingdom of Cambay and from Aden with stuffs of all sorts, and with other merchandise of all kinds, and with spices. ………………
Taken from : Documentos Sobre Os Portugueses Em Mocambique E Na Africa Central 1497-1840 Vol I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ISSUED BY JOAO ROIZ MEALHEIRO, CLERK OF THE FACTORY OF SOFALA Sofala, 1506 July 28
The delivery of merchandise ……………………………………
And also a sambuk (boat) valued at sixty miticals.
And twelve slaves captured in the sambuk aforesaid — namely — eleven men and a little boy.
SUMMARY OF A LETTER FROM PERO FERREIRA FOGAÇA, CAPTAIN OF KILWA, TO THE KING 1506 August 31
Things sent to Sofala ………… and three Moors captured in the sambuk from Mombasa the three Moors were ransomed for 400 miticals of gold and when the cloths were valued they were worth 13,300 miticals. ………
Item, a sambuk with 50 bales of corn and a Moor who was ransomed for 200 miticals and with small trifles 108 miticals of silver.
Item, another sambuk with 487 miticals of gold and 92 quintaes (58.75kg) 2 arrobas (14.7kg*2) 31 arrates (5.45kg*31) for 570 teeth (=Ivory tusks)
Item, two other brigantines with 42 marcos (230gr*42) of gold and 129 teeth of ivory and 20 marcos (230gr*20) of silver and seed-pearl (a tiny pearl weighing less than a quarter of a grain) and a little amber and 180 slaves in both discounting quantities of corn and rice one of these carried a safe-conduct from Pero d’Anhaya and everything was given back save the gold and ivory. ……………….
LETTER FROM DIOGO VAZ, FACTOR OF MOZAMBIQUE, TO ESTÊVÃO VAZ, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CASAS DA INDIA E GUINÉ
Mozambique, 1509 September 4
…………… Cide (Sayyid) Abubacar arrived here with another Moor from Malindi where both are very eminent men, bringing their sambuks loaded with cloth from Cambay amounting to one hundred thousand odd cloths, and he (Duarte de Lemos) allowed them to go to Angoxe to …………… they have sent a great number of them (the cloths) to Quama, ……………….
Taken from: Documentos Sobre Os Portugueses Em Mocambique E Na Africa Central 1497-1840 Vol III
LETTER FROM AFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE TO THE KING Goa, 1514 October 25
…………… the river Amgoja ……….. that there is where the cloth from Malindi and Mombassa, Brava, Pate and Lamo and Mogadishu goes and there where the naos (vessels) from Cambay come yearly loaded with cloth ………………………………
Taken from: Documentos Sobre Os Portugueses Em Mocambique E Na Africa Central 1497-1840 Vol V Mozambique 15 Febr. 1517
After I had written to Your Highness, one day at dawn a zambuk, loaded with cloth, came to the Islands of San Jorge (in front of Mozambique island) when the Comceyçam was lying there and, afraid of the nao (ship), drew so near to the land that it ran aground whilst the Moors fled and left the zambuk where it lay. … the bales of cloth were already in the water ……
Letter written by Cristovam de Tavora from Mozambique on 20 Sept. 1517.
………… a zambuk went with cloth from Amguoja to Cuama and there they went inland with thirty Negroes carrying it. …………. they give their merchandise for less than half of its price in Sofala, and the greater part of these merchants are from Mombasa. …………..
Taken from: Álvaro Velho: Roteiro da primeira viagem de Vasco da Gama. (1497-1499).
Álvaro Velho was on board but left on the return at Sierra Leone.
[Moçambique]
…………… Coelho perceived some sailing boats approaching from a village on this island, in order to welcome the captain-major and his brother. As for ourselves we continued in the direction of our proposed anchorage, these boats following us all the while, and making signs for us to stop. When we had cast anchor in the roadstead of the island from which these boats had come, there approached seven or eight of them, including Almadias (dug-out) the people in them playing upon anafils (Arabic, el Nafir, a sort of straight Moorish trumpet or tuba) They invited us to proceed further into the bay, offering to take us into port if we desired it. ……………
………… ……… The vessels of this country are of good size and decked. There are no nails, and the planks are held together by cords, as are also those of their boats (barcos). The sails are made of palmmatting. Their mariners have Genoese needles (compass), by which they steer, quadrants, and navigating charts. ………….
…………… ……… we chased an almadia (dug-out), which belonged to the sharif and was laden with his chattels, and another in which were four negroes. ………… We took still another almadia ………… In the almadias we found fine cotton-stuffs, baskets made of palm-fronds, a glazed jar containing butter, glass phials with scented water, books of the Law, a box containing skeins of cotton, a cotton net, and many small baskets filled with millet. ………
……… we ran along the coast and saw some islands at a distance ………… They supply the vessels of the country with masts. All are inhabited by Moors. (This was Pemba, which, owing to its deep bays, appeared to consist of a number of islands. The trees of that island still supply masts for native vessels.)
[ Mombaça].
On Saturday [April 7] we cast anchor off Mombaça, but did not enter the port. No sooner had we been perceived than a zavra manned by Moors came out to us: in front of the city there lay numerous vessels all dressed in flags. …………
…………… Mombaça is a large city seated upon an eminence washed by the sea. Its port is entered daily by numerous vessels. ……………
[Mombasa to Malindi]
……… we saw two boats (barcas) … we gave chase …, for we wanted to secure a pilot who would guide us to where we wanted to go. …… In the one we took we found seventeen men, besides gold, silver, and an abundance of corn and other provisions; as also a young woman, who was the wife of an old Moor of distinction, …………..
(On the return voyage 1499)
[Magadoxo]
…………. Whilst repairing a privateer came out from a town called Pate with eight boats and many men, but as soon as he came within reach of our bombards we fired upon him, and he fled. There being no wind we were not able to follow him. ……………
Taken from: The Commentaries of the Great Afonso Dalboquerque, Second Viceroy of India ... edited by Walter de Gray Birch 2017 Vol I
(in 1507)
……………. The end of April was now come, when Francisco de Tavora arrived at the Cape of Guardafum, where the great Afonso Dalboquerque (1453-1515) was stationed, and brought with him in his company Diogo de Melo and Martim Coelho whom he found at Melinde, having come from Portugal; and while all three were in the latitude of Magadaxo, they captured a ship of Cambaya, laden with clothing, and after having stripped her of all she carried, they set her on fire. Afonso Dalboquerque was highly delighted at the arrival of Diogo de Melo and Martin Coelho, and divided with them the spoils of the prize ship; ………