Barawa 1890; seen from the east.                                                                                    Barawa 1890; seen from the coast.

The sand dunes on the pictures make you understand that most of its old buildings are now buried underneath deposits up to 6 m deep. Notice the Friday mosque.

 

Taken from: An Archaeological Reconnaissance of the Southern Somali Coast by Neville Chittick

 

None of the buildings appear to be of any great antiquity, though it is known to be one of the earliest places of importance. The earlier mosques appear to be of the eighteenth century. The mosque of Abu Bakr Siddiq appears to be built on a much earlier structure, the top of a kidaka or recess, surrounded by a rope-pattern moulding, protruding a little above the top of the present floor. The earliest of the few sherds found along the beach was a fragment of sgraffiato of late type (thirteenth century).

 

About 1 km west of the town there was a sparse scatter of pottery; of the ten unglazed rim-sherds collected one is certainly, and another possibly, of Kwale ware. This is the Early Iron Age pottery of around the third century A.D. A small rim-sherd of yellow fabric looks as if it may be from an Islamic tin-glaze bowl. If this doubtful identification is correct, it would indicate continued occupation in the ninth/tenth century; there is certainly later occupation in this area, for among a scatter of sherds some distance to the north was found the base of a celadon bowl, probably of the fifteenth or sixteenth century.

 

Taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Tunni Sultanate:

The Tunni (Somali clan), composed of five sub-clans (Da'farad, Dakhtira, Goygali, Hajuwa, and Waridi), were the latest to drive the Jiddu into the interior, where they established their own Sultanate called Tunni Sultanate. The Tunni made a treaty with the Jiddu so that Tunni settled on the west bank of the Shabelle and the Jiddu settled on the east bank. Both also agreed to resist foreign penetration, to allow only Seddah Saamood (the three foot-prints, which are the Tuni, the Jiddu, and the wild beasts). However, they did accept the first Muslim migrants, the Hatimi from Yemen and the Amawi from Syria, around the 10th century, for both religious and commercial reasons. Barawa founded by a Tunni saint called Aw-Al became the new capital for the Tunni Sultanate. The town prospered and became one of the major Islamic centers in the Horn, the Barawaani Ulama, attracting students from all over the region. Muslim scholars of that time, such as Ibn Sa'id (1250AD), wrote about Barawa as "an Islamic island on the Somali coast." Al-Idrisi (1150AD) also described the construction of the coral houses and noted that Barawa was full of both domestic and foreign commodities.

Taken from: The origins of Barawa by Al-Banadir.      https://banadirwiki.com/barawa/

 

The oldest part of the town is an area called Mpayi, it is located in the northern coast of Barawa and is built on a rocky spit of land. Most of the houses in Mpayi is made from coral rags and mortar, and are built adjoining each other, the walls are sometimes plastered white, the doors are hand crafted to commemorate the Swahili architecture they share with its Swahili coastal neighbors. Mpayi is famous for its maze of alleyways as seen in the old towns of Hamarweyne and Shingani. Contemporary to its narrow alleyways, Mpayi prides itself for its historical buildings, such as the oldest Mosque in Barawa, the Jami Mosque (also known as Miskiti ya Jima, or Friday Mosque) which faces the sea, the famous Chilani Lighthouse and the Wali’s (Sultans) house. Mpayi also has the main square or an open plan courtyard (also known as Ibanya Ya Mpayi) in front of the Friday Mosque.

The Jami (Friday) Mosque of Barawa; here the inscriptions mentioned under were to be found. The Mosque was many times rebuild.

 

Taken from: Somalia: Storia della Somalia. L'Islam in Somalia. Il Libro degli Zengi ; By Enrico Cerulli 1957

 

I (Cerulli) was unable to go to Brava to do research directly on the undoubted remains of medieval Arab antiquities existing there. But a Bravano pointed out to me the existence, in the al - Jami mosque of Brava, of an inscription dated from the 9th century of the AH (1398-1495 vulgar era); and of another inscription, I believe funerary, of which at my request he sent me a copy which is the following:

Hajj Shanid ibn Abu Bakr ibn Umar ibn Utman ibn Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abu Bakr; and he passed into that (?) tomb in the year 498 being the month of rabi al-ahir. The month of rabi al - ahir of 498 AH corresponds to the period: 21 December 1104 - 18 January 1105 AD. If the date was read exactly by my informant, this would be the earliest recorded inscription in Somalia so far; on the other hand, historically, the reading is unlikely because precisely from the 10th to the 13th century of the Common Era the major Arab colonies on the Somali coast were constituted, as we have seen elsewhere.

Taken from : Revoil G., Voyage chez les Bénadirs, les Somalis et les Bayouns en 1882 et 1883 ; Le Tour du Monde, 1888, tome 2, Paris, pp. 385-416.

 

P388-392

From the territory of the Bimals to Braoua, a region inhabited by the Touni, a fairly large tribe, but divided by rivalries.

At one o'clock in the afternoon we anchored abeam of Braoua, after having skirted a plateau of rocks and passed the Barette islets, whose line forms a harbor open to all winds.

A lone minaret, built in the south of the city, and a flagpole on the northern point, indicate to the dhows the pass, which rocks at water level make dangerous. The appearance of Braoua is sad. Its stone houses, few in number and miserable, are scattered among the huts, which extend over sandy ground and do not resemble the conical huts of Moguedouchou and Meurka. The city is long, and part of it is hidden by a subsidence of the ground at the foot of small hills of reddish sand.

Like Moguodouchou and Meurka, it is surrounded by walls that have a false air of fortifications, and has a garrison of two hundred men. At this moment, the beach resembled a vast anthill, the population celebrated the launching of a Boutre with much singing, sound of trumpets, cries of enthusiasm.

At intervals, a cannon mingled its voice with the hubbub of the crowd while the workers slid the brand new and brilliantly decorated boat on the sand. Also, thanks to the popular emotion, it was possible for us to disembark almost unnoticed and to avoid unwelcoming things. Only the brother of Salem, established in Braoua for many years and who had been warned of my arrival, came to meet me as soon as the French flag of our boutre (dhow) had been reported to him. He had taken care to have accommodation prepared for us in the house of an Indian merchant, next to his, so as to spare me all worry. We went together to greet the governor and, without losing time, we began to explore the city in order to fix for the next day the interesting points to study.

I must admit that my disappointment was great: the city devoid of all greenery, looks as sad from near as from afar. Only, here and there, in the middle of the daub dwellings, a few sections of walls or a few rare frontons of mosques still preserve fragments of sculptures contemporary with the grandeur of Moguodouchou and recall the passage of the civilized populations of Yemen and the Persian Gulf. The mosques are the only public buildings. Dirty and without any character, there are fourteen of them, rebuilt on ruins. Here are the names in order of seniority: Jamah, Abd-er-Rahman, Atig, Cheik-Abd-el-Kader, Othman, Abou-Bekr-Sadik, Cheikh-Deher-Malleh, Hadji-Sim-beya, Cher-Madde, Hadji-Ouelo, Feukih-Omar, Nour, Seyd-Omar and Seyd-Othman.

In some of them, the kibla was decorated with very modern earthenware, next to a few plates in old China: but, in short, nothing deserved a description, nor even lent itself to a photographic reproduction.

In the absence of archaeological documents prior to the domination of the Adjouranes (Ajuran), dispossessed, according to some, by the Galles, and, according to others, by the current Touni, I was reduced to studying the modern Braoue, very different from the other cities of the Benadir.

Indeed, as I have said, one does not find there the conical huts of the Somalis, but rectangular huts, covered in macoutis, as among the Swahilis, and whose walls are covered with a reddish mortar made with the clay of the country. On the terraces of some stone houses stand light huts, forming aerial dwellings of a curious appearance.

There is no citadel or barracks for the garrison in Braoua, as in Meurka or Moguedouchou; the governor's soldiers are housed here and there. As for the wall, which could at most shelter the city from a sudden attack from inland, it connects a series of forts which dominate the gates and in which sentinels keep watch continually. During the night, these sentinels isolate themselves in their sentry boxes by removing the ladder that serves as a staircase.

Braoua has five wells, large and deep, whose construction dates back to more prosperous times. They are, for the most part, fed by infiltrations from the sea, and the water is generally brackish.

The peaceful physiognomy of the inhabitants contrasts with the arrogant and worried appearance of the populations that we had visited until then. The races are very mixed here, and on the market, very quiet, where corn, squash and anchovies dried in the sun are exchanged for common products brought from the interior by caravans, many Bedouins, with coppery complexions and gentle manners, mingle with the Somalis, more tanned, and with the Kallalah and Ellai Bedouins, of whom I previously spoke in my descriptions of Guelidi. Mention should also be made of the natives of Djido, a region bathed by the Ouebi and a few hours from Braoua. Their clothes are dyed dark brown with the juice of a bark, and their women adorn themselves with necklaces of pearls, glass beads and shells interspersed with pieces of tin or tinplate. Superb oxen with long horns serve them, in preference to camels, for the transport of cereals, skins, rhinoceros’ horns, tallow, myrrh, ivory and gum, which they exchange, in varying quantities, on the market of Braoua for cotton, iron, old copper, earthenware, etc., brought to them by Arabs.

Among the most sought-after products, we must mention fallah-fallah, an aromatic bark used to make fumigations, poison wood (ouabaio) and mogat, a salt based on potassium, widely used in the indigenous pharmacopoeia, and which are brought by the Somalis from the interior.

The manufacture of cotton fabrics, which was once so renowned, no longer exists in Braoua except for memory.

Apart from anchovies, caught with a net and which dry on the terraces, spreading a foul odor, there are hardly any resources for the local trade. My meticulous searches in all the homes of Braoua, facilitated by the popularity of Salem's brother and my Arab costume, will therefore provide me with few new documents.

Moreover, as in Meurka, it was enough that I was seen looking for earthenware and antiques for the exaggerated prices, immediately established by mutual agreement, to make any purchase impossible for me. I was even obliged to give up my walks through the town, where smallpox was then cruelly raging. The troops of curious kids, growing by the moment, who fell in behind me and followed me everywhere brazenly, also hindered my observations, and I preferred to attract to our home the people of the locality who might possess some interesting objects. I was offered all the specimens of the country's manufacture, among others the spears that are exported throughout the region of Djoub to Kismayo and among the Bayouns, but I could not discover any archaeological document. In compensation, I took several views of Braoua. Under the protection of an escort that the ouali (wali-governor) kindly placed at my disposal, we toured the city outside the walls and chose some advantageous sites. The mosque of Abd-el-Kader, among others, rebuilt on the site of a very ancient mosque, stops us first of all. A cemetery surrounds this monument, and, before long, the sands which already cover the tombs will have buried the building itself under their shifting shroud. Two plates of very common European earthenware, embedded in the mortar above the door, attest to the recent repairs. From time to time, in fact, the exit of this mosque is cleared, which is maintained by an influential personage of the region, Sheikh Abd el-Kader. Two or three inscriptions plastered in the masonry and doubtless removed from neighboring graves must mention the names of some of the ancestors of the Sheikh; but I could not be sure. This family is allied to the Abd el-Kader of Baghdad, one of whom, Abd el-Kader el-Ghilani, founded the famous zaouia (zawiya: a Sufi institution) which bears his name.

The sheikh who had embarked at Meurka, on board my dhow, during my crossing from Zanzibar to Moguedouchou, and who bore the name of Sheikh Aoues Abd el-Kader, came from Baghdad and represented this zaouia.

I found him surrounded by about fifty followers, who never left his side and to whom he preached his intolerant doctrines. Their meeting place was a mosque outside the walls, to the northwest of the city, and which bore the name of Aoues.

Following the ramparts to the southwest, we came across the remains of Arab tombs, dating back at least two centuries, and, as we crossed the fields, the mosque of Seyd-Omar; we passed in front of the tomb of Mr. Deale, agent of the Hantzing house, of Zanzibar, who was treacherously assassinated in 1871, it was too late to visit the tower of Braoua, which rises on a wave placed on the southern extension of the line of the Barette islets. We postponed this trip until the next day ……………………………………………

We still had to visit the minaret which stands on an islet and to the southwest of which the buildings come to anchor to get closer to the best wells. We went there by the beach, taking advantage of the low tide.

Traditions place in the vicinity of the tower a large agglomeration of buildings today completely buried under the sands.

We could barely discover here and there some vestiges of the most flourishing and most ancient city founded by the Arabs on the eastern coast of Africa.

End of the Middle-Ages View of Brava by the Portuguese

 

Taken from: Lendas da India by Gaspar Correa 16^th Vol 1

 

DUARTE PACHECO, SEA CAPTAIN, 1503.

Leaving this in place, he left and went to Malindi in search of Antonio de Saldanha, where he arrived, the King received him with great pleasure, because he was at war with the King of Bombaça, who had us ready to come and fight with him; what all El Rey spoke to Ruy Lou Renço, he did what was necessary, and left soon for Bombaça, and there he took two naos and three zambucos with many people and belongings, and in those naos he took eighteen Moorish rich merchants, natives of the City of Braua, which was very rich and populous on the coast itself. Those merchants will redeem themselves for a lot of money, and for freeing a vessel that came behind, there is great fear that the vessel would come to them, so everyone becomes vassals of the King of Portugal, paying a thousand maticaes every year, which will soon be payed, and they will all give their signed letters, obliging themselves to pay each year in the City to whoever goes there. What Ruy Lourenço dissimulated, saying that every year he would order them to be collected, and he left them, and went on his way, and arrived at Bombaça  ………….

 

DOM FRANCISCO, VISOREY, 1507.

……………The Major Captain (Tristao da Cunha), with an armada running along the coast, went to the city of Brava, the most noble and populous city on the entire coast, with beautiful houses with many houses and terraces, and beautiful mosques; sitting on a back, which made it very showy, and completely surrounded by a wall, cubicles, and three doors facing the beach, where the sea breaks a lot. Its coast is unprotected from all winds, so disembarking was very dangerous, and this city is famous for being large and rich.

……………… Then the Major Captain made three squadrons of people, and he and one hundred men entered one gate, and another gate Dom Afonso Captain of Çacotorá, and the last gate Afonso d'Alboquerque, each with three hundred men, who upon entering the doors heard the our dead, and wounded, because the Moors were very armed with guns, traps, and many trick arches, which greatly ingrained ours. These gates, are the three main streets that lead to the city, leading to a large square, which leads to the middle of the city; in which there is a large mosque. Ours are fighting through these streets with many Moors, who were racing, because they did not dare to wait for the spears of ours to reach them. …………

………….. Then Captain Major let them go, so that they could steal, and they would soon run to the edge of the city, where, killing men ……… they left a lot of spoils of money, jewelry, and rich things, and the big city had a wealth of rich people and goods; and because it was late the Captain Major entered the houses of El Rey, where he found a lot of money, and a lot of jewelry, and a lot of silver in large basins, and state things, and a lot of rich cloths, and house clothes, all of which he ordered to be brought outside the yard by men he trusted and he took a hundred thousand coins for the expenses of the armada, and pieces of gold, and silver, and stones for ElRey, and a chest of rich cloths, and everything else he ordered to be shared with the Captains ……….

 

Taken from: Records of South-Eastern Africa : collected in various libraries and archive departments in Europe vol 6 by Theal, George McCall, 1900.

Out of: De Barros; Decadas da Asia 1 decade Book VII Chapter IV

 

P219-220

Ruy Lourenço having set out on his passage to Mombasa, it happened that at different times he captured two ships and three zambucos, in which were twelve Moors who were some of the chief noblemen of the town of Brava, which is one hundred leagues farther down than Melinde. As this town was governed by a corporation, these twelve Moors being the principal heads of the government, they not only paid ransom for themselves and one of the captured ships, saying that it belonged to their town, but in the name of the said town they made it a tributary of the king of Portugal, paying a tribute of five hundred miticals of gold per annum, and asked for a flag that they might navigate in safety as vassals of the king, which Ruy Lourenço gave them with good will.

The principal reason why these Moors had immediately made themselves vassals was because they were expecting to be followed by a very rich ship, the property of the town of Brava, in which each of them had a large quantity of merchandise. As soon as the ship arrived, Ruy Lourenço understood this prudent conduct, and delivered it over to them entirely and freely, having ascertained that it was theirs, which proceeding filled them with astonishment, seeing that the riches of the ship did not arouse the covetousness of our men because of the protection they had promised them, although they comprehended the precautions that had been employed to save it.

 

Taken from: João de Barros; Asia: dos feitos que os portugueses fizeram no descobrimento e conquista dos mares e terras do oriente : segunda década.

 

P30

At Tristao da Cunha's request, he went to another city further ahead of this one, called Brava, located on the coast with much more noble people, buildings, and roads, which would already pay tribute to us for what had been passed with travelers and Ruy Lourenço Captain of Taforea, which was in the company of Antonio de Saldanha in the year five hundred and three. Which tribute cost the travelers who granted it very dearly; because when they returned to the city of the place, where Ruy Lourenço took (tribute), (according to the above,) they were mistreated by the other princes, who with them governed the City, and disposed of their governance, for so long

 

P31

they vehemently granted the tribute, without it being worth it for these condemned men to say that they did so out of caution not to have them take their nation, which was carrying so much wealth, as everyone knew. And as people obligated to this debt, which they had not paid, they were very strengthened, and relied on the walls, towers, and defensible site of their city, and the entrance was very dangerous through the harbor reefs. So much so that when Tristao da Cunha appeared in front of it he sent a message through Diogo Fernandes Pereira, who was considered master of the nation of Cirne of Affonso d'Alboquerque, and had already been there in the company of Antonio de Saldanha as Captain, and master of the nation of Setubal; and the answer he brought were the words of proud people, who had not been tried on iron. And on the back of Diogo Fernandes they ordered a demonstration of the people, who had to defend themselves, leaving through one door, and entering through another, that were along the beach six thousand men all armed in a ferocious way, and in such good ordinance, which were better to see than to commit. Tristao da Cunha saw their determination, so much so that it dawned, he on one side, and Affonso d'Alboquerque on the other, together they went to demand the land, which was very well defended with

 

p32

arrows, stones, and other throwing weapons, so strong that they could not take the port, until at the cost of their blood and that of the Moors. They (the Portuguese) entered (the town) through three parts of the wall, as it was so low and weak in that place, that there were no stairs. And where this entrance was located it was the highest point in the city, and most of the town was downhill, and the Moors were already bloodied, and had less spirit than they had first committed, they all began to flee out of it. But this fleeing was not seen in the Moorish princes who governed it; because most of them, seeing the disorder of the common people, like knights, each one remained in the place where death took him, fulfilling the sacrament that they had made to the people of dying for the defence and freedom of all. Finally, this entry was done in a deliberate manner, and was so hard fought by everyone, and each person was so busy in his own fort, that few knew how to take account of the fury of the feat, only that it calmed the pride of that City, and for this time it lost its name of Brava and became as meek as a body without a soul of resistance. And so many enemies perished there that they could not be counted, and of our

 

p33

up to forty-two people, and sixty-odd wounded: and among these dead people entered a boat of up to eighteen of them, which sank on its way to the ship of Tristan da Cunha, in fact loaded with the loot of the City, and among the drowned was a Joao Borges, an honorable man. Citizen of Lisbon, and the Chaplain of the ship: and some who were saved only on a bier, in which there was Fernao Trigo master of the ship of Francisco de Tavora. The one who suffered his destruction had not warned the others, according to the people, he was eager to catch and bring the loot of the City to the river, as it was full of money, many had to be lost; but Tristao da Cunha immediately ordered to attempt for not having another such disaster. Of which, according to what was later said, it seems that the cause was a cruelty, which some men hid behind him, and as they were unable to take off the silver shackles, which the Moors had on their arms, they cut them off; but as God is not pleased with things that humanity does not desire, they, and the shackles, remained on the bottom of the sea. Tristao da Cunha, because the entrance to the City was one of the illustrious feats that up until that time was done in those parts, in memory of him, although it had been seen in other very honorable ones, wanted to receive the honor of the knighthood from the hand of Affonso d'Alboquerque ……

 

Taken from: De Barros; Decadas da Asia 4 decade Book III Chapter VIII.

 

(After Nuno da Cunha had destroyed Mombasa and had returned to Malindi.)

Others from the same coast came to see him saying that they all wanted to be vassals of El Rey of Portugal; and so did the residents of the City of Brava, who, as soon as Nuno da Cunha arrived in Malindi, sent him Ambassadors from their cabildas (=tribes), with seven hundred and fifty gold metical’s in payment of three years' worth of tribute, and which each year they gave him they would pay two hundred and fifty, with other obligations, which Nuno da Cunha was reluctant to accept because their town was already destroyed in the time of his father Tristão da Cunha, of which Nuno da Cunha, who with him was a witness.

 

Taken from: Chronica d'el-rei D. Manuel by Góis, Damião de, 1502-1574; Pereira, Gabriel, d. 1911 (1909) Vol 4

 

………. Then he (Tristram da Cunha in 1506) went to cast anchor in front of Brava, which is at LXV leagues (of Lamu), surrounded by a wall with its cave, and tall houses with two-story buildings, and stone terraces, and very rich lime, due to the great reef that is there, where upon arriving Lionel Coutinho sent to the land to offer the governors peace, which they showed that they wanted to accept, lengthening the time with the hope that a storm would come, which they call, the rod of Choromandel, which comes so angry, and so suddenly of which you can't find many on that coast.

 

This Tristao da Cunha knew, without further thinking, he committed, leading Afonso Dalbuquerque, accompanied by …………… and other knights, and nobles, who were all four hundred, and with six hundred followed Tristao da Cunha in the rear, all of whom will reach the beach at dawn, where, even though the landing was dangerous, they will leave despite their enemies, who defended very aggressively, because as it was later learned, there were more than four thousand men fighting in the city, and among them many very hardworking, two thousand of whom went out to defend the beach, which ours took back to the gates of the city, where they withdrew with great effort until they reached them, and closed them upon themselves, so that ours began to scatter along the cave, to see if they could find any other entrance, where, because there was a lot of unused area and some hills, all the while there were shots being thrown at them, shots that were thrown at them from the wall, because even tenements, full of bees thrown at them, but as they went about their work, they ended up in a section of low wall, which is weak,  through which Afonso Dalbuquerque soon entered, who was in the lead with all his company, and being already in the first street between the wall and the houses, many Moors arrived with whom a brave fight was fought over a good space, among which Tristao da Cunha, with the Royal flag, the Moors gathered near the city, from which ours will drive them towards the countryside with a lot of work, than not being satisfied, wanting to still follow up, Tristao da Cunha immediately ordered to close all the city's doors, which will not stop on that side, because the ones on the beach were safe with the people who stayed in the boats.

When that was done he ordered the city to be plundered, in which they found very rich spoils of gold, silver, stones, silk cloths, cotton, ivory, amber, and many odors, spices, and all kinds of merchandise, and it was so much that it was not possible to find it in all nations of the fleet.

 

Many Moors remained in the city, and because they could not escape, they would all be captured, and Tristan da Cunha gave freedom to many of them, and of those who would be captured he took everyone he wanted. The cruelty of the poor people was so great that more than eight hundred living people had their hands cut off in order to quickly take away the gold and silver shackles they carried in their arms, and the same thing they did to their ears for the sake of money. Knowing this, Tristao da Cunha ordered it to be announced with great pain that no one would do this anymore. Once the city was stripped, Tristao da Cunha ordered it to put it on fire, from which the entire sight of our people, and the inhabitants of the city, who were watching it from the palm trees, were watching it with that sadness; those who before found themselves rich, wealthy in a moment burning, fed up, and at the same time destroyed, and poor, with the loss of their fathers, mothers, children, relatives, and friends.

It was later learned that those who died in the city exceeded one thousand and five hundred, of ours were many injured, and more than fifty died, apart from XVIII who were lost in a boat that was loaded with the greatest spoil but not from Tristan da Cunha, whose boat was saved. ……………………

 

Taken from: Documentos Sobre Os Portugueses Em Mocambique E Na Africa Central 1497-1840 Vol III

CHAPTERS RELATING TO EAST AFRICA IN THE ACCOUNT OF MARTIN FERNÁNDEZ DE FIGUEROA

1505-1511

(in 1506)

……………….. and, twelve days later, there entered the port of Malindi a nao (vessel) of Afonso de Albuquerque's, aboard which came Francisco de Tavora as captain who, once landed, went to acquaint the Christians with what had occurred to Afonso de Albuquerque during the capture of a city called Brava, and in another island called Socotra, and how he had captured the castle of Fortaque from the Moors, and was now at cape Guardafui.

 

Title XXIII - Wherein are related the victories of Afonso de Albuquerque, captain of the straits of Mecca.

 

Diogo de Tavora said that, as they were well aware, Afonso de Albuquerque had gone to the straits of Mecca as captain - major of six naos and that he was now telling them that he had arrived at a city that lies on the mainland, called Brava, and had entered there by force of arms killing many Moors and stealing great wealth which its owners disdained to save, thinking only of defending themselves; nor their women, who were left there with great wealth and elegance, with seven or eight bangles on each arm, and as many on the legs, thick and valuable. This gave occasion to great cruelty because the men, more blinded by greed than inspired by mercy, and not to waste time, cut off their arms, legs and ears, where they carried the jewelry, without any thought of pity. This was not done by the men of quality, seeing that they were women, the bearers of generations, soft and delicate of flesh, tender of quality; who could not be moved to pity when contemplating their beauty; who would not let the sword fall from his hand rather than shed a woman's blood. The victor who is cruel deserves reprimand for such cruelty. However, it is likely that those who behaved thus were neither the best nor the middling. All the women were going about the streets weeping, bathed in blood. And others were fleeing, with their children in their arms, without finding shelter.

 

Taken from: A description of the coasts of East Africa and Malabar, in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Duarte Barbosa 1514. Transl Stanley.

 

BRAVA.

Leaving these places, further on along the coast is a town of the Moors, well walled, and built of good houses of stone and whitewash, which is called Brava. It has not got a king; it is governed by its elders, they being honored and respectable persons. It is a place of trade, which has already been destroyed by the Portuguese, with great slaughter of the inhabitants, of whom many were made captives, and great riches in gold, silver, and other merchandise were taken here, and those who escaped fled into the country, and after the place was destroyed they returned to people it.

Taken from: The commentaries of the great Afonso Dalboquerque, second viceroy of India; by Albuquerque, Afonso de, 1500-1580 vol 1.

P37

CHAPTER XIII.

How the chief captain, Tristao da Cunha, proceeded to Braboa, and what passed there.

The fleet haying set sail the chief captain proceeded along the coast towards the City of Braboa; and as soon as they had all anchored on their arrival, seeing a great disturbance on the beach he sent Lionel Coutinho in his skiff to shore to find out with certainty what the Moors were about but before the skiff reached shore those who stood on the edge of the beach made signs to him not to come into the land. When Lionel Coutinho saw that the Moors were unwilling to parley with him, he returned to the ships, and informed the chief captain of the disposition in which he had found them. And he, being annoyed, because the king had refused to receive his message, ordered all the captains to be summoned, and gave them an account of Lionel Coutinho's proceeding with the Moors, and told them there were many men among them, and these very well armed; but for all this he was determined to attack the place, and risk all to destroy it, so they should make ready, and on the following day before daybreak come on board his ship that all might go together to attack the place. The Moors who were stationed on the beach, seeing the commotion that was going on in the fleet, and the collection of boats around the flag-ship, (which appeared to them as it were of people determined to attack them), in order that they should not be taken by surprise, commenced to make themselves ready, and collected many men to prevent the disembarking of our men. They relied, too, on the sea, which broke upon the shore, (as it was a boisterous coast) and would overset them when landing and drown them all. The king being thus minded, there went to him by night two old Moors who had gone thither to live, haying fled from Calicut disgusted with

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the war which the Çamorim kept waging with the Portuguese, and said to him: Sire thou art not well advised in desiring war with the Franks, over whom the Çamorim of Calicut, all powerful as he is, could never get the better in the war which he had with them, and thou oughtest to believe that

there is no single king of all this coast so powerful as to be able to prevent them from landing in his territory whenever they desire, and leaving it full of blood, burning and destroying it as they did Angoja; and since this is so, we beg thou wilt deign to hear them, and make a reasonable truce with the chief captain of this fleet, and not hazard the loss of thy estate, and the destruction of all of us. But should their demands be so unreasonable that thy honour cannot grant them, then the business can be continually put off with fair words, for this is the season when the vara of Coromandel sets this way, as thou knowest, and if it should come when they are anchored there, all their fleet will be destroyed, and not one ship be saved, and by these means we shall all be revenged upon them, without thy estate being hazarded. The king was inclined to follow the Moors' advice, and thanked them deeply for their remembrance of him, and sent at once to convene the principal natives, who had recommended him to fight, and informed them of what the two Moors had said. And when they had thoroughly discussed the matter between themselves, it was agreed that they ought to follow the advice the Moors had given them. Therefore, before it was yet morning, the king sent a Moor in a boat with a white flag, to request the chief captain to come under a safe-conduct and arrange matters peaceably, and he went immediately on receipt of this message, and returned forthwith with the safe-conduct. And as soon as he had arrived, the king ordered one of the principal governors of the land to speak with the chief captain, and this (governor) told him that the king was very angry at the scanty welcome the Moors had given to his captain, whom he had

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sent thither, but as the offenders were many in number, he could not single out the guilty ones to have them punished, but he desired to have peace and friendship with the King of Portugal, and desired he would send word of what he wished, for all should be done. Tristão da Cunha replied that he was chief captain of the King of Portugal, who had sent him with the orders to make stern war against and destroy all the kings and lords who unwilling to be friends and tributaries, were established along that coast which was of his conquering. And because the king of Angoja had not cared to be obedient to this, he had destroyed him; and so also he was determined to do with the king of Braboa, unless he was willing to obey the King of Portugal and pay him tribute; but if he was willing to be his vassal, he would serve him with that fleet against his enemies, just as he had done for the King of Melinde by reason of the great friendship which he also showed towards the King of Portugal, and by reason of the favour and honour shown to his captains who went to his port. The Moor returned to land with this reply, and related to the king, before all the principal men of the place who were with him, all that had taken place with the chief captain. And after long discussion which took place respecting this reply at which they were not pleased, the king sent again the same Moor to the chief captain to say, that to send to him for tribute was not desiring friendship with him, but seeking reasons for quarrelling if he did not grant what was demanded of him, for he had never been a tributary of any king, but rather on the contrary all those of that coast endeavoured to have him as their friend; yet, as this demand was something new, and could not be answered without consulting the chief men of the land, he begged him of his favour to wait for three or four days while he assembled all the merchants and arranged with them what could be done. The chief captain replied that he had other affairs to attend

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to which the King of Portugal had ordered to be done, and therefore he could not wait so many days; so, if he desired to come to terms with him, he must send back an answer at once. And if not he should do what he had orders to do. The Moor returned with an answer begging him greatly of his mercy to grant that extension of time which the king of Braboa his lord had sent him to ask ; for it would not be fair since all that population would have to pay the tribute, when once it had been agreed upon, that it should be done without the knowledge and consent of all. The chief captain, to be final with him, gave him another day, saying that if no reply came before night he should consider it as refused. The Moor went on shore and conveyed this message to the king, and on the following day, when the sun was already set, returned with a reply, and said that the king was willing to pay tribute, but could not determine how much it should be without first consulting the principal Moors of the land, and all the merchants, so he had ordered them to be summoned, and would send back word at once when they had arrived. The chief captain, seeing that the Moor who was employed on these messages went and came from side to side without bringing anything to an end, and that there was nothing but delay and lying on the part of the king, ordered him, when he had come with the last message, to be tied to a stake, showing that he was willing to make a treaty, and was determined to know the real reason why the king was unwilling to make an end of the business, for to reply yes or no there was need of but little time; and he warned him that he had better tell the truth, for if he lied, he would throw him into the sea with a cannon ball round his neck. The Moor, out of fear that he would carry his threat into effect, said: Sir, thou art in front of this city where at this season of the year a wind arises which is called the vara de Coromandel, which comes

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from those parts so suddenly and so fiercely that if it were to come now, not a single vessel of your fleet could escape from certain destruction. And it is from this hope, which we all support, that it will come every day, that the king carries on these delays with you. The chief captain, in fear of this event, ordered the Moor to be well treated, and made ready to attack the city on the morrow before daybreak.

CHAPTER XIV.

How the chief captain, Tristão da Cunha, went to attack the city of Braboa, and after its destruction sailed for Çocotora.

As soon as this parley was over between the chief captain and the Moor who carried the message, the chief captain at once informed the captains of all that had taken place, and said that his determination was, on the following day before dawn, to attack the city. He ordered them all, therefore, to get themselves ready, and, at the appointed time, come on board his ship, bringing small anchors and long cords with them in the boats, to leave as guides in the sea, that they might not be upset; for, as it was an open harbour, there was a great surf on the shore. The captains spent all the night in preparations, and, when the hour was come, went with their men on board the flag-ship; and, as soon as they had arrived, the chief captain stood in to shore two hours before daybreak, without sounding trumpets, lest they should be heard. The king, meanwhile, dreading that something or other had happened to delay the Moor whom he had sent, but who had brought back no answer, gave orders to watch the beach all night, so that our men

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could not go so quietly but that they were perceived: and many Moors flocked to the shore at once and did all they could to prevent our landing. And because they were numerous and the sea very boisterous our people experienced great difficulty in disembarking. Yet for all that they were hurled along by the water and half dripping, they attacked the Moors so bravely that many of them soon lay dead and those who escaped from their sword fled towards the city. When the chief captain saw they were put to rout he was unwilling to give those Moors who fled time to rally from the panic into which the sudden attack had cast them; so he ordered Afonso Dalboquerque to take the vanguard in charge and go in pursuit of them, which he accordingly did with the men he had with him. At the entrance into the city the Moors made a stand against our men and killed about four or five and wounded Antonio de Sá in the face with an arrow. While this conflict with the Moors was taking place the chief captain came up and all together entered the city behind the fugitives; and women threw down stones from the terraces and wounded many. When the Moors had arrived at a large square containing a mosque, all had collected together and awaited our attack with the determination to resist to the death; and, as they were very numerous and the square large, our men, who were but few, were in danger of destruction. Directly news of this came to the boats, the mariners and bombardiers who had remained in charge of them, left them, and took leathern belts full of cases of gunpowder and of other firearms, and started off at full speed for the square where the chief captain was, and, with the powder in cases, lances, and firearms which they carried, made great havoc among the Moors. Our people, with this fresh succour, pressed so hard upon them that they turned their backs and fled on out of the city, in which none remained but women, who, laden with household goods

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followed their husbands. And our people followed after them and came up with them and killed many and took from them what they carried.

The chief captain being fearful lest they should follow the Moors, who were flying pell-mell, too far, ordered Afonso Dalboquerqne to recall his men and not permit any further pursuit. And when they were collected, the chief captain returned to the square, and set to work to attack the mosque, where they killed all the Moors who were within, and in entering it they wounded him in the leg with an arrow. At the end of this affair he took up his quarters in the square, and, after resting, he begged Afonso Dalboquerque to do him the favour to dub him knight; for he was desirous of receiving the honour from his hand there in that place, where the Moors had shed his blood. And forthwith all the people were collected in the centre of the square, and Afonso Dalboquerqne dubbed him knight with the wonted ceremonies. After Tristão da Cunha had been dubbed knight, he, in his turn, conferred the same honour upon his son, Nuno da Cunha, and many other Fidalgos. And when these ceremonies were done, the chief captain went with all the rest to the palace of the king, which was very large and very beautiful, and into which, until then, he had permitted no one to enter. Within it he found much silver and much gold, many silk stuffs, and many other very rich things, and much money in xerafins (silver coin) all which he divided among the captains and noble persons of the fleet. Then, as it was getting time to embark, and also on account of the fear he had of the coming of the storm of which the Moor had told him, the chief captain ordered the recall to be sounded on the trumpets; and, after all the people had been gathered together, they set fire to the city in four parts, and it burned so fiercely, that it was a terrible thing to behold. Therein was burned much goods

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which oar people had not time to bring away, in as much as the sea did not allow of their patting it on board so rapidly as the chief captain wished.

Braboa is a large city, with very good houses of stone and mortar. It is situated on the water's edge, and has no harbour: all is open coast, unprotected on all sides. It is peopled with the native Moors, who trade with ÇoffaJa and all along the coast. Thither, also, come the ships of Cambaia, laden with stuffs, and in this city the principal trade in them is carried on; for a very large river passes through it, which cuts the whole of the land, and does not run out to the sea: and, by means of this river, the merchants of this land sail to many parts, and go thence to a fair which is held in Manamotapa, which is the interior of Çofala, whither they bring these stuffs from Cambaia and Anfiao, sandal-woods and rose-water and other merchandise, whereby they make much profit, and from thence take gold and other commodities: and all those in the interior are wont to navigate this river, and come to Braboa, which would be about half a league from the sea, and on account of this river the city has become so noble, and has many good buildings.