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European Intervention
Kilwa’s fortunes changed in the late
15th century when the Portuguese
explorer, Pedro Álvares Cabral,
visited Kilwa and reported seeing
beautiful houses made of coral. In
1502 the Portuguese established full
control of the island, their intention
being to capture the
lucrative
Indian
Ocean spice trade. Kilwa began to
decline because of Portuguese
activity, but in 1587 marauders
from the Zambezi valley, armed
only with spears, massacred
everyone in the town. The Omani
Arabs of Paté managed to dislodge
the Portuguese from their part of the
coast in 1698, but Portuguese
remained in Mozambique until the
late 20th century.
Arab Slavery
The Arab slave trade began from
about the 7th century onward, with
slaves being transported across the
Sahara to North Africa and across
East Africa to Zanzibar, Dar es
Salaam and Mombasa. The Sultan of
Oman moved his capital to
Mombasa in 1837, where he set
about expanding the trade.
Some 11–17 million slaves
crossed the Red Sea and Indian
Ocean between 650 and 1900.
Notable among these were the black
eunuchs, provided for the Ottoman
sultans to guard their harems, who
were brought from Ethiopia and
Sudan. Each
sultan
could have 200-
–400 eunuchs, the chief among them
having immense influence and huge
wealth, being the third in
importance at court after the sultan
himself. Unlike the Atlantic trade,
slaves taken from East Africa were
mainly women and boys, the
descendants of whom can be found
living in India and Pakistan today.
A Concise History of Africa
43