As Duarte was still a direct grandson of a King I will say who no, his line will stay as Avis... York and Lancaster is a very different story (and then their Kings would use Plantagenet as surname for themselves and not York or Lancaster)
^ This, though in reality there's really no story with York and Lancaster, those Houses only being named as such for the sake of historiography, and less contemporary, they were both Plantagenets.
In this case, Duarte would still be the House of Aviz, unlike the Houses of Braganza (who became the ruling dynasty IOTL) and Lencastre (who attempted but failed IOTL), but that's because despite descent from a King they were, much like the Aviz family themselves, born from legitimized bastard lines. They may be regarded historiographically as Aviz-Guimares (much like some consider the line from Manuel I to Henrique as Aviz-Beja), not unlike what they did for the Valois, but it's still the same family.
As Duarte was still a direct grandson of a King I will say who no, his line will stay as Avis... York and Lancaster is a very different story (and then their Kings would use Plantagenet as surname for themselves and not York or Lancaster)
^ This, though in reality there's really no story with York and Lancaster, those Houses only being named as such for the sake of historiography, and less contemporary, they were both Plantagenets.
In this case, Duarte would still be the House of Aviz, unlike the Houses of Braganza (who became the ruling dynasty IOTL) and Lencastre (who attempted but failed IOTL), but that's because despite descent from a King they were, much like the Aviz family themselves, born from legitimized bastard lines. They may be regarded historiographically as Aviz-Guimares (much like some consider the line from Manuel I to Henrique as Aviz-Beja), not unlike what they did for the Valois, but it's still the same family.
Duarte II’s Economic Policy
Política Económica de Duarte II
To Duarte II’s reign came some pending debts to Espanha, as Filipe II had paid several ransoms of Portuguese nobles in hopes of getting their support for his claim to the Portuguese throne, debts that had to be paid to reduce the number of possible reasons that Espanha could use to declare war to Portugal. The main problem was that the Portuguese treasury was deeply depleted from Sebastião’s enterprise so a solution had to be found to fill it again and quickly.
Since this was one of Portugal’s biggest concerns, the King created right in late 1580 the Conselho da Fazenda [Council of Finances] based on the Spanish and Tuscan models which the Cardinal-King Henrique had also been conceiving before his abdication. Through this Council, the administration of the Royal Treasury was centralized as the treasuries of the Kingdom, Índia and África were merged with the Caza dos Contos (which was responsible for inspecting the public accounts) to form it. The functions of this Council were:
Controlling and regulating the taxes, fees and public spending,
Controlling and regulating the monetary policy,
Collecting the revenues coming from the exploitation of overseas resources,
In a collective effort with the Conselho do Ultramar [Council of Overseas], it had to provide the necessary funds for an efficient colonial administration and to equip the Armadas da Índia,
In a collective effort with the Conselho da Guerra [Council of War], it had to guarantee the funds for the national defence.
The Council was chaired by the Vedor da Fazenda [Treasurer], 6 counsellors and 6 clerks. The King obviously placed in front of the Council people he trusted to guarantee obedience and loyalty to his person and had to be informed of all opinions taken. Its members were mostly bourgeois, literate people from the universities and the gentry of the low nobility.
Each counsellor would have a different department, these were:
1-Department of the Kingdom (Metropolitan Portugal)
2-Department of the Asores, Madeira and the Military Orders
3-Department of the Estado da Índio
4-Department of the Estado do Brazil
5-Department of Guiné (Sub-Saharan Africa)
6-Department of North Africa and the Contos
The Paso da Ribeira, the Main Residence of the Portuguese Royal Family and where all the New Councils were operating
The Conselho da Fazenda began working as soon as it was created, an extensive process of reforming and updating the Portuguese tax system in order to recover as much of the Royal Treasury as it was possible, this translated into an increase in the tax burden which stabilized the yearly budget deficit. In 1582, Duarte debased the currency by cutting the value of the Real by 18% and he reintroduced the Cruzado, whose coinage had ceased in 1555, valuing 450 Réis. But it didn't stop there, Duartine economic policies were based on three other key points that did not demand as much burden from the people:
Firstly, as a result of the Portuguese holdings in North Africa being huge money and population drainers (since they had to be supplied by the sea with all goods), King Duarte proposed in the Council of State, after agreeing with the Conselho da Fazenda’ proposal, to abandon Arzila. This particular holding was poorly defended and very hard to supply given the lack of food and especially water and so the King and Council of Finances found it more prudent and profitable to get rid of it for the time being. The proposal was accepted and Arzila was returned to Sultan Amade Almansor [Ahmad al-Mansur]de Marrocos in 1584 and with it, both parts signed the Paz de Arzila [Peace of Arzila] in which they agreed, not without much dispute on both sides, in a truce between Portugal and Marrocos for a period of 5 years (this truce was renewed many times in the subsequent years) and the impossibility of enslaving and selling the remaining prisoners of war. This truce proved to be essential for the remaining Portuguese holdings in North Africa (Seuta, Tânjer and Mazagão) and for Portugal as well as it allowed the recovery of some economic slack. Nevertheless, it was a short-term solution that would have to be resolved one day more clearly and effectively.
Secondly, the Cape Route and, consequently, trade with Asia already showed signs of weakness and there was a clear resurgence of the Levantine Routes that had never been totally rendered unfeasible by the Portuguese. Another worrying sign was the Ottoman Navy penetrating further into the Indian Ocean and challenging the Portuguese supremacy in those waters, not to mention the discontent felt by the Sultanatos do Decão [Deccan Sultanates] in India and a handful of other Asian countries that were revolting more frequently against the Portuguese, namely against their often heavy taxes and uncompromising religious policy and fervour. It was necessary to do something to fight this situation lest it reduce the revenues from the region and so the Conselho da Fazenda searched for the best answers it could provide.
Following what was already being done since the reign of the late King Sebastião, the remaining royal monopolies, with the exception of gold and silver, were abolished to reduce Crown expenses, being replaced with the dízima [tithe] or with quinto real [royal fifth] in accordance with the situation. The Council was adamant about promoting investment from foreign traders mainly from the Italian Peninsula and the Netherlands but also from the Cristãos Novos that still resided in Portugal by intervening in the Inquisition so as not to let them have their properties and wealth confiscated if said Cristão Novos invested in the development and welfare of the country.
The preferable sector of investment for the Conselho da Fazenda was in equipping the Portuguese Armadas as it was here that a huge portion of the Crown’s expenses were. By 1584 the dire need to better control this led to the foundation of the Corporasão das Armadas da Índia [Corporation of the Indian Armadas]. This corporation conceived by the Venetian merchant Rinaldo Bronzino and his followers and inspired by what Veneza and Jénova [Genoa] had been doing for centuries, was intended, as already stated, to administrate the available capital and equip the Portuguese Armadas that sailed to every part of the Empire. The way it worked was that the corporation divided the amount needed to build or equip a ship in 100 equal parts and then they published it between October and December so that investors could provide as much capital as they were willing until February at which point the Crown invested its share, aiming to invest only 25% of the total value of the Armada as to not spend too much and reduce the expenses. In accordance with the amount invested, each investor would be entitled to a corresponding share of the profit of a ship after its crew’s salaries were paid. In other words, now private investors superseded the state as the biggest suppliers of money to fund the Armadas, a big contrast to what happened during Manuel I and João III's reigns.
However, the possibility of losing vessels during the trip also brought the possibility of losing profit and in the worst-case scenarios going into debt. The solutions put forward right at the beginning were:
Reinforcing the Cape Route with new supply points for the ships, as well as improving the already existing ones, aiming to reduce shipwrecks and consequently monetary losses. Through a Royal Decree, King Duarte forced every vessel to stop at these points and if necessary to repair them. Travel took longer now but it got increasingly safer and more profitable to invest in.
The insistence of the King and the Conselho da Fazenda in compliance with the decree of King Sebastião that fixed the maximum size of ships to 450 tons. This not only was meant to prevent possible shipwrecks due to the colossal size of some of the ships but also to increase the number of ships at the expense of their size. Naval Industry was promoted, especially in the production of sails, in Metropolitan Portugal (Lisboa, Porto, Setúbal and Viana do Castelo) and Overseas (Goa, Cochim and Salvador da Baía) in hopes to reduce part of the foreign dependence in this sector and expenses mainly towards the Dutch.
By 1592 after years of pressure, the Corporasão and the Conselho da Fazenda created a fund in which, in exchange for an annual fee, an investor earned the right to be reimbursed if the ship he had invested in sank. This seemed to finally partially solve the problem of it being a risky investment.
Thirdly and finally, the sugar trade, mainly from Brazil and Madeira, was generating profits that continued to increase each year thanks to increased demand in Europe, therefore, it was in Portugal’s interest to do everything possible to further increase these revenues as much as it was possible. The strategy adopted was to increase the area of cultivation of this expensive spice both in Brazil and elsewhere in the Empire such as in recently acquired possessions in Africa, this allowed for the volume of sugar produced to double between 1580 and 1600. It also increased resentment in some of the wealthiest Brazilian Captaincies such as Pernambuco and Paraíba because the competition was increasing and so was the slave cost as more were needed. Another problem was the increasingly larger foreign investment in this spice’s production, resulting in many enjenhos [sugar plantation farms] being owned by foreigners such as the Dutch. Although they normally nominated locals to tend to their properties, many of the already-rooted Portuguese elites of Brazil did not like this.
Overall these measures managed to reduce the Crown’s expenses considerably, which, together with increasingly larger foreign investments from Italian and Dutch merchants seemed to be revitalizing the Portuguese economy after the disaster of Alcáser Quibir. Nearly all of the debts resulting from the disaster were paid by 1600, especially those that were due to Espanha and it was also possible to invest in defence of the Overseas possessions, but there was still a lot to be done by many generations to come. This greater foreign investment also brought other new problems for the country, such as an increased dependence on foreign capital that remained unresolved and the diffusion of the well-hidden Portuguese routes through Europe that was inevitable.
I would like to thank everyone who liked and commented, especially regarding the whole cadet branch affair. I have some things planned for the children of Duarte but I would like to hear your suggestions as well.
One History teacher I had said that Portugal only works well when it is in a crisis, so here they are, facing one and finding solutions to the majority of their problems. It's to hope that Prince John Duarte continues this trend...
The Portuguese position in Africa after Alcáser Quibir changed little compared to the situation before the battle as the continent aroused little interest in most of Portugal’s elites. The elite in Europe was interested only in North Africa since it was seen as the continuation of the Reconquista and as a place of training and promotion of the low nobility and second sons; the elite in Goa considered the Portuguese possessions on the east coast of Africa as an added burden for the small contingent of soldiers and funds they had available; finally, the elite that was most interested in Africa was the one in Brazil, since it was from Africa that the slaves were arranged to work in the sugar plantations, crucial for the Portuguese economy in this American territory, which made it essential to control these territories to ensure that the enjenhos functioned without problems. However, slaves were acquired in coastal areas, so the continent's interior did not interest the Brazilian elite at all.
As already mentioned, Duarte II returned Arzila to Amade Almansor [Ahmad al-Mansur] in 1584 and sought to strengthen Ceuta, Tânjer, and Mazagão with better defences so if Marrocos decided to wage war against Portugal the country was better prepared for it. Nevertheless, the truce agreed following the delivery of the aforementioned possession of Arzila was crucial for the maintenance of these three other possessions.
The other possessions along the African coast were also subject to improvements in their defences as well, although not in the manner intended because there was a lack of soldiers and funds, especially in Duarte’s early reign though by the 1590s and 1600s the situation would be vastly better. Alternatively, to face the lack of funds, the Conselho do Ultramar [Council of Overseas] sought to strengthen and reactivate good relations with regional powers by sending diplomats to negotiate new deals and keep the existing ones. Encouraging results were achieved in the Kingdom of Benim, the Kingdom of Congo, the City-State of Melinde [Malindi] and the Empire of Abisínia [Abyssinia] and less successful results were achieved with the Empire of Songai [Songhai] (which would be destroyed by Almansor) and what remained of the Grão Zimbabué [Great Zimbabwe]. This diplomatic approach allowed Portugal to reduce the military personnel and expenses in possessions closer to allied powers and strengthen others whose neighbours were more aggressive.
The New Feitorias:
In the same year in which Arzila was returned, 1584, the Conselho do Ultramar decided to establish new supply points in the Cape Route in cooperation with the Conselho da Fazenda [Council of Finances] as mentioned previously. The enterprise fell to Duarte de Menezes, who had been Captain of Tânjer (his birthplace) and Arzila before its handover, as well as one of Sebastião I's main Commanders and supporters of Duarte II who appointed him as Vise-Rei da Índia [Viceroy of India] in that year of 1584. The expedition consisting of 8 ships with a crew of close to 1 000 people, mostly soldiers and sailors but also some traders, some women and children, left Lisboa on April 10 and started founding the new predefined feitorias.
The first feitoria that Duarte de Menezes founded was the one he baptized as Santa Izabel do Cabo da Boa Esperansa [Saint Elizabeth of the Cape of Good Hope (OTL Cape Town)] in honour of his Queen who adamantly insisted that she wanted a supply point there, not understanding why none existed as it was a crucial point to control the Cape Route, this despite the scepticism of the other counsellors which included her husband. As the terrain was too mountainous in the cape itself, Menezes chose a different spot slightly to the north that was still on the range of the aftermentioned cape and was very close to the burial place of Fransisco de Almeida, the first Vise-Rei da Índia who died fighting there, though the exact place was forgotten at the time. Being in the periphery of the Cape Route, this feitoria received only 138 people, 80% of which were soldiers sick with scurvy. It was a very small number of people and most of them would die in the first year because of the disease.
The command was given to Captain Jozé Manuel Visente, one of the few without scurvy, who managed to keep the feitoria running despite the increasingly small population contingent at his disposal. He prevented the soldiers and other settlers from stealing cattle from the local tribes, the Cóis (nomadic herders and farmers) and the Sãs (hunters and gatherers) instead he preferred to cultivate good relations with them (the Captain knew that although the Portuguese had superior weaponry they were too vulnerable against surprise attacks coming from the natives as they were very few in number).
His plan went far too well because many natives offered some of their cattle and food to the Portuguese to help them survive the first hard months and in return, the Portuguese gave them wine and clothes. The Portuguese priest that chose to stay, a certain António Faria, even managed to convert some of the natives to Catholicism and some unmarried soldiers married natives in the absence of white women at the time. The local climate was quite similar to that of Portugal despite the months “being the other way around” so the settlers were quick to plant wheat and rye but also fruit trees especially orange and lemon trees that they got from the leftovers of the ships. The fruits were much needed to fight against scurvy one of the biggest problems they and the Armadas had to face. By the end of the year, they were having their first proper harvest and were making the first harvest calendars of the Southern Hemisphere (for Europeans at least).
Thanks to the slowly but ever-growing quantities of food, the Portuguese who suffered so much to survive the first years were now prospering. As the yearly Armadas passed by, more settlers chose to stay in this small community even if the Cabo was one of the least preferred destinations. Thanks to the friendship policy that Captain Visente insisted upon, many natives followed the Portuguese and made their own houses on the outskirts of the village, many of them already converted. To summarize, the colony of Cabo da Boa Esperansa ended up prospering even after its complicated beginning, not with the Cape Route itself (without neglecting its importance of course) but with the trade with the Cóis and Sãs.
Year
Males
Females
Children
Total
1584
121
11
7
138
1585
68
10
11
89
1586
59
10
15
84
1587
64
15
16
95
1588
69
17
21
107
1589
72
22
28
122
1590
80
25
33
138
1595
118
38
45
201
1600
141
57
62
260
Population Evolution in Santa Izabel do Cabo da Boa Esperansa, data of Jozé Manuel Visente’s book: Cabo da Boa Esperansa
The second feitoria was Aguada de São Bráz [Watering Place of Saint Blaize (OTL Mossel Bay)], which received the largest number of people, 192 under the command of Captain António Rodrigues. The feitoria had a climate similar to that of the Cabo and was far better placed on the Cape Route, not to mention the site was being used for decades to exchange messages and to acquire freshwater since its discovery by Bartolomeu Dias. As in Cabo, fruit trees, wheat and rye began being planted from the beginning and with great success. It seemed that the feitoria would be the one achieving the greatest results of them all but it was not to be…Captain Rodrigues did not have Visente’s iron fist in commanding the citizens and he did little to prevent them from stealing from the Cóis and Sãs, so the relationships were sour and conflict was almost a constant right from the beginning. Although the Portuguese had superior weaponry and training which allowed them to win most of the confrontations, the natives often resorted to sneak attacks and ambushes that caused many casualties including civilians. The Captains that followed Rodrigues did little to change the situation, preferring to fight the pagans instead of trading with them. Even with this climate of continuous war, the colony also prospered due to its location and its century-old message system.
On the island of São Lourenso [Saint Lawrance (OTL Madagascar)], Duarte de Menezes founded the homologous feitoria that received 171 settlers under Captain Gonsalo Mendes. However, like the previous attempt to make a feitoria on the island, this feitoria was of ephemeral duration and was abandoned in 1597 by King João IV’s will, as its population was reduced to less than fifty souls, thanks to tropical diseases and native attacks. The settlers were transferred to the nearby feitorias to restart their lives once again or returned to Portugal.
Finally, when he was already settled in Goa, Duarte de Menezes ordered the occupation of the Ilhas Mascarenhas [Mascarene Islands] with 186 settlers under the command of Captain Gomes Henriques. These islands quickly entered the sugar industry and prospered with it, especially after the arrival of slaves from the Mozambican coast, an area that mattered little for the Atlantic slave trade as it was in the Indian Ocean. The islands were also a mandatory point on the return journey from Índia which increased their value in the great schemes of things. There was a bird here that the Portuguese officially called sotilicário or frango-burro [dumb-chicken (OTL dodo)], a bird about 1 meter in height and relatively heavy which was considered stupid for not being able to defend itself or fly, rarely fleeing from danger. As it was harmless and fat it was thought that it could replace chicken and other meats but it tasted very bad and as such it never replaced anything and was only used as a last resort, nevertheless, the sotilicário population decreased substantially from other predators like cats and dogs something that would wave repercussions.
The other feitorias that already existed, such as Sofala or Mosambique Island, also received some new settlers and had improvements in their fortresses albeit at a slower pace. Others like the ones on the Costa do Ouro [Gold Coast] also received some funds mostly to keep the flow of slaves to Brazil untouched and protected. In Angola, a recently founded colony, the Crown had problems with the Portuguese there following the death of Capitão Donatário Paulo Dias de Novais, as the Crown tried to regain effective control over the colony and to do so it had to send the new Captain of Angola, Fransisco de Almeida with a small army to take care of the situation and stabilize the region.
All these points that were to the east of the Cabo da Boa Esperansa were subordinate to the Vise-Rei da Índia, representing more charges for the administration of Goa which was resented the Conselho do Ultramar’s decision to expand their area. However together with the greater control of the size of the vessels already mentioned, these new feitorias and upgrades reduced the shipwrecks by about 40%, soon they brought a greater quantity of products to Lisboa and with it more profits. The more effective control of Angola and the Costa do Ouro also allowed for increasing the flow of slaves to Brazil and other possessions for the production of sugar. The settlements in South Africa also seemed to have great potential in the nearby future.
Really interested how things are slowly building up. The only complain was that I did not want it to end. Now I know how my readers might feel. lol good job.
Really interested how things are slowly building up. The only complain was that I did not want it to end. Now I know how my readers might feel. lol good job.
Portuguese-Ottoman Conflict (1586-1589)
Guerra Luzo-Otomana (1586-1589)
In January 1586, an Ottoman corsair named Mir Ali Bei unexpectedly sailed in his galley from Moca [Mokha], in the Eialete do Iémem [Eyalet of Yemen], a province of the Império Otomano [Ottoman Empire], to the east coast of Africa to prey on Portuguese ships sailing in the Indian Ocean. His first stop was made at Mogadíxo [Mogadishu], where he managed to convince its inhabitants to revolt against the Portuguese, to whom they paid vassalage and with it, tributes. Thanks to this, he obtained more vessels and created a fleet. Likewise, the cities of Brava [Barawa] and Faza also declared their support and loyalty to the Império Otomano, unknowingly represented by Mir Ali Bei, leaving the corsair with a fleet of 15 ships. With this fleet, the corsair captured a Portuguese ship in Pate and another in Lamu. In this city, the Xeique [Sheikh] captured and handed over to the Ottoman corsair all the Portuguese who lived there as a token of good faith. Further south, Mir Ali Bei also received a proposal to build a fort in Mombasa by the city itself to better defend itself from the Portuguese.
As he returned to Moca, Mir Ali Bei captured a Portuguese ship coming from Chaul off the seas of Pate. At first, he promised the crew their freedom in exchange for the cargo they brought but ended up not fulfilling his promise and enslaved them all. In Moca, Mir Ali Bei now commanding 20 ships had 100 Portuguese prisoners at his mercy. When the news that an Ottoman fleet was sailing with impunity across the Indian Ocean, inciting several cities in East Africa to revolt against the Portuguese arrived in Goa, Vise-Rei Duarte de Menezes promptly dispatched an Armada led by Martim Afonso de Melo composed of 2 galleons and 3 galleys that transported 650 soldiers, to expel the Ottomans and restore Portuguese authority in that area of the Indian Ocean.
Portuguese Tributaries in the Costa Suaíli in the Late 16th Century
The Armada’s first action took place in the city of Faza which was brutally sacked and its population was nearly wiped out or enslaved, including the Xeique, whose head was taken to be displayed in Goa as a message to all others. Pate on the other side of the island immediately capitulated and was spared after paying 4 000 Cruzados and the same happened to Mombasa while other cities were sacked. At the same time that East Africa's coast was being pacified, Martim Afonso de Melo strengthened the Luso-Malindi alliance to better respond to a new situation of this kind per the directives of the Conselho do Ultramar. From Mir Ali Bei, the Portuguese Armada found nothing and therefore returned to Goa. In Lisboa, Queen Izabel was enraged by what happened to Faza, considering that the Portuguese actions went too far, so she ordered all the slaves from that city to be freed and the city to be placed under direct Portuguese control, an order which was followed by Goa.
In 1589, after 2 years of inactivity, Mir Ali Bei returned to Mogadíxo with 5 Ottoman galleys to extract heavy tributes from the Costa Suaíli [Swahili Coast] cities in exchange for protection in the name of the Império Otomano against the Portuguese, getting what he wanted from a city that suffered little from the Portuguese repression 2 years prior yet feared an attack from Portugal at any time. Mir Ali Bei then set sail for Melinde [Malindi] in hopes of plundering the Portuguese ally. He was unlucky that Portuguese captain Mateus Mendes de Vasconselos, responsible for defending Portuguese interests on the East African coast at the time, was in Melinde with a small army waiting for him. The Portuguese continued to have an efficient network of spies and informants in the Red Sea that kept them updated on what was going on there. Even before the corsair set sail, Vasconselos had already sent a vessel to inform the new Vise-Rei Manuel de Souza Coutinho, that the Ottomans were about to attack.
Approaching Melinde at night, Mir Ali Bei’s fleet was promptly bombarded by a battery of Portuguese artillery that damaged two of the Ottoman galleys, forcing them to retreat towards Mombasa. Vise-Rei Manuel de Souza Coutinho organized a powerful Armada composed of 2 galleons and 17 galleys together with 900 Portuguese soldiers that he placed under the command of Tomé de Souza Coutinho, his cousin. This fleet arrived in Lamu at the end of February 1589 where they found out where Mir Ali Bei was, Mombasa, and after meeting with Mateus Mendes de Vasconselos in Melinde, they added three more galleys to the fleet that set sail for Mombasa.
Battle of Mombasa, 1589
On March 5, the Portuguese fleet arrived on the island of Mombasa. Mir Ali Bei, together with the local population, erected a small fort near the city, arming it with artillery pieces from his ships in order to close the port's entrance to the Portuguese. It didn’t help much because the Portuguese ships forced their way in with sheer brute force, taking down in the process, 3 Ottoman galleys. The fort was then bombarded by the entire Portuguese fleet, making it little more than rubble and forcing the Ottomans to flee deeper into the city.
Two days later, 500 Portuguese soldiers disembarked only to discover that Mombasa had been evacuated and that its inhabitants took shelter in a nearby forest with the Ottomans. By pure chance, a cannibal tribe nicknamed “Zimbas” was migrating north and set up camp on the other side of the channel, with only the 2 galleys left to the Ottomans preventing them from invading the island of Mombasa. The aftermentioned galleys were captured by the Portuguese and Tomé de Souza Coutinho chose to allow the Zimbas to cross to the island in order to capture Mir Ali Bei this way. When the people of Mombasa realized that the Zimbas were on the island, they desperately fled to the beaches to board the Portuguese ships with many drowned in the attempt. Of those captured, Mir Ali Bei stood out from the rest for obvious reasons, and with his capture, the 1586-1589 Luso-Ottoman Conflict ended. On March 24, the Portuguese fleet returned to Melinde where they were received triumphantly with celebrations and long festivities.
The situation on the East African coast changed considerably after the war, the Xeique de Melinde was widely rewarded by Duarte II for his loyalty, with the King ensuring the defence of the city as well as the restructuring of the local feitoria so that commerce between both countries could continue and even increase. Mombasa was defended from the Zimbas by Mateus Mendes de Vasconselos and by a Royal Decree of Duarte II it was formally annexed by Portugal to be the new headquarters of the Portuguese presence in the region. Four years after the conflict, in the place where Mir Ali Bei had erected his fort, a new fort named Fort Jezus was built to defend the city from enemies. Faza was, as said, also directly administrated by Portugal and began a slow reconstruction, the local population deeply resenting the Portuguese but somehow they gained some esteem for Queen Izabel for freeing them. Pate was slowly becoming dependent on Portugal as well and completely unable to oppose them.
All other cities, except for Mogadíxo and Brava, fell again into the sphere of Portuguese influence. The Xeique de Pemba, loyal to the Portuguese but who had been deposed by pro-Ottoman rebels, was restored to his throne, the one in Lamu was captured and publicly beheaded as a result of what he had done to the Portuguese of his city two years prior and the one in Pate was removed from the throne, being replaced by a more friendly one until eventually the Portuguese decided the city was to be under the direct administration too. Mir Ali Bei was sent to meet with Vise-Rei Manuel de Sousa Coutinho in Goa, where he was beheaded by Royal Decree for having enslaved Portuguese, who were luckily rescued without minimal repercussions.
This conflict was a private initiative of Mir Ali Bei who only managed to go unnoticed by the Portuguese intelligence network due to the insignificance of his initial vessel. The Império Otomano did not succeed nor did it try to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean yet. Portugal continued, under Duarte II, to enjoy supremacy in the Indian Ocean and the East African coast.
The Empire in Africa at the End of the 16th Century
Only effectively controlled possessions and Allies are labeled.
Hopefully, this map is not too far away from reality in the places where it should be close to reality. Also thank you to everyone who gave likes in the previous posts.
They already began settling it, they founded Santa Isabel do Cabo da Boa Esperança, it's on the map. Natal may be out of reach, for now, Portugal is already pushing too much and fighting the Zulus this early...
They already began settling it, they founded Santa Isabel do Cabo da Boa Esperança, it's on the map. Natal may be out of reach, for now, Portugal is already pushing too much and fighting the Zulus this early...
Actually the people we associate with Zulu only came to be in early 19th century. They are actually part of the Ngoni people who settled in the region about 700-500 years before portuguese arrived.
Actually the people we associate with Zulu only came to be in early 19th century. They are actually part of the Ngoni people who settled in the region about 700-500 years before portuguese arrived.
Yes they had arrived long time but they were not known as Zulus who only gained that association in the early 19th century. The Zulus are a clan of the Ngoni people.
Actually the people we associate with Zulu only came to be in early 19th century. They are actually part of the Ngoni people who settled in the region about 700-500 years before portuguese arrived.
Yes they had arrived long time but they were not known as Zulus who only gained that association in the early 19th century. The Zulus are a clan of the Ngoni people.
This conversation has made me realize I need to read more about this area and its people, I have a modern perspective over South Africa's ethnic groups that I need to change.
This conversation has made me realize I need to read more about this area and its people, I have a modern perspective over South Africa's ethnic groups that I need to change.
Yes speaking of reading how is your Portuguese? I actually have a few dozen or do historical research papers that I provide you access. All dealing with 15-17th century.
Yes speaking of reading how is your Portuguese? I actually have a few dozen or do historical research papers that I provide you access. All dealing with 15-17th century.
