Maganja da Costa District is a district of Zambezia Province in Mozambique.
Maganja da Costa District is a district of Zambezia Province in Mozambique.
The name probably derives from that of the Mang'anja people, now mainly resident in southern Malawi. However, from the 17th century onwards, Portuguese explorers used the name Manganja as a territorial designation, and called the people living in that area Maganjas. The original area occupied by the Mang'anja, and the area called Manganja, extended south and east of the area this people currently occupy, and the name of the town Maganja da Costa ("Maganja of the Coast"), about 20 kilometres inland from the Indian Ocean near Pebane records their former eastern extent. At present, the population of the area is mixed, and the largest group consists of Makua people from northern Mozambique who first arrived in the 19th century. The area does not now contain any Mang'anja people, but in 1960 the oldest inhabitants recalled that a few survivors of the original population still spoke the Mang'anja language and used to visit rain shrine of M'Bona in southern Nyasaland, a cult exclusive to Mang'anja people. [1]
During the 19th century, for major Afro-Portuguese or Afro-Asian families established in Mozambique were involved in the Zambezi wars. The Caetano Pereira to the north of the Zambezi river, the Vaz dos Anjos of Indian origin near Quelimane, the Da Cruz, also near Quelimane, whose founder was from Thailand and Alves da Silva da Silva. [2] The Maganja da Costa district became the stronghold of the Alves da Silva family. Its founder, António Alves da Silva, came from the province of Beira in Portugal in the early 19th century and established a trade in ivory and slaves, engaging a number of African soldiers or "sipais" from the Sena district. His two sons, João Bonifacio and Victorino Romão, became prominent slave traders operating in the Luangwa and Lower Shire valleys. As they were unable to use the port of Quelimane after the banning of the legal slave trade in 1830, they built a number of fortified villages called “aringas”, consisting of a wooden stockade and earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank in the district. [3] The aringas were manned by about a dozen chikunda bands or "ensacas" of armed retainers, initially each of around 250 men, under its own captain. The largest da Silva aringa in the Maganja da Costa district was known as M'Passue after the African title used by the head of the family, and it was said to be the largest aringa ever built in Mozambique. Much of the slave trade on the central Mozambique coast was in the hands of the Angoche sultanate, which came into conflict with the Alves da Silva as its slave raiding moved further inland. [4] João Bonifacio was killed in 1861 when unsuccessfully attacking an Agoche barracoon, and Victorino Romão died childless in 1874, ending the direct line of succession from António Alves da Silva [5]
After the death of Victorino Romão, Maganja da Costa evolved into a form of chikuna republic. Mist of the major decisions, particularly those related to warfare, were taken by assemblies of the chikunda, although each band elected a captain, or "Kazembe" of their aringa from the leaders of the squads making up the band, and each of the 12 Kazembes formed a council for the military leader, or captain-general that they elected from among themselves. The Portuguese military commander, João de Azevedo Coutinho, called this arrangement the "Military Republic of Maganja da Costa". The ensacas, originally of about 250 men, grew to between 1,000 and 1,200 men each. They were recruited from enslaved captives, but after some years of satisfactory service, they gained a degree of freedom and were granted privileges, including a share of the tribute extracted from the local population. [6]
By the 1890s, the "Military Republic" was in decline as the illicit slave trade had largely been suppressed. The Mozambique Company, founded in 1891, began to encroach on the area over which the Maganja da Costa chikunda believed that they had a monopoly of ivory trading and, in 1892, attacked and destroyed several of the company's trading posts. [7] However, at other times they cooperated with the Portuguese and, in 1897, de Azevedo Coutinho was able to recruit an armed force from the Maganja da Costa chikunda to overcome resistance to Portuguese colonial rule in the Zambezi valley. Once resistance in other areas had been suppressed, Maganja da Costa was itself occupied in 1898, by Portuguese forces, in alliance with several local chiefs opposed to the chikunda. Although the Maganja da Costa chikunda resisted, their armaments were out of date and they suffered 600 dead and many captured when their independence was ended. [8] [9]
The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland. It became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964. After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994.
Portuguese Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa was the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the historic period when it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a string of Portuguese possessions along the south-east African coast, and later became a unified colony, which now forms the Republic of Mozambique.
Chinde is a town of Mozambique, and a port for the Zambezi valley. It is located on the Chinde River, and is an important fishing center. It exports copra and sugar, and had a population of 16,500 in 1980. Chinde lies in Chinde District of Zambezia Province.
Zambezia is the second most-populous province of Mozambique, located in the central coastal region south-west of Nampula Province and north-east of Sofala Province. It has a population of 5,11 million. The provincial capital is Quelimane on the Bons Sinais River.
The British Central Africa Protectorate (BCA) was a British protectorate proclaimed in 1889 and ratified in 1891 that occupied the same area as present-day Malawi: it was renamed Nyasaland in 1907. British interest in the area arose from visits made by David Livingstone from 1858 onward during his exploration of the Zambezi area. This encouraged missionary activity that started in the 1860s, undertaken by the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland, and which was followed by a small number of settlers. The Portuguese government attempted to claim much of the area in which the missionaries and settlers operated, but this was disputed by the British government. To forestall a Portuguese expedition claiming effective occupation, a protectorate was proclaimed, first over the south of this area, then over the whole of it in 1889. After negotiations with the Portuguese and German governments on its boundaries, the protectorate was formally ratified by the British government in May 1891.
The Makua people, also known as Makhuwa, are a Bantu ethnic group found in northern Mozambique and the southern border provinces of Tanzania such as the Mtwara Region. They are the largest ethnic group in Mozambique, and primarily concentrated in a large region to the north of the Zambezi River.
Angoche is a city of Nampula Province in Mozambique. The city was named António Enes until 1976, after the 19th-century Portuguese journalist and colonial administrator, António José Enes. In administrative terms, since 1998, the city is also a municipality.
Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, Viscount of Serpa Pinto was a Portuguese explorer of southern Africa and a colonial administrator.
Quelimane is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands 25 km (16 mi) from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais. The river was named when Vasco da Gama, on his way to India, reached it and saw "good signs" that he was on the right path. The town was the end point of David Livingstone's west-to-east crossing of south-central Africa in 1856. Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique, and many residents of the areas surrounding Quelimane speak Portuguese. The most common local language is Chuabo. Quelimane, along with much of Zambezia Province, is extremely prone to floods during Mozambique's rainy season. The most recent bout of severe flooding took place in January 2007.
The Island of Mozambique lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa. With its rich history and sandy beaches, the Island of Mozambique is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Mozambique's fastest growing tourist destinations. It has a permanent population of approximately 14,000 people and is served by nearby Lumbo Airport on the Nampula mainland. The name of the country, Mozambique, is derived from the name of this island.
Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa, commonly known as Manuel Gomes da Costa or just Gomes da Costa, was a Portuguese army officer and politician, the tenth President of the Portuguese Republic and the second of the National Dictatorship.
A prazo was a large estate leased to colonists, settlers and traders in Portuguese Africa to exploit the continent's resources. Prazos operated like a semi-feudal system and were most commonly found in the Zambezi River valley.
The 1890 British Ultimatum was an ultimatum by the British government delivered on 11 January 1890 to Portugal. The ultimatum forced the retreat of Portuguese military forces from areas which had been claimed by Portugal on the basis of historical discovery and recent exploration, but which the United Kingdom claimed on the basis of effective occupation. Portugal had attempted to claim a large area of land between its colonies of Mozambique and Angola including most of present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia and a large part of Malawi, which had been included in Portugal's "Rose-coloured Map".
The Pink Map, also known in English as the Rose-Coloured Map, was a map prepared in 1885 to represent Portugal's claim of sovereignty over a land corridor connecting their colonies of Angola and Mozambique during the Scramble for Africa. The area claimed included most of what is currently Zimbabwe and large parts of modern Zambia and Malawi. In the first half of the 19th century, Portugal fully controlled only a few coastal towns in Angola and Mozambique. It also claimed suzerainty over other almost independent towns and nominally Portuguese subjects in the Zambezi valley, but could rarely enforce its claims; most of the territory now within Angola and Mozambique was entirely independent of Portuguese control. Between 1840 and 1869, Portugal expanded the area it controlled but felt threatened by the activities of other powers.
The Sena people are an ethnic group, with origins in northwestern region of Mozambique in Tete Province, Manica Province, Sofala Province and Zambezia Province. They are also found in Malawi and Zimbabwe near their respective borders with Mozambique.
The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1891 was an agreement between Great Britain and Portugal which fixed the boundaries between the British Central Africa Protectorate, and the territories administered by the British South Africa Company in Mashonaland and Matabeleland and North-Western Rhodesia and Portuguese Mozambique, and also between the British South Africa Company administered territories of North-Eastern Rhodesia, and Portuguese Angola.
Fernando de Quintanilha e Mendonça Dias GCC, TO, ComA, GOA, GCA, MPBS, MOBS, GOI, GOIH, ECMM was a member of the Portuguese Navy, and a political and colonial administrator during the Estado Novo and Minister of the Navy from 1958 to 1968. In this role he was instrumental in the creation of the Hydrographic Institute.
The M'Bona Cult is a system of religious beliefs and rituals which is currently restricted to the most southerly parts of Malawi, but which probably extended more widely, both in other parts of Malawi and adjacent parts of Mozambique. The cult is found mainly among the local Mang'anja people and its former extent reflected that people's wider past distribution. It aims to secure abundant rains at the appropriate season through the making of propitiatory gifts at cult shrines, and includes rainmaking rituals in the event of drought. It has been related to a number of other territorial cults among the Maravi cluster of related African peoples which aim to secure the well-being of the people of a particular area secure from drought, floods or food shortages. The cult is believed to be a long established one, although estimates of how long it has existed are speculative, as the earliest definite record of its existence dates from 1862.
Chikunda, sometimes rendered as Achikunda, was the name given from the 18th century onwards to the armed retainers of the Afro-Portuguese owners of estates known as Prazos in Zambezia in Mozambique. They were used to defend the prazos and police their inhabitants. The chikunda of that period are often described as slaves, and originally some were chattel slaves, although the status of those that were soldiers, traders or administrators of parts of the prazo was that of a client or unfree dependent.
The Makololo chiefs recognised by the governments of colonial Nyasaland and independent Malawi have their origin in a group of porters that David Livingstone brought from Barotseland in the 1850s to support his first Zambezi expedition that did not return to Barotseland but assisted Livingstone and British missionaries in the area of southern Malawi between 1859 and 1864. After the withdrawal of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa those Makololo remaining in the Shire valley used firearms provided by the Europeans to attract dependants seeking protection, to seize land and to establish a number of chieftainships. At the time that a British protectorate was established in 1891, there were seven Makololo chiefs of which six were recognised by the government. Five survived to be given local governmental powers in 1933, and these powers continued after Malawi became independent. Although called Makololo or Kololo, after the ruling group in Barotseland in the 1850s, the majority came from peoples subject to the Makololo who adopted the more prestigious name. As, regardless of their origin, they took wives from among the inhabitants of the Shire Valley, their modern descendants have little connection with the Kololo people apart from their name.
