| Siege of Mombasa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Omani–Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
 Fort Jesus | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Portuguese Empire |  Omani Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Fatuma (POW) | Saif I bin Sultan | ||||||
The siege of Mombasa [1] [2] was an attack on the Portuguese city of Mombasa and Fort Jesus by the army of the Ya'rubid ruler of Oman, Saif I bin Sultan, from 13 March 1696 to 13 December 1698.
The Yarubid dynasty had been expanding since the expulsion of the Portuguese Army from Oman in 1650. They attacked Portuguese possessions in East Africa and engaged in slave trade. In 1660 they attacked Mombasa for the first time, sacking the city, but could not capture the fort. [3]
When the Omanis surrounded Fort Jesus in 1696 the garrison consisted of between 50 and 70 Portuguese soldiers and several hundred loyal African slaves. [4] Hunger and disease thinned the garrison and the civilian population who had taken refuge in the fort. Queen Fatuma of Zanzibar sent three dhows full of supplies to the fort, [5] [3] however the dhows were captured and burned by the Omanis, forcing Fatuma to flee to the interior of the Island. No reinforcements arrived from the Portuguese until the siege was lifted in December 1696, [4] when the Omani forces captured Fort Jesus and installed an Omani governor, then attacked Zanzibar, drove out the last Portuguese settlers, and captured Queen Fatuma. [5] Fatuma was taken to Oman and remained there in exile for the next 12 years. While she was away, her son Hassan took the title of Mwinyi Mkuu but pledged allegiance to Oman and paid tribute. [5] She was allowed to return to rule Unguja in 1709 as a vassal and client state of Oman for the rest of her reign.
Soon the Omanis returned and disease killed all the Portuguese soldiers. The defense was left in the hands of Sheikh Daud of Faza with seventeen of his family members, 8 African men and 50 African women. Portuguese reinforcements arrived again on September 15 and December 1697. After another year of siege, in December 1698, the garrison comprised only the Captain, nine men and a priest. The last Omani attack on December 13 captured the fort. Just seven days after its capture a Portuguese relief fleet arrived to see the fort lost. [4] The siege had lasted almost three years. Mombasa would remain in Omani hands until 1728. With this successful siege, the whole coast of Kenya and Tanzania with Zanzibar and Pemba fell to the Omani Arabs. [6]
The news of the siege only reached Lisbon in the end of 1698, at the same time that the city surrendered. [1] Alarmed, King Peter II of Portugal immediately ordered to organise a relief squadron, that was constituted of 2 ships of the line and 3 frigates, with a terço of 950 soldiers embarked. [1] [7] The squadron sailed from the Tagus River on 25 March 1699, arriving in Mozambique Island on 15 July, where it was known that the city had surrendered months ago. [1] [7] The squadron sailed to Zanzibar Island, with the intention of putting pilots that conducted them to Mombasa, but after failing in getting pilots, the captain-major of the squadron, Henrique Jacques de Magalhães, sailed to Goa, arriving there in September with 300 soldiers less, due to disease, and with the remaining sick. [1] [7] The news of the surrender of the city only reached Lisbon on 26 March 1700, but King Peter II of Portugal didn't give up, he ordered to send another squadron in 1700 and 1701, both failed, due, again, to disease within the troops. [1]
In 1701, the Viceroy of India, António Luís Gonçalves da Câmara Coutinho, organised a squadron constituted of 1 ship of the line, 2 frigates and by the Strait Squadron (Didn't arrive), that failed again due to a storm at the Mandovi River, that made the 3 ships sunk. [8] At the same time King Charles II of Spain died, postponing the recuperation of Mombasa to sine die . [8] Animated by their success of conquering Mombasa and with the incapacity showed by the Portuguese for its recuperation, the Omani started to attack Portuguese cities, capturing Pemba Island, Kilwa Island and attacking Mozambique Island and Salsette Island. [8]
Zanzibar is an insular semi-autonomous region which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 km (16–31 mi) off the coast of the African mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre, Stone Town, is a World Heritage Site.
Fort Jesus is a fort located on Mombasa Island. Designed by Italian Giovanni Battista Cairati, it was built between 1593 and 1596 by order of King Felipe II of Spain, who also reigned as King Filipe I of Portugal and the Algarves, to guard the Old Port of Mombasa. Fort Jesus was the only fort maintained by the Portuguese on the Swahili coast, and is recognised as a testament to the first successful attempt by a Western power to establish influence over the Indian Ocean trade.
Stonetown of Zanzibar, also known as Mji Mkongwe, is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo, Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the Indian Ocean slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat.
The Battle of Vasai or the Battle of Bassein was fought between the Marathas and the Portuguese rulers of Vasai, a town near Mumbai (Bombay) in the Konkan region of the present-day state of Maharashtra, India. The Marathas were led by Chimaji Appa, a brother of Peshwa Baji Rao I.
Saif bin Sultan was the fourth of the Yaruba dynasty Imams of Oman, a member of the Ibadi sect. He ruled from 1692 to 1711, during which Omani presence became firmly established on the coast of East Africa.
The Ottoman–Portuguese Conflicts (1586–1589) were armed military engagements which took place between the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire along the coast of eastern Africa. The conflict resulted from the expansion of the Portuguese Empire into territory controlled by the Adal Sultanate.
The Swahili coast is a coastal area of East Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean and inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Sofala ; Mombasa, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi ; and Dar es Salaam and Kilwa. In addition, several coastal islands are included in the Swahili coast, such as Zanzibar and Comoros.
The siege of Diu occurred when an army of the Sultanate of Gujarat under Khadjar Safar, aided by forces of the Ottoman Empire, attempted to capture the city of Diu in 1538, then held by the Portuguese. The Portuguese successfully resisted the four months long siege. It is part of the Ottoman-Portuguese war.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Mombasa, Coast Province, Kenya.
The Yarubid dynasty were rulers of Oman between 1624 and 1742, holding the title of Imam. They expelled the Portuguese from coastal strongholds in Muscat and united the country. They improved agriculture, expanded trade and built up Oman into a major maritime power. Their forces expelled the Portuguese from East Africa and established long-lasting settlements on Zanzibar, Mombasa and other parts of the coast. The dynasty lost power during a succession struggle that started in 1712 and fell after a prolonged period of civil war.
Maritime archaeology in East Africa spans the range from the horn of Somalia south to Mozambique, and includes the various islands and island chains dotting the map off the coast of Somalia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. Primary areas along this coast include the Zanzibar, Lamu, and Kilwa Archipelagos. Although East African societies developed nautical capabilities for themselves, most of the maritime artifacts point to external merchants from Mediterranean cultures like Egypt and Greece, Indian and Chinese from South and East Asia in the early stages, to the great European powers during the Ages of Colonization and Imperialism.
Fatuma binti Yusuf al-Alawi was a queen of Unguja in pre-Sultanate Zanzibar. A supporter of the Portuguese in their war against Oman, she sent supplies to the Europeans at the Siege of Fort Jesus. She was captured during the subsequent Omani occupation of Zanzibar and exiled to Oman. Allowed to return in 1709 she ruled the island as a client state of Oman for the rest of her life.
The siege of Bahrain of 1559 occurred when forces of the Ottoman Empire, commanded by the governor of the Lahsa eyalet Mustafa Pasha, attempted to seize Bahrain, and thus wrest control of the island and its famed pearl trade from the Portuguese Empire. The siege was unsuccessful, and the Portuguese defeated the Turks when reinforcements were dispatched by sea from the fortress of Hormuz.
The battle of al-Shihr was a military confrontation in 1548 between the Portuguese alongside Sa'd bin Afrar, the ruler of Mahra Sultanate and Kathiri Sultanate who had captured al-Mahrah from Sa'd The Portuguese successfully captured the fort near al-Shihr from the Kathiris.
The Battle of Surat was fought on 2 February 1704, off Surat, India, by a Portuguese squadron of one ship of the line and seven frigates, commanded by Jorge de Sousa de Meneses, and an Omani squadron of nine ships of the line and frigates.
The Battle of Mombasa in 1528 was a military engagement between Portuguese forces under the command of the Portuguese governor of India Nuno da Cunha and the Sultanate of Mombasa.
In 1633, the Omanis attacked the fortress at Sohar. The Omanis besieged the fortress in 1633 and after a long siege the fort fell in 1643.
The siege of Muscat occurred in 1650, when an Omani army under Sultan bin Saif attacked the Portuguese fort of Muscat and captured the town from the Portuguese, ending the long Portuguese occupation of Muscat.
The Battle of Daman took place on 23 March 1694, when a Portuguese squadron, commanded by General António Machado de Brito, pursued and attacked an Omani squadron sailing off Daman.