/
THE STRUGGLE FORvINPEaPESI^KCE IN MOZAIffilQUEt
'.L-r C0:,r'ACc.o WITH PORTUg^L^ ■ •//.';/ " .   '■'   .
The Portuguese/claim that they were in Mozambique since the end of the 15th.
ntuiy* In fact it would be more accurate to say that the Portuguese first touched the
a'st of Mozambique at the end cf the 15th century, for it is one thing to touch -a coast and another bo establish an erdtrirt relationship with the people in it. When Vasco
da Gama landed in rfatal, Sout Africa on Christmas Day, 1^971 later in Inhambane and
finally in Sofala ho was really groping for the way to India and not in the least in-
■fcappsi -■}  in establishing any -est- in-. Sast Africa,  Only in the    loth century did
the Pb vuguese fine it-.necesss  to..set up trading posts in the country.' The first
:• was established on the isl  1 : .' Mozambique, obviously to avoid direct contact
with the people on .the mainland^ and for-the supply of the ships sailing from Lisbon to
Lia with fresh foods, ; Later in the ..: 6th century, the Portuguese attacked the various
.coastal' city states who w^rc begin .ring to question their intrusion in the trade with
Ifcdia,  jTet3 every  time trie Portugu >se talk about their relationship with Mozambique
fc y refer to a r:five "hundred years presence1'^ with the obvious implication that they
had developed deep roots in the core.cry that would be difficult, if not impossible, to
unearth..  .       •.   '•    ■ -' \ ■
It must be poinded out at the outset that this approach to history is typical of practically all colonial powers when they are pressed to show cause why they
Id not yield their imperial authority to the indigenous'peoples.  It is used constantly by the Tenth African whites .- i a the;- try to justify their monopoly of political,
econbiBio and social power in Sout;. Acf-risa; the same applies to Rnodesian whites who,
for. "some peculiar reasoning, try tc connect their 19th century settlement in Southern
Uhcdesia -in 138? with the f: rs.t arrival of th : Dutch settlors in the Cape in 1652.
The so-called Portuguese Egpi *e in East Africa, of which Mozambique is sup-
nosed to be a remnants was in fact composed of a number of Arab city states scattered
along the whole of the central part of Sast Africa0 At no time had the Portuguese ever
cared venture into the interior long: enough to establish enduring contacts with the in-
tious peoplesc  • . .  • . • • .
If one were bo admit that' since they had conquered these Arab city states
bhey therefore were at bdpie tree lords of the East African coast, then it must be pointed out that the area involved was the equatorial portion of the coastal strip now
0:0own as Kenya, Tanganyika ana the northern portion of Mozambique, and not the present
area now known as M    ique. The very name of Mozambique derives from Lhe fact that' an
xslarid by the same, name, wis the main center of Portuguese control of East Africa and
that island is situated in the no.i'thern-niQst point of the country.
PORTUGUESE CO^
It was during the last half of the 19th century that Portugal, like all other
European colonial powers, began to engage in imperialist adventures with the intent of
quering as much of the African territc.ry from the indigenous peoples as possible.
"he", climax came when the Berlin, treaty of I08;, gave a green light to several European
..owers to conquer specified areas of ;Afr£"cs thus  starting the "scramble for Africa". By
that time the largest proportion of the Lear ted Portuguese Empire in East Africa had
already been- taken over by the'"British; the Germans and the Italians.  All that had regained in the hands of Portugal were fee/ northern Mozambican islands, and the Arab city
of Sofala, They then proceeded":to claim some trading posts which were found on river
estuaries and on the bays of Bait- and Lourenco Marques, It was not until the very end
of the 19th century that the Portuguese succeeded in.subduing the various African armies
thick were under the leadership of divided African Kings.'In my own area, in the South,
the last of the African er^eroTB  was defeated in 1890. Therefore, the presence of Portugal in Mozambique can only date from the time the last of our resistance armies was
lefeated, namely, December, 1898. This is the time when the general of the Mozambican
army, .'Maguiguane, was killed'after he had refused to surrender to the Portguese. The
emperor,-Gungunyana, was then captured and eoportod to Portugal where he was kept in
captivity until his death.
Those Mozambicans who tried to continue to resist Portuguese authority were
-ether exteritinate i or fled to the neighbouring countries of South Africa, the Rhodesias,
-v.yasaiand and the tnen German East Africa, and in due-time became part of the population
o±  those countries'. .. .
. ~£. Meanwhile the Portuguese government continued to consolidate their position
an tne rest of the country, until they had a virtual control of the whole country, But