What did the Portuguese colonists do?

Caused by Portuguese colonists, the northern coast of Mozambique is sparsely populated and barren. /kloc-in the 0 th and 7 th centuries, the kingdom of Lodzvi rose on the south bank of Zambezi River. They went down the river, forcing the Portuguese army to retreat sharply, and also forcing the Monomotapa kingdom to become a small emirate entrenched in the lower reaches of the Zambezi River. The weak kingdom of Monomotapa lasted until the end of19th century. Rhodes kingdom attacked Monomotapa kingdom from the south, Malawians from the north bank of Zambezi River attacked Monomotapa kingdom and Portuguese colonists from the north bank of Zambezi River.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, the expansion of the Portuguese colonial power to the north of Zambezi River was doomed to failure while the kingdom of Monomotapa continued to expand internally. During this period, a powerful Malawi Federation was formed in the area north of Zambezi River, with developed foreign trade. 1608, in order to ease the relationship with Malawians, Portugal formed a military alliance with Malawians by deception, and began to infiltrate into the inland areas north of Zambezi River.

1632, King Mzula of Malawi was dissatisfied with the influence of Portuguese forces and launched a surprise attack on the Portuguese town of Colimma, but was defeated. However, the once powerful Malawians delayed the Portuguese expansion to the inland for nearly a century, until the disintegration of Malawi in the early18th century. For centuries, Portugal has been trying to establish control over Mozambique's inland areas, but due to strong resistance from local Africans, Portugal failed.

From the end of 16, in order to expand Portugal's influence and consolidate its dominant position in the local area, the Portuguese king awarded many large manors (also known as Pula Zero Manor) in Zambezi River valley, Sofala, Clim and other places. The charters of these large properties have a fixed term. The Portuguese king hoped that these manors would become the bases of white immigrant communities. The white immigrants who settled in the manor should serve the king, pay taxes, serve regularly, abide by all the laws in the manor, and lead their slave forces to conquer the nearby Africans.

These fiefs became a country within a country, which obviously played a role in the early colonial expansion at the beginning of Portugal's establishment, and made Portugal's rule in Mozambique reach its early peak in the first 50 years of the17th century. However, due to disunity, fragmentation, and even mutual enemies,/kloc-in the second half of the 7th century, these large manors actually seriously hindered Portugal from establishing and implementing a unified colonial rule order in Mozambique. What's more, many large manor owners are becoming more and more African, and they marry or form alliances with Africans. They have their own army, stir up scuffles among Africans and refuse to recognize the power of the Portuguese king.

During the same period, Africans fought against Portuguese forces and won one victory after another. The Islamic city-state of Angoche gained independence, and the Baroers south of Zambezi River launched an uprising to expel the Portuguese from their own territory. The king of Malawi terminated his military alliance with Portugal. The chiefs of the Jopi and Tunga people in Sofala (two branches of the Tsonga people) and the Marqua people near the Mozambican island also refused to accept Portuguese suzerainty. 1692, the kingdom of Monomotapa formed an alliance with the kingdom of Rhodes to resist the Portuguese rule and expel the Portuguese from the highlands of Zimbabwe and the Zambezi River basin. Portugal declared Mozambique as its "protectorate" in 1700, although it did not actually exercise effective rule over all areas of Mozambique.

In fact, at this time Portugal is concentrating on colonial expansion in Asia, Brazil and Angola, and has no time to take care of Mozambique. Therefore, Mozambique has always been under the jurisdiction of Portuguese India (Goa). By 1752, in order to reverse its long-term ineffective rule in Mozambique and consolidate its position as a transit point on the route to Asia, Lisbon recognized Mozambique's status as an autonomous colony, which was no longer controlled by the Indian governor, but directly ruled by the newly established Portuguese governor. At that time, Mozambique was called "Portuguese East Africa".

In fact, during this period, Swahili people took advantage of the Portuguese being expelled by local ethnic groups to restore their previous trade network. In addition, Indian businessmen took advantage of the decline of Portuguese power to gain a foothold by selling products such as cloth and beads to settlers on credit. Those settlers traded cloth and beads bought on credit from Indian businessmen for gold, ivory and tropical products in the inland areas. /kloc-after the middle of the 0/7th century, Indian businessmen from the northern coastal islands began to organize their own caravans to trade in the inland Marquarie area.

By 1750, Indian businessmen had established and controlled a huge trade network as far south as quelimane and Zambezi River. Gold and ivory were the main targets of early merchant trade and the main products of Portugal's plundering of Mozambique's early colonial rule. During the whole16th century and most of the17th century, gold from Monomotapa was the main export commodity of Mozambique's trade. According to incomplete statistics, quelimane alone exports 62,000 gold every year.

However, after the decline of Monomotapa Kingdom in the18th century, Mozambique's gold production was very small, but ivory in the north of the country became the main export product. This is because Indian businessmen have a great demand for ivory, and Yao elephant hunters and businessmen are willing to buy high-quality Indian fabrics from Marqua businessmen, so Yao elephant hunters and businessmen went deep into central Mozambique and Luangwa, now located in Zambia, to obtain ivory. According to incomplete records, 1758 exported 23,500 kilograms of ivory from Sofala; 141000 ~164500 Jin in1762; 1806 is 47000 Jin.

If the18th century is the century of Mozambique's ivory trade, then from the19th century, Mozambique began to become an international labor storage place, and slave trade became the main trade commodity. In fact, the slave trade in Mozambique was first initiated by Arab businessmen centuries ago. At this time, the Portuguese seized the monopoly of the slave trade and expanded rapidly. The Yao nationality on the east bank of Lake Malawi got guns from Arabs and Portuguese and became the main slave hunters in northern Mozambique.

65438+In the 1960s, sugarcane plantations on some islands in the Indian Ocean expanded their planting scale, requiring a large number of slave labor. Indian businessmen, French businessmen and local Portuguese businessmen in Mozambique began to actively provide cheap African slaves for these plantations. Because of the low price of slaves in Mozambique, slave traders from Brazil, the United States and the Caribbean also came to Mozambique to engage in slave trade. Mozambique Island and quelimane, two major ports in Mozambique's history, became the distribution centers of slave trade.

Slavers from all over the world are also in the southern towns of Inhambane and Lorenzo? Marquis (Luo Ren? O Marques), and northern Clim Pakistani islands to buy a small number of slaves. At the peak of the slave trade during the period of 1700 ~ 1850, it is impossible to estimate clearly how many Mozambicans were forcibly sold as slaves. By the early 19 century, about 10000 slaves were illegally transported abroad from Mozambican Island and quelimane every year.

Considering the long coastline of Mozambique, the actual number of slaves exported must be much larger than this figure. During the period of 18 17 ~ 1843, the number of slaves exported from Mozambique to Brazil alone reached 654.38 million+,while in the same period, 30% of slaves imported into Cuba came from Mozambique. /kloc-in the 0/9th century, the ivory business of the northern Yao nationality was still very prosperous. However, due to the huge number of slaves needed, while continuing to maintain the ivory trade, they began to go deep into Lake Nyasa in the first half of the 19 century, and entered the Shire and Jova areas in central Mozambique after 1850 to develop new slave supply areas.

Magua rulers also plundered Africans in the mainland and sold them as slaves. Swahili people in the coastal areas of East Africa contributed to the fierce competition in the slave trade in Mozambique. Due to the fierce competition in the slave trade, the mode of slave trade changed from negotiation between local leaders and foreign slave traders before 65438+1960s to violent plunder and military conquest after 65438+1960s.

Portuguese colonists plundered a large number of Africans, especially young and middle-aged laborers, and sold them into slavery, which seriously damaged Mozambique's natural and human resources, resulting in a vast land and poor land along the northern coast of Mozambique and the Zambezi River basin. As a result, Mozambique has changed from a food exporter to a food-deficit country. After the abolition of the slave trade around the world, especially after the 20th century, the colonists turned to South Africa and Southern Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe at independence), forcibly exporting African laborers and exploiting Mozambican laborers. This makes Mozambique's economy rely heavily on the export of labor services, which destroys the natural economic structure and development law of the region.