Eastern and Central African Worlds 1500-1800s

Swahili

connections through the Indian Ocean and the East African interior

interlacustrine- connection to lakes (Great Lakes)

Portuguese

head up towards the Swahili coast in the 1400s to get access to the monsoon system and Indian Ocean trade

try to learn more about the Swahili people, who are highly Islamic

Da Gama

arrives in 1498 and supposedly kidnaps a Muslim navigator to figure out the eastern leg of the Indies trip

example of the Portuguese forcing themselves in

Portuguese in East African Trade

heavy cannons, exploit rivalries, demand tribute

Sofala

big transport place for gold from Great Zimbabwe

Portuguese set themselves up as new power

Swahili Resistance

running away, sabotage, mocking those in power

Mombasa

Portuguese conquer and create fort Jesus in 1599

missionary center and key site for control of Indian Ocean trade

Goa Axis

open water connection between Goa, India and east Africa without Muslim interference

Omani Empire

Swahili turn to Omanis to kick out the Portuguese

take fort Jesus in 1700 and become imperial power

create plantations and an agricultural empire

occupy key market Zanzibar (ruler moves capital here in 1839)

British and Omanis

ally, then Britain divides the empire when the ruler dies in 1850

abolition is enforced in 1872, and they use this as an excuse for taking over the Omanis

Mijikenda

refugees from coastal cities as people move inland

ethnogenesis

Nyamwezi

Tanzanian traders that move into the Great Lakes region in the mid 1800s

commercial cities arise

Interlacustrine Region between Lake Victoria and Nyanza

pastoralism, hierarchical

have a king, which the British love