Introduction

The Portuguese in East Africa

The modern-day countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique did not exist in the 15th century. The coastal regions of East Africa were thinly populated. Many African people lived in isolated communities. Others lived in rival kingdoms.

Since the 10th century Arabian influence along the coast had been strong. For hundreds of years Arab traders had controlled trade in the Indian Ocean between East Africa, Arabia and India. Most of the port towns along the East African coast had been built by Arab Sultans, who brought the Moslem religion to the coastal people.

The Portuguese explorer and soldier, Vasco da Gama, was the first European to make contact with the people of the East African Coast. He had been paid by the King of Portugal to find a sea route to India. The Portuguese wanted to be able to buy spices directly from India where they grew. The food in Europe at that time was poor and spices, such as pepper, made it more palatable (i.e. nicer to eat). By opening up a sea route to India they would be able avoid paying the high prices charged by Arab middlemen, who brought the spices over land to Europe from the port of Aden on the Red Sea. The effort was successful and, for a time, Portugal became rich by gaining a European monopoly of the trade in pepper.

The Portuguese stayed on the coast of present-day Kenya and Tanzania for 200 years, although they remained in Mozambique until the end of the 20th century. Although few intermarried with the local population they still had a big influence on their lives. Probably the biggest long-term effect was that they introduced new crops from Europe and from Brazil, their colony in South America. These crops are now important staple foods throughout Africa. They include: maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, pawpaws, oranges, guavas, pineapples and mangoes. They contributed many new words to the Swahili language, including "leso" (handkerchief), "meza" (table), "gereza" (prison), "pesa" ('peso', money), etc. Swahili bull-fighting, still popular on the Pemba island, is also a Portuguese legacy from that period. In Mombasa they left behind Fort Jesus, which is now an important tourist attraction.

Study of the Portuguese' conquest of the East African Coast also helps us to appreciate the effects of a conflict between two alien cultures, in this case Moslem and Christian, on the lives of local people.

Job related life skills

1. Communication: ability to read, write,listen and speak using appropriate language.

2. Team work: ability to cooperate and share tasks with colleagues.

3. Personal attributes : creativity, enthusiasm, reflective thinking, self awareness

4. Information skills : ability to identify information needs,observe and collect evidence and present findings appropriately

5. Application of number: - numeracy (as they compare crop yields in treated and untreated plots)

Teachers Guide

Lesson plan

Scheme of work

Learners' activities

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

Activity Sheet

Introduction

Useful web links

Portugal today

Portugal history