The role of the Yao in the development of trade in East-Central Africa, 1698 - c. 1850 by Edward Alter Alpers Thesis presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of London June 1966 ProQuest Number: 11010355 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010355 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 - 2 - Abstract Long distance trade routes, based on ivory, from the interior of East-Central Africa to Mozambique and Kilwa were forged by the Maravi and the Yao, respectively, during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and by about 1698 the Yao apparently dominated both these routes* After 1698, factors influencing the ivory trade at the coast caused the Yao to shift most of their trade from Kilwa to Mozambique, where Yao ivory soon constituted the basis of the island1 s trade* In the interior, the Yao traded with the Maravi and, through the Bisa, with the recently established Eastern Lunda state of the Mwata Kazembe. After 1750* Kilwa slowly began to revive as Zanzibar, under Omani hegemony, became an increasingly important coastal entrepot, while the trade of Moyambique was plagued by Makua belligerence and by Portuguese harassment of the Indian trading community there* By 1785* influenced in particular by the better price paid for ivory at Kilwa, most Yao had rechannelled their trade back to Kilwa* Concurrently, the substance of trade in East-Central Africa was being altered, as slaves became an increasingly important commodity due to the rising demands of both the Arabs and French traders from the Mascarene Islands* By the beginning of the nineteenth century, although ivory still dominated the Yao trade to Kilwa, those Yao who continued to trade to Moyambique were already basing their trade on slaves* By the late 1830s slaves had also become dominant along the Kilwa route, which continued to command the bulk of Yao trade* The Ngoni invasions and mid-century dispersal of the Yao, caused by Makua and Lomwe attacks from the east, transformed the Yao from traders into invaders, as they spilled into Malawi and Tanzania, and marked the beginning of Yao political hegemony over a wider area of East-Central Africa, while destroying the earlier pattern of trade* - 3 - PREFACE The history of East-Central Africa is a particularly fascinating subject, with ample possibilities for further investigation. I am grateful to both Dr. J. Richard Cray and Professor Roland Oliver for directing my attention towards this area of Africa, in which I have set my thesis, and in which I hope to undertake further historical studies. My thanks also go to the Research Fund of the University of London, whose generosity facilitated the undertaking of research in Lisbon during the summer of 1964* In this study I have tried to modernize all Portuguese personal names, despite the fact that even today there is precious little consistency in the spelling of these by individual Portuguese. When­ ever possible I have given Swahili names in the Kiswahili form, and Arabic names in a modified Arabic form, basing the latter on the spelling utilized in the Oxford History of East Africa. Regarding the orthography of African names, I have sought no more than internal consistency. Makua names are given in their most common contemporary Portuguese form. I have preferred *c* to * ch* in the case of the Cewa, and in all Ciyao sectional names and words; thus, ‘Macinga,* not ‘Machinga* Yao. At the same time, I have used ‘Hangoche,* the place, to distinguish it from fMangoce,! the Yao section. Similarly, I have retained !Maravi! for the people, but employed ‘Malawi* for certain references, in the hope of avoiding confusion. I wish to express my gratitude to the Directors and Staffs of the various archives, in Portugal, France, and England, in which I have completed the research for my thesis. I am specially grateful to Professor C.R. Boxer and to the Marquesa of Cadaval for allowing me to see manuscripts in their private collections. To Dr. J. Richard Gray I owe my sincerest thanks, not only for his keen scholarly counsel in the study of African history, but also for his friendship and encouragement. Finally, only my wife, and perhaps not even she, knows how indebted I am to her. m 4 — CONTENTS Abstract 2 Preface 3 List of Maps 5 Abbreviations 6 Glossary 8 Chapter One* The Development of Overland Trade Routes up to I698 10 1. The trade of medieval Kilwa 10 2. The arrival of the Portuguese 18 3* The commercial influence of Maravi expansion 24 4# The role of the Yao 60 Chapter Two* The Rise of Trade at Mozambique, 1698-1749 73 1* The first Yao shift 73 2* The French at Mozambique 86 Chapter Three* Trade at Mid-Century, 1749-1770 108 1* Obstacles to trading at Mozambique 108 2* Trade in the interior 137 3» The commercial revival of the Kilwa coast 145 Chapter Four. The Resurgence of the Kilwa Route, 1770-1785 162 1* Pereira do Lago and Morice 162 2* The redirection of Yao trade to Kilwa 177 3» The penetration of coastal influences 204 into the interior Chapter Five* The Growing Influence of the Slave Trade, 213 1785-1810 1* French domination 213 2* Yao responses 240 Chapter Six* Epilogue, 1810-c«1850 277 Sources 303 - 5 - LIST OF MAPS 1* The Western Indian Ocean 11 2. The Peoples of East-Central Africa 16 3# East-Central Africa 17 4* Eighteenth Century Trade Routes in East-Central 143 Africa 5# The Kerimba Islands 148 6. Mozambique and environs 181 - 6 - ABBREVIATIONS AC Arquivo das Col6nias ACL Academia das Ci£ncias de Lisboa Add.MSS Additional Manuscripts AF Archives Rationales de France AHU Arquivo Histdrico Ultramarino APO Archivo Portuguez-Oriental BFUP Boletim da Filmoteca Ultramarina Portuguesa BM British Museum BNL Biblioteca Racional de Lisboa CEHU-MF Centro de Estudos Histdricos Ultramarinos - Microfilm collection CM Caixa Mozambique CO Colonial Office Cod* Codice Col. Colonies CT 0 Chronista de Tissuary EHGEP Junta de Investiga^es do Ultramar, Estudos de Histdria da Geografia da Expansao Portuguese* Anais, ix, Tomo I, "Fontes para a Histdria, Geografia e Comdrcio de Mo^am- bique (Sec* XVIIl),” ed J*F* de Carvalho Dias, Lisboa, 1954. FG Fundo Geral FKI G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, The French at Kilwa Island: An Episode in Eighteenth-Century East African History. Oxford, 19^5* - 7 - FO Foreign Office Gov • Governor HEA R. Oliver and G» Mathew (eds.), History of East Africa. if Oxford, 1963# JAH Journal of African History LM Livro das Monyoes Moy. Moyambique MR Minist^iro do Reino NJ Nyasaland Journal PRO Public Record Office Prov* Govt* Provisional Government RSEA G.M. Theal, Records of South Eastern Africa, London, 1898-1903. SD Freeman-Grenville, The East African Coast: Select Documents from the first century to the earlier nineteenth century* Oxford, 1962* Sec.St* Secretary of State SGL Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa TDB Tanganyika District Books TNR Tanganyika Notes and Records TT Arquivo Nacional da Tdrre do Tombo TJMGA Universities* Mission to Central Africa - 8 - GLOSSARY Alf£ndega royal custom-house Alvar^l a royal or vice-regal decree Arroba a weight of about 32 pounds Auto de visita writ of inspection Bando a proclamation Bar, bares a weight which varied between about 510 to 650 pounds; composed of either 15 arrobas, or 20 farayolas Carta patente official letter of installation Compagnie des Indes the French East Indies Company Cruzado a silver coin equal to 400 rlis Despacho a writ, or clearance; dispatch Devassa a judicial investigation Estado da India State of India, the name applied to the Portuguese possessions east of the Cape of Good Hope, of which Moyambique formed a part until 1752 Farayola a weight varying from 18 to 30 pounds; composed of 12 mainas Junta do Com^rcio Board of Trade Laka a single sail, single outrigger canoe used by the maritime peoples of Madagascar Machila a rough, durable cloth woven by Africans north and south of the Zambezi Mayo bundle, packet Maina a weight of about 1-g- to 2-g- pounds Morador a Portuguese colonist, as opposed to non-Portuguese inhabitant - 9 - Pangaio a generic term for several varieties of Arab and Swahili coasting vessels Parecer an opinion, or recommendation Pataca the Portuguese name for the Austrian Maria Theresa and Spanish dollars, equal in the eighteenth century first to 3* then to 4> and when marked, to 6 cruzados Patamar, patamares an African, or mulatto, trading agent, usually slave, who travelled in the hinterland on behalf of his master at the coast Piastre the French equivalent of pataca Portaria an official decree, regulation, or diploma Real, rlis the basic Portuguese monetary unit Regimento a royal or vice-regal set of instructions Requerimento a formal petition Resid£ncia a judicial investigation conducted at the completion of an official*s tenure of office to see if he had fulfilled, or contravened, his instructions Santa Casa da Misericdrdia Holy House of Mercy, a charitable brotherhood Senado da Camara Municipal Council Termo da posse term of tenure Tosfao, tostfles a coin of 100 r4is Veldrio beads, usually Venetian - 10 - CHAPTER ORE The Development of Overland Trade Routes up to 1698 1.