Everything about Sofala totally explained
» There is also Sofala, New South WalesSofala, at present known as
Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the
Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was
Great Zimbabwe. It is located on the
Sofala Bank in
Sofala Province of
Mozambique.
The site of the oldest harbour documented in
Southern Africa, medieval Sofala took its name from the
Sofala River which enters the
Indian Ocean nearby.
Vasco da Gama's companion
Thomé Lopes left a narrative which identifies Sofala with the Biblical
Ophir and its ancient rulers with the dynasty of the
queen of Sheba. Although the notion was mentioned by
Milton in
Paradise Lost, among many other works of literature and science, it has since been discarded.
Sofala throve from about the year 700 AD. The Arabs had frequented the coast since 915, followed by traders from
Persia. They conquered Sofala in the 1100s and strengthened its trading capacity by having, among other things, river-going
dhows ply the Sofala and
Sabe to ferry the gold extracted in the hinterland (mainly
Zimbabwe) to the coast. In the 14th and 15th centuries Sofira was controlled by the Sultan of
Kilwa, whose capital was in present-day
Tanzania.
A Portuguese Jew,
Pêro da Covilhã, was the first European known to have visited Sofala, in the hope of discovering goldmines, in 1489. The Portuguese conquest of the town followed in 1505, when
Pêro de Anaia assumed the title of Captain-General of Sofala and made it the first Portuguese colony in the region. He constructed a factory and
Fort San Caetano from stone imported from Europe (it was subsequently reused for construction of
Beira's
cathedral). There are very few ruins to suggest the town's former grandeur and wealth.
Sofala lost its commercial preeminence once
Beira was established 20 miles to the north in 1890. The harbour was once reputed to be capable of holding a hundred vessels, but has silted up due to deforestation of the banks of the river and deposition of topsoil in the harbour.
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