Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / Zanzibar and the Ivory Trade: Portugal's African Trail
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about spices, about pepper, about silk, about silver. But there's one trade that ran through the Portuguese Empire from the very first voyage, and it's one we haven't touched yet. I'm talking about ivory. Luna: Ivory? Like elephant tusks? Lucas: Exactly that. And it's a story that takes us not to India or Japan, but to the east coast of Africa. The Swahili coast, the islands of Zanzibar and Kilwa, and a trade that was already centuries old when the Portuguese showed up. Lucas: So if today's episode is useful to you — and I think it will be, because it's a side of the empire we haven't explored — the way these stay ad-free is listener support. You can buy me a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: We'll keep that link in the show notes. Lucas: Now, back to the tusks. The Swahili coast had been trading ivory with the Middle East and India for centuries before Vasco da Gama rounded the cape. The city-states — Kilwa, Mombasa, Zanzibar — were wealthy from gold, slaves, and ivory. So when the Portuguese arrived in 1498, they walked into a thriving economy. Lucas: The first thing the Portuguese wanted was to control that trade. They didn't just sail in and set up shop; they took over by force. In 1505, Francisco de Almeida bombarded Kilwa, and a few years later they built a fort at Sofala, which was the gateway to the gold and ivory of the interior. Luna: So they just attacked these cities? Lucas: Sometimes, yes. The Portuguese had a policy of 'conquer or ally', depending on the local politics. But the ivory trade was too valuable to leave to chance. They issued cartazes — passes that required ships to pay duties and only trade with Portuguese ports. And they set up feitorias, trading posts, from Sofala up to Mombasa. Lucas: But here's the twist. The Portuguese didn't have enough manpower to control the entire coast. So they often made alliances with local rulers. And in Zanzibar, that meant dealing with a sultana. Her name was Mwana Mwema. She was the ruler of Zanzibar in the 16th century, and she played a delicate game between the Portuguese and the Omani Arabs. Luna: Wait, a sultana? I didn't know there were female rulers there. Lucas: It wasn't common, but it happened. The Swahili coast had a tradition of powerful women, especially in the merchant elite. Mwana Mwema was part of that world. She managed to keep Zanzibar independent for a time, trading with the Portuguese while also maintaining ties with the interior. Lucas: The ivory itself came from elephants in the African interior, brought to the coast by African traders, often from as far as the Great Lakes region. The Portuguese didn't do the hunting; they tapped into an existing network. They just wanted to control the outlet. Lucas: To give you a sense of scale, in the 16th century, Lisbon was importing over a hundred tons of ivory a year. That's thousands of elephants. And it wasn't just for luxury items; it was used for everything from piano keys to religious statues. But the demand in Europe and Asia drove an unsustainable harvest. Luna: So this is where we get the environmental impact? Lucas: Exactly. The elephant populations along the coast were decimated over the next centuries. But there's another cost that's even darker. The ivory trade was often tied to the slave trade. Captives were taken to move tusks and other goods, and the Portuguese were not innocent in that. Lucas: Now, the Portuguese control of the ivory trade was never absolute. They faced competition from the Omanis, who eventually expelled them from Mombasa in 1698. But for a good hundred years, they dominated the export from the Swahili coast, and that changed the local economies forever. Luna: So when we think of the Portuguese Empire, we usually think of spices. But it was also about ivory. Lucas: Absolutely. It's a reminder that the empire was a complex web of commerce, and Africa was as central to it as Asia. The ivory trade wasn't just a side note; it was a pillar of the early empire. And it shaped the coast in ways that are still visible today. Lucas: One last thing. There's a document from the 16th century, a letter from a Portuguese factor in Mozambique to the king, complaining about the quality of tusks arriving from the interior. He says they're too small, because the best elephants have already been taken. That's a sign that even back then, they knew the resource was finite. Luna: It's kind of eerie, how they realized it even then. Lucas: It is. And it's a lesson that resonates today. But for now, let's keep exploring this forgotten corner of the empire. Next time, we'll look at the other side of the coin: the gold that came from Sofala, and how it funded Portugal's ambitions. But that's for another episode.