Portuguese Southern Africa - a TL

[Viriato]

Further Expansion of Nova Lusitania

The Portuguese crown had fallen to the King of Spain, joining the two Iberian crowns in a personal union under King Philip II. The first point of action taken by the new administration was to grant the colony now called Nova Lusitania its own governor in 1593, separating the administration from distant Goa.

Also in 1593 the crown paid to transport over 2,800 settlers from the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and São Jorge in Azores to settle in the lands east of Alagoa (Port Elizabeth). This was done to alleviate the population there from a series of famines and a major earthquake in 1593. The islands had become overpopulated and would become a primary source for immigrants in both Nova Lusitania and Brazil.

The European settler population increased to just around 173,300 by 1600, and there were also an estimated 30,000 slaves in the colony. There were also perhaps 8,400 mestiços in the colony, or persons of mixed race in the colony. The capital of Cabo da Boa Esperança had grown into a city of 18,000 inhabitants, making it the largest European metropolis south of the Equator.

With this population growth, the coast was settled further East with Algoa becoming a major town of 4,000 and the Portuguese settlers were now encroaching on Ngoni lands. By the end of the century they had built settlements along the São Tomé River (Mtatha River). Here they found lands with more rainfall than those around the Cape. Others pushed further inland towards the Rio dos Bramidos (Orange River). Many of the men became fisherman and built fishing stations along the western coast of Novo Algarve. At Angra Pequena (Luderitz, Namibia) they found the cold waters of the South Atlantic had with abundant fish, and this would become a major fishing post.

More adventurous settlers joined the quest for gold and silver in East Africa, and others became sailors or soldiers in the Persian Gulf, India, Ceylon, Malaca or Macau. The territories from Delagoa Bay north to Brava (Barawa) remained under the jurisdiction of Goa, however a number of different captains ran their territory as private fiefdoms.

In the south, the Portuguese had established a fort at the Ilha da Inhaca in Delagoa Bay to trade in Ivory with the Inhaca people, to the annoyance of the dominant Tembe in the region. Still further north, Inhambane had been founded by Dominican Friars as a mission. The fortress at Sofala had been rebuilt and there were now Portuguese prazos (farms) along the Zambezi with Vila da Sena and Tete being the principal settlements. Even further north Quelimane had been settled and Angoche was a Portuguese tributary state. The island of Mozambique prospered with the ivory trade and a fort was now built at Lumbo.

North of the Rovuma River the Portuguese interests had been challenged by the Ottomans in 1585, and 50 Portuguese had been taken prisoner at Lamu. However, this coincided with the raids by the fearsome Zimba people who attacked the Swahili Coast. They soon became allied with the Portuguese so as to keep the various satellite states in check. Also in 1593-1594 the Portuguese erected a new fort at Mombasa and garrisoned it with 100 men, the Fort de Jesus. The Captain of Mombasa now had jurisdiction from Brava (Barawa) south to Cabo Delgado.

Having beaten back the Ottomans, challenges to Portuguese rule were on the horizon with the first English ship landing at Zanzibar in 1591 and another at Pemba in 1608. These were vassals of Portugal, and the Portuguese wanted to keep their monopoly on trade with East Africa.

However, it would be inland along the Zambezi and into the Monomotapa (Mutapa) Kingdom that the most audacious Portuguese expansion would commence during the 17th century. In 1607 Madrid appointed the Captain of Tete, Diogo Simões Madeira with the title of "conquistador" to secure the supposed inland silver mines and conquer the kingdoms of the interior just as they had done in Peru. The Spanish Crown was convinced that untold amounts of gold and silver lay in the Kingdom of Monomotapa. To that end the Portuguese secured made the kingdom a puppet and had the king converted to Catholicism. In 1607 the Monomotapa ceded all the gold mines and mining rights in his kingdom to the Portuguese.

The Portuguese quickly built "feiras" or settlements inland with Dambarare, Luanze, Massapa, Maramuca, and Pirigani (Zimbabwe). Also, the captain was convinced that Portuguese settlers should colonize this land and many of the more adventurous (and gold hungry) were recruited from Nova Lusitania to settle in these lands, with 500 intrepid colonists had established themselves west of the settlement of Tete by 1609.

 

[abc123]

Don't you think that it's too rapid expansion of Portuguese settlements from Namibia to Port Elizabeth with only 170 000 people and in less than 100 years?

 

[Viriato]

Don't you think that it's too rapid expansion of Portuguese settlements from Namibia to Port Elizabeth with only 170 000 people and in less than 100 years?

They're not settling in Namibia just fishing along and using Angra Pequena as a fishing station where they dry prepare the fish they've caught. On the other hand Brazil had expanded over a far larger area with a mere 100,000 Europeans.

 

[Archangel]

Subscribed, Viriato!

 

[Viriato]

Founding of Natal

After 1580 the sugar economy of Madeira declined as Brazil became the primary source of sugar for not only Portugal, but the rest of Europe. This led to an increasing number of slaves being exported from West Africa to Brazil. To export more slaves to America, the Portuguese established São Filipe de Benguela in 1617. However, the sugar boom in Brazil led to an economic depression in Madeira and a period of stagnation by 1600.

To alleviate the problems in Madeira, men and women from the island were recruited from settlement in Brazil and Africa. In 1607 a group of 200 couples was recruited in Madeira to settle Natal. In 1609 an additional 170 couples were brought from the island to Natal. They brought with them sugarcane, however the first crops were not a success. A few years later when varieties of sugarcane from either India or China were introduced, they became a success. The Dutch occupation of northeastern Brazil from 1630-1654 would be a further boost to the local sugar industry.

The cultivation of sugarcane around natal would profoundly alter the economy of the region. The increasing prices of sugar began to draw people from around the Cape, as well as from Europe (especially Madeira). The production of rum would soon follow. Rum would become one of the largest commodities to trade with the Africans in the interior.

A more sinister aspect of the labour intensive sugarcane industry would be its complete reliance on slaves. Initially indentured servants were utilized from Madeira were utilized in its cultivation, however the settlers from Nova Lusitania soon began to see a profit in capturing natives and enslaving them. An exodus of the Ngoni people from the region began to occur as they moved northward settling East of Lake Tanganyika.

To fill the shortage of workers, slaves were soon imported from the Makua people of Northern Mozambique. Others were imported from the Ilha de São Lourenço (Madagascar) where the Portuguese Jesuits had begun establishing missions in 1616. By the 1620s an average of 5,000 slaves per year were being imported into the region to work on the sugarcane plantations. The extremely high mortality rates amongst the male field labourers led an average lifespan of just 7 years on the plantations. With a negative rate of growth, their numbers had to be constantly replenished with new arrivals.

Further north, sugarcane plantations began along the lower Zambezi River with Sena becoming an important centre of cultivation. Here attempts to settle Europeans were less successful as most new arrivals perished of disease. However, a small number of Portuguese and Goans became successful in establishing "Prazos". These were much larger farms than those further south and included African villages. Run in a feudal-like manor they taxed the natives on their lands and built private armies.

By the early 17th century settlers had moved beyond the arid Sertão (Karoo) onto the more fertile Planalto (Highveld). Here they would grow wheat and grains along with graze animals. However, settlement remained sparse around the Limpopo River. North of the Limpopo more adventurous young men were drawn to the gold rush south of the Zambezi (NW Zimbabwe). Though the quantities of gold produced were relatively small, around 5,000 settlers were in this region by 1625, this would eventually lead to conflict with the Monomotapa.

 

[abc123]

They're not settling in Namibia just fishing along and using Angra Pequena as a fishing station where they dry prepare the fish they've caught. nOn the other hand Brazil had expanded over a far larger area with a mere 100,000 Europeas.[/QUOTE]

OK.

 

[Guilherme Loureiro]

The Jesuit missions in South America must be getting even more hard hit by Bandeirantes, given that, to the OTL labour shortage, you get competition from Nova Lusitânia. It's possible the Brazilian border with Paraguay and Argentina is further south in comparison with OTL.

Also, Portugal would keep some revenue from sugar planting during the Dutch occupation of the Brazilian Northeast. After the Dutch get driven out, the Portuguese may not lose as much market as they did to Dutch competition after that, although the Brazilian planters are still screwed.

Would Nova Lusitânia help the Portuguese in fighting the Dutch and Omani in the Indian Ocean? Would it be possible for the Portuguese to keep, for instance, Ceylon and/or Malacca?

 

[Derekc2]

Could we get an map of Nova Lusitânia? Because I'd like to see how large the colony is.

 

[EMT]

Good lord that's some fast progress. I'm really eager to see the population numbers after the Napoleonic Wars for the Portuguese Empire.

 

[miguelrj]

Good lord that's some fast progress. I'm really eager to see the population numbers after the Napoleonic Wars for the Portuguese Empire.

Napoleon is surely butterflied away with a PoD this far. There will probably still be an Ancien Régime that would eventually blow from the inside out, but a Napoleon analogue is not easy to come by...

 

[Klisz]

Good lord that's some fast progress. I'm really eager to see the population numbers after the Napoleonic Wars for the Portuguese Empire.

Given how early the POD is, there won't be any Napoleonic Wars, because Napoleon himself will be butterflied into oblivion.

 

[miguelrj]

Given how early the POD is, there won't be any Napoleonic Wars, because Napoleon himself will be butterflied into oblivion.

Fear my ninja fu!

 

[Historyman 14]

Someone needs to make a map for this.

 

[Viriato]

Map

I'm not the best map maker, but here is a crude map showing the Portuguese possessions and areas of influence in Africa and the Persian Gulf by 1620. I tried to label the major settlements and forts.

I labelled Basra, because though its not a Portuguese territory, the Portuguese have a customs house and will enter into an alliance with the local ruler allowing the Portuguese to build churches in the city and exercise a monopoly on trade.

 

[MrL567]

Interesting. So Portugal has now a major African Empire with good land and resources. Looks good. Wonder what nations will rise if the Portuguese empire falls.

 

[miguelrj]

Impressive size. Isn't this Portuguese empire under the Iberian Union under the attack of at least the English (and the Dutch, too, if they successfully rebelled ITTL).

 

[abc123]

Impressive size. Isn't this Portuguese empire under the Iberian Union under the attack of at least the English (and the Dutch, too, if they successfully rebelled ITTL).

Indeed.

 

[Viriato]

The Dutch Menace

Portugal's geographic position had long isolated it from the wars of Europe. However, the union of the crowns of Spain and Portugal had drawn the Portuguese into King Philip II's quest for hegemony over Europe. The troubles began when Portuguese ships were part of an armada to invade England in 1588. The war with England led to English privateers attacking Portuguese commerce and culminated with an English blockade of Lisbon in 1598-1599.

However, the major threat would come from the Dutch who had rebelled against Spanish rule. The first offensive actions occurred in 1596 when the commercial house of Moucheron from Zeeland mounted an unssuccessful expedition to attack Portugal's most important source of gold and slaves, the Fort of São Jorge da Mina (Elmina) in West Africa. In 1598 the same commercial house occupied the island of Príncipe, however disease killed off most of the invaders and they soon withdrew. In October 1599 they mounted a larger expedition occupying the fort of São Tomé, forcing the Portuguese inhabitants to withdraw inland. However, here too the Dutch lost 1,200 men and withdrew.

In 1601 the first naval battle with the Dutch occurrred in off the coast of Java, resulting in a Dutch victory. This was quickly followed by the founding of the Dutch East India Company in 1602. The following year, the company unsuccessfully attacked the heart of Portugal's empire in the east, Goa. This was followed by an attack on Moçambique in 1604. In 1605 the Dutch were able to take Amboina in the Moluccas, capturing expelling the Portuguese from an important part of their spice trade. This was followed by a blockade of Lisbon in 1606 and Malaca the same year. All of these attacks made the Portuguese begin to question the union with Spain due to the chaos it had produced.

In 1606-1607 Elmina was once again attacked and the same year Moçambique was attacked by sea, however it the Dutch here were outnumbered. In 1610 another Dutch attack on Goa also failed. In retaliation the Portuguese destroyed a Dutch fort at Pulicat. Also, the Dutch East India Company founded colonies that would compete directly, the most important would be Batavia in 1619 on the island of Java. In 1621 the Dutch also established themselves on Goree in Senegal and Fort Nassau on the Gold Coast, now competing with the Portuguese slave trade.

A period of calm between 1609 and 1621 prevailed in which the a 12-year truce between the Dutch and Spaniards allowed Portuguese shipping to remain largely unhampered. Indeed this period would be the peak of the Portuguese shipments from the East and the Atlantic. Once the truce ended, the Dutch resumed their privateering, forcing the Portuguese to spend more on armed convoys in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It was here that Nova Lusitânia proved its value. The safe harbours gave the Portuguese ships an important safe haven between the Indies and Europe. Also, damaged ships could be repaired and refitted.

Perhaps most shocking was the Dutch capture of Salvador da Bahia, the capital of Brazil in 1624. Though this was short-lived with the city being relieved by a joint Spanish-Portuguese fleet less than a year later. In 1625 they unsuccessfully attacked Natal and the Cabo da Boa Esperança. However, by that time Nova Lusitânia's European population had reached 376,000 along with some 48,000 people of mixed race (pardos) and another 124,000 slaves, making it a much more formidable opponent than Brazil. This population now included Moçambique, Sofala and all of the land south of Cabo Delgado, as Nova Lusitânia was raised to the status of a Viceroyalty and Moçambique put under its suzerainty. Mombasa gained its own governor and was still under the rule of Goa.

 

[Viriato]

Portuguese Arabia

In 1622 the Dutch attack on Portuguese Macau resulted in defeat. The Dutch commander noted how very few of the defenders were "Portuguese". Indeed many were armed slaves or native allies of the Portuguese. Armed slaves from Africa began to be used more and more in defending Ceylon, Arabia, Goa and Malaca. Another effect of the 1622 attack, was that Macau now had its own governor, as Goa's hold on the empire weakened.

The shortage of manpower from Portugal was in large part relieved by Nova Lusitânia. By 1630 around 40% of all of the Portuguese soldiers and sailors in the east hailed from Southern Africa. If one includes armed slaves and allies from East Africa, that number reaches 70% of the entire Portuguese forces. Though arming slaves might seem risky, for many slaved it proved to be a way to gain their freedom along with a chance for material gain. Being a warrior also proved to be far more prestigious (and often less dangerous) than working on a sugarcane plantation. Many of the Africans would subsequently remain in Portuguese Asia, but especially in Portuguese Arabia.

By 1620, the Portuguese had to contend not only with the Dutch as adversaries, but the Persians as well. In Arabia, Ormuz (Hormuz) fell in 1622 to the Persians led by Shah Abbas. This had followed the capture of Comorão (renamed Bandar-Abbas) in 1614 and Queixome (Qeshm). However, by utilizing Oromo mercenaires from Ethiopia, the Portuguese were able to recapture the island Bahrain in 1629 and Catif (Qatif, Saudi Arabia) in 1633. In 1624, the Portuguese entered into an alliance with Basra against the Persians and this allowed much of the trade of the region to begin to pass through Portuguese Mascate (Muscat) rather than Ormuz. The Portuguese were allowed to collect the customs revenues in Basra and to built a fort at Coveite (Kuwait). In addition they built an Augustinian Convent in Basra itself. In Bahrain, they expelled much of the local population and replaced them with Mandaens from Persia and Mesopotamia (most of whom were forced to convert to Catholicism), along with Armenians and Christians from Mesopotamia. These were joined by a large number of Armenian traders acting as intermediaries in the Portuguese trade between India, Persia and Arabia.

Meanwhile, another threat came from inland where various tribes had long fought against one another. Having taken control of the fort of Rustaq and Nakhal, the Imam of Oman first attacked the Portuguese at Julfar in 1633 and unsuccessfully attacked Mascate and Soar (Sohar). However, the Portuguese were able to gain 3,000 troops from Basra and another 12,000 men from East Africa (mostly Oromo recruited at Mogadishu) were sent to reinforce the Portuguese forts. By 1645 they had captured Rustaq and Nakhal forcing the Omanis to retreat further west. In 1657, the Portuguese recaptured Ormuz and Queixome from the Persians, however Mascate and Bahrain had now eclipsed Ormuz and although the fort was rebuilt, it would never regain the importance it once had due to its lack of water. Ormuz was now relegated to a small fishing village, however its strategic location allowed the Portuguese to control the entrance to the Persian Gulf.

This ensued in 1657 with the capture of Guadar (Gwadar, Pakistan), Tiz and a few other towns along the arid Makran. The Portuguese control of this arid and sparsely populated area, further ensured Portuguese control of much of the cloth and silk trade between India and the Middle East, though much of this trade would be handled by Armenian intermediaries. In addition, the large presence of Africans in the region led would lead to a unique blending of ethnicities not to be found in the rest of Asia. Also, the Portuguese maintained control of the island of Socotra, despite a Dutch attack in 1625.

 

[EMT]

This really does get more and more exciting to read, but would the Dutch have anywhere near as much success as they did in the East Indies with a hostile Southern Africa to raid their own shipping?