16th century – 16th century
Zambezi valley and East African coast
The Zimba incursion was a major late-sixteenth-century movement of Zimba forces from south of the Zambezi into Portuguese and Muslim settlements along the East African coast. The Zimba overcame Sena and Tete, overran Kilwa in 1587, and participated in violence at Mombasa during the Portuguese investment of the city. Their advance was halted at Malindi, chiefly through the intervention of the Segeju.
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The Story
In the late sixteenth century, the Portuguese faced a violent incursion from the south by the Zimba, whose origins lay in the region north of the Zambezi. The movement struck both inland settlements and coastal towns, adding a severe military and demographic shock to the commercial tensions already produced by Portuguese expansion. Portuguese descriptions portray the attackers in exceptionally hostile terms, although the excerpt does not independently assess those descriptions.
The Zimba overcame the Portuguese settlements at Sena and Tete on the Zambezi and continued along the coast. In 1587 they overran Kilwa, where the Portuguese account reported the killing of 3,000 inhabitants. They soon reached Mombasa, and, with the connivance of the Portuguese commander besieging the town, slaughtered Muslim inhabitants there.
The advance was halted at Malindi, chiefly through the intervention of the Segeju, a Bantu-speaking people who had migrated from the north. After returning southward, the Zimba disappeared from the coastal scene north of Cape Delgado. Their incursion nevertheless contributed to the decline of Kilwa and other coastal settlements already weakened by Portuguese commercial and military policies.
16th century – 16th century
Zambezi valley and East African coast
The Zimba incursion was a major late-sixteenth-century movement of Zimba forces from south of the Zambezi into Portuguese and Muslim settlements along the East African coast. The Zimba overcame Sena and Tete, overran Kilwa in 1587, and participated in violence at Mombasa during the Portuguese investment of the city. Their advance was halted at Malindi, chiefly through the intervention of the Segeju.
Continue exploring
The Story
In the late sixteenth century, the Portuguese faced a violent incursion from the south by the Zimba, whose origins lay in the region north of the Zambezi. The movement struck both inland settlements and coastal towns, adding a severe military and demographic shock to the commercial tensions already produced by Portuguese expansion. Portuguese descriptions portray the attackers in exceptionally hostile terms, although the excerpt does not independently assess those descriptions.
The Zimba overcame the Portuguese settlements at Sena and Tete on the Zambezi and continued along the coast. In 1587 they overran Kilwa, where the Portuguese account reported the killing of 3,000 inhabitants. They soon reached Mombasa, and, with the connivance of the Portuguese commander besieging the town, slaughtered Muslim inhabitants there.
The advance was halted at Malindi, chiefly through the intervention of the Segeju, a Bantu-speaking people who had migrated from the north. After returning southward, the Zimba disappeared from the coastal scene north of Cape Delgado. Their incursion nevertheless contributed to the decline of Kilwa and other coastal settlements already weakened by Portuguese commercial and military policies.
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