Sofala

Sofala

modern  Nova Sofala 

      historic seaport situated at the mouth of the Sofala River on the coast of what was Portuguese East Africa, now Mozambique. Once the first town of the Portuguese possessions of eastern Africa, Sofala declined rapidly in importance after 1890, when Beira was established about 20 miles (30 km) north. Sofala's harbour, once capable of holding a hundred large ships, silted up and came to be obstructed by a bar.

      Sofala's harbour was the oldest harbour in southern Africa. It was visited by Arabs beginning in 915 in order to trade the gold from the hinterland. Persian Muslims settled there in 1020, and during the 14th and 15th centuries Sofala was an important southern outpost of the Islāmic sultanate of Kilwa. During this time the Arabs maintained trade relations with the Karanga state, which centred on the Zimbabwe monuments in the southeastern region of what is now the modern state of Zimbabwe. In 1480 Sofala was visited by the Portuguese Pêro da Covilhã, seeking gold, and in 1505 the Portuguese Pedro (or Pêro) de Anaia occupied Sofala and built a fort and factory in the hope of capturing the gold trade held by the Arabs. The conquest of the town followed, the first governors of the Portuguese East African possessions being entitled captains general of Sofala. The Dominican friars established themselves in 1586 and directed from there their Roman Catholic missionary activities into the interior.

      Tomé (or Thomé) Lopes, who accompanied Vasco da Gama to India in 1502 and left a narrative of the voyage, sought to identify Sofala with Solomon's Ophir and stated that it was the home of the queen of Sheba. The identification of Sofala with Ophir, to which the English poet John Milton alluded in Paradise Lost (11:399–401), is erroneous.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sofala — (Küste Sena, Zofala), 1) Küstenstrich des östlichen Südafrika, von der Delagoabai an nördlich bis zum Zambese, mit unbestimmten Grenzen nach innen; die Gebirge dürften Fortsetzung der Lupatagebirge sein, mit den Vorgebirgen St. Maria (an der… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Sofăla — Sofăla, Stadt in der portug. Kolonie Mosambik (Estado d Africa oriental), im gleichnamigen Küstenstrich, 20°12 südl. Br., mit ungesundem Klima, am Nordufer einer weiten Mündungsbai des kleinen Flusses S., hat einen für kleinere Schiffe… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Sofála — Sofála, Landstrich an der afrik. Ostküste vom Sambesi bis zur Delagoabai, portugiesisch (Mosambik). Die Stadt S., an der Mündung des Flusses S., 1300 E …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Sofala — Sofala, s. Mozambique …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Sofala — es una provincia de Mozambique. Tiene una superficie de 68.018 km² y una población aproximada de 1,5 millones en 2002. La capital es Beira …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • SOFALA — seu Zofala, urbs et regnum Cafreriae, in Africa. Pars Aethiopiae, olim sub M. Mogole fuit, hodie ex parte Lusitanis paret, quibus ibi arx est insignis …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Sofala — For other uses, see Sofala (disambiguation). Sofala in 1683 AD, sketch by Mallet Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in …   Wikipedia

  • Sofala — Ubicación de Sofala en el mapa de Mozambique. Sofala es una provincia de Mozambique. Tiene una superficie de 68.018 km² y una población aproximada de 1,5 millones en 2002. Limita al nororiente con Zambezia, al norte con Tete, al occidente con… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Sofala — Province de Sofala Province de Sofala Localisation de la province de Sofala au Mozambique Administration Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Sofala — Lage der Provinz Sofala Die Provinz Sofala liegt im Osten Mosambiks, auf dem Sofala Schelf. Sie hat eine Fläche von 68.018 km². Auf dieser Fläche leben 1.516.166 Menschen. Die Hauptstadt der Provinz Sofala ist die Stadt Beira. Sie hat 397.368… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”