Sofala

Sofala, ancient East African seaport and trade center. It was located on the coast of the Indian Ocean, about 40 km (about 20 mi) south of the mouth of the Pungwe River in present-day Mozambique. Sofala became important as the port from which southern African gold was exported by Muslim traders, and for centuries, it was one of the major ports on the Indian Ocean.

Sofala was first mentioned in the 10th-century writings of Arab geographer al-Mas‘ūdi. It was referred to frequently thereafter in descriptions of the southern African coast. During this early period, the name “Sofala” was applied to most of the coast of present-day Mozambique.

Located on a shallow, sandy bay, the port of Sofala rose to importance due to its proximity to the rich gold deposits in the plateaus of present-day Zimbabwe. By the 13th century it held a virtual monopoly over the gold exports of such powerful African states as Great Zimbabwe and Mutapa. Arab and African traders in Sofala profited by working as middlemen between the gold-mining plateau states and seafarers trading with Arabia, Persia, and India. In addition to gold, ivory and iron were other important products exported through the port. By the 16th century Sofala was ruled by an Arab sheikh who had kinship and commercial ties with the ruling families of Kilwa, another trade center to the north.

The first European to visit Sofala was Portuguese traveler Pero da Covilhão, who arrived at the port about 1490. In 1500 a vessel from the fleet of Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral landed there. In 1505 the Portuguese seized the port, installed a friendly Arab sheikh as ruler, and built a fort on a sand spit at the edge of town. The fort was garrisoned, and a trading factory was built. Over the next 100 years, however, Sofala’s gold trade went into decline as shipment down the Zambezi River in the north became a more practical trade route. Major Indian Ocean trading powers soon ceased to visit Sofala, as the anchorage had become too shallow due to a natural buildup of silt. By the mid-16th century the town had lost most of its commercial importance.

The Portuguese continued to occupy Sofala, and the port subsisted on small ivory and slave trades during the 17th and 18th centuries. Its decline continued, however, and the fort became dilapidated. The port enjoyed a brief return to prosperity in the mid-19th century but was attacked and plundered before and after this period by Nguni raiders. By the end of the 19th century the harbor had silted up entirely and the Portuguese abandoned the fort. In the early 20th century the fort eroded into the sea. Today nothing is left of the old town of Sofala. In 1894 the Portuguese built a new administrative post, called Nova Sofala, on the north side of the bay. The region is now part of Mozambique’s Sofala Province.