About Kenya Way Back When The Fall of the Portuguese Empire in Africa The main objective of Portugal in the circumnavigation of Africa was commercial, not imperial, to gain control of the oriental sources of wealth in India and Far East. “Over the 15th and the early 16th centuries Portugal established several trading posts on the West African coast and made the coastal population and its rulers participants in trade with Europe. In East Africa they used very different methods: they crushed the defences of Sofala, Mombasa and other coastal hubs, installed garrisons there and raised taxes for the king of Portugal. At the same time, they tried to take over the trade in gold, ivory and metals along the coast, its hinterland and India”. Their goal in East Africa was the founding of a transit base for which they needed the cooperation of the existing Swahili states. They proposed to ensure this by imposing treaties. With the exception of Malindi and to a lesser degree Zanzibar the treaties were not honoured and a number of towns were sacked by the Portuguese as a result: Kilwa (1505), Mombasa (1505 and 1528), Zanzibar (1503 and 1509), Oja (1505) and Barawa (1505). Trade with Africa (at El Mina, at the mouth of the River Gambia, in Sierra Leone and in Sofala) and later in India sped the development of Portugal’s trader class that had still been relatively weak in the 15th century. The Dutch, English and French later followed them round the navigationally perilous Cape. By the mid-1700s Africa as a whole was securely linked to Europe and Asia, although it was yet to resolve itself whether the Dutch (who held the Cape from 1652 to 1795) or the British (who seized the Cape in 1795) would be the primary agents. The Dutch drove the Portuguese away from the Cape of Good Hope and they were in turn conquered by the British. So that the East Coast as far as Delagua Bay belonged to Britain. Mozambique would become the capital of Portugal East Africa. Inspired by Prince Henry the Navigator, Portugal might be thought to have entered upon a path of lasting economic and political expansion. Nevertheless, its backward and sluggish socio-economic structure prevented this from happening. Overseas expansion necessitated large financial outlays, and the purchase of gold and slaves depended on supplying Africa with large quantities of iron, brass and copper goods, cheap textiles, silver, foodstuffs and salt. These goods were not produced in Portugal but had to be bought from foreign traders or in Bruges and, later, from the major European trade centres of the time. Furthermore, expansion of the fleet depended on the import of timber, mainly from the Baltic countries. Portugal was unable to develop production, owing to its small population and the severe competition from abroad, notably in industrial goods. Europe’s economic boom triggered a slow but sure rise in prices from the 1470s. During the second half of the 16th century this upswing became enormous, affecting both agricultural products and industrial goods. The relationship between the rise in prices and the increase in Portugal’s profits from overseas trade seems not to have benefited it. The high expenditure associated with overseas expansion was profitable only when it was possible to buy cheap and sell dear. To do this, however, meant limiting or even excluding European competitors, and that required a strong fleet. That was a costly enterprise. By the 1470s Portugal was already engaged in armed conflict with Castile, which it eliminated from West Africa, thanks to temporary supremacy of the Portuguese fleet and to diplomatic maneuvers. It did not last. The history of Kenya is rich and diverse, shaped by various peoples, cultures, and external influences over millennia. Portuguese explorers arrived in the late 15th century, followed by Omani Arabs in the 17th century. Kenya's coast became a nexus of trade and cultural exchange. In the late 19th century, the British took over control of Kenya. In 1963, Kenya gained independence and self-governance. Index of Fascinating Histories - Kenya & Africa Brief Overview of Kenya's History: Kenya Before 1900s, The British Colonial Era, Kapenguria 6 Trial, Capture of Dedan Kimathi, The Struggle for Independence, The Massacres; Hola, Wagalla, Garissa Brief History of the Counties of Kenya: Baringo, Bomet, Bungoma, Busia, Elgeyo Marakwet, Embu, Garissa, Homa Bay, Isiolo, Kakamega, Kajiado, Kericho, Kiambu, Kilifi, Kirinyaga, Kisii, Kisumu, Kitui, Kwale, Laikipia, Lamu, Machakos, Makueni, Mandera, Marsabit, Meru, Migori, Mombasa, Muranga, Nairobi, Nakuru, Nandi, Narok, Nyamira, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Samburu, Siaya, Tana River, Taita Taveta, Tharaka Nithi, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Uasin Gishu, Vihiga, Wajir, West Pokot The Conquest of Swahili Coast: The Portuguese Voyages, The Arrival of Vasco da Gama, The Downfall of the Portuguese Empire, The Rise of the Omani-Arabs, The Takeover, Rise and Assimilation of Islam, Arrival of the Imperial British East African Company, Seyyid Said and the Colony and Protectorate Debate Brief Overview of Africa's History: Trans-Saharan Trade, Trans-Atlantic Trade, Cultural Diversity of Africa

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