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Sofala:''There is also Sofala, New South Wales''
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 Sofala Province of Mozambique.
The site of the oldest harbour documented in Southern Africa, medieval Sofala took its name from the Sofala River which enters the Indian Ocean nearby. Vasco da Gama's companion Thomé Lopes left a narrative which identifies Sofala with the Biblical Ophir and its ancient rulers with the dynasty of the queen of Sheba. Although the notion was mentioned by John Milton|Milton in ''Paradise Lost'', among many other works of literature and science, it has since been discarded.
Sofala throve from about the year 700 AD. The Arabs had frequented the coast since 915, followed by traders from Persia. They conquered Sofala in the 1100s and strengthened its trading capacity by having, among other things, river-going dhows ply the Sofala and Save River (Africa)|Sabe to ferry the gold extracted in the hinterland (mainly Zimbabwe) to the coast. In the 14th and 15th centuries Sofira was controlled by the Sultan of Kilwa, whose capital was in present-day Tanzania.
A Portuguese Jew, Pêro da Covilhã, was the first European known to have visited Sofala, in the hope of discovering goldmines, in 1489. The Portuguese conquest of the town followed in 1505, when Pêro de Anaia assumed the title of Captain-General of Sofala and made it the first Portuguese colony in the region. He constructed a factory and Fort San Caetano from stone imported from Europe (it was subsequently reused for construction of Beira, Mozambique|Beira's cathedral). There are very few ruins to suggest the town's former grandeur and wealth.
Sofala lost its commercial preeminence once Beira, Mozambique|Beira was established 20 miles to the north in 1890. The harbour was once reputed to be capable of holding a hundred vessels, but has silted up due to deforestation of the banks of the river and deposition of topsoil in the harbour.
References
- The 1911 Britannica
- The 2006 Britannica
Category:History of Mozambique
Category:Ports and harbours in Africa
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