Angoche Island is a small island in the district of same name in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. The island lies at the mouth of the Mluli River; the river enters the sea at the southernmost point of a large bay which contains a number of low, marshy islands. One of these islands was home to the ancient Islamic settlement of Angoche, and the island is thus known as Angoche Island. A coastal island, its main source of income was the illegal shipment of

enslaved people Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, which enriched the aristocratic classes of the Nyapakho clan. It was not taken by the Portuguese until 1913, thanks to the brave resistance of the sultan, particularly Ibrahim Iussuf. His nephew, who was the commander-in-chief of a 30,000 men army took over power and opposed with tenacity the Portuguese until 1890. By then, Farlah, the last sultan, resumed the war against the Portuguese until he was captured in a battle in 1910 and deported to East Timor where he died in prison. The small island is subject to

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s; Cyclone Huda in particular is remembered, and so permanent habitation has not been possible. Angoche is the largest producer of cashew and shrimps in Mozambique.

History

Angoche was first mentioned by a Portuguese document in 1506. The former British consul, Lyons McLeod, published a brief history of the Angoche sultanate in 1860, followed by a more comprehensive account by Eduardo do Couto Lupi in his 1907 study, ''Angoche''. According to Lupi, the islands of Angoche, Mocambique, and

Quelimane Quelimane () is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative Capital (political), capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais (or "River of the Good Signs"). The riv ...

were founded by a group of refugees from

Kilwa Kilwa Kisiwani ('Kilwa Island') is an island, national historic site, and Hamlet (place), hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region, Lindi in southern Ta ...

shortly before the arrival of

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

in 1498. The two leaders of the refugees, Mussa and Hassani, who settled at Mocambique and Quelimane respectively, found established Muslim communities in each place. Hassani died while on a visit to Mocambique and was buried on Mafamale Island (also off the mouth of the Angoche River). After Mussa visited the grave, he decided that Angoche was a more favourable locality than Queliman and installed Xosa, Hassani's son, as sultan of Angoche. (See

Angoche Sultanate The Angoche Sultanate was a sultanate centered on the islands of Angoche, present-day Northern Mozambique coastline. Established in the late 15th century by dissidents from the Kilwa Sultanate, the sultanate arose during the decline of the Kilw ...

for more information.) The tomb of Sultan Hassani remained a centre of pilgrimage until at least the 19th century. Other sources, such as the account of

Duarte Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a scrivener in a '' feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbosa wrote the ''Book o ...

in 1518, confirm that the language and customs of Angoche were the same as those of Mocambique. Duarte de Lemos noted the close trade relationships that still survived in 1508 between Angoche and Mocambique.

References

{{Coord, 16.244, S, 39.907, E, type:adm1st, display=title Islands of Mozambique Angoche District Geography of Nampula Province