Kilwa Sultanate Controls the Sofala Gold Trade

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The Kilwa Sultanate secured dominance over Sofala, the key port through which gold from the Zimbabwe plateau reached Indian Ocean markets. Kilwa's merchants now controlled the entire eastern African gold corridor - from the inland mines through the coastal ports to the dhow routes connecting Africa to India, Arabia, and beyond. The wealth funded a building boom: coral-stone palaces, a great mosque, and a commercial infrastructure that impressed every foreign visitor who recorded it.