Portuguese Fortify the Swahili Coast

1505

Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy of Portuguese India, sacked Kilwa and Mombasa, burning the whitewashed coral cities and looting their mosques. He planted stone forts along the Swahili coast to throttle the Indian Ocean spice trade and bleed the Red Sea dry of commerce. The destruction of Kilwa and Mombasa disrupted centuries-old Indian Ocean networks and set the pattern of European naval violence in the region.