The 1505 expedition of Pêro de Anaia to Sofala led to the establishment of Fort São Caetano, the first permanent Portuguese colony in East Africa. The Capitaincy of Sofala would eventually evolve into the colonial government of Portuguese Mozambique.
Although they did not ultimately sail together, Pêro de Anaia's expedition is usually regarded as a squadron of the 7th Portuguese India Armada of D. Francisco de Almeida that left Lisbon a little earlier in 1505 for the Indian Ocean.
Prelude
Sofala was one of several Muslim Swahili commercial city-states in East Africa under the sway of the Kilwa Sultanate. Around 1489, Sofala had been visited by the Portuguese spy Pêro da Covilhã, who identified it as the principal emporium for the gold trade with the interior kingdom of Monomatapa. The Portuguese crown had been eager to tap into that gold source, and made it a priority for its early Portuguese India Armadas to find the city.
In 1498, Vasco da Gama visited several cities along the Swahili Coast, but did not find Sofala. In 1501, captain Sancho de Tovar located the city from the sea, but did not go ashore. Finally, in 1502, Vasco da Gama returned to the area with a new fleet, and, while idling on Mozambique Island, dispatched a detachment of boats under Pedro Afonso de Aguiar to visit Sofala.16th-century chronicler Gaspar Correia insists it was Aguiar; Osório, only mildly corroborated by Barros, suggests the visit was conducted by Gama himself.
Arriving at the city, Pedro Afonso de Aguiar sought out an audience with the blind octagenarian sheikh Isuf of Sofala (Yçuf in Barros Çufe in Goes), whom he took to be the ruler of Sofala. In fact, Isuf's authority was ambiguous. Formally, Sofala still belonged to the inland Bantu kingdom of the Monomatapa, and sheikh Isuf was merely the leader of the Swahili community in the city, who paid tribute to Monomatapa for permission to reside and trade there. The community itself was under the legal supervision of the Kilwa Sultanate, and Isuf was originally an appointee of the Sultan of Kilwa. Sheikh Isuf was more of a Kilwan consul than a ruler.
Nonetheless, since the usurpation by Emir Muhammad in Kilwa back in 1495, sheikh Isuf had been charting an independent course for his community in Sofala. The Portuguese, with their powerful ships, seemed to offer the key to shaking off Kilwa's authority. At any rate, the elderly sheikh Isuf realized it would be better to make allies rather than enemies out of the Portuguese, and so agreed to Aguiar's proposals and signed a treaty of commercial and political alliance with the Kingdom of Portugal.
Nothing much came of this initial contact. Vasco da Gama's 4th Armada was eager to move on, and did not even wait for Aguiar to return with the news. Gama established a small Portuguese factory on Mozambique Island, under Gonçalo Baixo, to deal with whatever came out of the Sofala-related business, and just sailed on. Aguiar, hurrying to catch up with them, had to drop off the Sofalese ambassador he was bringing and tell him to find his own way back home.
Anaia's 1505 expedition
After the 4th Armada returned to Lisbon, with news of the Sofalese treaty, preparations immediately began to equip an expedition to erect a Portuguese factory and fortress in Sofala. King Manuel I of Portugal placed Pêro de Anaia in charge of this. Anaia was assigned command of a ship, the Sant'Iago (or Nuncia), which was to sail out in 1505 as part of the 7th Armada led by D. Francisco de Almeida.
But in March 1505, as the 7th Armada sailed out of Lisbon harbor, Anaia's ship sprung a leak and capsized in the Tagus estuary. Efforts to recover the ship came to naught, and Anaia was forced to return to land, while the 7th Armada sailed on.
But the Sofala mission was too important to postpone, so a new six-ship fleet was quickly assembled, and ready to sail out a little over a month later. Although it never caught up with Almeida's 7th Armada, it can be still be considered part of that year's armada.
Fleet
Pêro de Anaia's Sofala-bound fleet was composed of three large naus (carracks) and three smaller ships, probably caravels. The following list of ships and captains should not be regarded as authoritative. It is a tentative list compiled from various conflicting accounts:
Ship Name CaptainNotes Naus 1. uncertain Pêro de Anaia flagship, captain of Sofala ship passed at Sofala to Gonçalo Álvares; then at Malindi to Paio Rodrigues de Sousa. 2. Espírito Santo Pero Barreto de Magalhães 400t, found remnant of Lopo Sanchez's crew near Quelimane. Later ran aground at Kilwa banks. 3. Santo AntónioJoão Leite of Santarém Leite fell overboard near Sierra Leone, passed to Jorge Mendes Çacoto, ship passed at Sofala to João Vaz de Almada; then at Malindi to Pedro Barreto de Magalhães. Caravels 4. São João Francisco de Anaia son of Pêro de Anaia. Designated captain for local Sofala patrol. Lost caravel off Mozambique. 5. unknown Manuel Fernandes de Meireles (or Pedro CãoGaspar Correia cites the original captain and designated factor to be "Pedro Cão", but that Cão died from en route and was replaced by 'Manuel Fernandes de Mereiles'. Other lists (Barros, Gois, etc.) do not include Pedro Cão, but cite just 'Manuel Fernandes' from the outset) Designated factor of Sofala.Ship passed at Sofala to Jorge Mendes Çacoto. 6. São Paulo João de Queirós Queirós killed in South Africa, passed to João Vaz de Almada, ship passed at Sofala to Pêro Teixeira, and then lost near Mozambique.
[Because the name of Anaia's flagship is conspicuously missing, some writers sometimes mistakenly call it the Espirito Santo (confusing it with Magalhães's).Theal (1902:183) suggests this was the name of Anaia's ship; Quintella (1839:286) places it under Magalhães Because there were so many captain changes along the way, chronicles also frequently fall into confusion themselves. The reconciliation given above is principally due to Castanheda. Finally, as usual, chronicler Gaspar Correia tends to deviate from the rest: Correia is the only one to suggest that 'Pedro Cão' was the original designated factor, and only he supplies the surnames 'de Meireles' and 'Çacoto' to those whom everybody else just calls 'Manuel Fernandes' and 'Jorge Mendes' respectively.]
The instructions given by King Manuel I of Portugal were straightforward. They were to erect a factory and fortress in Sofala. Pêro de Anaia would go as captain-major of the fleet, and carried a commission to become captain-major of the Sofala fortress, Manuel Fernandes de Meireles was to serve as commercial factor.
After the fort was built, Anaia was to dispatch four ships - the three large naus and one caravel - under the overall command of Pero Barreto de Magalhães to Cochin, India, where viceroy Almeida would ensure they would load up with spices and be sent back to Lisbon. The remaining caravels would serve as a coastal patrol around Sofala under the command of Anaia's son, Francisco de Anaia, who carried a royal commission appointing him capitão-mor do mar de Sofala (captain-major of the sea of Sofala).
Outward journey
May 18, 1505 – Pêro de Anaia's six-ship fleet sets out of Lisbon harbor, destined for Sofala.
August, 1505 - Anaia's squadron doubles the Cape of Good Hope with some difficulty. It is said that Anaia plotted a very wide route around the Cape, far south into freezing temperatures, speculated as far as 45° South. It is reported that several crew members died from the cold.Castanheda (v.2, p.33) The fleet splits up during the crossing. Anaia manages to keep two ships with him.
September 4, 1505 - Pêro de Anaia, his son Francisco de Anaia and the factor Manuel Fernandes finally reach Sofala harbor, and await the other three ships. They gradually arrive, each with their own tale of woe:
The nau Santo António arrives in Sofala without its captain, João Leite having fallen overboard while fishing near Sierra Leone and drowned; the crew had elected Jorge Mendes Çacoto to replace him.Gaspar Correia (in Theal, 1898: p. 33) says that 'Jorge Mendes Çacoto' was aboard Manuel Fernandes's ship at this time, and Leite was replaced by João Vaz de Almada. Correia may be misled by the fact that the Santo Antonio was indeed later passed to Almada. The caravel São Paulo arrives without any officers at all; the caravel had made a watering stop in a South African bay where plenty of cattle was sighted (variously speculated to be Flesh Bay or Algoa BayTheal (1902: p.183)), quarrelled with the Khoikhoi natives, who ended up killing not only the captain, João de Queirós, but also the pilots, master and other officers, leaving no one able to navigate the ship. The only surviving officer was the clerk Antão de Gá, who had absolutely no navigational knowledge. Only by luck did they spot the Santo António of Jorge Mendes, who lent them his master João Vaz de Almada to guide them to Sofala.Castanheda (p. 33), Theal (1902: p. 184); differing from the others, Gaspar Correia (in Theal, 1898: p.33) claims it was brought in by flagship pilot Gonçalo Alvares. The nau Espírito Santo, under Pero_Barreto_de_Magalhães, anchors at Cape St. Sebastian, the Portuguese pilot too wary about approaching the Sofala banks. A launch is dispatched under Barreto's brother, António de Magalhães, to find a local pilot or fetch one from Anaia. The launch is directed by locals to the environs of Quelimane, where, by the shores of the Rio Cuama (Zambezi River) Magalhães finds five famished Portuguese sailors - the half-dead survivors of Lopo Sanchez's caravel (see 7th Armada).Correia says they were twelve, and that it was Jorge Mendes who found them. Anaia dispatches a pilot (Almada again apparently) to fetch Barreto's ship and guide it through the shoals of Sofala harbor.Barros (v.2 p.366); Castanheda (p.33);Theal (1902: 184)
Fort São Caetano
Early September 1505 - After gathering his scattered ships, Pêro de Anaia requests an audience with the sheikh Isuf of Sofala. As noted earlier, sheikh Isuf had agreed to a commercial treaty back in 1502, but the city itself belongs to the Monomatapa. What Pêro de Anaia was now proposing - the establishment of a permanent Portuguese factory and fort in the city – probably exceeds Isuf's authority to allow. Nonetheless, the recent news of Almeida's attacks on Kilwa and Mombasa persuade sheikh Isuf that a similar fate might await Sofala if he shows any sign of legal quibbling or recalcitrance. So a new deal is struck and Isuf 'allows' the Portuguese to establish a factory and a fort. As a sign of goodwill, Isuf hands over to Anaia another twenty Portuguese survivors of the Lopo Sanchez caravel that had he had collected.Barros, vol. 2, p. 366
September 25, 1505 - Construction begins on the Portuguese Fort São Caetano of Sofala. Anaia begins with the erection of a wooden palisade on a square plan, with each side measured at 120 paces. A moat is dug around it, of 12 palms depth and 12 palms width. He then erects the main wall within the moat, and then another perimeter wall outside of it. The surrounding area is cleared of vegetation to allow a clear line of fire. Much of the labor for the fort construction is procured locally, although every crewman, including the nobles and Anaia himself, were expected to participate in manual labor.
November 1505 - The fort is essentially finished. At this point, Pêro de Anaia assumes command as 'captain-major' of the Fort of Sofala and Manuel Fernandes de Meireles as factor. As Pêro de Anaia is the first 'Captain of Sofala', he is usually considered the first Portuguese colonial governor of Mozambique.