1 Sicard states that, before the Muslim traders, merchants from Asian origin would have used the port (.)ģAs early as the 8 th century, archaeological evidence of this long-distance trade confirms the existence and importance of these coastal ports (Sinclair 1982, Sinclair, 1987 Sinclair et al, 2012 Wood et al, 2012), particularly around the Save delta (Sicard, 1968).A huge trade network covering the Middle East and the Far Eastern countries, dominated mainly though not exclusively by Muslim merchants (Sicard, 1968). African trade goods, including gold, were exported from these ports to the northern Swahili towns and through them to the Indian Ocean where they exchanged for cotton, beads, spices and other Indian goods (Beach, 1980 Smith, 1983). 1).ĢRegional African trade routes played a very important role in this system because of the coastal ports from the Bazaruto Islands up to the North of Mozambique. This network involved the East African coastal ports, India and the Far East as well as inland African kingdoms and was part of a much larger, ancient Muslim network of trade, kinship and port-state complexes (Tibbetts, 1981 Abu-Lughod, 1989 Chaudhuri, 1990) connecting Africa, Asia and Europe (Fig. 1When arriving in the Indian Ocean in the early 16 th century, the Portuguese were confronted with an important intercontinental trade network dominated by Muslim merchants.
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