Place · island

Mozambique Island

Mozambique Island is a small coral island off the northern coast of Mozambique, once a Swahili trading town ruled by a sheikh. Vasco da Gama called there in 1498, and the Portuguese built the Fortress of São Sebastião and made it the capital of Portuguese East Africa until 1898. It traded and fought with the neighbouring Swahili sheikhdoms and sultanates of Angoche, Sancul and Quitangonha. It is a World Heritage Site.

Mozambique Island
Image: Stig Nygaard from Copenhagen, Denmark · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 5 state histories

Sultanate of AngochePortuguese MozambiqueKingdom of LunduSultanate of QuitangonhaSheikhdom of Sancul

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mozambique Island. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mozambique-island
MLA
“Mozambique Island.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mozambique-island. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Mozambique Island.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mozambique-island.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mozambique Island’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mozambique-island (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻