colony · Central and Southern Africa

Dutch Delagoa Bay

1721 CE – 1730 CE · capital Fort Lijdzaamheid

A short-lived Dutch East India Company trading post on Delagoa Bay, founded to seek gold and ivory and abandoned after a decade.

Origins

In 1721 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sent an expedition from the Cape to Delagoa Bay, hoping to tap the gold of the interior and the ivory and slave trade of the bay. The settlers built Fort Lijdzaamheid on the site of modern Maputo.

Rule and society

The post traded cloth, beads and metal for ivory and slaves with the local Tsonga rulers, including those of the Tembe Kingdom. It suffered terribly from malaria, losing much of its garrison, and was attacked and briefly captured by pirates in 1722. Expeditions inland failed to find the hoped-for goldfields.

Decline and legacy

Unprofitable and deadly, the post was abandoned in 1730. The Portuguese reasserted their claim to the bay, which was later contested by Austria and Britain before the 1875 arbitration confirmed Portuguese possession.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Dutch Delagoa Bay. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dutch-delagoa-bay
MLA
“Dutch Delagoa Bay.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dutch-delagoa-bay. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Dutch Delagoa Bay.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dutch-delagoa-bay.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Dutch Delagoa Bay’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dutch-delagoa-bay (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻