Massangano (weir system)
The weir system Massangano was a palisade fortress in the Zambezia area of today's Mozambique in the 19th century . The complex was the most important base of the Afro-Portuguese Da Cruz family, the center of their domain, also known as Massangano, and the site of several bloody battles during the Zambezi Wars from 1840 to 1902.
Structure and location
Massangano was a traditional "Aringa", a nominally in Portuguese dominated Zambezi area from the 16th to 19th century widespread form of fortification, which mainly consisted of an enclosure with powerful, living trees. The Portuguese light artillery was unable to destroy these tree fortresses. The Massangano facility stretched directly below the confluence of the Mazowe River into the Zambezi and, according to Portuguese descriptions, was about 1300 meters long and 150-180 meters deep. Crossing poles were stuck between the individual trees that made up the fortress walls and tied together. A single rock towered over the side of the Aringa, which was reinforced here by another fence and one or two wooden watchtowers. In the middle of the complex was a flat hill on which the Da Cruz family's home and their family mausoleum were located. There was a central street where the rest of the residents' huts were located.
Massangano ruled the Zambezi and with it the passage on this main artery from the coast of the Indian Ocean, about 300 kilometers away, to the north to the important inner-African trading centers Tete and Zumbo .
history
The facility was built by Joaqim José da Cruz, who leased the area from the Portuguese colonial administration in 1849. From here the Da Cruz family soon ruled over an area of over 100 km in diameter to the right and left of the Zambezi, which was completely beyond Portuguese control. In the Zambezi Wars, the Portuguese had already been able to conquer a number of similarly independent, more or less short-lived empires. The three attempts of the Portuguese to conquer the Aringa of Massangano, however, turned into a military disaster for them.
In July 1867, the force of Miguel Gouveia, governor of Tete, was completely wiped out before Massangano. November 1867, Oliveiro Queiros led 400 regular soldiers and other auxiliary troops in front of the fortress, but had to give up the siege due to lack of supplies and was removed from his office. In 1868 a third expedition with 500 regular soldiers failed with heavy losses. In 1869 the Portuguese finally brought a force of 850 regular troops from their colony of Goa and from the "motherland" Portugal to the Zambezi , which was extraordinary for the colonial conditions at the time. This time too, the siege of Massangano failed due to a lack of supplies. The initially orderly retreat soon turned into a hopeless, loss-making escape for the Portuguese, who then left the Da Cruz and Massangano families unmolested for two decades. Although the Aringa of Massangano was overlooked by a nearby hill - a considerable military disadvantage - the Portuguese attempts at conquest turned into the greatest military disaster of a European colonial power in Africa.
It was not until 1888 that after a long siege they succeeded in taking the fortress of the Da Cruz family. They burned the complex completely and - to make sure that the power of the Da Cruz was finally broken - built a strong, stone fort on the hill originally located in the center of the fortress. During the Barue rebellion against Portuguese rule in Mozambique in 1917 the fort, which has since been abandoned, was once again briefly occupied by members of the Da Cruz. Later the bush also recaptured the stone fort.
swell
- ↑ Malyn Newitt: A History of Mozambique. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1995: S 315, ISBN 0-253-34007-1
- ↑ Malyn Newitt: A History of Mozambique. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1995, S: 302, ISBN 0-253-34007-1
- ↑ Malyn Newitt: A History of Mozambique. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1995, map p. 309, ISBN 0-253-34007-1
- ↑ Malyn Newitt: A History of Mozambique. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1995: 307/308, ISBN 0-253-34007-1
- ↑ Malyn Newitt: A History of Mozambique. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1995: 313-316, ISBN 0-253-34007-1
- ↑ Malyn Newitt: A History of Mozambique. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1995: 344, ISBN 0-253-34007-1