Portuguese Empire · 1498-1698

Fort Jesus and the Swahili coast

After Vasco da Gama, Portugal tries to control the old trading cities of the East African coast. Students follow the struggle from Malindi and Mombasa to Mozambique Island, and see how Swahili towns, Omani sailors and Portuguese soldiers fought over the coast for two centuries.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1490 to AD 1650
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After Vasco da Gama, Portugal tries to control the old trading cities of the East African coast. Students follow the struggle from Malindi and Mombasa to Mozambique Island, and see how Swahili towns, Omani sailors and Portuguese soldiers fought over the coast for two centuries.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why Portugal wanted bases on the East African coast.
  • Locate Malindi, Mombasa, Mozambique Island and Sofala on the map.
  • Describe how Swahili towns and Oman responded to Portuguese power.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1490

Old trading cities

Open the map in 1490 and zoom in on the coast of East Africa, from Mogadishu down to Sofala. Swahili towns here traded with Arabia, Persia and India. Why would a coast facing the Indian Ocean grow rich?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1650

Up the Zambezi

Jump to 1650 and find Portuguese East Africa along the river Zambezi. Gold came to the coast from the Mutapa state inland. Why would traders push up a river into the interior?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1650

The Cape Route

Turn on Trade Routes and follow the Cape Route to the Indies around southern Africa towards India. Where along the African coast would ships need to stop for water and repairs?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Swahili towns had traded across the Indian Ocean for centuries. What changed when armed Portuguese ships arrived?
  2. Malindi helped the Portuguese, while Mombasa fought them. Why might two neighbouring cities choose differently?
  3. Fort Jesus was designed by an Italian architect to resist cannon. Why did Portugal need such a strong fort here?
  4. Oman, a state in Arabia, drove Portugal from most of this coast by 1698. What does that show about power in the Indian Ocean?
  5. Most written records of these events are Portuguese. How can historians find the voices of Swahili people?
4

Game round

9 min

Play a round of Rule History as Akbar, who ruled India when Fort Jesus was built in 1593. Merchants from his province of Gujarat traded all along the Swahili coast. Discuss: how did the Portuguese forts affect traders who had used this ocean for centuries?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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