The Imperialist Dream of João Albasini, a Portuguese Trader in South-East Africa, 1847–1870

ABSTRACT

In the early nineteenth century, João Albasini established himself as a slave and ivory trader at Delagoa Bay, current-day Maputo, Mozambique. In the 1850s, he moved west, crossing the Lubombo Mountains into the northern areas which in 1852 became the Transvaal, also known as the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. He aimed to revive the Portuguese economy at Delagoa Bay through the trading possibilities offered by the Boer population inland. In 1953, the Afrikaans historian Johannes Bernadus de Vaal gave a detailed account of Albasini’s life. He, however, did not consider the Portuguese and Mozambican dimensions to Albasini’s economic activities in the Transvaal because he saw him as a true-blue Transvaler determined to promote the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek’s interests. While Albasini did attach himself to the Afrikaner community, he remained a staunch Portuguese patriot. He dreamt of establishing a Portuguese colony in current-day Mpumalanga to further Portugal’s hypothetical authority in Delagoa Bay’s hinterland. Although deeply interesting, De Vaal’s analysis lacks insight into the obstructive nature of the Portuguese policy towards the economic development of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. However, the independent spirit of the Boers (the Dutch population) and the lack of political will and resources of the Portuguese metropole stifled João Albasini’s imperialist dream.

KEYWORDS:

• trade
• Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek
• Portuguese colonisation
• Delagoa Bay
• Colony of St. Louis
• Tsonga
• Gaza kingdom
• Mozambique
• Transvaal

Acknowledgements

I express sincere thanks to Professor Peter Delius for his helpful comments on a previous draft.

Notes

1 J.B. de Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini in die geskiedenis van die Transvaal (Elsies River: Government Printer, 1953). De Vaal also wrote two magazine articles touching on Albasini: J.B. de Vaal, ‘Ivoorsmouse in Schoemansdal’, Die Naweek, 24 June 1946; J.B. de Vaal, ‘Schoemansdal, die verlate Voortrekkerdorp in die Zoutpansberg’, Die Naweek, 10 June 1948. Uys de Villiers Pienaar included some of De Vaal’s work as a chapter in a book he compiled. J.B. de Vaal, ‘João Albasini (1813–1888)’, in U. de V. Pienaar, Neem uit die verlede: Die Geskiedenis van die Laeveld en ontstaan van die Kruger Wildtuin (Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis, 2008).

2 I use ‘Delagoa Bay’ rather than ‘Lourenço Marques’ as name for the estuary that is currently called Maputo Bay, as it was the common name used by the Dutch, English, and French during the period under examination. ‘Lourenço Marques’ was the official Portuguese name; before nineteenth century colonialism, it was colloquially referred to as ‘cabo correntes’ (cape of currents).

3 Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (hereafter AHU), Moçambique, Codíce 1428, 25 September 1844, Governor of Lourenço Marques, Antonio Joachim Ferreira. It is possible that ‘Bengelerra’ refers to the island of Benguerra. A capitão-mor was responsible, amongst other things, for recruiting, training, and commanding soldiers.

4 Albasini was known by various African names, all playing on João, such as Jawowa, Juwawa, Tshiwana, and Sewana.

5 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini.

6 T.A. van Ryneveld, ‘Remembering Albasini’ (Master’s dissertation, University of Cape Town, 1998).

7 Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand (hereafter HP), M. Jackson Haight, unpublished manuscript. Jackson Haight also penned European Powers and South-East Africa: A Study of International Relations on the South-East Coast of Africa, 1796–1856 (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1967).

8 For instance, in 1823 the adjutant was banished to Delagoa Bay for the murder of either his father or brother; a lieutenant received the same punishment for killing a priest. See W.F.W. Owen, Narrative of Voyages to Explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia and Madagascar (London: Richard Bentley, 1833), 73, 79.

9 T. Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Africa and Arabia (London: Richard Bentley, 1835), 31. A private received one piece of dungaree, eight feet in length, and 80 kg of rice per month, should supplies arrive, despatched from Goa.

10 See A. Lobato, História do Presídio de Lourenço Marques (Lisboa: Junta de investigações do Ultramar, 1960), 33. After the French destroyed this establishment, an order commanded to build a fortified dwelling to house the military and a factory (‘mandando se fazer uma habitação fortificada para destacamento militar e feitoria’). This structure which was gradually improved and eventually surrounded by a wall. See V.P. Manso, Memoria sobre Lourenço Marques (Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional, 1870), 11, 12. The construction of the stone buildings, which were to include the Nossa Senhora da Conceição fortress, started in 1867–1868.

11 Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage, 30.

12 Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage, 32.

13 For the importance of saguate in south-east Africa, see L. Chewins, ‘“Stealing Dingane’s Title”: The Fatal Significance of Saguate Gift-Giving in Zulu King Dingane’s Killing of Governor Ribeiro (1833) and Piet Retief (1838)’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 48, 1 (2022), 119–138.

14 L.F.D. Antunes, ‘A Ilha de Moçambique, na segunda Metade do Século XVIII’, Anais de História de Além-Mar, 7 (2006), 198.

15 Ibid.

16 L. Chewins, ‘Trading Societies and Their Networks in Southeast Africa: Social and Political Change on the Coasts and in the Interiors of Inhambane and Delagoa Bay, 1729–1833’ (PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, 2020), 236.

17 Chewins, ‘Trading Societies’, 237.

18 There is little known about Albasini’s life before 1831. His father, a maritime man, was Italian and had left Italy for unknown reasons. In Portugal he married Maria de Purificação, who gave birth to João on 26 May 1812. João Albasini married the daughter of Chief Maxakane, and they had two sons and two daughters. The children left an indelible mark on the Mozambique’s history of journalism. João Albasini junior, a journalist of merit, was instrumental in starting a newspaper called the Brado Africano (The African roar) in 1918. He remained editor of the paper till his death in 1922, after which his brother, José Francisco, a journalist in his own right, took over as editor. See J. Quintinha and P.F. Toscano, A derrocada do imperio vatua e Mousinho de Albuquerque, 3rd ed. (Lisbon: Casa Edito^ra Nunes de Carvalho, 1935), Vol. I, 79–100; and J.M. Penvenne, ‘João dos Santos Albasini (1876–1922): The Contradictions of Politics and Identity in Colonial Mozambique’, Journal of African History, 37, 3 (1996), 419–464.

19 L. Chewins and P. Delius, ‘The Northeastern Factor in South African History: Re-evaluating the Volume of the Slave Trade out of Delagoa Bay and Its Impact on Its Hinterland in the Early Nineteenth Century’, Journal of African History, 61, 1 (2020), 89–110.

20 Arquivo Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, Mozambique, Box 263, document 80, folio 7. Moçambique Caixa 263 documento 80 n 7.

21 Pienaar, Neem uit die verlede, 149.

22 D.F. Neves, A Hunting Expedition to the Transvaal (Memphis: General Books LLC, 2012), 2.

23 J.C. van der Walt, ‘Black Ivory’: Four Thousand Children Enslaved in the Transvaal (1844–1877) (Richards Bay: Richards Bay Printers, 2007), 300–314.

24 By 1860, when the transatlantic slave trade came to an end, children formed 20 to 35 per cent of the cargoes. See G. Campbell, S. Miers, and J.C. Miller, eds, Children in Slavery through the Ages (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2009), Kindle Version location 883 of 5574.

25 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini, 6.

26 Ilído Rocha, ed., Diocleciano Fernando das Neves: das terras do imperio vatua as praças da republica boer (Lisbon: Publicações Dom Quixotes, 1987), n 196. F. Martins, João Albasini e a Colónia de S. Luís (Lisbon: Agência Geral do Ultramar, 1957), 16. Quintinha and Toscano cite ‘woman from Intamone’; Quintinha and Toscano, A derrocada do imperio, 70–100.

27 HP, Jackson-Height, unpublished manuscript, chapter 2 n 13.

28 Martins, João Albasini, 20. Martins spells the name as Mabulanas. Mabulana is a mountain peak north-east of Modjadjiskloof. Because of the dominance of the Gaza in the region between the Sabie and the Komati Rivers, it is more likely that the people referred to are the Mabalane, a Sotho group.

29 P. Delius, ‘Recapturing Captives and Conversations with Cannibals: In Pursuit of a Neglected Stratum in South African History’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 36, 1 (2010), 17.

30 The Boers followed this practice. See R. Wagner, ‘Zoutpansberg: The Dynamics of a Hunting Frontier, 1848–1867’, in S. Marks and A. Atmore, eds, Economy and Society in Pre-Industrial South Africa (London: Longman, 1980), 330.

31 For a detailed discussion of the prazero system, see A.F. Isaacman, Mozambique: The Africanization of a European Institution; the Zambezi Prazos, 1750–1902 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1972).

32 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini, 35, 72.

33 The five Portuguese, or rather Goan, traders were of Indian extract and carried Portuguese names, adopted at their baptism: Lourenço Mariano Nunes, Jacob Cristóvão do Conto, Gelásio Fernandes, Manuel Gama, and Casimiro Simões.

34 Pienaar, Neem uit die verlede, 156.

35 Pienaar, Neem uit die verlede, 152.

36 J. Stuart, Hollandsche Afrikanen en hunne Republiek in Zuid-Afrika (Amsterdam: G.W. Tielkemeijer, 1854), 173. The initial plan was for the Brasilië to trade at Port Natal, but the English were dubious of Dutch intentions and their possible links to French interests and spurned the Dutch intention to trade.

37 National Archives and Record Service of South Africa (hereafter NARSSA), Aanwins 92, Klein & Kie, Amsterdam, August 1841, f. 12.

38 D.J. Erasmus, ‘Re-Thinking the Great Trek: A Study of the Nature and Development of the Boer Community in the Ohrigstad/Lydenburg Area, 1845–1877’ (Master’s dissertation, Rhodes University, 1995), 35.

39 It is unclear where the stone came from. ‘Stone’ here might mean dressed stone.

40 Erasmus, ‘Re-Thinking the Great Trek’, 38.

41 Child slaves were in demand both in the interior and at the coast. For an in-depth discussion of child slave trading in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, see R.B. Allen, ‘Children and European Slave Trading in the Indian Ocean during the Eighteenth and the Nineteenth Centuries’, in G. Campbell, S. Meirs, J.C. Miller, eds, Children in Slavery through the Ages (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2009).

42 AHU, Moçambique, Codíce 1429, f. 109.

43 Chewins, ‘Trading Societies’, 123.

44 Martins, João Albasini, 34.

45 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini, 51.

46 Oporto Library, Portugal, MS 1317, Codíce 1317, João Albasini to the interim governor of Delagoa Bay, António Silveira, 12 May 1847.

47 AHU, Moçambique, letter from Albasini to the Governor-General of Mozambique Island, António Augusto Correira Lacerda, 8 April 1868.

48 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini, 48.

49 Jackson-Haight, European Powers, 323.

50 HP, Jackson-Haight, unpublished manuscript, chapters 7, 11.

51 A. Silva Rego, ‘João Albasini e o tratado de 1869’, Magazine do Noticias do Beiro, 4.

52 Lima, ‘Os antecendentes do tratado’, 71.

53 AHU, SEMU Moçambique, Maço 28, João Albasini to the interim Governor-General of Mozambique Island, Inácio Augusto Alves, 17 August 1869, f. 2.

54 The alliance between Britain and Portugal is the oldest alliance still in force, having started with the Treaty of Windsor in 1386.

55 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini, 49.

56 Duprat had invited Albasini to the negotiations in Pretoria, but the invitation reached the latter only after Duprat had already left Pretoria, the capital of the ZAR. One has to wonder what role President Pretorius might have played in delaying the postal coach to the Zoutpansberg.

57 De Vaal, Die rol van João Albasini, 133.

58 HP, Jackson, unpublished manuscript, chapter 7.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Linell Chewins

Linell Chewins is a research associate with the Department of History at the University of the Witwatersrand. Her latest publication is ‘“Stealing Dingane’s Title”: The Fatal Significance of Saguate Gift-Giving in Zulu King Dingane’s Killing of Governor Ribeiro (1933) and (Piet Retief (1838)’ in the Journal of Southern African Studies.