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| Mombasa showed up again
in 1505 and took the town. The fighting took the
lives of 1513 Mombasa defenders and 5 Portuguese
attackers. After looting Mombasa and setting it on
fire, they left and did not return for 15 years. The
Portuguese looted the town again in 1528 and twice
more in the 1580s. Two years after the last attack,
Mombasa went on the offensive and attempted to
conquer Malindi. The Mombasa attackers were
massacred and the town fell shortly thereafter in a
counterattack by Malindi, which turned Mombasa over
to the Portuguese. The Portuguese began construction
on Fort Jesus, which was finished in 1593.
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| Fort Jesus, now a museum, became the focal point
of the island. In the years between 1631 and 1875,
the fort changed hands nine times. In 1631, the
townspeople revolted and killed every Portuguese on
the island, but the Sultan of Mombasa had no real
support and the Portuguese reoccupied Fort Jesus and
consolidated their control. The Omanis, who had been
steadily gaining strength, took the town and laid
siege to the fort from 1696-98. The Santo Antonio
de Tanna sank in 1697 while trying to break the
siege (and the museum holds numerous relics
recovered from the ship). After 33 months Fort Jesus
again changed hands, with most of the defenders
having died from starvation or disease. |
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A mutiny by the African soldiers in 1728
resulted in the Portuguese gaining control
for what would be the last time. A year
later the fort was again besieged and the
Portugeuse surrendered, permanently ending
their rule over Mombasa. The Omani overlords,
who were of the Mazrui family, declared
their independence from Oman. Civil war in
Oman prevented much of a reaction, but the
Battle of Shela in
Lamu forever changed the balance of
power. Fearing a reprisal from Mombasa, the
Lamu victors invited the Sultan of Oman to
occupy Lamu. From there, he continually
attacked Mombasa, but did not gain control
until the Swahili tribes invited him in
after a dispute with the Mazruis.
British influence grew in the region and
they crushed a mutiny lead by the fort's
commandant in 1875. England then leased the
coastal strip from the Sultan of Zanzibar
and turned the Fort Jesus into a prison
until 1958 |
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