635 x 885 mm. Lithography and letterpress on 4 joined sheets of blueish paper. Some wear, staining and toning along old folds, lower-left quadrant evenly toned, loss to a few letters at a fold vertex centre-right, some tears and chipping to margins but overall in excellent condition.

Included are copious statistics on the town’s demographics (divided into Christians, Muslims and enslaved persons) and on the government establishment; a listing of European and Asian residents; and the names of 113 local tribal chiefs loyal to Portugal. There is also a detailed account of the town’s economy and its physical appearance; the ethnography of the indigenous Bitonga people; and an impression of the legendary warrior-king Manukosi. Fonseca’s description of Inhambane was clearly viewed as being so valuable and interesting that it deserved to be publicized, such that it was ordered to be printed by the crown’s press, the Imprensa Nacional, in Nova-Goa, the capital of Portuguese India. Only one other copy of this broadsheet exists, held by the Arquivo Histórico de Moçambique (Maputo).

Inhambane was for centuries one of the most important trading ports of Mozambique, a great entrepot for slaves, ivory and tropical cash crops. The Portuguese established a trading post at Inhambane in 1534. In the mid-18th century, Portugal expanded its role in Mozambique, in good part motivated by the slave trade, it became a culturally vibrant mosaic of Portuguese officials and traders, Goan and Arab merchants, and a small population of Bitongo freemen, the vast majority of the town’s residents were slaves. For the next three generations, Inhambane played a major role in the Portuguese mercantilist economy. Britain’s decision to enforce a ban on the global slave trade in 1807 ironically proved to be a boon for the slave trade in Mozambique, as the Royal Navy concentrated its efforts on West Africa, so removing East Africa’s main competition. This permitted the virtually unlimited export of slaves from Mozambique, serving a burgeoning international black market.

However, Portuguese Mozambique was suddenly confronted by a new threat, in the form of the rapidly ascendant indigenous Gaza Empire, founded in 1824 in Manicaland. It was led by Soshangana KaZikode (c. 1780 - c. 1858), known as ‘Manicuce’ in Portuguese, a brilliant military strategist whose lightening stealth tactics served to neutralize the Portuguese advantage in technology. Manukosi’s men were motivated by long-standing inter-tribal rivalries as well as deep-seated resentment towards the Portuguese and Arab slaving raids upon their people. In 1834, Manukosi’s army descended upon Inhambane, and overran the Portuguese garrison, sacking the town. The fall of Inhambane was a terrible blow to Portuguese prestige and commerce.

In the immediate wake of the 1834 disaster, Inhambane, buoyed by a robust global market for slaves and commodities, and the new regime of naval protection, managed to rebound with remarkable speed and strength. For the Portuguese establishment and the Arab and Indian traders in Inhambane, the late 1840 to late 1860s marked the final golden era. Exports grew year by year and the proceeds led to the construction of many fine new buildings, such as the Cathedral of our Lady of Conception. Inhambane made the transition from a rough trading outpost into a prosperous, relatively orderly sea-side town.

This broadside provides insight into the nature of Inhambane’s demographics, economy, governance, defense, and physical appearance, as well as the ethnography of the local people and nature of town’s security during its final period of economic prosperity and geopolitical importance. The quality of the information provided gives it academic significance as a record of a major African port during the twilight of slavery, but before the great changes brought upon by the Scramble for Africa. Very few important African trading centres of the period were ever showcased in such detail and accuracy.

The broadside is an official report, or ‘Boletim’, on the state of Inhambane as of January 1850, written by Duarte Manuel da Fonseca, a naval officer in command of the Inhambane District, and submitted to Captain Joaquim José Cicilia Kol, the Secretary to the Governor-General of Goa, and a career naval man.

This unusually large broadside, printed in lithography and letterpress, on bluish paper, features voluminous text and several charts, enough information to otherwise comprise a large pamphlet. While issued in a small print run, copies of the broadside would have been made available to Portuguese civil officials, military officers and merchants who operated in Mozambique, as the work conveyed intelligence that would have been of considerable interest and value.

Turning to the content of the broadside, the top horizontal register in the upper left features the section ‘População geral da villa’, providing a detailed census of Inhambane, it breaks the population down into ‘Christãos’, ‘Libertos’ (freed former slaves), and ‘Escrivos’ (slaves), ‘Mossulmanos’ (Muslims), etc.; the total population of the town is given as 3,865, consisting of 423 Christians, 320 Muslims and 3,122 Slaves of No-Religion (while 37 Christians are also classified as Slaves). Thus, over 80% of Inhambane’s population were slaves.

In the lower right quadrant is a detailed ethnographic description of the local indigenous nation, ‘Os Bitongas’, describing their pregnancy, birth, marriage, adultery, divorce, and funerary rituals, as well as the rules for the succession of the chiefs and their commercial/industrial practices. This is followed by an intriguing account of the nature and exploits of Inhambane’s famous nemesis, ‘O Manicuce’ (Manukosi).

Rarity:
A single institutional example of the broadside can be traced, at the Arquivo Histórico de Moçambique (Maputo); the broadside is exceedingly rare, so much so that its contents tend to be known today only through the excerpts of its text quoted in Caldeira’s 'Apontamentos d'uma viagem de Lisboa á China' (1852).

Carlos José Caldeira, Apontamentos d'uma viagem de Lisboa á China e da China a Lisboa (Lisbon: Typographia de Castro & Irmão, 1852), pp. 127-37; Francisco João Xavier, Breve noticia da Imprensa Nacional de Goa, seguida de um catalogo das obras e escriptos publicados pela mesma imprensa desda a sua fundação (Nova-Goa: Imprensa Nacional, 1876), no. 717 (p. 173).