Polity Lamu

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Period of Portuguese domination over the island of Lamu off the coast of Kenya.

Establishment

  • January 1507: From 1506 to 1698 Lamu was ruled by the Portuguese.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. War of the Portuguese Succession

Was a succession crisis caused by the death of the King of Portugal without heirs. The conflict saw two main claimants to the Portuguese throne: António, Prior of Crato, proclaimed in several towns as King of Portugal, and his first cousin Philip II of Spain, who eventually succeeded in claiming the crown, reigning as Philip I of Portugal.

  • October 1580: Philip II of Spain succeeded in claiming the Portuguese crown, reigning as Philip I of Portugal.

2. Conquests of Murad III

Expansion during the rule of Murad III in the Ottoman Empire.

2.1. Ottoman-Portuguese conflicts (1586-1589)

Were armed military engagements which took place between the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire along the coast of eastern Africa.

2.1.1. Ottoman backed revolt of Indian Ocean coast

Was a revolt backed by the Ottomans in the East African coast against Portuguese rule.

  • January 1587: In 1586, Mir Ali Bey captured a small galley belonging to Roque de Brito Falcão in Lamu, a port city in present-day Kenya. The king of Lamu handed over Portuguese refugees to the Ottoman Empire, marking a shift in power dynamics in the region.

2.1.2. Portuguese Counterattack

Were a series of Portuguese military actions against African rebels and the Ottomans during the Ottoman-Portuguese conflicts (1586-1589).

  • May 1589: After capturing the Ottoman corsair Mir Ali Bey, the Portuguese reestablished suzerainty over the entire Swahili coast, using diplomacy or force of arms.

3. Portuguese Restoration War

Was a revolution organized by the Portuguese nobility and bourgeoisie sixty years after the crowning of Philip I (Philip II of Spain), the first "dual monarch", that ended the Iberian Union.

  • November 1640: A revolution organized by the nobility and bourgeoisie on 1 December 1640, sixty years after the crowning of Philip I (Philip II of Spain), the first "dual monarch", ended the Iberian Union between Portugal and Spain.

Disestablishment

  • January 1699: In 1698 Lamu was conquered by Oman.

Selected Sources

  • Fernández Álvarez, M. (1998): Felipe II y su tiempo, cuarta edición, p. 523
  • de Oliveira Marques , A. H. R.(1972): History of Portugal, Columbia University Press, p. 322-325