East Yao

Eastern Yao country lies among the rivers and wooded hills of northern Mozambique, in the wider basin of the Lugenda. Yao merchants connected the interior with ports on the Indian Ocean, carrying ivory along routes that crossed the country towards the coast. After the end of the seventeenth century, much of this trade shifted from Kilwa to Mozambique Island, where Yao ivory became a foundation of the port's commerce.