Mombasa Island

Mombasa occupies an island beside a sheltered harbour on the East African coast. Its Swahili merchants traded across the Indian Ocean, connecting the mainland with Arabia, India and other ports. In the 1590s the Portuguese built Fort Jesus on a coral-rock spur to defend their position at the harbour. Omani forces captured the fort in 1698 after a long siege, changing the balance of power along the coast.