Sena

Sena stood on the southern bank of the Zambezi, where river traffic met routes to the goldfields of the interior. A Muslim trading settlement grew near the capital of a Tonga chief known as Samupango, who owed allegiance to the Mutapa. Gold from the plateau travelled down the river, while cloth and beads came upstream from the coast.

Portuguese merchants settled nearby in the sixteenth century. In 1572 Francisco Barreto built the mud fort of São Marçal after his expedition destroyed the Muslim settlement. Sena became a major river port and a seat of Portuguese authority, supplying traders who continued towards Tete, Manica and the fairs of the plateau. Its houses and fort required constant care in the rainy climate; the fort was rebuilt in 1704 with four bastions. In 1767 the Portuguese transferred their regional capital to Tete, but Sena remained important to commerce. Goods arriving from the coast were unloaded here before continuing upriver or along overland routes, sustaining a town whose wealth rested on the labour and exchange of communities throughout the Zambezi valley.