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Why did the the Portuguese defeat the East African Coastal towns?
a) They had superior weapons e.g. cannon guns which made terrible noise and threw people in
panic as compared to the poor musket guns of the coastal Arabs.
b) They had well trained soldiers with superior skills of fighting compared to the coastal people
who had no permanent organized army e.g. Vasco da Gama, Francisco D’Almeida were ruthless
army commanders which helped them to defeat the coastal dwellers.
c) They had better and faster ships (carracks) well equipped for naval warfare. The Portuguese
soldiers wore Armour on their bodies and helmets on their heads, which protected them from the
weapons of the coastal people.
d) The coastal towns were disunited which gave chance to the Portuguese to fight isolated
enemies e.g. Malindi refused to unite with Mombasa due to local conflicts. Some cooperated
with the invaders giving them food and bases e.g. Malindi and Sofala.
e) Some coastal towns like Kilwa were caught unaware. The Portuguese employed cruel methods
of fighting like burning down towns and surprise attacks.
f) The ships acted as stages against the hostile weapons of the coastal people.
g) The coast had natural harbours and was not open to attacks.
h) The constant attacks on the coastal towns by the Galla, Zimba and Turkish e.t.c had weakened
their defence.
i) The Portuguese were financially equipped and therefore supported their soldiers because they
wanted to control the East African trade.
j) The coastal states had very weak economies that could not sustain prolonged fights especially
against the economically strong Portuguese.
johnmulu answered the question on January 24, 2017 at 05:53
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