THE COLONIAL INVENTION OF MOZAMBIQUE: FROM AFRICAN EMPIRES TO OVERSEAS COLONY AND PROVINCE

Abstract

Modern colonialism denied the history of dominated peoples and, in many ways, persists beyond the end of colonial empires as a political project based on violence. In the case of the African continent, it remains an object of Eurocentric knowledge through a set of concepts, discourses, and paradigms resulting from the political appropriation of colonial projects. In this sense, discussing the history of Mozambique refers to a set of peoples and cultures that share the common experience of Portuguese colonization and the multiple processes of anti-colonial resistance over the centuries. The objective of this article is to examine the historical formation of Mozambique based on the colonization process and to identify historical milestones in the shaping of Portuguese colonial action until the first half of the 20th century. Through an interpretative-analytical approach grounded in the literature review on Mozambique's history, the article aims to address questions such as: Which peoples inhabited this territory before colonialism? What was the historical process of Mozambique's formation? What role did colonialism play in the invention of Mozambique?