Understand
The island has intriguing historical and fascinating sites, hosting one of the most ancient settlements in Mozambique, after Ilha de Mozambique. As early as AD600 Arab traders had established contact with the local inhabitants and subsequently established fortified trading posts along the coastline. Via these trading posts slaves, gold and ivory were shipped to the Arab world. The Fort of Forma de Cisterna was constructed by the Arabs even before the Portuguese occupation.
Vasco da Gama rested on the island in 1502. At the time of the first Portuguese contact these islands were called the Maluane Islands because the local population generally Muslim traders designed woven cloth - both in silk and cotton and dyed with local indigo. This cloth was called Maluane, and was much sought after on the mainland.
When the Portuguese first arrived in the Quirimbas, the main trading centre in the archipelago was on Quirimba Island, to the south of Ibo. The Portuguese attacked Quirimba Island in 1522, because the trading Muslims of Quirimba refused to trade with the Portuguese Christians, and intended probably to eliminate them as trading rivals. The town was set alight and destroyed, dhows sunk, some 60 Muslims killed and much looting took place with large amounts of ivory and other trade goods seized.
For many years from 1590 Ibo Islands was used by the Portuguese as a springboard for trading in slaves and ivory. By the end of the 18th century, Ibo was regarded to have been the second most important Portuguese trading centre in Mozambique after Ilha de Mozambique. Throughout the 18th and 19th century the population of Ibo Island and the adjacent regions were consistently under attack from Dutch and Madagascar forces. As a result of the attacks the Fort of São João Batista St. John Baptist was completed in 1791.
In 1902 the capital of the District of Cabo Delgado was transferred from Ibo Island to Port Amelia, currently the city of Pemba. The town on Ibo gradually de-populated and is now effectively a colonial ghost town, featuring mangroves, beaches, coral and palms.
