Quelimane is a port city in Mozambique that was founded by Arab traders of the Kilwa Sultanate. The town and trading post attracted Arabs, Indians, Swahili, Portuguese, and even Swiss. The trade was in tea and coconuts. Now it is a town forgotten by all those traders but has ever more residents. Who have nothing to trade. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
On this Portuguese colonial issue, the Roman God of Agriculture, Ceres beckons residents to take advantage of the ample harvest. Of course to harvest one must sow seeds. There is not point doing that when food is provided by international generosity. This town of 350,000 now lists hosting aid workers as it’s major industry. What happened to tea and coconuts? Well they claim you can still procure locally caught shrimp.
Todays stamp is issue A1, a 1/4 Centavo stamp issued by the Portuguese colony of Quelimane in 1914. This was a 16 stamp issue in various denominations. It was the only stamp issue for Quelimane as they reverted afterwards to colonial Mozambique issues. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $2.00 unused.
Quelimane was founded by Arab and Swahili trader during the Kilwa Sultanate. It was then principally a slave trading post. Vasco Da Gama first spotted it for Portugal in 1495 and found the Arabs and Africans there friendly. Quelimane is a Portuguese pronunciation of the Swahili word for cultivation. Kilwa was in decline by then and the Portuguese gradually had greater influence. Eventually they were able to block out the Arab traders by requiring that all trade in and out must travel on Portuguese ships.
The Portuguese eventually replaced the slave trade with agriculture. The area is tropical with ample rainfall. Large Tea Plantations were started, and Swiss planters arrived to cultivate Sisal, a fiber useful for carpet production. Locals could gather coconuts and sell them at the city marker.
In the 1970s, Quelimane was a fairlydiverse town of 75,000. Independence came in 1975 and the new government gave the million expatriate Portuguese in country 24 hours to get to the airport while carrying 25 Kilograms. 80% of the Portuguese followed the instruction. Here is a Potuguese video from the early 1970s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfQqygbyuoE&feature=channel_page
Today the town is a ruin. The Theatre no longer has a roof or screen and seating is on old tractor tires. The Cathedral built in 1787 is now filled with street kids the use the bell tower as a toilet. The church bells are long gone. The airport is down to one airline perhaps once a week who is banned from flying to Europe on safety grounds. The current mayor is English University educated and a former employee of Amnesty International. He believes if he could just convince citizens to pay their taxes due daily, he could turn things around. One thing that keeps growing is population, now up to 350,000. Diversity is no longer the cities strength.
Well my drink is empty, and this was a sad one so I may have another. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.