The Mombasa Wreck Excavation The Santo Antonio de Tanna

The Mombasa Wreck Excavation The Santo Antonio de Tanna: "At the time of the sinking of the frigate the 'Santo Antonio de Tanna' in 1697, the Portuguese were struggling to maintain control of their few remaining factories (settlements) in the Indian Ocean, and the vital sea routes linking them with each other and with Portugal. The glory of the Portuguese discoveries and conquests of the 16th century had given way to a situation in which the Portuguese presence in the Indian Ocean was threatened by the Dutch, Arabs and the English. Whilst the British and Dutch were successfully encroaching on the Portuguese trading monopoly, the Omani Arabs were rebelling against a century of Portuguese exploitation and oppression. In 1696 this rebellion came to a head when an Arab force sailed into the southern harbor at Mombasa and laid siege to Fort Jesus, an important Portuguese stronghold. "