Women, Land, and Power in the Zambezi Valley of the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

This article examines the issue of gender, landed property, and power in the Zambezi Valley, in modern Mozambique, during the eighteenth century. In the context of the Portuguese empire, mixed-race women had access to land, often vast territories, through inheritance practices and grants from the Portuguese crown. The possession of landed states enabled them to acquire jurisdiction over local populations. Mobilizing kinship and social networks, these women managed to control significant economic, social, and political resources. Colonial records allow us to explore how women disputed the role of head of household, acted on different economic fronts, accumulated assets, and controlled free and enslaved African labor. Women’s agency enabled them to build a remarkable power, the roots of which were founded in the structures of colonial and African societies. This article explores the social trajectories of three women who had to dispute the accumulation of wealth and power with their male relatives and negotiate their social and economic position with African and colonial authorities.