The Sultanate was hurt by the settlement of a new group of people on its hinterland, who blocked access to the mainland and imposed tolls on passing caravans.

By 1847, many businesses had relocated to Angoche from cities under Portuguese control such as Mozambique Island, to escape the taxes and slave laws there.

In May they were caught by the HMS Cleopatra, who had been given general permission to enter secondary ports on the Mozambique coast in search of slavers.

[6] In early 1850 Sultan Amadi died and was succeeded by Hassani Jussuf, who seized the throne from a member of the M'bilinzi clan.

[7] The half-brother of the sultan, Musa Muhammad Sahib the fearsome, later referred to by Portuguese writers as the "Napoleon" of East Africa, would embark on a path of ambitious expansionist policies toward the hinterland.

Their journeys took them to various places, including Zanzibar, Madagascar, the Comoros Islands, and allegedly as far as Lake Nyasa and the Zambezi valley in the interior.

These travels facilitated Musa's connections with the Muslim world of the Indian Ocean region and convinced him of the potential for Angoche's expansion into the interior.

With the help of the widespread circulation of modern firearms, Musa launched a war against the Marrevoni Lomwe group of the Makwa, whom he subsequently defeated and enslaved, bringing more ivory and rubber with his conquest.

Its founder, António Alves da Silva, came from the province of Beira in Portugal in the early 19th century and established a trade in ivory and slaves.

[12][13] The pretext for the war was grievances raised by Nampana-mwene, an Anhapakho kin of Musa, who claimed that his territory on the mainland of Pebane had been ravaged by Maganja da Costa warriors.

He recruited black soldiers throughout Zambezia and formed 12 regiments (known as ensacas), each comprising 250 men, complete with their own chain of command and stationed in stockades within his prazo.

Eight of these regiments were designated for service in Angoche and received armament support from Portugal, which also dispatched an officer and 18 men to add an official character to the expedition.

Musa fled to the Sancul Sheikhdom where he was betrayed and placed inside a dungeon at Fort São Sebastião.