[1] When the Omanis surrounded Fort Jesus in 1696 the garrison consisted of between 50 and 70 Portuguese soldiers and several hundred loyal African slaves.

With this successful siege, the whole coast of Kenya and Tanzania with Zanzibar and Pemba fell to the Omani Arabs.

[5] Alarmed, King Peter II of Portugal immediately ordered to organize a relief squadron, which was constituted by two ships of the line and three frigates, with a terço of 950 soldiers embarked.

[5][6] The squadron sailed from the Tagus River on 25 March 1699, arriving in Mozambique Island on 15 July, where it was known that the city had surrendered months ago.

[5][6] The squadron then sailed to Zanzibar Island, with the intention of putting pilots that conducted them to Mombasa, but after failing in getting pilots, the captain-major of the squadron, Henrique Jacques de Magalhães, sailed to Goa, arriving there in September with 300 soldiers less, due to disease, and with the remaining sick.

[5] In 1701, the Viceroy of India, António Luís Gonçalves da Câmara Coutinho, organised a squadron constituted of one ship of the line, two frigates and by the Strait Squadron (did not arrive), which failed again due to a storm at the Mandovi River, that made the three ships sunk.