Slave fort

With a newly designed ship, the caravel, Portuguese explorers were able to sail further south.

Their exploration was accompanied by repeated kidnappings of particularly Berbers who were enslaved and sold at newly created slave markets in Lisbon.

[1] João II decided to build the fort shortly after coming to the Portuguese throne.

He appointed Diogo de Azambuja to fulfill the task, and supplied him with a pre-fabricated fort in kit form, along with 600 men.

This proved useful as the indigenous people did not want the Portuguese to build the fort despite Azambuja's initial success in some negotiations.