Manuel António de Sousa

Manuel António de Sousa (10 November 1835 - 20 January 1892), also known as Gouveia, was a Portuguese merchant and military captain of Goan origin.

Biography Manuel António de Sousa was born in Mapuçá, Bardez municipality (Goa) in 1835. He was the son of Félix de Sousa, a landlord and proprietor, and D. Doroteia Tomásia Mascarenhas. He studied at the Rachol Seminary in Salcete, Goa, until the age of 16.

Migration to Africa

In 1853, de Sousa emigrated to Zambézia to assist in the administration of the estate of his uncle Félix Mascarenhas. On his arrival in Portuguese Mozambique, he married his cousin, Maria Anastácia Mascarenhas, the only daughter of his uncle. He became an established businessman in the Sena region, and had a reputation of loyalty to the governor general of Zambézia and to the Kingdom of Portugal . He later became involved in the ivory trade, gaining wealth and power in the region.

He engaged in multiple battles with local chiefs and indigenous kings to expand his influence in the region. In 1856 he took part in the war of succession of the local kingdom of Gaza and settled in the mountains of Gorongosa, where he established the basis of an aringas system which, together with his private army, was used to defend his interests.

In 1863, on account of the services rendered, he succeeded Isidoro Correia Pereira as the chief captain of Manica and Quiteve (Kiteve).

Following his arrest, a rumour surfaced that he had been killed, and this led to unrest among the Báruè population. Gouveia died in combat while trying to re-establish control of Báruè. warlords, but he did not belong to a traditional Zambesian family and cannot strictly be called Afro-Portuguese."