This tiny island provides us a glimpse into the history of this beautiful country through its ups and downs, it’s tumultus history.

As far as tourist destinations go it is not easy to get to. Neither is it cheap to attract the intrepid backpacker, nor is it on any major tourist trail. It is already past its best days. But there is something compelling about this tiny island off the coast of Mozambique and it is this mystique and history that has made UNESCO declare it as a world heritage site.

The island’s story is one of rise from obscurity to one of the largest trading posts in Africa, which once served as the Capital of Portuguese East Africa, to its later decline and now its return from obscurity as a storyteller from the past.

Once you cross the 4km long bridge that connects you to Ilha de Mozambique it feels like having landed in another time. No cacophony of traffic. No rushed hustle and bustle. This, not because it is one of those uninhabited or sparsely populated islands developed for tourists. Ilha has a local population of about 16,000 calmly going about their chores. As you walk down some of its wide roads and narrow alleys you realise the town has remained almost as it was, though partially in ruins due to neglect over time. But the heritage site tag has brought in some restoration and revival.

The Portuguese landed on this island in the late 15^th Century. But they were not the first. When they came they encountered a group of Arab ship builders and traders led by Sultan Ali Musa Mbiki. Legend has it that it was these men who shared the knowledge of monsoon trade winds over the Arabian Sea with Vasco Da Gama, making it possible for him to set foot in Goa.

Within a decade, the Portuguese were able to wrest control of the island from its previous inhabitants but at least they named the island Moçambique, in honour of the deposed Sultan.

After the Portuguese established themselves in 1507, their colony became a wealthy trading post for ships sailing to and from the East. Cargoes of gold and ivory flowed from Africa in exchange for spices, incense and fabrics from India and Arabia. But it also had an ugly side. It was one of the largest centers of slave trade in Africa.

Its strategic location meant Ilha saw its share of dominance wars. The Dutch tried their luck in the early 17^th Century, but failed. A later attempt by the Omani Arabs met with the same fate. But as the world changed, new routes like the opening up of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the Dutch founding Cape Town as a port, made Ilha the Mozambique less relevant. The Portuguese moved the Capital to Lourenço Marques (present-day Maputo) in 1898.

While the power and activity shifted to the south, the Portuguese kept their connect with the island where they had built an impressive fort, a hospital, a beautiful church and several other permanent stone buildings. And only in the late 1960s, a time when most of the Asian and African European colonies had already gained their independence, did the Portuguese build a bridge connecting Ilha to the mainland. A sign of hubris for their forever claim on Mozambique? In 1951 the Portuguese had rebranded their colonies in Africa as Overseas Provinces of Portugal! Mozambique gained independence in 1975 following a ten year sporadic war for independence and a change of government in Portugal from an authoritarian regime.

Interesting, the local population never really occupied the Portuguese built stone town in the northern end of this just three kilometer long island. They live in what is referred to as Makuti town in thatch roof houses built of reed. But it is their presence, going about their daily chores, that provides Ilha with its originality and appeal.

Trade and cross cultural movements on the island have given it an interesting character. Many of the old buildings, though built during the Portuguese heydays, also show influences of Asian arts on the carving of doors and facades. Its population today is largely Muslim. But other than the impressive churches that the Portuguese left behind and the mosques built by its local inhabitants, it is also home to a Hindu temple said to have been set up some 400 years ago by tradesmen who found a stone outcrop resembling a Shiva (linga). Today a small Hindu community on the mainland has renovated it and visits regularly.

But the story of Ilha does not end here. During the Mozambican civil war which broke out soon after independence (fueled by the white regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa) hundreds of locals from the mainland took refuge on the island to escape the fighting. With little to eat other than the fish from the sea when the island was blockaded, inhabitants stripped off the doors and windows of many Portuguese built buildings and used them as fuelwood.

Illha is a rare gem. Not overrun by tourists (yet) like Zanzibar and other islands with a similar history, it provides you an authenticity found in few other UNESCO sites. It offers you a serene beautiful environment where you can sit and enjoy the sunset by the sea with not a care in the world. But for those who do care to dig a bit deeper, Ilha also offers you a peek into our past, its histories – not always rosy.