African and Asian Writings from Mozambique: Uncovering Indigenous Records in a Portuguese Colonial Archive

Abstract In the course of seeking indigenous documentation in a European-centered colonial archival repository, we uncovered a collection of African sources that highlight the literary work of African and Asian literate agents. The research enabled us to identify numerous indigenous African and Asian writings within an archive originally intended to support the Portuguese colonial administration. This article presents an archival survey on African documentation from Mozambique held in the Overseas Historical Archive ( Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino ), in Lisbon, Portugal.