Bagamoyo was founded towards the end of the 18th century as a small port trading in dried fish, gum, cobalt and salt. Bagamoyo also served as a caravan entreport, with traders coming from distant areas of the interior, as far as Morogoro and Usambara. Later on, the use of this town for Ivory and slave trade increased its importance in the 19th century. Bagamoyo's importance began to decline when in 1940 the Sultan of Oman, Seyyid Said, decided to move his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, to be closer to his dominion along the Eastern African coast. Caravans would come to the coast from the interior with goods like clothing, wire, beads and other ornaments, and would return with slaves carrying Ivory. Hence Bagamoyo became the main entreport for the slave and ivory trade on the mainland. Renowned European explorers like Burton, Speke, Stanley and Livingstone all passed through Bagamoyo. The Holy Ghost fathers established their first mission station in Bagamoyo in 1868, and it was in its chapel that Dr. Livingstone's body was brought from the interior and kept before being shipped back to Europe.