ZANZIBAR

tymology[edit]
The word Zanzibar came from Arabic zanjibār (‫[ زنجبار‬zandʒibaːr]), which is in turn
from Persian zangbâr (‫[ زنگبار‬zæŋbɒːɾ]), a compound of Zang (‫[ زنگ‬zæŋ], "black") + bâr (‫[ بار‬bɒːɾ],
"coast"),[14][15][16] cf. the Sea of Zanj. The name is one of several toponyms sharing
similar etymologies, ultimately meaning "land of the blacks" or similar meanings, in reference to
the dark skin of the inhabitants.

History[edit]
Main article: History of Zanzibar

Pre-1498[edit]
The presence of microliths suggests that Zanzibar has been home to humans for at least 20,000
years,[17] which was the beginning of the Later Stone Age.
A Greco-Roman text between the 1st and 3rd centuries, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,
mentioned the island of Menuthias (Ancient Greek: Μενουθιάς), which is
probably Unguja.[18] Zanzibar, like the nearby coast, was settled by Bantu speakers at the outset of
the first millennium. Archaeological finds at Fukuchani, on the northwest coast of Zanzibar, indicate
a settled agricultural and fishing community from the 6th century at the latest. The considerable
amount of daub found indicates timber buildings, and shell beads, bead grinders, and iron slag have
been found at the site. There is evidence of limited engagement in long-distance trade: a small
amount of imported pottery has been found, less than 1% of total pottery finds, mostly from the Gulf
and dated to the 5th to 8th century. The similarity to contemporary sites such as Mkokotoni and Dar
es Salaam indicates a unified group of communities that developed into the first center of coastal
maritime culture. The coastal towns appear to have been engaged in Indian Ocean and inland
African trade at this early period.[19] Trade rapidly increased in importance and quantity beginning in
the mid-8th century and by the close of the 10th century Zanzibar was one of the central Swahili
trading towns.[20]: 46 
Excavations at nearby Pemba Island, but especially at Shanga in the Lamu Archipelago, provide the
clearest picture of architectural development. Houses were originally built with timber (circa 1050)
and later in mud with coral walls (circa 1150). The houses were continually rebuilt with more
permanent materials. By the 13th century, houses were built with stone, and bonded with mud, and
the 14th century saw the use of lime to bond stone. Only the wealthier patricians would have had
stone and lime built houses, the strength of the materials allowing for flat roofs, while the majority of
the population lived in single-story thatched houses similar to those from the 11th and 12th
centuries. According to John Middleton and Mark Horton, the architectural style of these stone
houses have no Arab or Persian elements, and should be viewed as an entirely indigenous
development of local vernacular architecture. While much of Zanzibar Town's architecture was
rebuilt during Omani rule, nearby sites elucidate the general development of Swahili, and Zanzibari,
architecture before the 15th century.[20]: 119 
From the 9th century, Swahili merchants on Zanzibar operated as brokers for long-distance traders
from both the hinterland and Indian Ocean world. Persian, Indian, and Arab traders frequented
Zanzibar to acquire East African goods like gold, ivory, and ambergris and then shipped them
overseas to Asia. Similarly, caravan traders from the African Great Lakes and Zambezian
Region came to the coast to trade for imported goods, especially Indian cloth. Before the Portuguese
arrival, the southern towns of Unguja Ukuu and Kizimkazi and the northern town of Tumbatu were
the dominant centers of exchange. Zanzibar was just one of the many autonomous city-states that
dotted the East African littoral. These towns grew in wealth as the Swahili people served as
intermediaries and facilitators to merchants and traders.[21] This interaction between Central African
and Indian Ocean cultures contributed in part to the evolution of the Swahili culture, which developed
an Arabic-script literary tradition. Although a Bantu language, the Swahili language as a
consequence today includes some borrowed elements, particularly loanwords from Arabic, though
this was mostly a 19th-century phenomenon with the growth of Omani hegemony. Many foreign
traders from Africa and Asia married into wealthy patrician families on Zanzibar. Particularly Asian
men, who "wintered" on the coast for up to six months because of the prevailing monsoon wind
patterns, married East African women. Since most Asian traders were Muslim, their children
inherited their paternal ethnic identity, though East African matrilineal traditions remained key.[22][23]

Portuguese colonization[edit]

The castle in Zanzibar

Vasco da Gama's visit in 1498 marked the beginning of European influence. In 1503 or 1504,
Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Empire when Captain Ruy Lourenço Ravasco Marques
landed and demanded and received tribute from the sultan, in exchange for peace.[24]: page: 99  Zanzibar
remained a possession of Portugal for almost two centuries. It initially became part of the
Portuguese province of Arabia and Ethiopia and was administered by a governor general. Around
1571, Zanzibar became part of the western division of the Portuguese empire and was administered
from Mozambique.[25]: page: 15  It appears, however, that the Portuguese did not closely administer
Zanzibar. The first English ship to visit Unguja, the Edward Bonaventure in 1591, found that there
was no Portuguese fort or garrison. The extent of their occupation was a trade depot where produce
was purchased and collected for shipment to Mozambique. "In other respects, the affairs of the
island were managed by the local 'king', the predecessor of the Mwinyi Mkuu of Dunga."[18]: page: 81  This
hands-off approach ended when Portugal established a fort on Pemba Island around 1635 in
response to the Sultan of Mombasa's slaughter of Portuguese residents several years earlier.
Portugal had long considered Pemba to be a troublesome launching point for rebellions in Mombasa
against Portuguese rule.[18]: page: 85 
The precise origins of the sultans of Unguja are uncertain. However, their capital at Unguja Ukuu is
believed to have been an extensive town. Possibly constructed by locals, it was composed mainly of
perishable materials.[18]: page: 89 

Sultanate of Zanzibar[edit]
Main article: Sultanate of Zanzibar
Omani Sultan of Zanzibar

Zanzibari slave trader Tippu Tip

The Harem and Tower Harbour of Zanzibar (p.234), London Missionary Society [26]

The Portuguese arrived in East Africa in 1498, where they found several independent towns on the
coast, with Muslim Arabic-speaking elites. While the Portuguese travelers describe them as 'black'
they made a clear distinction between the Muslim and non-Muslim populations.[27] Their relations with
these leaders were mostly hostile, but during the sixteenth century they firmly established their
power, and ruled with the aid of tributary sultans. The Portuguese presence was relatively limited,
leaving administration in the hands of preexisting local leaders and power structures. This system
lasted until 1631, when the Sultan of Mombasa massacred the Portuguese inhabitants. For the
remainder of their rule, the Portuguese appointed European governors. The strangling of trade and
diminished local power led the Swahili elites in Mombasa and Zanzibar to invite Omani aristocrats to
assist them in driving the Europeans out.[25]: page: 9 
In 1698, Zanzibar came under the influence of the Sultanate of Oman.[28] There was a brief
revolt against Omani rule in 1784. Local elites invited Omani merchant princes to settle on Zanzibar
in the first half of the nineteenth century, preferring them to the Portuguese. Many locals today
continue to emphasize that indigenous Zanzibaris had invited Seyyid Said, the first Busaidi sultan, to
their island,[29] claiming a patron-client relationship with powerful families was a strategy used by
many Swahili coast towns since at least the fifteenth century.[30]
In 1832,[24]: page: 162  or 1840[31]: page: 2, 045  (the date varies among sources), Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat
and Oman moved his capital from Muscat, Oman to Stone Town. After Said's death in June 1856,
two of his sons, Thuwaini bin Said and Majid bin Said, struggled over the succession. Said's will
divided his dominions into two separate principalities, with Thuwaini to become the Sultan of Oman
and Majid to become the first Sultan of Zanzibar; the brothers quarreled about the will, which was
eventually upheld by Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning, Great Britain's Viceroy and Governor-
General of India.[24]: pages: 163–4 [25]: pages: 22–3 

A Zanj slave gang in Zanzibar (1889)

Until around 1890, the sultans of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the Swahili coast known
as Zanj, which included Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Beginning in 1886, Great Britain and
Germany plotted to obtain parts of the Zanzibar sultanate for their own empires.[31]: page: 188  In October
1886, a British-German border commission established the Zanj as a 10-nautical-mile-wide (19 km)
strip along most of the African Great Lakes region's coast, an area stretching from Cape
Delgado (now in Mozambique) to Kipini (now in Kenya), including Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.
Over the next few years, however, almost all of these mainland possessions were lost to European
imperial powers.
The sultans developed an economy of trade and cash crops in the Zanzibar Archipelago with a
ruling Arab elite. Ivory was a major trade good. The archipelago, sometimes referred to by locals as
the Spice Islands, was famous worldwide for its cloves and other spices, and plantations were
developed to grow them. The archipelago's commerce gradually fell into the hands of traders from
the Indian subcontinent, whom Said bin Sultan encouraged to settle on the islands.
During his 14-year reign as sultan, Majid bin Said consolidated his power around the east African
slave trade. Malindi in Zanzibar City was the Swahili Coast's main port for the slave trade with the
Middle East. In the mid-19th century, as many as 50,000 slaves passed annually through the port.
Many were captives of Tippu Tib, a notorious Arab slave trader and ivory merchant. Tib led huge
expeditions, some 4,000 strong, into the African interior, where chiefs sold him their villagers for next
to nothing. These Tib used to caravan ivory back to Zanzibar, then sold them in the slave market for
large profits. In time Tib became one of the wealthiest men in Zanzibar, the owner of multiple
plantations and 10,000 slaves.[32]
One of Majid's brothers, Barghash bin Said, succeeded him and was forced to abolish the slave
trade in the Zanzibar Archipelago by the British. He largely developed Unguja's
infrastructure.[33] Another brother of Majid, Khalifa bin Said, was the third sultan of Zanzibar and
furthered the relationship with the British which led to the archipelago's progress toward abolishing
slavery.[24]: page: 172 
British protectorate[edit]

The post office in Zanzibar was initially managed by the postal service of British India. Before dedicated
Zanzibar stamps could be manufactured, Indian stamps were locally overprinted. This item is from a pre-printed
Indian envelope or postcard, overprinted at the offices of the Zanzibar Gazette, which had the only printing
press in the territory.

Control of Zanzibar eventually came into the hands of the British Empire; part of the political impetus
for this was the 19th century movement for the abolition of the slave trade. Zanzibar was the centre
of the east African slave trade. In 1822, the British consul in Muscat pressed Sultan Said to end the
slave trade.
Said signed the Moresby Treaty, the first of a series of anti-slavery treaties with Britain. The Treaty
prohibited slave transport south and east of the Moresby Line, from Cape Delgado in Africa to Diu
Head on the coast of India.[34] Said lost the revenue he would have received as duty on all slaves
sold, so to make up for this shortfall he encouraged the development of the slave trade in Zanzibar
itself.[34] Said came under increasing pressure from the British to abolish slavery entirely. In 1842,
Britain told Said it wished to abolish the slave trade to Arabia, Oman, Persia, and the Red Sea.[35]

A street scene in Zanzibar during the early 20th century

Ships from the Royal Navy were employed to enforce the anti-slavery treaties by capturing
any dhows carrying slaves, but with only four ships patrolling a huge area of sea, the British navy
found it hard to enforce the treaties as ships from France, Spain, Portugal, and the United States
continued to carry slaves.[36] In 1856, Sultan Majid consolidated his power around the African Great
Lakes slave trade. But in 1873, Sir John Kirk informed his successor, Sultan Barghash, that a total
blockade of Zanzibar was imminent, and Barghash reluctantly signed the Anglo-Zanzibari treaty
which abolished the slave trade in the sultan's territories, closed all slave markets and protected
liberated slaves.[37]
The relationship between Britain and the German Empire, at that time the nearest relevant colonial
power, was formalized by the 1890 Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty, in which Germany agreed to
"recognize the British protectorate over ... the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba".[38]
In 1890 Zanzibar became a protectorate (not a colony) of Britain. This status meant it remained
under the sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Prime Minister Salisbury explained the British
position:
 The condition of a protected dependency is more acceptable to the half civilised races, and
more suitable for them than direct dominion. It is cheaper, simpler, less wounding to their
self-esteem, gives them more career as public officials, and spares them unnecessary
contact with white men.[39]
From 1890 to 1913, traditional viziers were in charge; they were supervised by advisors
appointed by the Colonial Office. However, in 1913 a switch was made to a system of direct rule
through residents (effectively governors) from 1913. The death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad
bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash, whom the
British did not approve of, led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War. On the morning of 27 August 1896,
ships of the Royal Navy destroyed the Beit al Hukum Palace. A cease-fire was declared
38 minutes later, and to this day the bombardment stands as the shortest war in history.[40]

Zanzibar revolution and merger with Tanganyika[edit]

Main article: Zanzibar Revolution

President Abeid Karume

On 10 December 1963,[41] the Protectorate that had existed over Zanzibar since 1890 was
terminated by the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom did not grant Zanzibar independence,
as such, because the UK had never had sovereignty over Zanzibar. Rather, by the Zanzibar Act
1963 of the United Kingdom, the UK ended the Protectorate and made provision for full self-
government in Zanzibar as an independent country within the Commonwealth. Upon the
Protectorate being abolished, Zanzibar became a constitutional monarchy within the
Commonwealth under the Sultan.[42]
However, just a month later, on 12 January 1964 Sultan Jamshid bin
Abdullah was deposed during the Zanzibar Revolution.[43] The Sultan fled into exile, and the
Sultanate was replaced by the People's Republic of Zanzibar, a socialist government led by
the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). Over 20,000 people were killed and refugees, especially Arabs and
Indians, escaped the island as a consequence of the revolution.[44]
In April 1964, the republic merged with mainland Tanganyika. This United Republic of
Tanganyika and Zanzibar was soon renamed, blending the two names, as the United Republic
of Tanzania, within which Zanzibar remains an autonomous region.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanzibar