History of Zanzibar

The history of Zanzibar , as a political entity distinct from the remainder of the Africa, is marked by a strong cultural and demographic mixing Arab Swahili, , Perse, Oman board, Portuguese and British. Its current location, an autonomous entity within the Tanzania, is still today the consequence of passed of this territory strongly marked by the commercial exchanges between various world powers like its Colonisation.

The history of the island of Maffia, which constitutes the remainder of the archipelago of Zanzibar, underwent a different way because it attached forever to the various called political entities “Zanzibar”. Forming part it also of the cultural surface swahilie and being subject to the influences of the Arab merchants and Persian S, Mafia will be related to the beginning of the colonial time with the fate of the German Eastern Africa, of the Tanganyika then of the Tanzania.

Pre-colonial period

First settlements

The archaeological evidence lets think that the first inhabitants of the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar arrived in the area towards these populations are probably fishing coastal come from continental Africa by light boats. According to the legend, the domination of the antique Royaume of Sheba would have extended to these two islands.

Thanks to the winds favorable to navigation, trade route develop certainly along the African Eastern coast at the beginning of our era. These roads, attested by the Tour of the sea Érythrée , a document of the 2nd century, are borrowed by marine merchants coming from the coasts Arab and Indian and which visit at the same time the East Africa and the South-east of the Arabic peninsula, speak the same language and contract marriages there. They trade the goods there coming from continental Africa, i.e. the slaves, the Or, the Ivoire and the spice S, and China like silk and the porcelain. The Arab culture is established in the area before even the Islam isation and form the cultural surface swahilie with a substrate of population bantoue.

Immigration Persian

Between the 8th century and the 9th century, a wave of immigration Perse carried out by the sultan of Chiraz settles with Zanzibar. According to the legend, this last and its six sons base the Zenj, founding an economic capacity and political arabo-Moslem for centuries on part of the Est-africaine coast. Making allegiance with the Omanis, the son of Fatuma then becomes king swahili of Zanzibar by taking the title of “Mwinyi Mkuu”. Oman then takes again the control of Zanzibar as from 1698 and this until the end of the 19th century.

Omani possession

Trade slaves

See also: Treats Arab

Zanzibar enters then during a time when the economy is turned towards the trade of slaves and where the culture arabo-Moslem woman assoit her presence.

The capacity of Mascate allows the construction of a port on Unguja, with the site of the Portuguese church, and installs a garrison there (about fifty men are posted there in 1710). Zanzibar saw then culture of the Datte but this food product requiring much labor, the Oman board are obliged to have recourse to African slaves, the Islam prohibiting the draft of Moslems. At a rate of 500 additional slaves per annum, Zanzibar quickly reaches the number of five miles slaves, the majority employed in the plantations but some becoming servants, concubines or sold in India or Perse.

In 1744, at the favor of a Civil war, a news Dynasty, Busadi, is set up at Oman. The new sultan then names a governor with Zanzibar which, if it lends allegiance to Mascate, enjoyed however a complete autonomy on all the Omani possessions of the African coast. This freedom of being able benefitted the Arab Traite : not only the Africans, captured until in the area of the Big lakes, were employed in the many plantations of Canne to sugar and clove of Zanzibar but 3 000 of them forwarded there per annum to be sold with the the Middle East and in the Mascareignes.

Influence British and culture of the clove

The advent of new a Sultan on the throne of Oman in 1792 mark the beginning of alliance with the British , this with an aim of holding the Persian S and other rivals distant from their possessions. This alliance, reinforced by a commercial treaty in 1798, causes little by little the decline of the Arab Traite in the area, the United Kingdom having abolished this kind of trade in England in 1772. The the United States and the principal colonizing powers of the time, the France, the Germany and the the United Kingdom, issuing the illegal Slavery at the beginning of the 19th century, Zanzibar finds with a consequent surplus slaves.

The economic crisis nevertheless is avoided with the introduction to Zanzibar of the culture of the Giroflier, large consumer of arm and producing of another richesse : the clove. The success of this culture is such as the demand for slaves in the archipelago increases, obliging the Négrier S to venture in the West of the African big lakes. In front of the recrudescence of this trade, the British again make pressure on the capacity zanzibari and obtain in 1822 the establishment of maritime zones prohibited to the ships slave traders, thus limiting the sale of slaves to Oman. To compensate for these losses of market, culture of the Indigotier.

At the time of the two world wars, Zanzibar is little affecté : the German colonies in Africa are conquered and annexed at the beginning of the First World War and Zanzibar not being implied militarily in the Second world war, undergoes only shortages of food products.

In the Post-war period, political claims are born and of the political parties are created with the agreement of the British. Two opposite parties based on ethnic characters emergent then following elections organized in 1957 : the ASP with the hands of the African and the ZNP with the hands of the Arab . Elections of 1961, gained by an alliance arabo-Moslem woman

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