We are looking into the rich and varied history of Zanzibar's island paradise.
Did you know, for example, that the island of Unguja was once known as Menuthias and was referenced in 1st Century AD accounts? Or that Zanzibar has been ruled by the Portuguese, Omani, and British over the centuries?
Continue reading for a (brief!) history of this intriguing destination.
A commercial hub
Traders from Arabia, Persia, and India are supposed to have arrived in Zanzibar by sailing across the ocean on the monsoon winds in the first century AD. Along the coast, wealthy port communities sprang up, and a vast, sheltered harbor was built at what is now Zanzibar City.
Despite the fact that the islands themselves did not provide much in the way of resources for traders during this time, Zanzibar was a good position from which to trade and explore East Africa's coast. It was also an ideal rest station for traders en way to Asia, the Middle East, and Africa's interior.
Some Persian traders eventually made Stone Town their permanent home, and their effect on Zanzibar's architecture, food, and culture can still be observed today.
Fun fact: it's considered that traders from Yemen erected the first mosque in the southern hemisphere in the settlement of Kizimkazi on Zanzibar's southern shore after an inscription with the year 1107 was discovered on one of the mosque's walls!
Vasco da Gama's arrival.
In 1499, Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer who had recently become the first European to reach India by water, arrived in Zanzibar. European civilization was introduced to the islands with his arrival, and Zanzibar became a part of the Portuguese Empire a few years later.
The Portuguese controlled from afar for the most part, and the Zanzibari leaders' relationship with the Portuguese was mostly based on mutual assistance. The people of Zanzibar aided the Portuguese on several occasions in their attacks on Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, and in 1571, the King of Zanzibar declared his intention to donate the islands to his Portuguese allies as a thank you for their assistance in repelling numerous invaders from the mainland (although the donation was never made!). On the site of modern-day Zanzibar City, the Portuguese built a trading factory and a Christian mission, and some Portuguese farmers settled on the islands.
Sultans ruled for a long time.
Oman's Arab rulers seized Mombasa from the Portuguese in 1698, bringing Omani rule to Zanzibar as well.
Zanzibar's riches grew dramatically as a result of the ivory and slave trade, as well as clove exports, and Stone Town became one of East Africa's wealthiest and greatest cities. On the monsoon winds, traders from Arabia, Persia, and India would arrive in Zanzibar to sell iron, cloth, sugar, and dates. They would return home when the winds changed, carrying tortoiseshell, cloves, coconuts, rice, ivory, and slaves in their boats.
The Sultan of Oman transferred his capital from Muscat to Stone Town in 1840, where he built a ruling Omani elite, expanded the clove plantations (which were labored on by slaves imported from East Africa), and encouraged Indian traders to settle on the islands.
Slavery was thriving during this time, with an estimated 50,000 slaves moving through the islands each year. The Sultan and the British signed the first in a series of treaties in 1822, attempting to put an end to the terrible practice. The slave trade in Zanzibar was officially stopped in 1876 as a result of intense British pressure (although it continued in practice for some years afterward).
Controlled by the British
The remnants of the Sultanate of Zanzibar were declared a British protectorate in 1890. However, after the ruling Sultan died in 1896, Khalid ibn Barghash seized the royal palace and declared himself Sultan. The British stormed the palace after he refused to step down, resulting in the Anglo-Zanzibar War, sometimes known as the shortest war in history, lasting less than an hour!
The British placed a Sultan of their choice after Khalid ibn Barghash's defeat, and British authority through a Sultan became the standard. By abolishing slavery and releasing all slaves on the islands in 1897, the new Sultan put an end to Zanzibar's reputation as a slave-trading center.
The British nominated their own governors in 1913 and began implementing major public health initiatives such as the installation of a sewer system and proper waste disposal.
A region that is semi-autonomous.
Zanzibar gained independence as a Commonwealth member in 1963, with a Sultan as its ruler. In 1964, however, a revolution headed by 600 Zanzibaris overthrew the government in Zanzibar. A new People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba was established when the Sultan was toppled. Thousands of Arab and Indian citizens were assassinated, deported, or had their property seized.
Zanzibar and mainland Tanganyika joined in the same year to establish the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar. It was renamed the Republic of Tanzania a few months later. Zanzibar is still a semi-autonomous Tanzanian territory today.