geschichte

abroad.

The islands of Zanzibar have always been highly prized by empire builders.

Bantu, Egyptian, Arab, Portuguese and British have all taken possession of the territory and valued it as a 'jewel in the crown', both for its strategic position off the East Coast of Africa, pivotal to the rich trade in slaves, ivory, ebony and gold, and because of its fresh water, fertile soils and temperate climate.

It is this history, above all that sets Zanzibar apart.......

PRE-HISTORY (to c200AD)

For 1000 of years Zanzibar lay on the edge of the known world. Repeatedly lost by successive civilizations, the islands have drifted through the mists of time.

In this part of the world ancient history is poorly documented and it is not until 1107AD that we find our first firm date in the Zanzibar chronology.

For earlier references we must rely on inscriptions in Egyptian temples, Greek and Phoenician navigation manuals and legends to tell our story.

Porters lifting an enormous elephant task.

Our first reference comes from the temple walls of Egypt, which tell of Pharoahs sending  expeditions down the African coast to the Land of Punt, returning loaded to the gunwalls with ivory, slaves, gold and animals like of which had never before been seen.

After the Egyptians stopped visiting around 1200BC, Zanzibar again disappeared from the maps. Nearly a 1000 years passed before the Phoenicians again started to sail around Africa, but it was not until the the  second century AD that Arab to re-initiated trade in the region.

Arabs and western representative.

THE FIRST ARAB PERIOD (c200AD to 1499)

During the 7th. century, the great Moslem expansion got underway. There are a few remaining Arab and Persian accounts which tell of migration of these peoples down the coast of Africa.

This is the age of The Arabian Nights - of Sinbad and Alladin - and the tales of this time are as much fables as they are history.

The Chronicle of Kilwa, which tells of a Persian merchant and his six sons, who set sail in seven ships to cross the Indian Ocean and  settle the  islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

Their base on Zanzibar is thought to been Kizimkazi, whose ancient mosque provides the first firm date in our history - 1107AD.

Colonialism in action.

For 500 years the Persians and Arabs developed their city states and created a huge extension to the vast

THE PORTUGUESE PERIOD (1499 to 1698)

ships were setting out to round the Cape.

The Portuguese took advantage of the fact that the Arabs traditionally fought each other in a very ritualised and almost civilised fashion.

Using all the European 'dirty tricks' of warfare, they soon routed the Arabs and chased them away across the Indian Ocean.

For 200 years the Portuguese held sway in Zanzibar, but eventually their huge empire became unmanageable.

They were too thinly spread and when the Arabs fianlly made their attempt to retake the East Coast of Africa, they managed it and by 1698 had re-established complete control.

House of Wonder

THE SECOND ARAB PERIOD (1698 to 1890)-

It was almost as if the Portuguese had never been here. The old trade patterns were re- established  and city

In a great vision he ordered all the landowners in to plant clove trees, two for every palm tree they owned or their land would be confiscated, thus developing a hugely lucrative trade that became responsible for three quarters of world production.

Then in 1811, at a time when the world was turning against the trade, he opened the Great Slave Market in Zanzibar.

In 1840 he made his biggest play by relocating his capital from Oman to Zanzibar and for the next 16 years until his death Zanzibar boomed. After his death, however, things started to go wrong for the Busaid family.

A Princess.

Slave Caravan

The British, who were by now extremely influential, wanted the slave market closed. All in all power started to slowly sap from the hands of the Sultan and the British were forced to impose a Protectorate, not least to ensure the island didn't fall into the hands of other European powers.

THE BRITISH PERIOD (1890 to 1964)-

was declared as his successor by the acting British Consul, Sir Basil Cave. This appointment was not met with

Cave had marines from British ships in the town, evacuating Europeans to the British Consulate under heavy guard.

At dawn Rear Admiral Rawson turned his guns on the palace and issued Khaled with an ultimatum.

Either he was to surrender and walk out to the customs shed by 9.00am or the fleet would open fire. At 8.00am Khaled sent a message asking for talks, but his request was curtly turned down.

At 9.02am the fleet opened fire a barrage of shells on the palace and when the dust  settled the building was in ruins, with up to 500 bodies strewn amongst the rubble.

At 9.40am, the flag was lowered as Khaled surrendered, escaping through the maze of streets to seek sanctuary at the German consulate.

From there he escaped to Mombasa, where he lived out his life in exile.

The battle is officially listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest war in history.

The salon of the House of Wonders was damaged but not destroyed as was the Palace next Door.

INDEPENDENCE, REVOLUTION & DEMOCRACY (1964 to present)-

All the more surprising then, that when the British finally gave back Zanzibar her independence in 1963, the Sultan was re-instated as sovereign and almost all of the wealth and power was  handed back to the old Arab families.

No surprise however that the people of Zanzibar rose up against this unfairness a year later in a bloody revolution, installing Sheik Abeid Amani Karume as President - the first African leader in Zanzibar for at least 500 years.

By independence the economy of Zanzibar, which had been in steady decline for decades, was not very healthy.

Only during the late 90's, after the government became more moderate, was the new primary industry of Zanzibar able to get started.

Tourism, although relatively speaking still small scale, is by far and away the primary earner now for the country and looks set to continue.

GOVERNMENT- Zanzibar is an island state within the United Republic of Tanzania, and has its own semi-autonomous government made up of a Revolutionary Council and House of Representatives.

The present government is led by the island's President, Amani Karume.

THE EXPLORERS-

The dangers were significant for these first Europeans in East Africa's interior - for them, a strange and unexplored land.

In 1844, John Krapf, a German missionary arrived in Zanzibar.

He was later joined by John Rebbman who became the first European to see Mount Kilimanjaro. Burton and Speke set off from Britain in 1857 to solve the  mystery of the source of Nile, and they also made Zanzibar their base.

Other explorers followed  - Dr David Livingstone was provided with a house in 1866 from where he planned and kitted out this final expedition.

Stanley also used it in 1871 before setting out on one of history's famous searches, culminating in Stanley's legendary phrase "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

The great Doctor died two years later, and his body was carried back to Zanzibar, before sailing on to its final resting place in Westminster Abbey.

Livingstone's House in Zanzibar is a well known present-day feature of Stone Town, and his medicine chest and correspondence can be seen in the National Museum.

View of the renovated "House of Wonder".

COME AND SEE ZANZIBARS INCREDIBLE HISTORY WITH- ZANZIBARMAGIC.COM -

In Stone Town there is a fortress, two sultans' palaces, two cathedrals, colonial mansions, and a Persian style public bath-house.

Buildings have ornately carved doors with brass studs on them - the more impressive the door, the richer the original occupant.

Outside town, there are more ruined palaces, other Shirazi remains, the famous Persian baths, and caves where slaves were once imprisoned.

When in Zanzibar, a Historic City Tour is a must.

ZanzibarMagic nimmt jetzt buchungs beim: enquiries@zanzibarmagic.com

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