Today refers to the island of that name, also known as Unguja, and the neighboring island of Pemba. Both islands fell under Portuguese domination in the 16th and early 17th centuries but were retaken by Omani Arabs in the early 18th century. The height of Arab rule came during the reign of Sultan
Seyyid Said, who moved his capital from
Muscat to Zanzibar, established a ruling Arab elite, and encouraged the development of
clove plantations, using the island's slave labor. Zanzibar and Pemba were world-famous for their trade in spices and became known as the
Spice Islands; in the early 20th century, they produced approximately 90% of the world's supply of cloves. Zanzibar was also a major transit point in the East African and Indian Ocean slave trade. (See
Arab slave trade.) Zanzibar attracted ships from as far away as the
United States, which established a consulate in 1833. The United Kingdom's early interest in Zanzibar was motivated by both commerce and the determination to end the
slave trade. In 1822, the British signed the first of a series of treaties with Sultan Said to curb this trade, but not until 1876 was the sale of slaves finally prohibited. The
Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty of 1890 made Zanzibar and Pemba a British
protectorate, and the
Caprivi Strip in
Namibia became a German protectorate. British rule through a Sultan remained largely unchanged from the late 19th century until 1957, when elections were held for a largely advisory Legislative Council
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