The Sultanate of Zanzibar (Arabic: سلطنة زنجبار), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate[1] was a country and protectorate of the United Kingdom that existed on the Zanzibar Archipelago off the coast of East Africa between 1856 and 1964. It also controlled parts of what is now the eastern coast of Tanzania, of which it became a constituent part in 1964 after the unification of Zanzibar and Tanganyika.
Until 1884, the Sultans of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the East African coast, known as Zanj, and trading routes extending further into the continent, as far as Kindu on the Congo River. That year however, the Society for German Colonization forced local chiefs on the mainland to agree to German protection, prompting Sultan Bargash bin Said to protest. Coinciding with the Berlin Conference and the Scramble for Africa, further German interest in the area was soon shown in 1885 by the arrival of the newly created German East Africa Company, which had a mission to colonize the area.
In 1886, the British and Germans secretly met and discussed their aims of expansion in East Africa, with spheres of influence already agreed upon the year before, with the British taking what would become Kenya and the Germans present-day Tanzania. Both powers leased coastal territory from Zanzibar and established trading stations and outposts. Over the next few years, all of the mainland possessions of Zanzibar were taken by European imperial powers, beginning in 1888 when the Imperial British East Africa Company took over administration of Mombasa.[10] The same year the German East Africa Company acquired formal direct rule over the coastal area previously submitted to German protection. This resulted in a native uprising, the Abushiri Revolt, which was crushed by a joint Anglo-German naval operation which heralded the end of Zanzibar's influence on the mainland.
With the signing of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty between the United Kingdom and the German Empire in 1890, Zanzibar itself became a British protectorate.[11][clarification needed] In August 1896, Britain and Zanzibar fought a 38-minute war, the shortest in recorded history, following the death of Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini. A struggle for succession took place as the Sultan's cousin Khalid bin Barghash seized power. The British instead wanted Hamoud bin Mohammed to become Sultan, believing that he would be much easier to work with. The British gave Khalid an hour to vacate the Sultan's palace in Stone Town. Khalid failed to do so, and instead assembled an army of 2,800 men to fight the British. The British launched an attack on the palace and other locations around the city after which Khalid retreated and later went into exile. Hamoud was then peacefully installed as Sultan.[12][clarification needed]
By 1964, the country was a constitutional monarchy ruled by Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.[15] Zanzibar had a population of around 230,000 Africans—some of whom claimed Persian ancestry and were known locally as Shirazis[16]—and also contained significant minorities in the 50,000 Arabs and 20,000 South Asians who were prominent in business and trade.[16] The various ethnic groups were becoming mixed and the distinctions between them had blurred;[15] according to one historian, an important reason for the general support for Sultan Jamshid was his family's ethnic diversity.[15] However, the island's Arab inhabitants, as the major landowners, were generally wealthier than the Africans;[17] the major political parties were organised largely along ethnic lines, with Arabs dominating the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) and Africans the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP).[15]
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