ZANZIBAR and neighbors, 1800s

East African coast has a unique history and an attachment with India. There was a time when Zanzibar was one of the chief trading ports in the Indian Ocean, connecting the Arab trade routes with the Indian subcontinent. Major ports such as Aden, Muscat, Karachi and Bombay (colonial Mumbai) flourished the British trade expeditions till the 19th century. The map discusses the territories around the former Zanzibar Sultanate with Zanzibar in particular focus.

Before the arrival of the Britishers, Zanzibar was controlled first by the Portuguese (1505-1698) then later by Oman (1698-1861). A British consulate to Muscat and Oman (treated as a singular territory) was positioned at Zanzibar but at the end of 1861, it was separated from Oman. Between 1885 to 1890, it became a German protectorate, soon to be replaced again by the British. In 1895, the coastal territories of Zanzibar got sliced out to form a new Kenya Colony that would later be joined by British East Africa to form British Kenya. While two new nations - Kenya (under British control) and Tanganyika (formerly German East Africa) - were starting to take shape, Zanzibar had declared self-rule in 1963. Around the same time, both Zanzibar and Tanganyika reunited to form United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964, that got shortened to Tanzania.

But the interesting Indian connection is of the usage of Zanzibar Rupee between 1908 to 1935. It replaced the former Zanzibar Ryal and was valued at 2⅛ rupees = 1 Ryal. Zanzibar had a huge influx of Gujarati merchants and traders which could be seen from the Gujarati details mentioned on their banknotes.

The neighboring country, Mozambique, has an interesting Indian connection. Certain ports on the coast such as Sofala (or Sofalla) became Portuguese colony at the same time when they were on Indian coast. Between 1501 to 1507, Mozambique (or Moçambique) was subordinated to Portuguese India or Goa. Even an inland territory of Monomotapa (a region around Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) was also a subordinate to Goa in the early 17th century. It was 1752 when a separate colony of Moçambique, Zambezi and Sofala was formed which in 1836 got changed to Moçambique Colony or as popularly known as Portuguese East Africa. Mozambique got independence from after more than a century in 1975, 14 years after Portugal gave its territories to India.

Another neighboring territory is that of Comoros Islands. The islands of Ngazidja (Grande Comore), Ndzuwani (Anjouan) and Mwali (Moheli) along with Mayotte became French colonies between 1841 to 1886. The islands were previously purchased from Portugal who claimed these islands since early 16th century. The territories always remained French colonies till 1975 but the island of Mayotte refused to join in the independence and is still a French territory.

Around the same time, in late 1890s, Madagascar became a French colony and soon kingship was abolished on the island. In 1940s independence movement rose till 1960 when Madagascar became an independent country. Its interesting to note that for a brief time during the second world war, both Comoros and Madagascar were occupied by the UK.

It's quite a challenge to find a correct map of Zanzibar Sultanate in Africa with its boundaries clearly demarcated. None of the African maps before the European interference had a single map with clear boundaries separating territories since these were ethnic tribes overlapping each other throughout history. Hence an approximate area covering the territory is shown in various maps. The map here is a recreation of such a reference sketched in the 19th century.