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Zanzibar History
The name Zanzibar
The
name Zanzibar, which can be used to refer to the archipelago, the
main island and the main town, is believed to come from the
Arabic. The word ‘zanj’, meaning 'black', was used by
chroniclers in the Middle Ages to refer to the East African Coast
and the Bantu peoples that they encountered there. With ‘bar’
meaning simply ‘coast’ the name is literally translated as
‘black coast’. Early maps show the name in different guises ;
Zanjibar, Chancibar, Xengibar and Janjiber. The area of coastline
and islands from the Sudan to Mozambique was still collectively
known as ‘Zanguebar’ as late as 1928
Zanzibar has lured traders, adventurers, plunderers and explorers to its
shores for centuries. The Assyrians, Sumerians, Egyptians, Phoenicians,
Indians, Chinese, Persians, Portuguese, Omani Arabs, Dutch and English have
all been here at one time or another. Some, particularly the Shirazi
Persians and Omani Arabs, stayed to settle and rule. With this influence,
Zanzibar has become predominantly Islamic (97%) - the remaining 3% is made
up of Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. The earliest visitors to Zanzibar were
Arab traders who are said to have arrived in the 8th century. The earliest
building that remains on Zanzibar is the mosque at Kizimkazi, which dates
from 1107, and is a present-day tourist attraction.
For centuries the Arabs sailed with the monsoon winds from Oman to trade
primarily in ivory, slaves and spices. The two main islands, Unguja
(normally known as Zanzibar Island) and Pemba, provided an ideal base for
the Omani Arabs, being relatively small, and therefore fairly easy to
defend. Indeed, in 1832, Sultan Seyyid Said, of the Busaid dynasty that had
emerged in Oman, moved his Sultanate from Muscat to Zanzibar, perhaps making
it easier to protect, where he and his descendants ruled for over 130
years. Most of the wealth lay in the hands of the Arab community, who were
the main landowners at that time. They kept themselves to themselves, and
generally did not intermarry with the Africans.
This was not true of the Shirazi Persians who came from the Middle East to
settle on the East African coast. The story goes that in AD 975, Abi Ben
Sultan Hasan of Shiraz in Persia (now Iran) had a terrible nightmare in
which a rat devoured the foundations of his house. He took this as an omen
that his community was to be devastated. Others in the Shirazi court
ridiculed the notion, but Sultan Hasan, his family and some followers
obviously took it very seriously and they decided to migrate. They set out
in seven dhows into the Indian Ocean but were caught in a huge storm and
separated. Thus, landfalls were made at seven different places along the
East African coast, one of which was Zanzibar, and settlements began.
Widespread intermarriage between Shirazis and Africans gave rise to a
coastal community with distinctive features, and a language derived in part
from Arabic, which became known as Swahili. The name Swahili comes from the
Arab word sawahil, which means 'coast'. The Zanzibar descendants of this
group were not greatly involved in the lucrative slave, spice and ivory
trades. Instead, they immersed themselves mainly in agriculture and
fishing. Those Shirazi that did not intermarry retained their identity as a
separate group. Two smaller communities were also established. Indian
traders arrived in connection with the spice and ivory trade, and quickly
settled as shopkeepers, traders, skilled artisans and professionals. The
British became involved in missionary and trading activities in East Africa,
and attempting to suppress the slave trade centred in Zanzibar.
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