Chapter 14
The Omani Empire
Jacqueline Woodfork
Introduction
As has been seen, the coast of East Africa enjoyed lively and extensive relations with
other peoples of the Indian Ocean in the precolonial era. Sailors crossed the Indian Ocean and
mercantile activities connected lands stretching from. Africa's eastern coast to the Middle and
Far East. One of the most important contacts was between the Omani and the peoples of coastal
East Africa. This chapter will examine how this meeting of people resulted in colonization, the
use of existing trading networks, the introduction of a new religion, new governmental and
economic structures, and the creation of a new culture and language.
Early Coastal East Africa
The area that would become part of the Omani Empire in East Africa stretched over more
than three thousand kilometers of coastline between Mogadishu, in present-day Somalia, and
Sofala, in present-day Mozambique. This area had numerous inlets, harbors, and islands, which
allowed water-borne commerce and regular, reliable transportation and communications.
Although the distance from Oman to Zanzibar was over three thousand kilometers by water, it
was not an obstacle to those who sailed the Indian Ocean for commerce and conquest.
The fusion of fragments is a way in which to view the composition of the physical area
and the people. Just as the coast was comprised of separate entities, the Swahili language and
culture was produced by various sources. The indigenous people of the coast labored in various
occupations as farmers, fishermen, and traders. As early as 247 B.c., Greek sailors made their
way to the coast of East Africa in search of ivory. Greek, Roman, and Arab traders were present
in areas of the Horn of Africa and Southern Somalia by 110 A.D.
Swahili is today one of the African languages most commonly recognized outside
the African continent, and it is one of the most commonly spoken languages in Africa, stretching
from the coast to the Democratic Republic of Congo as the lingua franca. The word "Swahili" is
derived from an Arabic word meaning "coast." Currently there is a debate as to the origins of the
Swahili language and
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Figure 14-1. The Swahili Coast
culture. The orthodox interpretation of the rise of the Swahili culture and language holds that
Arabic speakers encountered Bantu speaking people who had probably displaced indigenous
hunter/gatherer groups. Archeological evidence indicates that these Bantu-speakers migrated
from the west. Another school of thought is that the language, often called Kiswahili, was
created from the synthesis of Bantu languages and Arabic to form a unique tongue when traders
arrived
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from the Persian Gulf. Yet another school holds that the language and culture of the Swahili
people were established prior to the arrival of non-Bantu-speaking people and that Persian words
were "borrowed" and adapted by the indigenous population.! Nonetheless, Bantu, Persians,
Arabs, and other Asians all contributed to this culture. The Swahili developed their own solar
calendar and rejected the lunar calendar introduced by Arabs as inappropriate. The Swahili were
strongly patrilineal, but in practice they were not as strict as the Arabs. The Swahili could be
divided into two groups: the Shirazi were the nobility and in the minority, and the Swahili made
up the rest of the society. These two groups were united by their religious affiliation; almost all
were Sunni Muslims.
The Swahili language and culture developed over centuries continuously enriched
by travel and trade. When Arabs and Persians arrived on the shores of East Africa, they called
the area "the land of Zanj" or "the land of the Black people."" By 1000 A.D. there were many
Arab settlers; these settlers intermarried with .the indigenous African populations and learned
local languages. The Swahili Coast's physical location facilitated the region's cultural
development. The annual monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean assisted those who engaged in
ocean-borne commerce. From December through February the winds came from the northnortheast, from April through September they came from the south-southwest; thus, a trip that
began in December in Mombasa would progress to
India and return to the East Coast of Africa in September. This annual pattern provided a few
months of time during which sea-borne transportation was unavailable due to unfavorable or
absent winds, and many of those Asians who sailed the Indian Ocean stayed on the coast of East
Africa, bringing with them their cultural and linguistic traits, which became part of the Swahili
tradition. Instead of assimilation, the meeting of these civilizations gave rise to a new culture,
that of the Swahili.
The Arabs and Persians took up temporary or permanent residence in the trading cities
that developed along the coast. The Swahili Coast had developed into a distinctive entity due to
the contacts with the various trading interests of the Indian Ocean, all of whom left their mark on
Swahili society. These contacts extended as far as China. Early Chinese sources make reference
to Africa, mentioning items of trade such as ivory, gold, and sandalwood; they also provide
physical descriptions of the inhabitants of the East African Coast. Commercial interests in the
area were not confined to the peoples of the Indian Ocean, and the trading goals of the West had
a profound impact upon this area.
At the end of the fifteenth century, a new route to India had been discovered by European
sailors who hoped to bypass the overland route and the commercial agents of the Middle East. In
1497, Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Southern Africa and
ventured into the Indian Ocean. He was swiftly followed by his compatriots. The Portuguese
arrived on the shores of East Africa at the time that the power of the Swahili city-states was
waning. These city-states were politically independent and rivals in trade, and the lack of unity
1.
The debate about the origin of the Swahili language-and culture-reflects a wider debate in
African history concerning origins of culture and agents of change. Historians such as Roland
Oliver and Sir Reginald Coupland have emphasized the contributions of Arabs made to African
cultures, while historians such as Cheikh Anta Diop and v.v. Matviev have insisted upon the
primacy of the African aspects.
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among these cities facilitated Portuguese conquest. The subjection of the Swahili Coast took
less than ten years; by 1508 the Portuguese had taken control of the major towns of the coast of
East Africa. They then concentrated their attention on the areas at the southern end of the series
of the city-states.
The Portuguese occupied the area to facilitate their mercantile interests, yet trade and
politics were intertwined; thus, the Portuguese became entangled in the politics of the indigenous
population. The fiscal benefits anticipated by Portugal were not realized, as Portuguese activities
did not build upon the foundations laid by the Swahili. The ancient connections with India were
severed and trade decreased when the extensive caravan system faded from use. For more than a
century and a half, the Portuguese were the dominant political and commercial power on the East
African Coast, yet they were neither able to take full advantage of the pre-existing trading
systems, nor to sustain their own dominance in the region. As Portuguese power crumbled, the
Omani were there to pick up the pieces, but a stronger hold on the former Portuguese possessions
in the Indian Ocean proved difficult and often elusive.
The Emergence of the Omani Empire
on the East Coast of Africa
When the people of Mombasa looked for a way to escape the domination of the
Portuguese, who were acting solely in their crown's interests in the Indian Ocean, they turned to
a well-known person, the Imam of Oman, Sultan ibn Saif2. In the Omani, Mombasa saw allies
who were well-known through long-established trading contacts, who had the same religious
beliefs, and who were an integral part of Swahili society. The Omani had already successfully
driven the Portuguese out of the capital, Muscat, in 1650 and expelled them from the empire. Not
content to rest with the eviction of the Portuguese, the Omani set their sights upon taking control
of other Portuguese dominions, including those on the East Coast of Africa.
In 1652, the sultan sent ships to attack Portuguese settlements at Pate and Zanzibar. The
capture of these two islands signaled the beginning of the end of Portuguese influence on the
Swahili Coast. The East Coast of Africa was an Omani versus Portuguese battleground during
the later half of the seventeenth century. The struggle between the two powers culminated when
Saif ibn Sultan sailed to Mombasa in 1696 with more than three thousand men, and, after a threeyear struggle, the Omani captured Fort Jesus (at Mombasa) in 1698. Though the physical
presence of the Portuguese was gone, traces of their culture would still be found in Kiswahili and
in the architecture of the coastal cities.
The Omani believed that they needed to keep a firm hand in the running of the Swahili
Coast while trying to contain the continuous political unrest in Oman itself: control was tenuous.
Initially, the Omani feared that the Portuguese would try to exact revenge against the Omani
homeland by launching retaliatory attacks
2. An imam is a Muslim leader of prayer; the title is also used by Islamic leaders who
serve in the capacity of religious and government leaders.
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Figure 14-2. Fort Jesus, Mombasa, Kenya
at the East Coast of Africa. The Omani were great mercantilists with a long tradition of oceanborne commerce, and they realized that other Europeans wanted to supplant Portugal in the
Indian Ocean trade. The Omani strove to maintain control in the motherland and simultaneously
to prevent a possible erosion of the empire from both internal and external sources on the Swahili
Coast.
Political Unrest
The inhabitants of the Swahili Coast were content to be rid of the Portuguese, expecting that they
would at last be allowed to administer their own affairs. Imperialism was not an exclusively
European phenomenon, however, and one set of foreign rulers was exchanged for another as
Omani hegemony progressed. The inhabitants showed their displeasure through limited rebellion
and the refusal to pay taxes. The period from the 1710s to the 1740s was one of great upheaval
and reversal of fortunes. For example, Kilwa was liberated from Omani rule briefly in 1724 with
the aid of Europeans in Mozambique. The Mazrui family in Mombasa bristled under the
constraints of the Omani and attempted to act as independent rulers, not as subjects of the sultan
or the imam. The Mazrui were an Omani clan who were not very prominent in Oman, but were
very important in coastal East Africa as rulers of city-states. The Mazrui often rebelled against
Omani rule in the attempt to wield greater power in their city and looked for any weaknesses to
exploit. Mazrui attempts to gain control over the areas which they governed were constant
throughout the period of Omani rule.
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Africa: African History Before 1885
As Oman's sea-borne commerce increased, so did the need to control the Swahili citystates. The capital was moved from the interior of Oman to Muscat in 1749. At its peak, the
empire stretched its control from the Swahili Coast into parts of what are now Pakistan and
India. The empire was over-extended and many clashes resulted. East Africa was the most
profitable part of the empire and the area that was guarded most jealously.
The Swahili Coast was not the only site of political unrest in the empire. Problems
surfaced domestically as political leaders were in the process of attempting to consolidate their
power in Oman. In spite of East Africa's importance, the internal political power struggles in
Oman itself meant that full attention could not be devoted to the area. Upon the death of Ahmad
ibn al-Busadi, the founder of the Omani Busadi dynasty, in 1784, Oman tried to exert direct
political control over the Swahili Coast. At this time, a rivalry developed between the Busadi
brothers, and a power struggle, which was played out in East Africa, ensued. The rivalry of the
two aspirants to the seat of power divided the islands and resulted in a protracted series of battles
and intrigues that included assassinations and the seizure of forts. Again, Swahili resistance to
Omani rule played a role in the drama as the Omani took advantage of the sentiments of the
islands' populations in their political machinations, with Ahmad emerging as the winner.
In 1799 Seyyid Sultan ibn Ahmad signed a treaty with the British, agreeing to keep the
French out of East Africa. The demise of Portuguese power in the sub-region drew the interest of
European powers who recognized that the Omani were reaping financial benefits from their East
African possessions and wanted either to become involved in these activities or at least to
prevent their European rivals from doing so. East Africa was also important on the geo-political
level because of its proximity to the Middle East and because of its long-established trading links
with the Far East. When Seyyid Sultan ibn Ahmad came to power, only Zanzibar was under the
control of Oman. His son, Seyyid Said, changed that situation.
Seyyid Said
"I am nothing but a merchant," Seyyid Said remarked to a French traveler shortly before
his death. This seriously understates his position. Seyyid Said was one of the most important
rulers of the Omani Empire. Although his interests were mostly mercantile, commerce was not
the only area that he affected, and his presence in Zanzibar and the policies he introduced would
have a profound impact upon the Swahili Coast. Born in 1791, he took control of Oman when he
killed his eldest brother and rival in 1806. He then proceeded to bring the other city-states within
the confines of his political control. In 1817, Seyyid had sent 4,000 men to Pate, which was
eventually captured. The Mazrui governor of Pate was replaced by a hand-picked representative
of Seyyid who was supported by a number of soldiers. After 1817, Seyyid issued a decree that
none of Oman's East African subjects were to trade with Mombasa, whose Mazrui rulers were
still not loyal to Oman. This year also saw the "liberation" of Pemba and Brava from Mazrui rule
by Zanzibar. One way in which Seyyid recognized the importance of the East African
possessions was by eventually moving his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar, where he built
himself a modest palace. The predominance of Zanzibar
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Figure 14-3. Seyyid Said
can also be seen in the declaration that no foreign commercial agents were to interact with
mainland traders; all commercial activity was to be carried out in conjunction with Zanzibar.
Seyyid's extension of power was not done easily, however, or without meeting resistance.
The Mazrui of Mombasa
Although Seyyid made remarkable progress in the consolidation of his East African
empire, there was constant turmoil in Oman and on the Swahili Coast, and his activities in East
Africa met with continued resistance. The Mazrui family of Mombasa, whose presence on the
Swahili Coast antedated that of Seyyid Said, tried to attain sovereignty of the island. The first
Mazrui became governor of Mombassa in 1727, and his rule was so fierce that the citizens
revolted, but the family persisted in its desire to rule. The Mazrui tried continuously to regain
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the power they had held before the Omani tightened their control of the coast of East Africa and
took advantage of any weaknesses they could exploit. The Mazrui acted upon tenuous Omani
control by attempting to act as independent rulers and by frequently revolting against Oman,
even calling upon the Portuguese who were eager to take action against those who had ousted
them from East Africa. Between 1810 and 1812, Mombasa attacked Lamu in an attempt to
remove one governor and to install a pro-Mazrui governor in his place. Lamu appealed to Seyyid
Said for assistance against the encroachment of its neighbor, and Said sent his own governor and
a garrison of soldiers in 1813. In 1814, a new Mazrui ruler, Abdullah ibn Ahmad, came to power
in Mombasa. Instead of sending the tribute expected of a governor to the sultan, he sent only
paltry gifts in defiance of Omani domination. At the time, Seyyid was too preoccupied with
political events in Oman to respond to the slight, but it was neither forgotten nor forgiven.
The Mazrui refused to relinquish power to Seyyid and divisive family quarrels played a
part in the takeover by Oman. Seyyid unsuccessfully attacked Mombasa in 1829. He sent a
second large contingent against the city-state later in the same year. Upon hearing that the
expedition had been sent, the Mazrui had the throat of one of Seyyid's most trusted advisors slit.
The two attempts at landings in Mombasa were blocked and resulted only in heavy causalities
and the renewal of an old treaty, the only new provision of which was the removal of Seyyid's
troops from Fort Jesus. Temporarily thwarted, Seyyid pursued the matter at a later date. Trying
to increase Omani power on the coast of East Africa in 1837, members of the Mombasa Mazrui
family were lured into a fortress where they were seized and bound, then taken by their captors
to a ship bound for Oman. Some were thrown overboard; others languished in a prison on the
Persian Gulf before succumbing to starvation. Seyyid was very serious about the consolidation
and maintenance of his power in East Africa. Revealing the importance of the Swahili Coast
through the deployment of military personnel, Seyyid committed an army of 6,500 men and a
navy of fifteen ships to maintain his domination of the area. Finally, Seyyid made Zanzibar the
capital of the Omani Empire in 1840.
The strength of Omani control of its East African empire varied greatly; in some areas
traditional rulers continued to direct governmental affairs with the Omani governor as a titular
head; some areas had traditional leaders who served on governmental advisory boards. Omani
hegemony was strongest in Zanzibar, Mombasa and Kilwa. The most important concerns for the
Omani were maritime trade, the collection of revenue, and diplomacy. Seyyid Said instituted a
government that was theocratic, yet tolerant. Based on a form of patriarchal absolutism, Seyyid's
government had neither departments nor ministers. Other than his own, the only important office
in the administration was the city governorship, and that position was under his scrutinizing eye.
The government blended religion and secular concerns. Non-religious people were appointed to
positions of authority. In the legal system, all cases were judged by a qadhis (a judge of Islamic
law) who was almost always a scholar, but offenders were not punished strictly according to
sharia (Islamic law) and were most often fined, jailed, or whipped. European visitors reported
only the rarest incidents of harsher corporal punishment. Zanzibaris were relatively content
with their situation because of the great economic prosperity that the island enjoyed. They were
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329
also very aware of the looming threat of the Europeans whose boats plied the waters surrounding
their island.
Cloves, Slaves, and Society
The benefit of the East African possessions to the Omani was financial. The greatest
source of income was through customs duties, and there was also an annual poll tax. The Chief
Customs Collector was also the Chief Treasurer. The position entailed the direction of most
economic affairs. Seyyid appointed an Indian as the Chief Customs Collector of Zanzibar and
encouraged the settlement of Indian immigrants to stimulate the economy. Many of these
immigrants became customs agents, middlemen, moneylenders, and wholesale traders,
effectively dominating the state's economic affairs. Zanzibar was attractive to merchants because
it maintained low and predictable duties. The island's revenues increased steadily from the
beginning of the nineteenth century. Much of the economic activity concerned the re-exportation
of imports, both people and materials, to India, Persia, Egypt, and inner Arabia. The revenues of
Zanzibar increased to equal those of Muscat. There was increased caravan trade into the interior,
and many inland-trading settlements grew to support these commercial activities. The interior
trade will be examined in chapter 15.
Perhaps the most significant contribution that Seyyid Said made to East Africa was the
introduction of cloves to the Swahili Coast.3 Cloves were also grown in the Dutch East Indies,
but production there could not meet the demand. Prior to the introduction of this cash crop,
coconuts, palm oil, and grains were the most frequently produced agricultural items. Indian
cloth, rice and other foodstuffs, beads, and guns were imported. The region's export trade items
also included ivory and slaves. Cloves arrived from Mauritius in 1828, and Seyyid tested the
product before having seeds distributed throughout Zanzibar and Pemba. These two islands came
to dominate the clove market. Although cloves were a financial boon to the Omani owners of
clove plantations, their production brought great changes to the Swahili Coast where they were
grown. In Zanzibar, Omani appropriated the most fertile lands to the north and east of Zanzibar
City from the indigenous population. It is unclear what happened to the Swahili land-owning
elite when the Omani governors were appointed, but almost certainly some of them worked for
these officials. Small-scale, indigenous farmers were alienated from the land, and their property
was appropriated first by the Swahili and then by the Omani. Clove production is a delicate and
time-consuming process; thus, more and more slaves were needed to manage the plantations as
production increased. The switch to cloves meant that traditional foodstuffs were produced at
greatly reduced levels. The dependence upon a specialized product was both a boon and a bane
to the plantation owner. It neither aided a general expansion of agriculture nor did it create great
upheavals in
3. Although many scholars focus on the role of the clove in the market economy of coastal East Africa,
historian Steven Feierman emphasizes the role of the trade in ivory. See Philip Curtain, Steven Feierman, Leonard
Thompson, and Jan Vansina, African History (London: Longman, 1985), 396-397.
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Figure 14-4. East African Trade Routes in the Nineteenth Century
the society. After a long history of slave trading, the elite shifted their emphasis from trading
slaves to owning them.4 There was a great increase in the slave trade in the middle of the
nineteenth century to meet the demands of clove production. Islam and the cultural incorpo4. For a fuller discussion of slavery in Zanzibar, see Frederick Cooper, Plantation Slavery on the East Coast of
Africa (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977).
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331
ration of the slave into society were major factors in the development of plantation systems on
the coast of East Africa, and a particular relationship between the master and slave was forged.
The plantation owners were Muslims who usually lived by the Qur'anic teachings of the
obligations of the master to the slave (and certainly of the slave to the master), including the
indoctrination of the slave into Islamic culture. Islam was one of the methods by which the
slaves were brought into the social structure and given a position in their new situation. Some
slaves held positions as artisans and caravan leaders. These slaves came to identify themselves as
coastal people and Muslims, as did other Africans in the sub-region.
Slaves on the Swahili Coast were to be treated in the manner prescribed by the Qur'an
and were incorporated into the dominant society. This was done through conversion to Islam and
because the offspring of a master and a slave woman was not only free, but a part of the family
of the master. Concubinage was a method of fostering greater cultural interchange and cohesion,
which brought cultural blending to the level of the Omani ruling elite and to the sultan's palace.
It is in the production of cloves and their importance in trade that the irony of Britain's
abolitionist stance can be seen. Africans were also culpable in this system, the procurers and
sellers of slaves, and did not want to see their source of livelihood eradicated. The trade
continued. While fewer slaves were in the international market, the domestic use of slaves
increased. The government actively sought the end of the slave trade, but the production of
cloves, an already expensive commodity, depended upon slave labor. Thus, "legitimate trade," or
commerce involving items other than humans, relied upon slave labor.
The Decline of Oman and
the Advent of the West
Seyyid died on 19 October 1856 at the age of sixty-five while returning to Zanzibar from
Muscat. His second son, Seyyid Majid, succeeded him in Zanzibar. The empire was then split
into two entities, Oman and the East African Coast. Majid ruled in Zanzibar and Seyyid
Thuwaini controlled Oman. Zanzibar was the more lucrative of the two areas, and Majid had to
compensate his brother for the superior richness of Zanzibar by paying an annual sum of forty
thousand dollars to Muscat. Majid, however, did not do so until the British intervened at his
brother's request and the sum was paid until Thuwaini's death. Majid established the city of Dar
es Salaam (Haven of Peace) on the mainland in present-day Tanzania, hoping to strengthen his
control over the interior trade. The city was not completed at the time of his death in 1870. This
cleavage in the empire and the subsequent erosion of power was the beginning of the demise of
the Omani, as European powers took advantage of the political intrigues and destabilized empire
to begin moving onto the Swahili Coast. Disaffected people in the Swahili city-states
continuously used contacts with European powers to try to strengthen their position against the
ruling Omani. Earlier appeals for help went to the Portuguese, but as the British achieved
dominance in the Indian Ocean, a switch was made. Mombasa sought British protect
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Figure 14-5. View of Zanzibar, c.1857
tion in 1824 to resist the encroachment of Seyyid Said. The Omani were paying close attention to
their East African possessions, which limited the power of the Mazrui. Captain W.E Owen of
Britain was assisted by the Mazrui in declaring Mombasa a British protectorate. Owen
envisioned Mombasa as a center from which to wage war against the slave trade. Said wanted
neither a strengthened Mazrui family nor anti-slavery activities in his realm. The British found
themselves in a difficult diplomatic situation and Mombasa's protectorate status was hastily
rescinded in 1826 when the British realized that it was more economically advantageous for
them to support Seyyid than the Mazrui. As circumstances on the East Coast of Africa changed,
so did its relationship with Britain.
Britain, seeing that the Omani had reaped economic benefits from the Swahili Coast, was
interested in establishing its effective navy in the area to engage in seaborne mercantile
activities. One of the major items of trade caused numerous problems between the encroaching
British, the Swahili and the Omani. Britain banned the slave trade in 1807 and put pressure on its
allies to do the same. That the French displayed an interest in the slave trade in Kilwa also
encouraged the British to establish themselves in the areas of the Swahili Coast. The British government declared that the slave trade had officially ended and set about policing international
waters themselves in search of illegally-obtained humans for sale. It stopped ships carrying
slaves. Seyyid realized that slavery was the basis of clove production on Zanzibar and the island
of Pemba, and declined to follow suit. It was not until 1873 that the then sultan of Zanzibar
bowed to pressure and banned all trade in slaves by sea. Slavery was still legal on the mainland,
and slaves were still smuggled to the clove producing islands.
New England sailors, primarily from Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, were very much
involved in Indian Ocean commerce, and, at the apex, they made as many calls to the port of
Zanzibar as did the British. The New Englanders' inter
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ests included slaves and, because of the agreeable climate, consideration of founding settlements
along the coast. Seyyid Said encouraged U.S. business by imposing a minimal tariff on incoming American goods and not requiring U.S. merchants to pay any duties on East African
goods that they purchased. Cotton cloth was one of the principal American imports-slavery was
important on both sides of the exchange. U.S. trade overshadowed that of Britain, which
encouraged the latter to become further enmeshed in the political affairs of the Swahili Coast in
order to, gain a stronger foothold in trade. The British encouraged fear of the French in Seyyid
who needed British military support in Oman. Germans, too, made their commercial interests
felt.
In the following years between the establishment of the first treaty between Oman and
Britain in 1839, a number of interdependent factors increased the interests and presence of the
British on the coast of East Africa. Britain was interested in the economic benefits to be gained
through its presence in the Omani Empire, and the position of the sultan of Zanzibar was
strengthened to abet trade. In 1841 Britain sent its first consul to Zanzibar. The persistence of the
slave trade turned the attention of British abolitionists to the Swahili Coast, and Christian
missionaries and explorers swiftly moved into the area. These factors were separate, yet
interconnected. Christianity was often the organizing principal around which abolitionist
movements were founded, and some Europeans believed that Africans needed saving from
slavery as well as their traditional lifestyles, which the Europeans deemed uncivilized. Some
missionaries, such as David Livingstone, were also explorers. This region was not the only area
in which competing European powers had varied interests. The Omani empire in East Africa was
but one of the areas where Occidental people and their governments were trying to establish,
maintain, or change control of political, economic, and cultural systems for their own benefit.
During the "Scramble for Africa," the Germans became a factor on the Swahili Coast.
The Anglo-German Agreement of 1886 left Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, Lamu, Kismayu, Brava,
Merca, Mogadishu, and Warsheikh defined as dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Two years
later, however, Zanzibar was declared a British protectorate. This formal measure was
undertaken to secure Britain's interests on the island and to exclude it from German control.
Events close to the Swahili Coast, such civil unrest in Buganda, also encouraged European
powers to tighten their grip on the coast of East Africa.5 Britain and Germany came to control
the Swahili Coast and much of the interior of East Africa by the close of the nineteenth century.
Conclusion
The East Coast of Africa was an area of great economic activity that drew together
various groups of people. The Swahili combined elements of African,
5. Buganda is the southern part of present-day Buganda. In 1888, the king, Mwanga, put into motion a
xenophobic plan. To rid his country of all foreigners and their religions, he planned to entice them to an island in the
Lake Victoria and leave them there to starve. News of the scheme was leaked to the missionaries, which led to a rare
convergence of Protestant, Catholic, and Muslim efforts. Mwanga was deposed in favor of a younger brother.
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Arab, Indian and, to a lesser extent, Portuguese culture to create a unique and vibrant culture that
was made possible by the geography of the East Coast of Africa. The increasing economic
importance of the Swahili Coast led to an influx of labor, which contributed to the commercial
activity of the area. Urbanization led to a population that was more ethnically varied as more
people came from the East African hinterland as domestic and plantation slaves, and from
various parts of Asia as merchants. This dynamic society drew the attention of a number of
foreign powers that sought to dominate the coast in order to reap the economic benefits.
Review Questions
1. How did the geography of the East Coast of Africa affect its history?
2. How was Omani imperialism in East Africa different from that of the Europeans?
3. What role did the coast of East Africa play in the battle between European
powers in the nineteenth century?
4. How did the Omani imperial project change from the time of the demise of
Portuguese power in East Africa to the coming of Europeans in the nineteenth
century?