Zanzibar

The early inhabitants

The first inhabitants of Zanzibar were Hadimu, Tumbatu and Pemba peoples who arrived from the mainland attracted by the fertile soil and the fresh water resources. They lived in small villages and did not have any political organisation.
Shirazi Persians arrived in Zanzibar around 975AD, the sultan of Shiraz had a bad dream, he left the country with his family in seven dhows, in a bad storm the dhows got separated and eventually one dhow landed on Zanzibar.
The Shirazi and the local people intermarried and a language was born, Swahili, coming from the Arab word “Sawahil” which means coast.
Arabs from Oman arrived around the 10th century, they introduced the Sunny Islam to the Island, which is the religion of most of Zanzibar today.

Trade

Trade contacts between the Arab world and east Africa go back 2000 years. There were trade links as far as India and Asia trading in slaves, gold, ivory, wood.
Zanzibar and other islands of the coast became bases for Arab merchants trading with the mainland which they called Zenj (meaning black in Arabic) or Azania. Some of these bases became independent Muslim sultanates with mixed Arab and African populations.
The earliest building that remains on Zanzibar is a mosque at Kizimkazi it was built in 1107. Trade boomed from the 12th to the 15th century and it attracted Indians who settled as shopkeepers, traders, skilled workers.

The Portugese

In 1499 Vasco da Gama was the first European to visit Zanzibar. They negotiated with Mwinyi Mkuu, the Great Chieftain, the traditional ruler of Zanzibar and eventually subjugated him by force. The Portuguese ruled Zanzibar until 1550 (1698 other source) when the Portuguese were ousted by the local population with the help of Seif Bin Sultan, the sultan of Oman. The Portuguese did not have a big cultural influence on the islands.

Slavery

Zanzibar became the world’s biggest producer of cloves and the largest slave trading centre on the East African coast. Zanzibar’s trade was run by Omani’s who organised caravans into the interior of East Africa. The trade was largely financed by the Indians living in Zanzibar working for Bombay firms. Slaves were used for the cultivation and harvesting of cloves or were shipped to other parts of Africa, Persia and India. The Slaves were shipped to Zanzibar through the port of Bagamoyo. The greatest development of the slave trade was when Sugar and clove plantations Mauritius and reunion were established in the 18th century.

The British

Zanzibar became a gateway for missionaries. The explorations of David Livingstone, Richard Burton and John Speke started their expeditions from Zanzibar and increased the interest of the British public in the area. In 1792 the British signed a treaty with the sultan to protect Zanzibar in exchange for Omani support against the French. British, German, and American traders were active on Zanzibar from 1820. In 1841 the representative of the British government on Zanzibar was an influential adviser of the sultan. Britain tried in many ways to suppress the slave trade by making agreements. In 1772 England abolishes slavery. However the slave trade still continues until 1873 when an agreement is signed by sultan Barghash, which forbade seaborne trade. Implemented only slowly by the 1880’s. Now the internal market for slaves had become more important then the external.

Independence

Zanzibar gained independence in 1963 with Sultan Jamshid ibn Abdullah as head of state and Prime Minister Muhammad Shamte Hamadi, also an Arab, as the leader of government.
In January 1964 there was a bloody revolt lead by Okello, the sultan was forced into exile and thousands of Arabs were brutally murdered and imprisoned. Many Arabs and Indians fled the country. After the revolution the ASP’s Abeid Karume became prime minister.

Tensions

The union leads to a lot of tensions, Zanzibar wants to be independent, and many Zanzibaris complain that the union is one of unequal partners and the wealth has only declined since the union of Tanzania. They feel that the isles are being short-changed in matters of sharing the nation's resources. There are conflicts between Zanzibar (Unguja) and Pemba. Pemba feels left behind, they produce most of the cloves but they hardly get any profit from it.
There are many people on the mainland who also resent the Union. Their main complaint is that for its small size and population, Zanzibar is overrepresented in the union's parliament and government. They also argue that Zanzibar, with its mismanaged economy, Byzantine politics and poor human rights record, is a burden to the mainland. Separatist tendencies do exist, both on the isles and on the mainland.
Abeid Karume, the leader of the 1964 revolution, who was assassinated in 1972. In 1977, the mainland party and the ASP merged to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) which remains in power today. The Tanzanian government appeared to be seeking greater control over the island. When the second president, Sheikh Aboud Jumbe, tried to raise the issue in the early 1980s, he was effectively ousted from power by Nyerere, he was successed by Ali Hassan Mwingyi who was a mainland loyalist and later became president of Tanzania in 1996. In 2000 Amani Karume was elected president but the elections were not fair and not representing the will of the people. At least 30 CUF supporters were killed in 2001 following protests over the elections. The 2005 elections were won by President Amani Karume of the CCM. Official results gave him 53% of the vote. The elections were surrounded by a lot of violence and intimidation.