Sultanate of Zanzibar

The Sultanate of Zanzibar was an East African Muslim state ruled by the Busaidi dynasty, which emerged in 1856 when the Omani empire was divided after the death of Said bin Sultan. Its capital was Zanzibar City, and at its height the sultanate controlled the Zanzibar archipelago, the Swahili coast and a long strip of the Kenyan mainland, with influence reaching far into the interior through trade in cloves, ivory and enslaved people. In 1890 the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty made the sultanate a British protectorate, and its mainland territories were gradually absorbed into British East Africa and Kenya. The sultanate retained internal authority over the islands and continued to exist under British protection until 1963, when it regained independence. The Zanzibar Revolution of January 1964 overthrew the sultan and established a revolutionary government, which soon united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. The sultanate was formally abolished in 1964, but the Busaidi dynasty remains an important symbol of Swahili coastal culture.