The Zanzibar Revolution: Revolution or Ethnic Cleansing?
In recent years, Zanzibar, known as a center for East African tourism, conjures an image of paradise with its turquoise ocean, clean beaches, unique cultural fabric, delicious cuisine, and friendly people. However, Zanzibar—comprising the islands of Unguja and Pemba along with several smaller adjacent islands—was the stage for a major tragedy not so long ago.
The Zanzibar Revolution, celebrated with ceremonies in
Tanzania on January 12th for ending 250 years of Arab dominance, is remembered
as a "glorious resistance against colonialism." However, the fact
that thousands of innocent people were massacred in the bloody revolution
remains a virtual taboo for politicians and intellectuals across the country.
Zanzibar's Cosmopolitan People
Zanzibar, whose name comes from the Persian word
"Zangbar" meaning 'coast of the blacks,' was for many years a
cosmopolitan trade hub connecting Asia, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.
After being colonized by the Portuguese for over two
centuries, Arab rule became established on the island in the late 17th century
when the Zanzibari elite invited the Omanis to end Portuguese rule. Zanzibar
remained under the Omani Sultanate, of which it was the capital for a period,
until 1858.
In 1890, during the reign of Ali ibn Sa'id, Zanzibar came
under British protection.
With 99% of its population Muslim, Zanzibar at the time
consisted of approximately 230,000 Africans, 50,000 Arabs, and 20,000 South
Asians.
However, Zanzibar's Arab residents, who owned large tracts
of land, and Asian merchants were generally wealthier than the Africans, who
were often employed as laborers (or slaves before abolition). Although the
local population was aware of this economic inequality, they were largely
resigned to it.
The British, as in their other colonies, focused on
intensifying existing racial tensions in Zanzibar. The major political parties
in the region were largely organized along ethnic lines, with Arabs dominating
the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) and Africans dominating the Afro-Shirazi
Party (ASP) and the Afro-nationalist Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party (ZPPP).
By December 1963, Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah declared
independence from the United Kingdom and began ruling the country as a
constitutional monarchy. Electoral districts drawn two years earlier were
reconfigured, leading to unrest during the elections. In the 1963 elections,
the ASP, led by Abeid Karume, came to power with 54% of the popular vote.
The ruling party launched attacks on the press and
opposition groups, shut down the Umma Party founded by members of the Arab
socialist ZNP, and dismissed all police officers of African origin.
A Christian Worker from Uganda
But the person who turned this unrest (which might have been
resolved bloodlessly) into complete chaos was a Ugandan worker named John
Okello. Claiming to have been a field marshal in the Kenyan Mau Mau uprising to
gather followers, Okello had no military experience. His goal was to liberate
the indigenous black population from the Arab elite. There are different claims
about how Okello, who chose to achieve this through bloodshed rather than
political and democratic means, so quickly became armed (or was armed).
Okello's revolutionaries targeted the Arab and Asian
populations of Unguja, carrying out torture, rape, murder, and attacks on
property. Sources vary, estimating the number of Arabs killed during the
"revolution" from "hundreds" to 20,000. The Italian
film Africa Addio is the only visual evidence documenting how
those who couldn't escape the country were massacred and buried in mass graves.
(John Okello, the Ugandan, would commit suicide in Lake Victoria three years
after causing the deaths of thousands of innocent people.)
According to political scientist Michael Lofchie,
"Until the nationalist movement began, there was a general quiescence
among the African population and an acceptance of the Arabs as a political and
social elite. The Arabs later began nationalist agitation against the British.
The result was to shatter African quiescence. Nationalism was a reopening of
the question of the legitimacy of the status quo. The Arabs, who helped
Africans to question the legitimacy of British rule, also helped them to question
the legitimacy of Arab leadership. The Arab leadership of the Zanzibar
nationalist movement became in a sense a case of racial suicide."
The Position of the Local Population
The memoirs of Princess Salme, daughter of Omani Sultan
Seyyid Said, are important for understanding the local population's position.
She states that a Muslim's slave was infinitely better off compared to slaves
in the West, and that unlike the Christian West, which resold its slaves after
long service, Arabs set them free.
In her memories of palace life, Salme describes how slaves
lived within the palace with their families, were educated to acquire certain
skills, were specially rewarded with gifts during holidays and special
occasions, and were judged with justice.
However, even after the abolition of slavery, the local
population's inability to access equal opportunities with the Arab elite, the
continuation of unjust relations between ethnic groups, and the nationalism
that dominated the African continent post-colonialism were factors that ignited
the fuse of the revolution.
It is significant that just as the British prepared the
ground for revolution by recognizing Zanzibar as an Arab island and emphasizing
racial distinctions in the region, they also stated after the revolution that
Africans were savage and barbaric people who needed to be ruled by Europeans.
The Post-Revolution Situation
According to most historians, following the movement—which
aimed at ethnic cleansing against Arabs—the Arab population on the island
decreased significantly.
With the bloody revolution, the indigenous black population
gained the right to self-determination, but afterwards, even the most basic
services could not be provided. Infrastructure collapsed, clove production
declined, and magnificent architecture was left to decay. The trade island,
once known for its wealth, now struggles with poverty stretching to the present
day due to mismanagement and corruption.
Although it remains a topic rarely spoken about in Zanzibar
itself today, the revolution, expressed as a resistance against oppression and
slavery, continues to be celebrated every year.
Sources:
Lofchie, Michael F. “Was Okello’s Revolution a Conspiracy?”
Transition, no. 33, 1967, pp. 36–42. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2934114.
Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/remembering-zanzibar-s-revolution-and-its-bloody-aftermath-43195
https://www.newarab.com/analysis/zanzibars-forgotten-legacy-slavery-and-ethnic-cleansing
This article was originally published in Independent Türkçe,
on January 15,2024.
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