When is the Sultanate of Zanzibar shown on the map?

The border data draws the Sultanate of Zanzibar 1963–1966. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Sultanate of Zanzibar?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Sultanate of Zanzibar covered about 4,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Africa · Independence and the modern states

Sultanate of Zanzibar

drawn on the map 1963–1966

The Sultanate of Zanzibar was an East African Muslim state ruled by the Omani Al Said dynasty from 1856 to 1964, centred on Stone Town on the island of Unguja. At its height it controlled the Zanzibar Archipelago and much of the Swahili coast, but by its final decades its sovereignty had shrunk to the islands and a sixteen-kilometre strip of the Kenyan coast.

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Shown on the map: 1963–1966
Peak area: 4k km²
Region: Africa

Overview

Origins and colonial background

Zanzibar came under Omani influence in 1698, when the Imam of Oman expelled the Portuguese from Mombasa. Around 1840 Sultan Said bin Sultan moved his court from Muscat to Stone Town, establishing a ruling Arab elite and building a plantation economy of cloves worked by slave labour; the East African slave trade flourished, and Indian merchants came to dominate commerce. When Said died in 1856, his sons split the realm: Majid became the first Sultan of Zanzibar, while Thuwaini ruled Muscat and Oman. Under British pressure, later sultans abolished the slave trade, and from the 1880s Germany and Britain stripped away the mainland possessions during the Scramble for Africa. The Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty of 1890 made the islands a British protectorate; in 1896 a succession dispute provoked the Anglo-Zanzibar War, the shortest war in recorded history at 38 minutes.

Political history

The protectorate ended on 10 December 1963, leaving Zanzibar an independent constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. Barely a month later, on 12 January 1964, the Zanzibar Revolution led by the African Afro-Shirazi Party overthrew the Arab-dominated government; the sultan fled into exile and tens of thousands of Arabs were killed or driven out. The People's Republic of Zanzibar united with Tanganyika in April 1964 to form what became Tanzania.

Economy and culture

The economy rested on cloves, coconuts and entrepôt trade; Swahili culture — blending African, Arab and Indian influences, expressed in taarab music and Stone Town architecture — is its lasting legacy.

Society and religion

The population of roughly 300,000 in 1964 comprised a majority of African and Shirazi Muslims with wealthy Arab and South Asian minorities; politics was organised largely along ethnic lines.

Later developments and current situation

Zanzibar retains its own president and legislature within Tanzania, with periodic tensions over autonomy.

Common questions

What was the Sultanate of Zanzibar?: The Sultanate of Zanzibar was an East African Muslim state ruled by the Omani Al Said dynasty from 1856 to 1964, centred on Stone Town on the island of Unguja. At its height it controlled the Zanzibar Archipelago and much of the Swahili coast, but by its final decades its sovereignty had shrunk to the islands and a sixteen-kilometre strip of the Kenyan coast.
When is the Sultanate of Zanzibar shown on the map?: The border data draws the Sultanate of Zanzibar 1963–1966. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Sultanate of Zanzibar?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Sultanate of Zanzibar covered about 4,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Sultanate of Zanzibar?: The protectorate ended on 10 December 1963, leaving Zanzibar an independent constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. Barely a month later, on 12 January 1964, the Zanzibar Revolution led by the African Afro-Shirazi Party overthrew the Arab-dominated government; the sultan fled into exile and tens of thousands of Arabs were killed or driven out.
What did the economy and culture of the Sultanate of Zanzibar rest on?: The economy rested on cloves, coconuts and entrepôt trade; Swahili culture — blending African, Arab and Indian influences, expressed in taarab music and Stone Town architecture — is its lasting legacy.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia — Sultanate of Zanzibar en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultanate_of_Zanzibar

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 10 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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