Sultanate of Zanzibar
The Sultanate of Zanzibar (Swahili: Usultani wa Zanzibar, Arabic: سلطنة زنجبار, romanized: Sulṭanat Zanjībār), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was an East African Muslim state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Sultanate's territories varied over time, and after a period of decline, the state had sovereignty over only the Zanzibar Archipelago and a 16-kilometre-wide (10 mi) strip along the Kenyan coast, with the interior of Kenya constituting the British Kenya Colony and the coastal strip administered as a de facto part of that colony.
Sultanate of Zanzibar | |||||||||
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| 1856–1964 | |||||||||
Emblem
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| Anthem: National Anthem of Zanzibar (until 1890) National March for the Sultan of Zanzibar (1911–1964) | |||||||||
Sultanate of Zanzibar in pink | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Stone Town | ||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy (1856–1963) Constitutional monarchy (1963–1964) | ||||||||
| Sultan | |||||||||
• 1856–1870 | Majid bin Said (first) | ||||||||
• 1963–1964 | Jamshid bin Abdullah Al Said (last) | ||||||||
| Chief Minister | |||||||||
• 1961 | Geoffrey Lawrence | ||||||||
• 1961–1964 | Muhammad Hamadi | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| 19 October 1856 | |||||||||
| 1 July 1890 | |||||||||
| 27 August 1896 | |||||||||
| 12 January 1964 | |||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1964 | 300,000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Zanzibari ryal (1882–1908) Zanzibari rupee (1908–1935) East African shilling (1935–1964) Indian rupee and Maria Theresa thaler also circulated | ||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||
| History of Tanzania |
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| Timeline |
| Pre-colonial period |
| Colonial period |
| Modern history |
| Tanzania portal |
Under an agreement reached on 8 October 1963, the Sultan of Zanzibar relinquished sovereignty over his remaining territory on the mainland, and on 12 December 1963, Kenya officially obtained independence from the British. On 12 January 1964, Jamshid bin Abdullah, the last sultan, was deposed and lost sovereignty over the last of his dominions, Zanzibar, marking the end of the Sultanate.