Zanzibar History

As you explore on your Zanzibar Holiday you'll find traces of her rich and complex history in the scents of her marketplaces, the intricately carved doorways of Stone Town, the call to prayer that plays out from the city's minarets and in age-old routines of the villagers lives.

Persia, Arabia and the East African coast have been in contact for over 2,000 year, since sailors harnessed the power of the monsoon winds to help them sail across the Indian Ocean.

The sea-faring Portuguese led by Vasco De Gama arrived here at the end of the 15th century, marking the beginning of Europe's influence on Zanzibar. A trading post was established, as was customary practice for colonisers along the eastern coast. It took the Portuguese only four years to gain control over the island.

At the end of the 17th century the Portuguese were unceremoniously ousted by the Omani Arabs. It was during this period that Zanzibar became a major slave trading centre.

In 1840 the reigning Sultan of Oman moved his court from Oman's capital, Muscat, to Stone Town. This move resulted in the Zanzibar becoming an Arab state and an important regional centre for trade and politics. During the second half of the 19th century many intrepid European explorers, including the likes of Livingstone, began their expeditions into the interior of Africa from the island of Zanzibar.

From 1887 to 1892 the Omani Sultan Said, who controlled a substantial portion of the East African coast, began to lose land to the colonial powers of Britain, Germany, and Italy.

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