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Zanzibar

زنجبار

An island off the East African coast, an Islamic trading centre of Swahili culture; the Sultanate of Oman ruled it in the nineteenth century.

Depth

At a glance

Region
East Africa & Swahili coast
Identifiers
GeoNames
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Overview

Zanzibar is an island off the coast of East Africa, an Islamic commercial centre of the coastal (Swahili) culture. The Sultanate of Oman ruled it in the nineteenth century. 1

An additional source is needed: the Arabic summary awaits review against specialist references, and the cited source is the standard place-names database used for coordinates.

Connections

Explore the connections

Place of death of
Abeid Karume· Ali bin Said of Zanzibar· Majid bin Said· Tippu Tip
Home of
Ali Hassan Mwinyi· Emily Ruete (Sayyida Salme)· Said bin Sultan· Tippu Tip
Birthplace of
Amani Abeid Karume· Emily Ruete (Sayyida Salme)· Hussein Mwinyi· Majid bin Said· Samia Suluhu Hassan· Tippu Tip

People and things also explored

Said bin Sultan· Muscat· Abeid Karume· Ali Hassan Mwinyi· Amani Abeid Karume· Emily Ruete (Sayyida Salme)· Hussein Mwinyi· Majid bin Said

Sources

  1. GeoNames gazetteer
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Zanzibar”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/zanzibar/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Place

Cities, sites and routes on a map that moves through time. Related

Said bin Sultan

Said bin Sultan al-Busaidi (1791–1856), fifth ruler of the Al Bu Said dynasty and Sultan of Muscat, Oman and Zanzibar. He succeeded his father in 1804 jointly with his brother Salim and became effective sole ruler after the killing of his cousin Badr bin Saif in 1806. He built a fleet and a maritime commercial power, extended his rule over the East African coast, and moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar in the 1830s, making Zanzibar under him the leading commercial centre of the western Indian Ocean for cloves, ivory and slaves, and concluded treaties with Britain, France and the United States. He died at sea near the Seychelles, and his will divided his dominions between his sons Majid and Thuwaini, separating Zanzibar from Oman.