On the 14th June, 1905 the Afro-Omani slave trader Tippu Tip died. He was a prominent figure in the clove trade of Zanzibar, and owned numerous plantations on the island. He was the descendant of a wealthy and privileged Arab family who consolidated their power and prestige in Africa through the ruthless exploitation of slaves. Tip followed their example, as a young man he went on an expedition to Central Africa in search of slaves and ivory. Once he plundered the land, he took the goods with him back to Zanzibar.
Tip built a slave trading Empire and became the second richest Muslim slave trader in history. His wealth allowed him to set up clove plantations on Zanzibar, and he was said to have owned 10,000 slaves. The slave trade became a major part of the economy of Zanzibar until British efforts were made to outlaw the practice. In 1890 it became a British protectorate, and various treaties were signed between the reigning Sultan and the British authorities throughout the nineteenth century.
In 1897 slavery was officially abolished, although sexual slavery continued until 1909. The Arab hegemony in Zanzibar dominated throughout the 20th century, and there were joined by wealthy merchants from South Asia. Although ostensibly “free”, the African population in Zanzibar were still regarded as an inferior class of people. When the British Empire began to dissolve, resentment grew, the transition to complete independence from British rule was not easy or smooth. The protectorate was withdrawn on the 10th December 1963. One month later, African rebels seized control over the police authorities before breaching the main government’s office.
This audacious feat broke the power of the Arab/Asian ruling class and re-established Zanzibar as an African nation. This complex colonial history is not disseminated very often in Britain, but it is significant nonetheless. It is echoed in the work of the author and Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, who was born in Zanzibar and came to the UK as a refugee after the revolution.
Gurnah writes perceptively about contemporary events in the context of his own experience. The refugee crisis is not simple, it is multitudinous. He is first and foremost a writer, and this allows him to write in a clear and sometimes dispassionate tone about the reality of the asylum and refugee issue of today. He does not care about the left and right wing demagogues. His work is a profound exploration into identity, culture and the history that shapes us, and it resonates with us.
Octavia's Odyssey 