Oman and Zanzibar Virtual Museum

Said Bin Sultan died a year after this letter. On the back of the letter is the stamp/ Tughra of Said bin Sultan. The three wax seals on the envelope also contain his Thugra. Date given in Arabic on the bottom letter is 1272 AH while on the address in a  European language is written 1855. "13 Dacle "55" on the address may possibly  refer to the 13-th day of the 11  month of the Islamic calender (Dhu-al-qada), but not sure. The letter confirms that a letter was received and wishes the recipient Peace and happiness. The recipient of the letter could not yet be identified.

Tughra of Said Bin Sultan

The rare Biography of Said Bin Sultan was written by his grandson Rudolph Said Ruete, the son of Bibi Salme / Emily Ruete.

The book Memoirs of an Arabian Princess by his daughter Bibi Salme contains unique information about life at the Sultan's court in Zanzibar.

In the export section we have a plate that was given as part of the contents of the ship Prince Regent by the King of England to Said Bin Sultan. The ship was a return present by the King, as Said bin Sultan had previously given the ship Liverpool to the King.

Have requested assistance for the proper translation of the letter and it's address.

The letter from Said bin Sultan

The envelope

Lacquer seals with the Sultan's Tughra impressed

References: 

1. Said bin Sultan (1791-1856) Ruler of Oman and Zanzibar. His place in history of Arabia and East Africa by Rudolph Said-Ruete , London Alexander Ousely 1929  After page 128 you find an  facsimile of a letter by Said bin Sultan
2. Bibi Salme / Emily Ruete, Memoiren einer Arabischen Prinzessin 1886
3. Joseph B.F. Osgood Notes of Travel or recollections of Majunga, Zanzibar, muscat, Aden, Mocha and other Eastern ports Salem 1854 page 60 describes the sultan as follows: "His general appearance is made prepossessing by a tall and erect figure, bright and piercing eyes, and an attractive smile, which frequently lights up his truly Arab countenance, to which a long white beard gives a venerable look. Though he is one of the handsomest men living, the several artists who at different times have visited Zanzibar have in vain solicited him to sit for his portrait. The Koran forbits him to encourage the making of images and pictures representing living beings, and he strictly complies with this precept, as well as another too commonly disregarded, that men should not wear jewellery of gold and silver. He therefore wears no jewelry upon his person, and a prudent economy is observable in his dress, which differs none from that of a high class Arab, except in the color of his check turban, which he wears in the fashionable mode of Soliman etc."
4. News form the West letters form Oman to Batavia 1798-1806. Published on the occasion of the visit to Leiden University Library by H.E. the minister of Awqaf and religious Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Shaikh Abdallah bin Mohammed bin Abdullah al Salimi on Friday 11 July 2013 Presented by Jan Just Witkam

Zanzibar Mtoni palace where Bibi Salme grew up

Two men in front of the ruins of the famous Mtoni palace (Home of Sultan Said and Bibi Salme) in which over a 1000 people plus many animals have been living during the first half of the 19th century. For a detailed description of life in the palace see Emily Ruete (Bibi Salme ) "Memoirs of an Arabian princess"  See the slide-show for the early postcard of the Mtoni palace ruins and the 1840´s print in Ref 2 Guillain´s book when the palace was still bustling with activity.

Mtoni means in Swahili "close to the creek" The oldest illustrations of the palace can be found in the mentioned book by Captain Guillain (ref 2) The palace was built by Sultan Said. between 1828 and 1834.

Such an Omani  palace is not as luxurious as a Western palace.  In 1857 the adventurer Richard Burton was received by Sultan Said (Seyyid Said) Burton described the palace as looking like the Gothic castle of a German prince..... It was later largely demolished and adapted for use as a storage dump. The palace water-supply was conveyed from the Chem Chem spring along a stone aqua-duct (Falaj) Today in particular the Persian baths of the palace have best survived. Again The book of Emily Ruete gives us interesting details on the use of the dozen or so baths when she was living there.

Around 1810 the (francophile) Omani Saleh bin Haramil al Abry introduced the clove tree on his Mtoni estate in Zanzibar. The French had already done so successfully in other parts of East Africa (after stealing seedlings during the late 18th century from the Dutch who had a monopoly on clove production in the Dutch Indies) By 1819 the cloves on Mtoni and Kizimbani started producing their first crops. Saleh was imprisoned and the  Mtoni estate and the planted clove trees were confiscated in 1828 by Sultan Said bin Sultan, officially because Saleh trespassed the Moresby (slave) treaty of Oman with the British. However it is also argued that his pro French and anti British attitude played an important role. The palace was later built on the Mtoni estate. Sultan said bin Sultan encouraged his subjects to plant cloves all over the fertile uplands in the western part of the island.

After the death of Sultan Said in 1856 the palace lost its importance and fell into ruin quickly, also the cloth plantations on the Mtoni estate have disappeared.

This photo is unpublished in the specialist literature on the palace. It is very important in the sense that the two man in front of the building give a good impression of the enormous size of the building. The book "Memoirs of an Arabian princess" by Lionel Strachey 1907 page 16 includes a photo (by Gomes) of the ruins. Pereira de Lord and his brother were among the most prolific photographers in Zanzibar history. No one has more preserved work still available today than they, this may well be because no one took more photographs of old Zanzibar than they did. They seem to have been everywhere in the early years, all over the town, in the country, at sea, in high buildings and of course they also maintained a studio. There, just off a main street in Stone Town, they produced quality portraiture for all manner of customers

1. Mtoni, palace, sultan & princess of Zanzibar. Antoni Folkers etc. Lecturis Eindhoven 2010
2. Guillain, Voyage a la cote orientale d´Afrique execute pendant les annees 1846, 1847, 1848. Sous le commandement  de M. Guillain capitage de fregate. Publie par ordre du gouvernement.
3. Major Pearce, Zanzibar, the island metropolis of Eastern Africa 1920;
4.  Emily Ruete, Memoirs of an Arabian Princess,  translated by Lionel Stratchey illustrated, New York Double Page & Company 1907 After page 16 a photo of the ruins of Mtoni palace

Details visible on this rooftop panorama

This is the left-hand part of the rooftop panorama. This photo has probably been taken from the light-house next to Madjid´s palace. The slave market that was replaced by a church is located just outside the picture on the left. Photo: (16 by 10 cm)

The inland water on our photo is the end of the creek that used to almost surround the stone town at high tide (see Zanzibar in contemporary times R.N. Lyne 1905 reprint 1987 map before p 7)  Note: Most of the creek has been used for building nowadays.

The building on the left is the back of the huge sultan´s palace Beit al Sahel and Beit al Hakum (court) and part of the gardens with a garden-house and surrounding wall. The wooden  pavilion located in the garden on the front was indicated on the original map by Guillain  as item P "Mat de Pavilion" (see next item)

There is a further rooftop-photo in the Oswald album that fits to the left of this photo, but probably is of a later date (see Winterton collection Album 74, page 4 photograph 2 (with Madjid´s palace in front) It probably fits as it was also taken from the light-house.

Form Emily Ruete we kow that during the evening family's would come to the roofs to enjoy the pleasant climate. Later in the 19th century shades of tin-plates were introduced on the roofs.

Section of the Guillain plan of 1846:

P is the wooden pavilion we see above in the front.

A is the Sultan's palace seen on the left.

Q ancient palace seen on the back

F is the battery in fornt of the old Fort

References:

1. Another copy of this extremely rare and early photo is found in the important Oswald album page 12 photo 1  in the Winterton collection. The unique album was specially  made for the jubilee of the Oswald firm on Zanzibar. This album contains photos and drawings from 1850s to 1890s, the period when the firm Oswald had been operating on Zanzibar. The album also contains photos of the house of Dr. John Kirk who was well acquainted with the Oswalds.
2. Ernst Hieke Zur Geschichte des Deutsches handels mit Ostafrika abb 42 contains a photo with the same roof of the old palace from a different angle. In fact it is part of an earlier palace see the town-plan from the   Guillain´s book Voyage Orientale

Details regarding the "Old Fort" in Zanzibar

This is the right-hand part of the rooftop-panorama. This photo has probably been taken from the lighthouse next to Majid´s palace. Photo:  (16 by 10 cm) Fitted on carton.

The house of Bibi Salme where she fell in love with the German Mr Ruete can been just above the top-right tower of the fort. See slide-show for detail. Other interesting buildings are: The Old Jail and Old Barracks.

Top-right the house of princess Bibi Salme (Emily Ruete). The large white building in the background was rented from the Sultan by the German firm Hansing & Co that was represented by Heinrich Ruete. The photographer (vice consul) Dr John Kirk and his wife helped Emily escape from Zanzibar (and from execution by her brother the Sultan)

 One of the earliest photos of the Fort in Zanzibar. For comparison see the Kirk panorama (1875) in the collection of the Royal Geographic society. The fort was built between 1698 and 1701 by the Busaidi tribe  of Omani Arabs, who had gained control of Zanzibar in 1698, following almost two centuries of Portuguese occupation. The fort was used as a defence against the Portuguese and against a rival Omani group, the Mazrui, who occupied Mombasa at that time. The fort was constructed by the Busaidi Omani Arabs on the site of a Portuguese church which had been built between 1598 and 1612. In the main courtyard, remnants of the old church can still be seen built into the inside wall. In the 19th century the fort was used as a prison, and criminals were executed or punished here, at a place just outside the east wall. The Swahili word gereza, meaning prison, is thought to be derived from the Portuguese word ireja, meaning church.......

The American Joseph Osgood visited Zanzibar around 1850: "Zanzibar is fortified by a large towery castle, which faces the harbour. A Parapet mounted with a row of good artillery, affords an additional means of defence against incursion. So ruinously conditioned, however, is the fort , that a few well directed broadsides from a ship of war would destroy the whole structure. It is used as a place of confinement for criminals. Within the enclosure of the fort is quite a little village of huts , occupied by about a hundred soldiers and their families. The soldiers are slaves in part, and in part freemen. The latter are Belooches, in the service of the Imaum, under pay of four dollars per month. Their arms are matchlocks, scimitars, two-edged swords, and shields of rhinoceros hide. Many shields of this kind are turned at Zanzibar for Northern markets" 

Convicts / Forced labour Zanzibar Stonetown

Photo taken by J. Sturtz 1888-1890 (Ref 6)

Ref 5 states:  “These are prisoners from the fort, small thieves, disobedient servants  who for months or years will be under the Sultans care. They must now haul coral-stones, clean the camel yard and swipe the streets. With such rings and chains Bushiri had Dr. Hans Meijer and Dr. Baumann chained and kept prison for two nights and a day at his Schamba Mundo near Pangani. The black man with the thick legs next to the prisoners  is suffering from the nasty disease elephantiasis.  His feet will continue to get increasingly bigger and because the disease is incurable and will take him closer and closer to his death. I heart this already in Samoa, where the plague has spread very much"

Ref 6 in our collection states below the same photo in handwriting: "Kriegsgevangene aus Bagamojo" , meaning Prisoners of war from Bagamoyo.  

The Germans used the same chains for their prisoners as the Arabs for their slaves. But as there are no Askari soldiers present  on the photo it was probably taken in Zanzibar.

References:

1. Another copy of this extremely rare and early photo of Zanzibar is found in the important Oswald Album page 12 photo 2 in the Winterton collection. The specially made album also contains photos of the house of John Kirk. The album contains photos and drawings originating from the 1840´s to the 1890´s the 50 years the German firm Oswald had been operating in Zanzibar. John Kirk was also a friend of Oswald, the German firms owner.
2. Joseph B.F. Osgood Notes of Travel or recollections of Majunga, Zanzibar, muscat, Aden, Mocha and other Eastern ports Salem 1854 page 27
3. Baron Carl Claus von der Deckens Reisen in Ost-Afrika in den Jahren 1859 bis 1865, vol. 1, p. 113 "Bibi Holli (i.e. Chole)  ceased to be the lioness of the day and went even more quickly out of fashion when a new star rose in the Zanzibar sky. Her stepsister, the younger Bibi Salima, had blossomed in the meantime and had surpassed her rival and the object of her stepsisterly hatred [...] On moonlit nights the sultan’s little sister sat behind the iron bars of her window and listened with interest to the Wasungu [Europeans] on the neighbouring roof"
4. Richard Burton, Zanzibar: City, Island and Coast, Tinsley Brothers, London. 1872 Two volumes. page 91. "The interior of the fort is jammed with soldiers huts, and divided into courts by ricketty walls. here too is the only jail in Zanzibar. The stocks (Makantarah), the fetters, the iron collars, and the heavy waist-chains do not prevent black man from conversationizing, singing comic songs, and gambling with pebbles. The most mutinous white salt that ever floored skipper would 'squirm' at the idea of a second night in the black hole at Zanzibar. Such is the Oriental beau-idea of a prison - a place whose very name  should develope the goose skin, and which the Chinese significantly call 'hell'. In my day foreigners visited  the prison to see its curio, a poor devil cateran who had beaten the death-drum whilst his headman was torturing M. Maizan. etc."
5. Land und Leute in Duetsch Ost Afrika 1890 Wangemann (text); Sturtz (photos)

   Page 15 of the book states “Dass sind strafflinge aus dem fort kleine diebe ungehorsame diener dei auf einige monaten oder Jahre von ihren herren der Sultanspflege uberwiessen worden sind. Sie mussen jetzt korallensteine schleppen , den kamelshof reinigen   und die strassen fegen. Mit solchen ringen und ketten hat ubrichens auch Bushiri die doctoren Hans Meyer und Baumann auf seiner Schamba Mundo bei Pangani gefesselt und zwei nachte und einen tag  gefangen gehalten. Der schwarze mit dem dicken bein neben den strafflingen ist mit der hasslichen krankheit Elephantiasis behaftet. Seine fusse werden immer mehr schwellen, den die krankheit soll nicht heilbar sein, vielmehr nach und nach der tod herbeifuhren. Ich horte dies schon in Samoa dort ist diese plage auch sehr verbreitet.”

6. Erinnerung an die Ostafrikanische Blockade und  meiner Reise an bord SMS Carola 1888-1890 (50 original photos, by naval officer J. Sturz, the album belonged to Emil Voelker and have his manuscript captions on the photos) Emil Voelker was on-board the SMS Carola during these events. In our collection now.

Panorama details

Spectacular panorama of the seafront in Zanzibar. Length 107cm by 20 cm cm consisting of 4 parts laid down on green paper.

• On the left Arab merchant houses in the beach, the old Royal palace, the current Royal Palace with Harem and the House of Wonders (with the lighthouse positioned before it)
• In the middle the customs area
• On the right the German consultate, The American consulate and the British consulate.

1.  The same large panorama is also found in The Humphrey Winterton Collection of East African Photographs: 1860-1960: Reise Erinnerungen Album 73 photo 1  Panorama of Zanzibar, a superb panorama of the Zanzibar waterfront showing dhows, the Sultan’s Palace and the British Consulate. July 1 1894. Also in Album 6 object 44
2. Oman faces and places page 52
3. The Zanzibar House of Wonders Museum, Abdul Sherif , KIT publishers
4. Rijksmuseum Online collection RP-F-F00999-DD Lists Coutinho Brothers as the photographers, but they were possibly the resellers of the photo. Also date is wrong. Photo is 100% certain from before the bombardment as the Clock-tower is stand-alone.

Background to the life of Sultan Barghash:

Barghash bin Said was the third Sultan of Zanzibar, he ruled from 1870 until 1888 and the brother of Emily Ruete.  The photo by Maull & Co was taken during his visit to London. The third photo was taken in 1875 (see the photo slide-show) the stamp on the back tells us that it was sold at a later stage by the Coutinho Brothers in Zanzibar. The Sultan´s mother was a slave who was freed upon his birth; several Zanzibar Sultans were sons of slave women. His father Seyyid Said (Said bin Sultan) was Sultan / Imaum of Oman and Zanzibar. Said bin Sultan was the first Omani Sultan to put up residence in Zanzibar.Said bin Sultan arranged for the large scale planting of  Clove trees on the island, that resulted in a period of wealth for the island. Barghash is credited with building much of the infrastructure of Zanzibar Stone Town, including piped water, public baths, a police force, roads, parks, hospitals and large administrative buildings such as the House of Wonders. He was perhaps the last Sultan to maintain some measure of true independence from European control during the early part of his reign. He did consult with European "advisors" who had immense influence but he was still the central figure they wrestled to control. He crossed wits with diplomats from Britain, America, Germany, France and Portugal and was often able to play one country off another in an endgame of pre-colonial chess. It was his son, Khaled, who while vying for the succession, was the looser in the Shortest War ever against the British in 1896.

Maul & Co were photographers to the royal family. 187 Piccadilly London. Henry Maull (1829 – 1914) was a British photographer who specialised in portraits of noted individuals. He became a member of the Royal Photographic Society in 1870.

 Old layout of Zanzibar Stonetown and the Creek

The layout of Zanzibar Stone-town changed over time. Of particular interest is the Creek that largely separates Stone-town from the rest of the island during high tide (apart form a narrow land-stroke) During low tide it falls largely dry and people could cross it at a couple of points. The narrow land-stroke that connects stone with the rest of the island originally contained many graves. On the previous 1875 photo the old creek is visible in the distance.

The attached map by Guillain shows the creek as it was in 1846.  During the 20th  century the Creek area was largely used for building activities. In the slide-show you also find a sketch  of the complete island according to a guide from 1939.

1. Guillain Voyage a la cote orientale d´Afrique execute pendant les annees 1846, 1847, 1848. Sous le commandement  de M. Guillain capitage de fregate. Publie par ordre du gouvernement.

"Bet il Sahel" means shore house.  The Bet il Sahel Palace (on the left) was originally a rectangular building. In the 1870's sultan Barghash added a pavilion (visible behind the boat-tank) The boat-tank was intended to make extra water available for the people and animals in the palace. Note the old cannons on the right.

Emily Ruete wrote about the Bet il Sahel palace: "There is a splendid view of the sea.... The doors on the upper floor, which contained many rooms, open upon a long and wide gallery of such grandness as I have never seen equalled. The ceiling is supported by pillars and these pillars are connected by a high parapet, along which chairs are placed. A great many coloured lamps, suspended from the ceiling, throw a magic glow over the whole house after dark.  The gallery looks down upon a courtyard, always full of bustle and noise. ... Two large separate flights of stairs lead from this court to the rooms on the first floor. Crowds of people are continually going up and down these stairs, and the crowding is often so great that it takes some minutes before one can get to the staircase at all"

The Sahel palace and the clock tower were destroyed in the 1896 by the British (Shortest war ever) The new clock tower was incorporated in the rebuilt "House of Wonders"  The House of Wonders was originally built in 1883 and rebuilt after 1886.

The Bet Il Sahel palace was connected with a bridge / passage to the Bet il Tani palace. below the bridge was the Turkish bath house. It was in Bet il Tani where Sultan Seyid bin Sultan (Emily's father) lived with his wife a Persian princess Sheshadeh, who he later divorced. Sheshadeh had a wild love affair with one of her Persian guards.

Below an old film of Zanzibar:

1. Memoirs of an Arabian princess, Ward & Downey London 1888

Photo of Zanzibar stone-town waterfront taken between 1883 and 1890. German handwritten text below.

On the left we see the Sultan's Beit al Sahel palace incl. Harem (Beach Palace) . Note the cannons in front of the palace.

In the middle we see  the Beit al Hukm building (House of Government)

On the right we see in front the stand alone clock tower. Behind the clock tower we see the original House of Wonders, that was built in 1883 by Sultan Barghash.

You can see that these buildings were connected with covered passages above the streets.

In 1896  these buildings were destroyed and or seriously damaged by the the British fleet. The House of Wonders was repaired and the clock tower incorporated in the building. The rebuilt building currently contains the House of Wonders museum.

The rebuilt Beit Als Sahel is currently the Palace Museum.

1. An Arabian Princess between two worlds by E. van Donzel published by Brill  Leiden 1993

Photographers: The Zangaki  brothers:

Photo of two veiled Arab women by Zangaki. Adelphoi Zangaki (the Zangaki Brothers), active 1870s-1890s, were two Greek photographers who specialized in historic or ancient Egyptian scenes, producing prints for the tourist trade. They occasionally worked with the Port Said photographer, Hippolyte Arnoux.

Little is known about the brothers, except their initials, C. and G. and that they worked out of Port Said and Cairo.  Their photographs of late 19th century Egypt, though produced for sale to the flourishing European tourist trade to Egypt, are highly prized by historians and collectors for their insights into life at the time. Images included views of the pyramids (e.g. Cheops or the Sphinx) and the cities (e.g. Suez or Alexandria) as well of Egyptians going about their daily lives (e.g. a teacher and pupils, men by the Nile, or women at home)

1. Emily Ruete, Memoirs of an Arabian Princess,  translated by Lionel Stratchey illustrated, New York Double Page & Company 1907 after page 126 the same photo with the title "members of an Arabian harem"

Who is who on the photo

Albumen photo of three Omani men in Zanzibar.  All men wear  official Saidi khanjars and the two men on the left wear also robes typically worn by Omani officials.  The word Ismael is below the man on the right, is he Ismael?, but his cloths are less posh than that of the men on the left.  Another image of this photo has been published full page on page 3 of reference 1 describing the Winterton Africana collection Album 73 item 38. Our photo, however, has an interesting inscription in German that translates "ISMAEL  Highly regarded rich Arabs from Bagamoyo" (Ismael Angesehene reiche Araber aus Bagamoyo).

Bagamoyo was the town on the coast of the mainland where caravans with ivory and slaves returned from the interior of East Africa. In 1889 still 1305 caravans with  41144 people passed the city. It became the capital of German East Africa.

The name Ismael possibly suggests the men may have been Omani Ismaili.  Ismaili have been reported to live in Bagamoyo since 1840. However there are different groups of Ismaili. The most famous Ismaili in Zanzibar was Tharia Thopan, of Indian origin, and a member of the group that paid tribute to the Aga Khan. However the Al Lawatia who have been living in Oman for centuries and working as important merchants in e.g. Muttrah and Zanzibar  are also Ismaili in origin, but they pay not , already since a long time, tribute to  the Aga Khan. Both groups are Shia moslims, while most Omani are Ibadhi (Sunni) moslims. More specifically the Lawatis converted during the 19th century to "twelver Shia Islam" from "Ismaili Shia Islam" .

1) This photo is also included in the Winterton collection Album 73 Reise Erinnerungen page 38 three Zanzibari officials in Omani dress

2) HGM Tullemans Pere Etienne Baur en d Arabische opstand van 1888-1889 Promotion Thesis 1982 2 volumes University of Nijmegen 

3) Land und Leute in Duetsch Ost Afrika 1890 Wangemann (text); Sturtz (photos) This book does not contain the photo but it does contain a description of the Sultans irregular soldiers from around 1888 in the customs area of Zanzibar town page 4: "Sie haben weite gewander in matten abgetonten farben, phantastische turbannen auf dem kopf, und sind mit ein ganzen waffensammlung behangen. Da fuhren sie flinten lang wie blasrohre und reich mit silber beschlagen, zwei, drei krumme dolchen stecken in der leibbinde  dazu kommt ein pulverhorn offt aus silber und in scheneckenhausform gebildet, patronenkartuschen nach art der Tjerkessen (HvW: Circassians)  ein kleiner schildt aus nilpferdhaut, ein krummer Sabel oder ein gerades schwert mit dunner zitternder klinge. Oft stehen sie in gruppen beisammen, sehen uns mit funkelenden augen und spielen mit ihre waffen.

Youtube film of Bagamoyo area:

Who is who on this photo?

Sir Tharia Topan is the big (Indian Ismaili ) gentleman located front-row right.  Tharia Topan:

• Left Zanzibar 1885 (So the photo is definitely before 1886) never to return as he died on his trip abroad in 1891

• Was the most important Ismaili Indian (Khoja) businessman in Zanzibar: for several years he was responsible for collecting customs fees.

• Coordinated infrastructure projects for Sultan Bargash and was a minister for him.

• Was main business partner of the Explorer and notorious slave and Ivory trader Tippu Tip!

• Funded the preparations of the expeditions by Stanley who was guided by Tippu Tip etc.

• Entertained David Livingstone after he was recovered from then jungle and taken to Zanzibar.

Person top-row right is Sir Bartle Frere and several high ranking British naval officers.

The key person in the middle of the front row could be:

• David Livingstone (wishful thinking? )

• Sir Claude Maxwell Macdonald who was consul general from 1887-1889 (but Topan had left by then, so not likely? )

• Another British officer / diplomat? But strange for a diplomat /  officer to have a jacket and trousers that fit so poorly and to be so poorly shaved

The Omani official on the front-row with his sword is also unknown, almost certainly a member of the Sultans family (he could be Hamad bin Thuwaini who became sultan in 1893)

Hamad bin Thuwaini at later age , became Sultan in 1893

and was probably poisoned a few years later.

 Most of the officials on first photo are also on the next stone-laying photo. The uniforms worn by the British naval officers were phased out before 1890.

It was Bartle Frere who in 1875 persuaded Bibi Salme (Emily Ruete) not to contact her brother Sultan Bargash (about her inheritance) during the Sultans visit to London, with a promise of financial support for her children. However the British did not keep word.

 References:

1. This photo comes from the estate of the American consul in Zanzibar Seth Pratt. He was consul 1889-1891 He went back to New York USA in 1891 with the ship Wheatland. He became vice consul in 1898?
2. The Sultan's Spymaster Peera Dewjee of Zanzibar by Judy Aldrick page 242 . The predecessor of Sultan Ali was forced by the Germans (and supported by the British) to accept  in 1890 a payment of GBP 200.000 for the Coastal strip initially rented by the Germans (German east African Colony). In 1894 the British private company IBEACo  was close to bankruptcy and the British forced Sultan Hamed to Buy the company with the GBP 200.000 originally obtained from the Germans.  The sultan was under the impression that he would get back his coastal strip as compensation, but the British told him the unpleasant news that this was not the case. The Sultan reacted "So be it!  I am merely a little bird in the claws of an eagle"
3. Seth A. Pratt , "Clove Culture in Zanzibar" US Department of State Reports of the consuls of the United States 32 Nr 112-115 (Jan-Apr. 1890) p 687-688

The influential life of Tippu Tip

Tippu Tip lived between 1837-1905. His close business partner was Tharia Topan. His real name is Hamad bin Muḥammad bin Jumah bin Rajab bin Muḥammad bin Sa‘īd al Merjebi . His mother, Bint Habib bin Bushir, was a Muscat Arab of the ruling class. His father and paternal grandfather were coastal Swahili who had taken part in the earliest trading expeditions to the interior. He was famously known by the natives of East Africa as Tippu Tib possibly after the sounds that his many guns made. However Tippu Tib is mostly  interpreted as "He who Blinks"

He was the biggest slave and ivory dealer in East Africa. Later he  became a plantation owner and governor, who worked for a succession of sultans of Zanzibar. He led many trading expeditions into Central Africa, involving the slave trade and ivory trade. He constructed profitable trading posts that reached deep into Central Africa. He Also made big contributions to the European expeditions of Livingstone and Stanley. He called The Belgian King Leopold II his new Sultan. He helped and guided several famous western explorers including Livingstone and Stanley into the interior of East Africa. He therefore features in the works of Livingstone and Stanley. Even the British and the German commander von Wismann made keenly use of his influence in East Africa. After 1884 he lived in Singitini (in the Arab part of Kinsingani) and was Gouvernor of Kisingani. Between 1884 and 1887, El Murgebi claimed the Eastern Congo for himself and for the Sultan of Zanzibar, Bargash bin Said el Busaidi. In spite of his position as protector of Zanzibar's interests in Congo, he managed to maintain good relations with the Europeans. When, in August 1886, fighting broke out between the Swahili and the representatives of King Leopold II of Belgium at Stanley Falls, El Murgebi went to the Belgian consul at Zanzibar to assure him of his "good intentions" Although he was still a force in Central African politics, he could see by 1886 that power in the region was shifting.

In early 1887, Stanley arrived in Zanzibar and proposed that Tippu Tip be made governor of the Stanley Falls District in the Congo Free State. Both Leopold and Sultan Barghash bin Said agreed and on February 24, 1887, Hamed bin Mohammed el Murgebi accepted. In 1890 he returned to Zanzibar because of a legal trial against him initiated by the explorer Stanley because of the failed Rescue Emin Pacha expedition. The court in Zanzibar completely cleared Tippu Tip from the accusations by Stanly (in fact the expedition failed due to organizational problems and and conflicts of (western) characters, another minor detail was that Emin Pacha did not want to be rescued....) Tippu Tip  had built himself a trading empire that he then translated into clove plantations on Zanzibar. Abdul Sheriff reported that when he left for his twelve years of "empire building" on the mainland, he had no plantations of his own. However, by 1895, he had acquired "seven plantations and 10,000 slaves and had become one of the riches Africans of his time.

In December 1891 and March 1892 Tippu Tip sold 3800 male slaves and 800 women to the Congo free state. They were to be  freed but had to work as rail-road labourers and soldiers.

Tippu Tip wrote his memoirs in Swahili. These memoirs were translated and published by the German Heinrich Brode: first in a scientific magazine (parallel Swahili German) later it was published in German as a book.

In 1905 the newspaper Times mentioned the death of the notorious slaver Tippu Tip, but no mention was made of the huge contribution Tippu Tip made to the expeditions of Livingstone and Stanley. Nor his extremely important diplomatic contributions....

Another image of this  photo is illustrated on page 130 of reference 19 that describes the Winterton Africana collection (Album 62 item 1) The Coutinho brothers established one of the first commercial photographic enterprises on the island of Zanzibar, some time in the 1870s. Probably of Portugese origin, little is known of their lives. On the back a blue stamp "Coutinho Brothers Photographers Zanzibar" and in pencil written Tippu Tip.

First German edition of Tippu Tip's autobiography translated from Swahili into German by Heinrich Brode

1. Tippu Tip H. Brode , Maisha  ya Hamed bin Muhammed El Murjebi, in Mitteilungen des Seminars für orientalische Sprachen  Abteilung III, Jahrgang V: p 175-277 und VI p1-55 1902/1903
2. Tippu Tip Lebensbild eines zentralafrikanischen Despoten - Nach seinen eigenen Angaben dargestellt" translated by  Dr. Heinrich Brode from Swahili into German and published by Wilhelm Baensch Berlin 1905
3. Brode, Heinrich. Tippoo Tib: The Story of His Career in Zanzibar & Central Africa. Translated by H. Havelock with preface by Sir Charles Elliot. London: Arnold, 1907
4. Leda Ferrant, Tippu Tip and the East African Slave Trade , St Martin´s press New York  1975
5. Heinrich Brode, Tippu Tip: The Story of his career in Zanzibar and Central Africa, The Gallery Publications, Zanzibar 2000
6. David Livingstone, Missionary Travels and Researches , 1857
7. David Livingstone The Last Journals 1874
8. Stanley How I found Livingstone
9. Stanley through the dark continent 1879
10. Stanley The Congo and the founding of the free state
11. Stanley In darkest Afrika
12. Stanley My Kalulu, Prince, King and Slave
13. W.H. Ingrams Zanzibar Its History and People
14. F.B. Pearce Zanzibar, The Island metropolis of Eastern Africa 
15. Christiane Bird, The Sultan´s Shadow One family´s Rule at the crossroads of East and West, Random House New York 2010
16. Bennett, Norman Robert. Arab vs. European: Diplomacy and war in Nineteenth-Century Est Central Africa. New York: Africana Publishing Company, 1986.
17. Sheriff, Abdul. Slaves, Spices & Ivory in Zanzibar: Integration of an East African Commercial Empire into the World Economy, 1770-1873. London, Nairobi, Tanzania, Athens,OH: James Currey, Heinemann Kenya, Tanzania Publishing House, Ohio University Press, 1987
18. Wikipedia Tippu Tip
19. Abyssinia to zanzibar 1850S -1950S Catalogue of the photographic archive of the Winterton Africanan Collection published by Allsworth rare books London Item 62 no1.

The smaller ships are used for sailing to and from the East African coast.  The sea going Dhows travel to Oman and further. The Ocean going dhow trade depended on the direction of the monsoon winds.

1. Land und Leute in Deutsch Ost Afrika Wangemann (text); Sturtz (photos) There is a second edition of  1890 and a third of 1894. No copy of the first edition is known: Maybe there is a relation of this first edition with of our set of 50 photos which are higher resolution variants of the Sturtz photos in the Wangemann book.
2. Erinnerung an die Ostafrikanische Blockade und  meiner Reise an bord SMS Carola 1888-1890 (50 original photos, by naval officer J. Sturz, the album belonged to Emil Voelker and have his manuscript captions on the photos) Emil Voelker was on-board the SMS Carola during these events.
3. Joseph B.F. Osgood Notes of Travel or recollections of Majunga, Zanzibar, muscat, Aden, Mocha and other Eastern ports Salem 1854 page 28

This is probably Chuini palace in Zanzibar photograph taken  around 1880-1890.  Chuini means Leopard. The palace was built in 1872 by Sultan Barghash. This palace is located approx 10 km from stone-town Zanzibar. The building was modernised  and expanded by Sultan Ali bin Said.  In 1914 it was destroyed by fire.

The handwritten text on the photo says in German: Old villa of the sultan of Zanzibar (Alte Villa Sultan Sansibar)

Ref 2 also contains this photo and mentions as title Schusswani Luschtschloss des Sultans (Ref 3 Photo by J.Sturtz) 

1. An Arabian Princess between two worlds by E. van Donzel published by Brill  Leiden 1993
2. Land und Leute in Duetsch Ost Afrika 1890 Wangemann (text); Sturtz (photos)
3. Erinnerung an die Ostafrikanische Blockade und  meiner Reise an bord SMS Carola 1888-1890 (50 original photos, by naval officer J. Sturz, the album belonged to Emil Voelker and have his manuscript captions on the photos) Emil Voelker was on-board the SMS Carola during these events.

Arab name: Wisam al-Kawkab al-Durri al-Zanzibari

Period: 1875-1888

Origin: Founded by Sultan Sayyid Majid bin Sa‘id in 1865, modified and extended by Sayyid Barghash bin Sa‘id on 22^nd December 1875, and modified again by Sayyid Khalifa II bin Harub on 5^th August 1918 .

This scarce medallion was made by Elkington & Co Birmingham, who also made the famous trophies for the Wimbledon man the women single finals. During his visit to Britain Sultan Barghash also visited Elkington & Co in Birmingham.  However, it is also reported that the earliest versions of this medal came from France/Germany, but no clear evidence found of this so far.

We purchased this early medallion in Germany, so the person the medallion was awarded to may very well have been a German.

Description: This Order of the Brilliant Star of Zanzibar was a decoration awarded by sultan  Barghash of Zanzibar to reward those who had provided important assistance to the Sultan.  The medal is made of silver and enamel. The enamels of these old knight badges are often chipped (like this one) also the gilded silver wreath suspension and lint are unfortunately missing. See slide-show for a complete one (not in our collection) In the center of the knights badge is the monogram in Arabic (tughra) of Sultan Barghash. Diameter 4 cm.

Photographers:  A.C. Gomes

The photographer A.C. Gomes and Sons was founded by A.C. Gomes in Aden in 1869, where he was appointed Government Photographer for the Fortifications (Macmillan 1930, p.314). The company seems to have moved to Zanzibar circa 1870s. Playne listed the firm's address as 'in the Main Road (opposite the G.P.O. ) Zanzibar' and wrote that 'for over forty years now their business has been carried on in those parts...' (1908-9, p.419) Gomes was briefly in partnership with J.B. Coutinho (partnership dissolved 31st July 1897)  His son P. F. Gomes continued the family business in Zanzibar for many years, he died in 1932. Over those years both have left us with some marvelous images.His earliest work is marked "A.C. Gomes & Co" (like on this photograph) Between 1900 and 1905 this photo was used  for a (low resolution) postcard The firm was appointed photographers to the Government Aerial Service during the First World War (Macmillan 1930, p.314)  A.C. Gomes died in 1917 (Macmillan 1930, p.314) The business was continued by P.F. Gomes who died in 1932. A branch of the company was opened in Dar-es-Salaam by P.F. Gomes and his son, E. Gomes, in 1929. In 1930 P.F. Gomes's other son, G. Gomes, was running the studio in Main Street, Zanzibar (Macmillan 1930, p.314)  The family were possibly originally from Goa. A photograph of A.C. Gomes and P.F. Gomes can be seen on p.419 of Playne's 'East Africa...' (1908-9)

History of Sultan of Zanzibar Seyyid Hamad bin Thuwaini Al-Busaid

Sayyid Hamad bin Thuwaini Al-Busaid, GCSI, (1857 - August 25, 1896) was the fifth Sultan of Zanzibar. He ruled Zanzibar from March 5, 1893 to August 25, 1896. He was married to a cousin, Sayyida Turkia bint Turki al-Said, daughter of Turki bin Said, Sultan of Muscat and Oman. 

Hamid died suddenly at 11.40 am on 25 August 1896 and was almost certainly poisoned by his cousin Khalid bin Barghash who proclaimed himself the new sultan and held the position for three days before being replaced by the British government after the 40 minute long Anglo-Zanzibar War (shortest war ever)

1.  This photo is also found in the album Reise Erinnerungen page   in the Winterton collection. North Western University USA.138 Album 73 photo 27 (1880-1896)

Zanzibari Music

People who lived in Zanzibar before the revolution always mention the constant sound of music. Singing, dancing etc. Many workers e.g. fishermen singing during their work. For an overview of musical instruments form Zanzibar see reference  page 399-411. Size 12 by 17 cm.

1. WH Ingrams Zanzibar Its History and its people 1931 page 399-411
2. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Ethnologisches Museum Ident.Nr. VIII A 22277 Same photo:  title Die Grosse Tromel by A. Bluhm.

The Zanzibar fruit market:

Two photos taken of the fruit-market in Zanzibar stone-town.The market was located close to the old fort, based on the old watchtower visible on the photo. The wares sold include sugarcane, bananas and coconut. Size of both photos 7,5 by 10 cm but with very high resolution.

References:

1. Land und Leute in Deutsch Ost Afrika Wangemann (text); Sturtz (photos) There is a second edition of  1890 and a third of 1894. No copy of the first edition is known: Maybe there is a relation of this first edition with of our set of 50 photos which are higher resolution variants of the Sturtz photos in the Wangemann book.
2. Erinnerung an die Ostafrikanische Blockade und  meiner Reise an bord SMS Carola 1888-1890 (50 original photos, by naval officer J. Sturz, the album belonged to Emil Voelker and have his manuscript captions on the photos) Emil Voelker was on-board the SMS Carola during these events. 

Some rural scenes

While the main crop in Zanzibar was cloves, also many vegetables and fruit are grown like mangoes, bananas and coconut. Please notice the street-lamp in front of the clay home: By  1870 Oil Street lights had been installed along the major streets in Stone Town. These street lights ran out of town, past the harbour, south towards Mbweni.

1. Emily Ruete, Memoirs of an Arabian Princess,  translated by Lionel Stratchey illustrated, New York Double Page & Company 1907 same photo with the title "Bringing Food into the Town"after page 36.
2. WH Ingrams Zanzibar Its History and its people 1931 page 399-411
3. Land und Leute in Deutsch Ost Afrika Wangemann (text); Sturtz (photos) There is a second edition of  1890 and a third of 1894. No copy of the first edition is known: Maybe there is a relation of this first edition with of our set of 50 photos which are higher resolution variants of the Sturtz photos in the Wangemann book.
4. Erinnerung an die Ostafrikanische Blockade und  meiner Reise an bord SMS Carola 1888-1890 (50 original photos, by naval officer J. Sturz, the album belonged to Emil Voelker and have his manuscript captions on the photos) Emil Voelker was on-board the SMS Carola during these events.
5. Gigi Crocker Jones, Traditional spinning and weaving in the Sultanate of Oman, published by Historical Association of Oman, 1989 Page 35 shows a similar loom

Stereo photos

Traditional stereoscopic photography consists of creating a 3D illusion starting from a pair of 2D images, a stereo-gram. The easiest way to enhance depth perception in the brain is to provide the eyes of the viewer with two different images, representing two perspectives of the same object, with a minor deviation equal or nearly equal to the perspectives that both eyes naturally receive in binocular vision.Each photo is approx 8 by 8 cm. The card measures 18 by 8,5 cm.

There also 2 stereo (vague) stereo photos known of the slave-market in Zanzibar dating form the 1860´s see e.g. the Winterton collection and the British Library.

1. Abyssina to Zanzibar 1850s-1950s Catalogue of the photographic archive of the Winterton Africana collection Allsworth rare books 2003 page 119 item 53 nr 9

 Two high resolution original old photographs of Arab women in Zanzibar were taken by photographer Gomes & Co in the 1890's. Years later this photo was used as a postcard. 1890's dating of the photograph based on the photographer stamp "Gomes & Co

Latest Zanzibar (indoor) fashion around 1895

This is the outdoor fashion

1. The early postcards of Zanzibar 2005 by P.C. Evans East Africa study circle page 38 (and on the front cover of the book)

Identifying the shoes and Jewelry of the Arab lady

Arab / Swahili lady in Zanzibar. Please notice the following details:

• The Omani wooden  shoes are comparable to the shoes HvWO 007 (in the wood section of our website) However our shoes have silver toe-pins. These shoes were for daily use and not for use in the Bathhouse as many Omani ladies currently believe.
• The Omani bracelets are similar to the ones in our Silver Bracelets section : Bracelet made of silver wire with red glass beads.
• The large Omani necklace is similar to the one in the Silver utensils section, titled a thorn tweezer on a very beautiful silver chain.

1.  Early postcards of Zanzibar by P.C. Evans page 16  

Photographers: The Coutinho brothers

The Coutinho brothers established one of the first commercial photographic enterprises on the island of Zanzibar, some time in the 1870´s. Probably of Portuguese origin, little is known of their lives. The initial partnership between the two brothers lasted little over a decade, before J. B. Coutinho entered into partnership with A C Gomes & Sons c.1890. Gomes had opened his first studio in Aden before 1869, moving to Zanzibar in the early 1870´s, establishing what was probably the first studio on the island. That arrangement was dissolved on 31st July 1897, when the Coutinho Brothers started trading together once again

Their photographs of life in fin-de-siecle Zanzibar were sold singly and in albums, and form an important visual account of the period. When the photographic picture postcard started to gain popularity in the 1890´s, Coutinho Brothers cards were produced in great numbers, showing tribal characters and cultures, local fishermen and traders, and the architecture of Zanzibar, all clearly aimed at a tourist market. At some point c.1905, the brothers went their separate ways, Felix moving to Mombasa in Kenya, and opening a photographic company there, once again producing tourist images and postcards, but this time trading as Coutinho & Sons

1. The Early postcards of Zanzibar by P.C. Evans East Africa Study Circle 2005  

Description:

 A. C. Gomes established a photo studio in Zanzibar perhaps as early as 1868. He had a brief partnership with J. B. Coutinho in the 1890´s that was dissolved in 1896. A.C. Gomes died in 1917. His son P. F. Gomes continued the family business in Zanzibar for many years, he died in 1932.  

References:

1. Winterton Collection North Western University Group 56 Album 2 page 4 photo 1

Description:  

The panorama postcard contains three views:

• Early panoramic view of Zanzibar stone town, across the fort towards the cathedral. Compare with the earliest photos of Zanzibar stone-town  in my collection 
• Picture of the Sultan Sheikh Sir Hamoud bin Mohammed Al-Said who died in 1902
• The palace "house of wonders" reconstructed after the bombardment by the British (The postcard has manuscript text above the panoramic view)

The Coutinho brothers established one of the first commercial photographic enterprises on the island of Zanzibar, some time in the 1870´s. Probably of Portugese origin, little is known of their lives.

1. Early postcards of Zanzibar by P.C. Evans page 16

• Sultan Palast (pre 1896) by Verl. Abert Aust Hamburg. One of the oldest postcards that exist of Zanzibar. Not in Evans.
• 572 Zanzibar vieux cimitiere Arabe by Message Maritimes Evans page 224 item 174 (publish 1907-1911)
• Aerial view of Zanzibar A.C. Gomes & Son Zanzibar
• H.H The Sultan´s Barge Zanzibar from 1908. A.C. Gomes & son photographers Zanzibar Dhows in Harbour
• Zanzibar Dhows in harbor
• Zanzibar (showing the European embassy and trading house area) verl. v. Albert Aust Hamburg One of the oldest postcards of Zanzibar. Not in Evans.
• Zanzibar (House of Wonders) verl. v  Albert Aust Hamburg  One of the earliest postcards of Zanzibar. Not in Evans.
• (Zanzibar street-scene and steamer)Zanzibar Coutinho brothers Photographers Zanzibar  Union Postale universelle 1899-1902  Evans page 11 item 85
•  Zanzibar  (picture of local huts next to the creek) by Verlag v. Albert Luft Hamburg serie Ostafrika 83 See Evans p2/3 but this card not listed. One of earliest postcards.
• Zanzibar Mizigani Road A.R.P. de Lord photo artist Zanzibar no 69 1911-1913 See Evans page 104/105 but this card with RR not listed.  Notice the many ancient canons laying on the beach!
• A street in Zanzibar 1907-1911 Evans Page 227 but without number "184"
• Zanzibar Mizigani Road  by P. de Lord Photo-artist no 53 Evans page 105 item 53 (47905) 1911-1913
• Zanzibar Natives of East Africa ARP de Lord photo artist Zanzibar  49508  p 105  item 75, this card missing in Evans published 1911-1913

1. The Early postcards of Zanzibar by P.C. Evans East Africa Study Circle 2005

Ivory and Omani doors

Four postcards with Zanzibari / Omani carved doors. Two of the postcards also show large Ivory Tusks.

1. The early postcards of Zanzibar 2005 by P.C. Evans East Africa study circle page 38 (and on the front cover of the book)
2. "Doors of Zanzibar"  Photographs by Uwe Rau Text by Mwalim shows many more doors
3.  Tribute to Oman 1994 "in side the walls" Robert Richmond and Rachael Marskell p 91-97  

Below you find a Yutube film with many old pictures of Zanzibar:

The postcard has been produced in Germany with the title " Ein fest der eingeborenen"  Meaning a party of the locals. The postcard was published by 48 C.A.W. Grun Hambg-Ohlsdorf.

A very strange coincidence is that, years later,  in 1924 Emily Ruete was buried in the cemetery of Ohlsdorf, close to Hamburg.  

References: 

1. The Early postcards of Zanzibar by P.C. Evans East Africa Study Circle 2005

Rare photo (silver print) There is an early "Coutinho Brothers Photographers" stamp on the back of the photo. Coutinho brothers Zanzibar were active between 1870 and 1905. The started as one of the first professional photographers in the 1870's. A few years later another studio was opened in Dar-es-Salam. Around 1890 the cooperation between the brothers ended and J.B. Coutinho started a studio with A.C. Gomes (who had started as a photographer 20 years earlier in Aden) In 1898 the partnership between J.B. Coutinho and Gomes ended and the Coutinho brothers rejoined. In 1905 the Countinho brothers split again.

 Swahili ladies combing Hair in Zanzibar around 1890

See the wood section for an example of a smilar comb

References: 

1. Another antique  print of the same photo is in the Winterton collection of the North Western  university (but that print with a fold bottom right) Zanzibar envelope 62 Object ID: 62-7
2. Catalogue of the photographic archive of the Winterton collection, published by  Allsworth rare books, London (no date) Page 85 section 62 item 7.

The Comorros islands .During the 19th century there were quite a few immigrants from the Commores living in Zanzibar. There was even a Commore quarter in Zanzibar city.

In 1866 the large sultanate Ndzuwani on Anjouan island in de Commores was made a French protectorate. The French, the British and the Germans wanted to exercise power and trade on the Commores. On 24 June 1886, the islands of Ngazidja or (Grande Comore in French) comprised eleven sultanates, but, in 1886, the Sultan Tibe (paramount ruler and Sultan) of Bambao unified them, Ndzuwani (Anjouan), and Mwali sultanate (Mohéli island in French) became French protectorates, French residents were posted on the three islands;

On 5 September 1887 they were collectively renamed Protectorate of the Comoros. In 1892 Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar was banished to Reunion.  On 9 April 1908, France declared the Comoros a dependent territory of its Madagascar colony. On 25 July 1912, the island was annexed by France and joined with Mayotte as Mayotte and dependencies, after the ratification on 23 February 1914 subordinated to the governor general of Madagascar (Comoros dependent colony). Said Ali bin Said Omar went to court. The French judges awarded him a re-compensation for his losses. Saidi Ali ibn Saidi Omar died February 10, 1916 in Tamatave on Madagascar.  Added a later postcard (around 1900) with two Arabs from the island Anjouan also in Omani dress reflecting again the influence of the Arabs of Zanzibar on other islands in the region.  

CDV (Cart de Visite) by Trinquart Rue de port Mahon,Paris. She was the daughter of Sultan Ramanateka and princess Rovao, who originated from Madagascar.Size 6,5 by 10,5 cm. She reigned the island between 1849 and 1867. She died when she was 42. Her father swore alliance to Said bin Sultan of Zanzibar. On May 26 1849

All her live she was a pawn of local political groups that were pro-French or pro-British. As a child  the French hoped to gain influence in Moheli by sending a French governess named madame Droit. However the French  Oktober 1851, following a revolt, she changed her name to Djoumbe Fatima. In 1852 she agrees to marry a pro British cousin of Sultan Said bin Sultan of Zanzibar named M'Kadara., they got three children. One day M'kadara is on a mission in Zanzibar, but on his return the government of Moheli forbade him entry.  Djoumbe asked the French for help, but because of the great local resistance the problem cannot be solved. Finally Djoumbe Fatima agrees to marry the pro-French prince of Anjouan, Said Omar. This marriage does not last very long and Djoumbe reunites with her years-long lover, the Frenchman Joseph Lambert (1824-1873) Lambert is a wealthy adventurer who did a lot of trade in the Indian ocean.

The Omani dress and jewellery must be linked to her relationship with Zanzibari Omani  M'Kadara the cousin of sultan Said bin Sultan.

Antique photo Djoumbe Fatima photo taken before 1874

Antique postcard with two Anjouan men, Anjou is part of the  Comorro islands,

The two men are wearing the cloths of Omani officials and the Omani Saidi Khanjar (dagger).  A lot of people from the Comoros islands were living in Zanzibar during the 19th century.