Rare original photo of the Sultan of Zanzibar Seyyid Hamad bin Thuwaini Al-Busaid (ruled 1893-1896) The Sultan sits on a chair wearing a Saidi Khanjar, a sword and wooden slippers.
Sultan Hamad was pro British, but he was succeeded by Khalid bin Barghash Al-Busaid (1874 – 1927) who was anti-British ( but pro-German).
Another image of this photo has been printed in Ref 1, the catalogue describing the Winterton Africana collection page 138 album 73 item 27.
Photographer unknown. Size of photo 14 by 22 cm
Sultan of Zanzibar Abdul Hamid bin Thuwaini Al-Busaid (ruled 1893-1896)
In August 1896, Britain and Zanzibar fought a 38-minute war (killing 500 defenders) the shortest in recorded history, after Khalid bin Barghash had taken power after Hamid bin Thuwaini's death (poisoned?) . The British had wanted Hamoud bin Mohammed to become Sultan, believing that he would be much easier to work with. The British gave Khalid an hour to vacate the Sultan's palace in Stone Town. Khalid failed to do so, and instead assembled an army of 2,800 men to fight the British. The British launched an attack on the palace and other locations around the city. Khalid retreated (to the German consulate) and went to German East Africa. Hamoud was then installed as Sultan.