Zanzibar is an insular autonomous region of Tanzania. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands and two large ones: Unguja and Pemba Island. The capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is Stone Town, a World Heritage Site.
Tippu Tip, or Tippu Tib, real name Hamad bin Muhammad bin Juma bin Rajab el Murjebi, was an Afro-Arab ivory and slave trader, explorer, governor and plantation owner. He worked for a succession of the sultans of Zanzibar. Tippu Tip traded in slaves for Zanzibar's clove plantations. As part of the large and lucrative ivory trade, he led many trading expeditions into Central Africa, constructing profitable trading posts deep into the region. He bought the ivory from local suppliers and resold it for a profit at coastal ports. He was also the most well known slave trader in Africa, supplying much of the world with black slaves.
Stone Town of Zanzibar, also known as Mji Mkongwe, is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo, Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat.
Colonization of the Congo basin refers to the European colonization of the Congo Basin of tropical Africa. It was the last part of the continent to be colonized. By the end of the 19th century, the Basin had been carved up by European colonial powers, into the Congo Free State, the French Congo and the Portuguese Congo.
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated 341 kilometres (212 mi) by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. It is the headquarters of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Jozani is a village on the Tanzanian island of Unguja. It is located in the southeast of the island, 3.1 miles south of Chwaka Bay, close to the edge of the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park. It is primarily a farming community of about 800 people. located 21.7 miles south-east of Zanzibar Town off the road leading to Paje, Zanzibar. It is easily reached by public buses 309 and 310, by chartered taxi or as an organized tour from Zanzibar Town. These tours are often in combination with dolphin observation in Kizimkazi, one of Zanzibar's oldest settlements with a tiny 12th century mosque open to public. The main road on the island, connecting the west and east coasts of Zanzibar, also connects to Jozani. Besides public bus routes 9, 10 and 13, you can also get here from Zanzibar Town by dala-dala number 309, 310, 324, and 326. Jozani is a small and rural village, situated in the innermost part of the Pete Inlet Bay, immediately south of the Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park. It is one of six rural villages surrounding the park. Residents here depend to a large degree on the Jozani Forest as a source of firewood, hunting, building resources, farming, fishing, and more. The village also operates ecotourism in the Jozani Forest and has constructed a 0.6 mile boardwalk through the mangroves at the southern road entrance into the national park. Many villagers work as authorized guides for tours in the southern tip of Jozani Forest.
Changuu Island is a small island 5.6 km northwest of Stone Town, Unguja, Zanzibar. The island is around 800m long and 230m wide at its broadest point. The island saw use as a prison for rebellious slaves in 1860s and also functioned as a coral mine.
The House of Wonders or Palace of Wonders is a landmark building in Stone Town, Zanzibar. It is the largest and tallest building of Stone Town and occupies a prominent place facing the Forodhani Gardens on the old town's seafront, in Mizingani Road. It is located between the Old Fort and the Palace Museum. It is one of six palaces built by Barghash bin Said, second Sultan of Zanzibar, and it is said to be located on the site of the 17th-century palace of Zanzibari queen Fatuma. The House of Wonders housed the Museum of History and Culture of Zanzibar and the Swahili Coast.
Shetani are spirits of East African mythology and popular belief. Mostly malevolent, and found in many different forms and different types with different powers, shetani are a popular subject of carved artwork, especially by the Makonde people of Tanzania, Mozambique, and Kenya. Physically, shetani of various types appear as distorted human and animal figures.
Nungwi, or Ras Nungwi, is a large village located in the far northern end of the island of Zanzibar. With a population of about 5,563, Nungwi is the second- or third-largest settlement on the island, possibly smaller than Makunduchi. It is situated in the Nungwi Ward in the Kaskazini A District of the Unguja North Region. It is about 35 miles (56 km) north of Zanzibar Town on the Nungwi Peninsula, about an hour drive from Stone Town. To the south Nungwi shares a border with the neighboring Matemwe- and Tazari villages. Nungwi was traditionally a fishing village and dhow-building center, but is now a popular tourist destination, and for instance recognized in CNN’s list of "100 best beaches of the world" in 2014. West Nungwi has changed a lot since the 1990s and is now a popular tourist destination with numerous resorts, restaurants, bars, stores, etc. East Nungwi is quieter and generally more laid-back.
The Congo–Arab War was fought in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo between the forces of Belgian King Leopold II's Congo Free State and various Zanzibari Arab slave traders led by Sefu bin Hamid, Tippu Tip's son. It was a proxy war in eastern Congo from 1892 to 1894, with most of the fighting being done by native Congolese, who aligned themselves with either side and sometimes switched sides.
Malindi Mosque is a mosque in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania, located near the port. It stems from the 1830s but was possible built on the site of an elder mosque that might have dated back to the 17th century or earlier. Some travel guides claim an origin in the 15th century.
Muhammad bin Khalfan bin Khamis al-Barwani, commonly known as Rumaliza, was an Arab trader of ivory active in Central and East Africa in the last part of the nineteenth century. He was a member of the Arabian Barwani tribe. With the help of Tippu Tip he became Sultan of Ujiji. At one time he dominated the trade of Tanganyika, before being defeated by Belgian forces under Baron Francis Dhanis in January 1894.
Sefu bin Hamid was an Arab Zanzibari slave trader and the son of Tippu Tip. He was killed while fighting in the Congo–Arab War.
Joseph François Lippens was a Lieutenant in the Force Publique of the Congo Free State during the Congo Arab War. He was killed by the soldiers of Sefu bin Hamid.
Henri De Bruyne was a sergeant in the Force Publique of the Congo Free State that was sent to Kasongo, Congo Free State, in 1890. He was killed by the soldiers of Sefu bin Hamid.
Fatuma binti Yusuf al-Alawi was a queen of Unguja in pre-Sultanate Zanzibar. A supporter of the Portuguese in their war against Oman, she sent supplies to the Europeans at the Siege of Fort Jesus. She was captured during the subsequent Omani occupation of Zanzibar and exiled to Oman. Allowed to return in 1709 she ruled the island as a client state of Oman for the rest of her life.
Tippu Tip's state (1860–1887), sometimes called the sultanate of Utetera, was one of the Arab sultanates established in eastern Africa. A 19th century short-lived state ruled by the infamous Swahili slave trader Tippu Tip and his son Sefu. The capital of the state was the town of Kasongo. Tippu Tip's controlled territory reached as far to eastern Kasai and to Aruwimi Basin in the west.
Zanzibari independence is a political ambition of some political parties, advocacy groups, and individuals of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region territory within Tanzania, to become an independent sovereign state.
