Abdullah our tour guide is very thorough and detailed in his historical tour of the town. He starts off by explaining how the name Zanzibar was derived from the arabic words for "Coast of Black People". All along the coast of E. Africa, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, etc. have heavy black populations. There was no indigenous people on Zanzibar when it came under Persian rule (Iranians) in the 9th century followed by the Portuguese during the 16th and 17th century. It finally came under Arab rule during the 18th and 19th century. This is when the slave trade increased significantly under the Sultan of Oman and Zanzibar with the flow of Zanj (Bantu) slaves from South East Africa. It increased unabated until the British forced the Sultan of the day to abolish it in 1873.
But before we get into the history of the Slave Trade, you need to know the history of the Indians and the Arabs that settled here and the significance of their doors. The East Indian homes have large balconies with balustrades so they could go out on them and greet people. The Arabs, on the other hand, had no balconies and had bars in their window. This was because they were very jealous and did not want other men seeing their wives. They've come a long way. The design of the doors have real significance in terms of status, ethnicity and occupation. Most Arabian doors have large brass studs shaped like bullets protruding form the door and arranged in a matrix fashion. This was a carry-over from their homelands where they had a practical purpose for stopping elephants from pushing through their doors. There are no elephants on Zanzibar. The doors are large and have intricate, detailed carvings and we took plenty pictures of doors some over a 1,000 years old. If they were a slave traders, they would have chain links carved around the perimeter of the door. If Arabian, it would have the Quran carved above the door. If there were pineapples in the carvings it meant that you were welcomed into their home. And finally, if there was a lion(s) carving, it meant that you were part of the Sultan's family. East Indian doors were also large but very different in design. The doors were adorned with small boxes in a symmetrical pattern but had no significance other than purely decorative.
The Slave Trade which was the reason why we hired a tour guide was beyond what we expected in terms of cruelty and brutality. The slave trade in East Africa served primarily the Arab countries and the spice plantations on Zanzibar island. Whereas, West Africa slave trade primarily served the plantations in the U.S. When the British abolished the slave trade along with the Sultan in 1873 they erected a Anglican church on the site of the slave trade. Of note, of 1.4 million population of Zanzibar, 97% are Muslim, 2% are Christian and 1% are Hindi. This church is one of only two Christian churches in the country, the other being Catholic. The inspiration that the English missionaries had behind building their church on this site was to replace the bad with something good. In front of the alter there is red marble with beige marble in the centre. The beige marble was where the "whipping" tree stood and all slaves were whipped there and if they survived the whipping they would go into the auction two weeks later when their scars heeled. The red marble symbolizes the blood spilt during these brutal whippings that trenched the ground around the tree. Many died from the brutality in an already weakened state. Behind the alter is the grave of Edward Steere the designer and builder of the Church. Steere became friends with another famous Brit name Dr. David Livingstone of famed explorers, Stanley & Livingstone. Livingstone, as my siblings Jeff and Lynda pointed out to me, achieved fame when he discovered Victoria Falls trying to locate the start of the Nile. Livingstone told the British rulers about the plight of the slaves in Africa that resulted in England sending missionaries to East Africa which ultimately led to them abolishing the slave trade. Livingstone loved Africa so much that he had his heart buried under a tree in Zambia. A cross carved from that tree hangs in this church in his name. At the back of the church, there are 12 marble pillars representing the 12 disciples of Jesus. While Steere was away on a short trip, the labourers installed the pillars upside down which is how they have remained. And finally, also at the back of the church is the baptismal font. The reason it is located at the back of the church instead of its normal place at the front of the church is because all slave children under 5 years of age were slaughtered on that actual spot.
Seventeen years ago a tourist from Sweden named Clare Sornas was so moved by the history of the slave trade that she financed a monument of 5 life-size statues of slaves made out of coquina stone linked together by chains in a slave chamber. The 5 statues represent slaves from 5 different tribes chained together which was a common practice to prevent them from organizing an escape. The final part of our tour involved us going under ground into the slave chambers. This was actually hideous. The ceilings were no higher than 5' 9" with elevated slabs on either side where the slaves slept with a trench down the centre for when the ocean overflowed and to use as a toilet. The elevated slabs were less than 3 feet from the ceiling. The larger chamber was perhaps 25 ft. X 15 ft. and housed 75 slaves at a time, chained together at all times made up of women and children. The smaller chamber was about 15 ft. X 15 ft. that housed 50 males. Three slits in the end wall allowed for air to come in but they were maybe an inch wide. The rooms were incredibly claustrophobic. Again, no food or water for 3 days and those who survived were deemed strong enough to sell. You will need to see the pictures to believe it. Di and I found this to be more disturbing than Dachau which we visited it in 1985. I thank the tour guide, Amilcar, who took us through the history of the slave trade and could not resist asking him if he was a descendant from the slave trade. He smiled and said there were no black people on the island before the slave trade and there is no distinct tribe on the island. He then simply said "yes".
Our next stop was the Palace Museum, originally built and ruled by the Portuguese from 1804 t0 1856 when the Arabs kicked the Portuguese out of Zanzibar. Several Sultans would call this home and they all proved to be a "randy" bunch. The two sons of the first Sultan came from different women in the Sultan's concubine because his formal wives did not give birth to boys. One was the son of a Russian slave and the other an Ethiopian slave. They ultimately warred when Barghash attempted to take the throne from his brother Majid which ended up being a short-lived failed coup. Nothing of consequence happened and they resolved their differences with Barghash took over as ruler from 1870 to 1888.
We then visited the market to see the fish auction which also houses a vegetable and a meat market. You really need a stomach for this because it was very hot, open sided and dingy inside and festered with flies and an odour that was revolting. Having said that, we stomached watching the fish auction and a bunch of buyers and sellers (couldn't tell them apart) with an auctioneer did their trades. Bare handed, fish right on the floor, everyone is slimy clothes, we lost our appetite for fish. The meat and the vegetable markets were marginally better but they appeared to be doing a brisk business. We think we are going to stick to coffee and only fruit that you have to peel! LOL
Our last significant stop is the "House of Wonders" built by Sultan Seyyid Said Barghash (same one who took over after a failed bloodless coup). The reason it was called the House of Wonders it was the first home/building on the island to have electricity and running water. Later on, when elevators were invented, he had one installed by none other than Otis elevators. Ultimately it became the seat of government in 1913 but the last Sultan to rule there greeting Princess Margaret in 1953 with a portrait of her sister Queen Elizabeth at her coronation 1n 1952. The last surviving Sultan of this clan now lives in Portsmouth, England.
This is our last full day and last blog covering our journey. In a few short hours I will post an acknowledgement of all those people who helped, encouraged and supported our "trip of a lifetime". You might just be in it.
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