Inhumane

Stone Town, on the island of Zanzibar, is a unique cultural and human experience.  It is also a United Nations Cultural Heritage site.  It is a maze of alleys, spice markets, people, and traffic congestion that informs the stated cosmopolitan nature of the island.  Zanzibar is a mix of African, Arab and Indian cultures.   However, there is little diversity in terms of religion as it is 95% Muslim.  A man in our safari group, who is now a US citizen but hails from India, noted the similarities between food in India and that in Africa and on Zanzibar.  Yet, this island was also home to the last open slave market in the world.  Slavery shows the brutality of human to human, in other words how inhumane one can be to another.

Anglican Church, Whipping Post is in front of Altar
(behind person in blue shirt in center front of photo)

In addition to the above description, in the 19th century Stone Town was also teeming with slaves--both those on the trading block and those who were serving as slaves. Today, a good part of the the native population  may well be a mix of varied ethnic groups, although most are probably heavy in the Arab-Islamic heritage.   While on Zanzibar we had the opportunity to visit the former slave market on which today sits an Anglican Church.  In fact, you could say that much of what one sees in Stone Town today, which dates from about 1835 or later, is a result of man's inhumanity to man--the slave trade.  The slave trade was efficiently and brutally executed by the Muslim rulers of the island.

Slave holding pen, the lower area is where the human waste would go

Zanzibar has been settled for over 20,000 years.  Civilization is often trade based, and  trade has created settlements.  That is the case with Zanzibar which became a trading hub between the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.  Its tropical climate led to the establishment of spice plantations, some of which still exist today.  As difficult as seafaring was, it was probably easier and more efficient than crossing deserts, and tropical forests.  Many of the Zanzibars original settlers were from Yemen and other far east Arabian countries.  It came under Portuguese rule for two hundred years ending in 1698 when it came under the control of the Sultan of Oman.  At this point, the Portuguese were expelled and with the Muslim rulers the slave and ivory trade would thrive.  A forced land distribution required all fertile land to come under the ownership of the Sultan.  In 1840 the Sultan of Oman moved his palace to Stone Town. His palace is still there today, but not open to the public. Slavery was the most profitable occupation on Zanzibar.  The Sultan encouraged the slave trade as he made money off each exchange.  Money is powerful.  Interestingly, the exhibit we saw noted that "Slavery had always been a component of traditional East African society."  I was not aware that slavery was endemic in the African culture.  Perhaps slaves in East Africa became slaves in the harems of the Sultans of Persia.

Market aisle

It is said that about 40,000 to 50,000 human beings a year  were taken to Zanzibar from East Africa for sale in the slave market. The quarry of humans were packed into boats called dhows for the journey to the island. Upon arrival they were marched naked through the streets to the slave holding pens and the market, while guarded by slaves loyal to the Sultan.  When on the island every part of their body was inspected and graded. They would typically spend about two days on the island. Of this number about a third would go to work on the island's plantation and others back to the continent as laborers.  The remainder, bout 25%,  would go to coastal settlements on the Arabia and the Indian Ocean. About 30% of the male slaves on the island plantations died every year, due to the harsh conditions. One American diplomat referred to the Oman Arab rulers of Zanzibar as promoting a culture of violence. Brute force and cruelty were prized as virtues.

Spices at Market

The slave trade on Zanzibar was shut down by the British in 1873, although it continued to flourish illegally until 1909.   The exhibit says the following about the British involvement in ending slavery in Zanzibar:  "The movement of the abolition of slavery in the Indian Ocean was led, ironically, by Britain--the very nation that initiated the Atlantic slave trading system 250 years before.  Britain dominated the slave trade from the mid 16th century for 200 years."  The British empire established and profited handsomely for over 200 years from the slave trade.  While we know the US would abolish slavery as a result of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War, the Brits banned it in England and many of their "sun never sets"colonies in 1834.  By comparison the Spanish banned slavery in Spain and their colonies in 1811, although Cuba would disobey the decree.  The Anglican church that sits part of the slave market has the former whipping post of the market located in front of  its altar.

Alley in Stone Town

The Roman Catholic Church would reestablish itself in Zanzibar in 1860, and at that time they teamed with the Spiritins, a group who had worked to abolish slavery in other parts of the world.  Together they purchased slaves and resettled them in free communities.  The Quakers and other religious groups were also involved in tampering the Zanzibar slave trade.  

Detail of wood door opening
notice the chain

Stone Town is along the west shore of the island, toward the continent, about the center as the island stretches lengthwise north to south.   Zanzibar was home to the island's most notorious slave trader, plantation owner, and ivory purveyor and seller, a man who worked for several Sultans, and was Governor of a territory in the Congo, the man was known as Tippu Tip.  Tippu Tip, made journeys into the heart of Africa to obtain ivory.  I suspect he also obtained men, women and children for the slave market during these journeys.  This one man owned over 10,000 slaves! Of those humans traded, the most expensive price paid was not for the strong young men, but rather for the beautiful young, healthy girls who would become part of a harem of the Muslim-Arab owners.  Children, while in demand, did not bring as high a price simply because there was such a good supply.  Those who worked at menial labor and households brought the lower prices.  Categorization of slaves was done by what work they would perform.  

Catholic Priest who gave us a tour
of  St. Joseph Cathedral

Many of the homes in Stone Town have decorative hand carved wood doors that acted as a calling card for the owner.  Yet, the carvings told a story of the man of the house and his family.  On some there is a chain carved into the door to indicate either, or both, a slave owner or a slave trader.  The home is which Freddie Mercury was born in Stone Town does not have a decorative carved entry.  The home is now a hotel.

Sultan's Palace

The British loved to rape their colonies for resources and in 1890 gained more control of the island, although the Sultan was allowed to remain and provide some level of rule, so it was almost a joint government.  However, on August 27, 1896 the Anglo--Zanzibar war was begun by the Sultan to regain control of the island, but the war ended in favor of the British in a span of 38 to 45 minutes, depending upon the account. At the conclusion of the war the Sultan was expelled and full rule by the British would occur.   In December 1963, the United Kingdom turned Zanzibar over to control by the Sultan as a constitutional monarchy.   The British love their monarchies.  However, a revolution, led by a Ugandan overthrew the monarchy in January the following year.  The revolution would lead to the massacre of about 5,000 to 12,000 Zanzibar-ans of Arab descent.  The revolution also broke the hold of the Arab/Asian ruling class.  In 1964 Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika, and is now Tanzania.  While one country, going into Zanzibar from Dar Es Salaam, one would have thought all the paper work and interview upon arrival that you were going into another country.  My goodness it is easier to get into Illinois from Wisconsin, even with all the tollways.

Stone Town Harbor

Due to the slave trade Zanzibar has a unique place in the history of the world, at least according to the UN.  A sad commentary that such a trade would lead to a place sufficiently unique to be considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but that is how history works.  The slave trade continued for a long time, and remained even after being banned because, as the exhibit noted:  "all classes of society benefited from the slave trade." Africans, Europeans, Arabs and Asians all were involved in the Sultan approved trade of humans. The sad thing is that human bondage continues in the world.  The sex slaves at present time are today's version of the 18th to 19th century of the young women in the slave markets of Zanzibar sold to the Arab for his harem. 

Images by author, October 2019