Anglo-Zanzibar War (1896): The Shortest War in Recorded History

The Anglo-Zanzibar War was a brief conflict on 27 August 1896 between the United Kingdom and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, off the coast of East Africa. British warships bombarded the sultan’s palace for around 40 minutes until the would-be sultan’s forces gave up, making it the shortest war in recorded history.

Background

Zanzibar was a wealthy island state whose Omani-descended sultans had long controlled trade along the East African coast, including a huge trade in enslaved people, ivory and cloves. During the Scramble for Africa Britain and Germany divided the sultan’s mainland territories. Under the Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty of 1890 Germany recognised a British protectorate over the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.

Under British pressure, Sultan Barghash, Khalid’s father, had closed Zanzibar’s great slave market in 1873, but slavery itself remained legal on the islands, where enslaved people worked the clove plantations. Ending it was one of Britain’s declared aims in the region.

Britain exercised real power through its consul and through Lloyd Mathews, a former Royal Navy officer who served as the sultan’s first minister and commanded his army. An earlier agreement gave Britain a say over who could become sultan.

The succession crisis

On 25 August 1896 Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini, who had cooperated with the British, died suddenly; some contemporaries suspected poison. Within hours his cousin Khalid bin Barghash, son of a former sultan, moved into the palace complex and proclaimed himself sultan. The British favoured another relative, Hamud bin Muhammed. Khalid had already tried to claim the throne when Sultan Ali bin Said died in 1893, but had been talked out of it by the British consul, and the British were determined not to let him succeed this time.

The British consul, Basil Cave, told Khalid to step down. Khalid instead gathered around 2,800 armed men, including palace guards, servants and enslaved people, along with some artillery and machine guns. He also manned the sultan’s armed yacht, the Glasgow, in the harbour.

British ships gathered offshore. By 26 August Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson had arrived with additional vessels, giving him five warships, among them the cruisers St George and Philomel. Cave issued an ultimatum: Khalid and his men must leave the palace by 9:00 a.m. on 27 August.

The war

Khalid’s last message, sent shortly before the deadline, declared that he did not believe the British would open fire. At 9:00 a.m. on 27 August the ships began shelling the palace complex. The wooden buildings were quickly wrecked and set ablaze, and the defenders’ guns were silenced.

The Glasgow fired on the cruiser St George and was sunk in reply; its crew were rescued by British sailors. Within roughly 40 minutes the palace flag had fallen and firing stopped. British sailors and loyalist Zanzibari troops then occupied the ruins. Around 500 defenders were killed or wounded, while one British petty officer was seriously wounded.

Aftermath

Khalid escaped to the German consulate, which refused to hand him over. In October 1896 he was taken off to German East Africa, on the mainland. He was captured by British forces in 1916, during the First World War, and exiled to the Seychelles and Saint Helena before being allowed to return to East Africa. He died in Mombasa in 1927.

Hamud bin Muhammed was installed as sultan the same afternoon. Under British pressure he issued a decree in April 1897 abolishing the legal status of slavery in Zanzibar, though it took years to take full effect. The government charged Khalid’s supporters for the cost of the shells used against them. Zanzibar remained a British protectorate until independence in 1963, after which it united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form Tanzania.

Myths and facts

• Myth: the war lasted exactly 38 minutes. That figure is the best known, but contemporary accounts give times between about 38 and 45 minutes.
• Fact: the House of Wonders (Beit al-Ajaib), one of Zanzibar’s best-known buildings, was damaged in the bombardment and repaired afterwards; it lies within the Stone Town World Heritage Site.
• Fact: Admiral Rawson commanded another British punitive operation just months later, the Benin Expedition of 1897.

Timeline

• 1890, 1 July: Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty; Zanzibar becomes a British protectorate later that year.
• 1896, 25 August: Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini dies; Khalid bin Barghash seizes the palace.
• 1896, 26 August: Britain issues an ultimatum expiring at 9:00 a.m. the next day.
• 1896, 27 August, 9:00 a.m.: British warships open fire on the palace.
• 1896, 27 August, about 9:40 a.m.: Firing stops; Hamud bin Muhammed is installed as sultan.
• 1897, April: Zanzibar decrees the abolition of slavery.
• 1916: British forces capture Khalid in German East Africa.

Why it matters

The Anglo-Zanzibar War is remembered for its extraordinary brevity, but it also shows how imperial powers controlled nominally independent states. A single morning’s bombardment decided who would rule Zanzibar and confirmed Britain’s dominance over the islands for the next 67 years.