1886-1918 1939-1964







Regular Stamps issued for Zanzibar over the Years



Between the Wars, 1918-1939



After World War I, GERMAN EAST AFRICA, now named Tanganyika, as a B mandate of the LEAGUE OF NATIONS, was granted to Britain. Little changed on Zanzibar, which continuously was treated as a British protectorate.
There was no British attempt to settle the island. The island, having lost it's economic hinterland in 1886 - the mainland ports of Mombasa (Kenya) and Daressalaam (Tanganyika) had taken over the port functions for these areas - now depended on it's main export product, cloves.
In 1926, a LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY was introduced which took over the function of the advisory council. The laws of Zanzibar (based on Islamic law, new decrees influenced by British law) were first codified in 1922.
British residents : 1930-1937 Sir R.S. Rankine, 1937-1940 Sir J.H. Hall. According to a census undertaken in 1931, the population of Zanzibar and Pemba combined was 250,000, of them 199,750 Africans, 34,000 Arabs, 16,000 Indians, 250 Europeans.
Until 1936 the Indian rupee, the Omani pice and Zanzibar currency board coins were simultaneously used. In 1936 Zanzibar joined the EAST AFRICAN CURRENCY BASIN, the standard coin being the East African Shilling. Zanzibar and Pemba continued to dominate world CLOVE production.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Zanzibar, from Zanzibar.net
Articles from Infoplease : Zanzibar
Links to Zanzibar History, from Looksmart
Zanzibar History Page from Zanzinet, detailed subfiles
History of Tanzania, from geographia.com
DOCUMENTS Banknotes of Zanzibar, from Currency Museum; from Numismondo
List of Sultans of Zanzibar, from Regnal Chronologies, scroll down for Zanzibar
Paper Money of the East African Currency Board, from African Banknotes
REFERENCES South and East African Year Book and Guide, 49th edition 1949 pp.764, 852-856 [G]
Article : British East Africa : Zanzibar , in : Statesman's Yearbook 1919 pp.184-190, 1924 pp.193-198, 1925 pp.197-202, 1926 pp.201-206, 1928 pp.199-204, 1929 pp.200-205, 1932 pp.203-208, 1937 pp.223-227 [G]
Article : Zanzibar, in : Americana Annual 1927 p.904, 1928 p.836, 1930 p.830, 1931 p.814, 1932 p.780, 1933 pp.817-818, 1934 pp.650-651, 1935 pp.785-786, 1936 pp.799-800, 1937 p.765, 1938 p.764, 1939 p.837, 1940 pp.846-847 [G]
Article : British East Africa, in : Americana Annual 1930 pp.129-131, 1931 pp.125-126 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on August 27th 2007

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