Sayyid Sa‘īd ibn Sultan

Sayyid Sa‘īd ibn Sultan (1791-1856), sultan of Oman and the East African island of Zanzibar (1806-1856), who developed Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) into a dominant trading power. Sa‘īd was born in Samā’il, Oman, a member of the country’s ruling Al Bu Sa‘īd dynasty. Upon his father’s death in 1804, Sa‘īd and his brother Salim ibn Sultan were designated to share the sultanate, but his cousin Badr ibn Saif seized the throne. Sa‘īd’s cousin was assassinated in 1806 and Sa‘īd assumed the title of sultan. The early years of his reign were marked by local conflicts and challenges to his authority.

By the early 1820s Sa‘īd had established effective control over his Persian Gulf domains, and he turned his attention to East African coastal territories that had slipped from the Omani government’s control in the 18th century. Sa‘īd visited East Africa in 1828, and soon thereafter he began to purchase land on the agriculturally rich and commercially important island of Zanzibar. Local East African authorities, especially in Mombasa, strongly resisted Sa‘īd's efforts to develop Zanzibar, but by the late 1830s the Arab sultan had become the dominant power in the region. By 1840 he had made Zanzibar his principal residence.

With strong military and naval resources on Zanzibar and nearby Pemba Island, Sa‘īd was able to extend influence over much of the coastal mainland territory that became his loosely controlled commercial empire. Realizing the agricultural potential of Zanzibar and Pemba, Sa‘īd undertook measures to stimulate the development of clove plantations. The islands soon became a principal source of the world's clove supply. Under Sa‘īd's leadership, Zanzibar became a principal base for Arab and African trade caravans traveling into the interior of east central Africa. The port of Zanzibar developed into a major trade center for African, Arab, Indian, European, and American merchants. The principal African commodities exchanged included cloves, ivory, gum resin, cowrie shells, hides, and sesame.

Another major activity in Zanzibar under Sa‘īd was the trade in African slaves both for use on the clove plantations and for export to southwest Asia. Britain had developed close ties with the Al Bu Sa‘īd dynasty in Oman and had followed Sa‘īd's move to Zanzibar with interest. One strand of British policy was devoted to ending the African slave trade. Recognizing the necessity of cooperating with Britain—the principal power in the Indian Ocean world at that time—Sa‘īd compromised when pressured. Treaties established in 1822 and 1845 limited the slave trade, but effective measures against it did not occur during Sa‘īd's lifetime.

Although Sa‘īd never established effective political control over the peoples of the East African interior, Zanzibari traders did inaugurate lasting contacts that aided the spread of Islam and the Swahili language. This cultural legacy is the principal lasting accomplishment of Sa‘īd's 50-year reign.