Source: Roz Dhan ("Ankit Shrivastava")
credit: third party image reference
On the 25th of August 1896, the Sultan of the Zanzibar Sultanate, Hamad bin Thuwaini died. It was a very sudden death and many suspect that his own cousin, Khalid bin Barghash, poisoned him. Khalid bin Barghash would go on to become the Sultan in his stead. This was against a previous treaty that they had signed with Britain, whose dominion Zanzibar fell under, in 1886, which stated that any successions would require Britain’s approval.
credit: third party image reference
Seeing this breach, the British government issued an ultimatum to bin Barghash: "Your forces must stand down and you must leave the palace." In response, bin Barghash called up his palace guard and barricaded himself in the palace. At 8 a.m. on the morning of the 27th of August, 1896, the British sent a messenger to speak with Khalid saying that the only way this ends peacefully would be if he agreed to the terms of the ultimatum. At 8:30 a.m., Khalid replied: "We have no intention of hauling down our flag and we do not believe you would open fire on us."
The ultimatum expired at 9 a.m. at which time the British gathered their forces consisting of: three cruisers, two gunboats, 150 marines and sailors, and 900 Zanzibaris. The Sultan had 2,800 Zanzibaris defending the palace made up of citizens, some palace guards, and a few hundred slaves. They had some artillery pieces and machine guns pointed at the British ships. At 9:02 a.m., the Anglo-Zanzibar War started, with the first bombardment by the British ships: disabling their artillery and setting the palace on fire.
Khalid, as it turns out, was very wrong. The shelling ceased at 9:40 a.m.. The palace was on fire. 500 of the Sultan’s forces were injured or killed. His artillery was destroyed. The Sultan’s flag was cut down. The war was over. Yes, you read that right: The war started at 9:02 a.m. and finished at 9:40 a.m. During those 38 minutes, the British ships and crews had fired around 500 shells, 4,100 machine gun rounds and 1,000 rifle rounds. Khalid was smuggled through the backdoor of the palace while it was on fire. He was brought to the German consulate, where he was sent to German East Africa and was given political asylum.
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