1. Tanzania = Tanganyika + Zanzibar
Tanzania is a state which was born when Tanganyika and Zanzibar united as one state in 1964.
Tanzania's name:
Tan = from Tanganyika
Zan = from Zanzibar
Tanganyika's name:
Tanga = "to sail" in Swahili
Nyika = "wilderness"
Meaning of the name = sail in the wilderness
Zanzibar's name:
The beginning comes from the word "Zengi" = the name for a local people, also said to mean black
Barr = Arabic word, which means coast or shore
The flag of Tanzania was also a combination of Tanganyika's and Zanzibar's leading parties' flags
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| Flag of Tanganyika |
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| Flag of Zanzibar |
2. Zanzibar's History
Precolonial time
Swahili culture flourished as Arabs, Persians and Indians among others visited or migrated into Zanzibar. The Swahili architecture and building skills were very advanced.
Portuguese era 1503-1698
Vasco da Gama visited the area in 1498 and after that in 1503 or 1504 Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Colony. The Portuguese rule ended in 1698 when Zanzibar fell under the control of the Sultanate of Oman.
Sultanate of Oman 1698-1856
From 1698 until 1856 Zanzibar was part of the Sultanate of Oman. In 1832 or 1840 Said bin Sultan moved the capital from Oman to Zanzibar as Muscat was replaced by Stone Town as the capital of the Sultanate.
Sultanate of Zanzibar 1856-1964
In 1856 the Sultan died and his dominions were divided into two to his two sons. Thuwaini became the Sultan of Oman and the Said's other son Majid became the first Sultan of Zanzibar. The Swahili Coast was controlled by Zanzibar but in the late 1800s Great Britain and Germany colonized the mainland areas of Africa.
British Protectorate 1890-1964
In 1890 the Sultanate of Zanzibar became a British Protectorate, not a colony. Zanzibar was a Protectorate until 1964 when it became constitutional monarchy. Only a month after that the Zanzibar Revolution deposed the Sultanate and later that year Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika forming the present-day Tanzania.
Swahili culture flourished as Arabs, Persians and Indians among others visited or migrated into Zanzibar. The Swahili architecture and building skills were very advanced.
Portuguese era 1503-1698
Vasco da Gama visited the area in 1498 and after that in 1503 or 1504 Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Colony. The Portuguese rule ended in 1698 when Zanzibar fell under the control of the Sultanate of Oman.
Sultanate of Oman 1698-1856
From 1698 until 1856 Zanzibar was part of the Sultanate of Oman. In 1832 or 1840 Said bin Sultan moved the capital from Oman to Zanzibar as Muscat was replaced by Stone Town as the capital of the Sultanate.
Sultanate of Zanzibar 1856-1964
In 1856 the Sultan died and his dominions were divided into two to his two sons. Thuwaini became the Sultan of Oman and the Said's other son Majid became the first Sultan of Zanzibar. The Swahili Coast was controlled by Zanzibar but in the late 1800s Great Britain and Germany colonized the mainland areas of Africa.
British Protectorate 1890-1964
In 1890 the Sultanate of Zanzibar became a British Protectorate, not a colony. Zanzibar was a Protectorate until 1964 when it became constitutional monarchy. Only a month after that the Zanzibar Revolution deposed the Sultanate and later that year Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika forming the present-day Tanzania.
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| Sultanate of Oman-Zanzibar in c.1856 |
German Colony
In 1888 the German explorer Carl Peters rented land from the Sultan of Zanzibar for 50 years from the mainland of Tanzania to the German East Africa Company. The area was called Petersland but due to financial problems the area was sold to the German government and it became part of the German East Africa Colony.
Cause of the rebellion
The Maji Maji Rebellion lasted from 1905 to 1907 and it was triggered by a German policy designed to force the indigenous people to grow cotton for export. Each village had a goal about the amount of cotton that they were forced to produce.
The system changed the fabric of the society as the men of the villages had to leave their homes for work forcing the women to assume some traditional male roles. The discontent against the Germans and the drought in 1905 started the open rebellion against the Germans.
Shaman with war medicine
A man called Kinjikitile Ngwale claimed to be possessed by a snake spirit called Hongo. He called himself Bokero and created a belief that the Africans in German East Africa had been called to eliminate the Germans.
Bokero gave the fighters war medicine that would turn the German bullets into water. The "war medicine" was actually water mixed with castor oil and millet seeds. The war medicine didn't help, the rebellion was defeated. Water is "maji" in Kiswahili, which gave the name to the Maji Maji Rebellion.
Aftermath
A famine called Great Hunger followed the war mainly caused by the scorched-earth policy advocated by the German Gustav Adolf von Götzen.
German rule
The German rule in Tanganyika ended in the World War I and Tanganyika became a British mandate area in 1919.
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| Maji Maji Rebellion battle |
4. Kilimanjaro Myth
There's a widespread story about why Mount Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania and not in Kenya.
This myth says that Great Britain's Queen Victoria was at her children's wedding and heard her grandson the future German Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia to complain about the fact that the British had two mountains in East Africa and the Germans none. Then when the Kaiser had his birthday, Queen Victoria gave Mount Kilimanjaro as a birthday gift.
This is one of the myths explaining why the borderline is straight between Kenya and Tanzania except when it's broken in one point, where Mount Kilimanjaro is, with a small kink.
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| Mount Kilimanjaro 5895m |
5. Tanzanian Society
- One of the poorest countries in the world
- 49 million people
- Life expectancy 61 years
- About 125 ethnic groups
- Muslims 35%, Christian 30% and indigenous beliefs 35% according to estimates
- Swahili and English official languages
- With its over 100 languages Tanzania is the most linguistically diverse country in East Africa
- Languages of Tanzania belong to Bantu, Cushitic, Nilotic or Khoisan language families
- Despite the poverty Tanzania invested in people's basic needs like education, water supply in the villages and healthcare, which have improved
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| First president of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere |
Timeline
First wave of migration was by Southern Cushitic people and later Eastern Cushitic, Southern Nilotes, Eastern Nilotes and Bantu people
700s Arab merchants sailed to Sansibar establishing trade posts
700-800s Islam was practiced by some on the Swahili Coast
1100s The Swahili culture spread to the inlands
1498 The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visited the Tanzanian coast
1506 The Portuguese controlled most of the Southeast African litoral
1698 The Portuguese were ousted out from Zanzibar by Omani Arabs
1840 The Omani Sultan moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar and during this time it became the centre for the Arab slave trade
1888 German explorer Karl Peters rented an area from the coast for 50 years from the Sultan of Zanzibar. The area was named Petersland and it became part of the German East-Africa Company, which Peters had established
1891 Petersland became a colony of Germany and wasn't anymore a possession of the German East-Africa Company. At the same time Zanzibar became a British Protectorate
1905-1907 Maji Maji Rebellion against the Germans who had forced the population to grow cash crops
1919 German East-Africa was split between Great Britain and Belgium after the World War I as mandate areas, the British got Tanganyika and Belgium got Ruanda-Urundi
1954 TANU was established with the aim to achieve national sovereignty for Tanganyika
1961 Tanganyika became independent and its leader Julius Nyerere became the first president
1963 Zanzibar became an independent Sultanate
1964 After the Zanzibar Revolution Zanzibar and Tanganyika formed a union becoming the United Republic of Tanzania
1967 After the Arusha Declaration Nyerere started nationalizing banks and many large industries
1970-1975 China financed and helped building the 1860km long TAZARA Railway from Dar es Salaam to Zambia
1975 The capital was removed from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma
1967 After the Arusha Declaration Nyerere started nationalizing banks and many large industries
1970-1975 China financed and helped building the 1860km long TAZARA Railway from Dar es Salaam to Zambia
1975 The capital was removed from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma
1978 Tanzania had some border skirmish with Idi Amin's Uganda
1979 Tanzanian forces invaded Uganda supporting the rebels, who overthrew Idi Amin
1977 TANU and Afro-Shirazi merged becoming CCM, which was the only political party
1985 Julius Nyerere resigned voluntarily, the next president was the Zanzibari Ali Hassan Mwinyi
1992 The constitution was amended to allow multiple parties
1995 First multi-party elections
1979 Tanzanian forces invaded Uganda supporting the rebels, who overthrew Idi Amin
1977 TANU and Afro-Shirazi merged becoming CCM, which was the only political party
1985 Julius Nyerere resigned voluntarily, the next president was the Zanzibari Ali Hassan Mwinyi
1992 The constitution was amended to allow multiple parties
1995 First multi-party elections
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