By Staff Writer Jerri Clewis
Wars have a reputation for lasting months, years, and even decades, but one war was fought and won in a single day during a bid for control over the throne of the prosperous Zanzibar.
In what is now known as the Anglo-Zanzibar War, Britain and Zanzibar reached a point of conflict after Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini died in 1896. At the time, Britain had control of approving who could be sultan of Zanzibar after they gained control of the area a few decades prior, but after Thuwaini’s death, Khalid bin Barghash, a relative of the deceased, declared himself sultan without the support of the British.
Britain ordered Barghash to cease his actions, but he instead barricaded himself in the palace with some 2,000 defenders. In response, the British forces sent an ultimatum to the rogue sultan and demanded his resignation while preparing cruisers, gunboats, and soldiers in a nearby harbor.
The ultimatum was ignored, and the British forces fired at the palace and harem. The attack lasted some 30-40 minutes, the actual time is disputed among sources, and ended when a white flag was raised over the remains of the palace, according to the Historical Association. The brief under-an-hour war ended with around 500 of Barghash’s defenders dead and one British marine wounded.
Barghash fled the palace during the attack and sought protection from the German consulate. He was later shipped out of the country in secret while Britain’s favored ruler, Hamoud bin Muhammed, became sultan—a position he held until 1902. Zanzibar remained a British protectorate until the islands gained constitutional independence in 1963.