‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’ [‎89r] (17/114)

Events preceding the arbitration by the Government of India-
by name Sheilch Ahmed bin M.ihomed; Patta was governed by the Sultan, Foom Amadi.
This Chief died 28tli January 1S07, when the succession was disputed by his son, Fuom Alnte,
and his son-in-law, Wuzeer, whose father had been assassinated by Foom Amadi. It ended
in the triumph of Wuzeer, who was elected Sultan under the title of Sultan Ahmed. uzeer
having obtained the assistance ot the Chief of Mombass, it was asrreed that Patta should, in
future, be a dependency of Mombass, and that an agent of tbeMombass Chief should reside
there. The followers of Foom Alote retired to Lamoo, which city refused to acknowledge
the authority of the new Sultan of Patta, in consequence of which the Chief of Mombass
marched against this city with a large force, but was defeated.
(c In order to guard against future attacks from Mombass the inhabitants of Lamoo
claimed the protection of the Imam Syed Said, and sent an envoy to Muscat. ^y ef | Said
consented to send a Governor to Lamoo, and selected for this office one Khaleef bin Nassir,
who, by order of the Imam, erected a fort there.
" On the death of Ahmed bin Mahomed, Chief of Mombass, in 1814, his son, Abdulla,
refused to recognize the suzerainty of the Imam, and, instead of sending the customary annual
present to Muscat, he sent a suit of armour, a little guu-powder, and a few bullets as a
defiance; shortly after Abdulla went to Bombay, aud was well received by the (lovernor. Af er
his return the inhabitants of Brava, having requested his intervention, placed the town and
district under his suzerainty. In ihe meantime the youngest son of loom Amadi, the late
Sultan of Patta, by name Buana Sheikh, had gone to Muscat to claim the assistance o f the
Imam, and returned with a force, which succeeded in obtaining the election of Buana Sheikh
as Sultan of Patta under the sovereign authority of the Imam, Syed Said. In l v 22, in con
sequence of the encroachments of Abdulla, the Sultan ot Mombass, Syed Said, sent a naval loice
to compel the submission of the Chiefs on the coast to his authority •, and the Chiefs of Biavv,
Patta, and other places, by a formal act, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Imam.
"About this time Mahomed bin Nassir, who had been appointed by the Imam Governor
of Zanzibar, took possession of the Island of Pemha; and the Sultan of Mombass, Solimau
bin Ali, fearing that Syed Said intended to attack his territory, placed the island and foit of
Mombass under British protection, and the British flag was hoisted on the -ird December 1823
with consent of the population. On the 7th February 1824) ( aptain Owen, in the British
frigate Leven, concluded a convention, by which the port of Mombass and its dependen
cies, including the Island of Pemba and the coast comprised between Melinda and the Ri\er
Pangam, were placed under the protectorate of Great Britain under the following conditions ;
« Ist, that Great Britain should reinstate the Chief of Mombass in his former
possession ;
" 2nd, that the sovereignty of the State should continue to be exercised by the Chief
of the Mazara tribe, and be hereditary in his family;
"Zrd, that an agent of the protecting Government should reside with the Chief;
« that the customs revenues should be equally divided between the two contract
ing parties;
« Mh, that trade with the interior be permitted to British subjects; and
" Qth, that the slave trade shall be abolished at Mombass.
The Eno-lish protectorate over Mombass not having been ratified by the British Go\ ern-
ment in January 1828, the Imam, Syed Said, fitted out a considerable expedition aud sailed for
Mombass, which surrendered to him, and, on the 11th January 1828, having taken possession of
the fort and left a garrison, he proceeded with his fleet to Zanzibar, which he then visited for
the first time.
« From the above resume it is evident that the greater part of the African dominions of
the late Imam were his own acquisition, and, although prior to his accession to power, the
Imams of Oman had at various times exercised a nominal suzerainty over some parts ot it,
vet he first consolidated the whole into one dominion extending for " llles the Last
Coast of Africa, and including the rich Islands of Zanzibar, I'emba, and Moufea.
11 Captain Higby's Heport. Annual tribute claimed by Muscai
prom Zanzibar .—With respect to the annual tribute claimed bv Muscat,
Captain Eigby wrote—
"It does not appear that the late Imam ever alluded to such a payment either in writing
or verbally; and that, if from what 1 have above slated, it is considered that the late Imam
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