‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’ [‎90r] (19/114)

Events preceding the arbitration by the Government of India-
13. C aptain E igbt's R eport. P osition and prospects of Z anzibar.—
The following observations of Captain Rigby, at the close of his interesting
report, are worthy of being placed on record:
" With the exception of a few of the great slave-proprietors of the Arab tribe of EI Harth,
there is no party at Zanzibar favorable to Syed Thoweynee, and, even admitting that he might,
after a bloody struggle, establish his rule over the Island of Zanzibar, the Sowahili inhabitants
of the dominions on the main land would never submit to him; when nine of the bug-galows
of his expedition recently arrived on the coast, the whole population was in arms against them,
and they could not land to procure water at any point. The Sowahilis always associate the
Muscat Arabs with the foreign slave trade. Syed Majid has far more power and influence on
the main land than his father ever possessed. Captain Burton told His Highness that even on
the shores of the Lake Tanganika, 600 miles inland, the Natives composed son^s in his praise
as the great and just prince dwelling on the sea shore. Numbers of these people, the
Munianise, visit Zanzibar every year to dispose of their ivory, and, finding justice and security
with no fear, as formerly, of being seized and sold as slaves, they speak in praise of the
prince far over the interior.
" The question of the political relations of Zanzibar assumes an importance from the
position this State seems destined to occupy as the chief power on the East Coast of Africa,
and from the desiirns cf the French to encroach upon it and obtain a footing on the main
land, the knowledge recently acquired that the interior is a fine, healthy country producing
abundantly cotton, sugar, coffee, gums, &c., with a quiet agricultural population, will probably
make the French still more anxious to obtain a footing. Their settlements at Nass Beh and
Magotta are very unhealthy, and have disappointed all the expectations formed of attractinsr com
merce to their ports. From possessing a commodious secure harbour and a salubrious climate,
Zanzibar is rapidly becoming the emporium of the trade of all the east coast. Even the pro
duce of the Portuguese settlements is brought to Zanzibar for shipment, to avoid the
payment of the heavy duties levied at the Portuguese ports. When the officers of
Her Majesty's steamer Lynx were recently at Tete, 300 miles up the Zambesi, they
found the shops supplied with British goods, which had been conveyed through the con
tinent by Arab caravans from Zanzibar, and undersold the heavily-taxed goods imported
through the Portuguese Custom House. The Portuguese settlements on the east coast are in
the last stage of misery and decay, and it is not probable that they will be able to retain them
many years. Even at Mozambique, the seat of the Governor General, no Portuguese dare go
five miles from the settlement, and were they not restrained by the fear of foreign intervention,
the Arabs would dispossess the Portuguese in a day. It is probable that, ere long, the whole
coast, as far as Delagoa Bay, will form part of the Zanzibar dominions ; the Arabs are forming
settlements along the Mozambique Channel, and not long ago the Sultan ot Angozha, an
island to the south of Mozambique, wished the Sultan of Zanzibar to declare Uim a feudatory,
but the offer was declined by Syed Majid."
14. Government consent to arbitrate with previous consent of
both parties .—On receipt of Captain Rigby's report above snmmarized, and
after a careful consideration of the correspondence that had passed, the Govern
ment of India replied in the following terms to the Bombay Government
(letter No. 4590, dated '11th July 1859; : After commenting on the insincerity
of Syed Thoweynee's offer to accept arbitration, as evinced by his letter to
Syed Majid, as well as by the proceedings of his emissary at Zanzibar, Govern
ment refused to arbitrate in a case where it was manifest that one of the
parties would be unwilling to abide by the arbitrament. Syed Thoweynee was
to be warned that Government would hold him responsible for injury inflicted
on British subjects, and that it recognized no pretension on his part to be the
superior or suzerain of Syed Majid. The Government letter concluded
" The Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. will judge whether it will be best to despatch a vessel to
Muscat, with an officer specially appointed to make this communication to Syed Thoweynee.
If a vessel and a trustworthy officer are available, the Governor General in Council thinks
it will be best:
"The vessel should then proceed to Zanzibar, with instructions to Captain Rigby, Her
Majesty's Consul, to inform Syed Majid ot what has passed.
" If Sved Majid is sfill disposed to make to his brother the annual remittance of 40,001'
Crowns, and to continue it so long as fto aggression or unreasonable pretension proceeds from