‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’ [‎95r] (29/114)

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Arbitration of Government of India,
"It does not appear, however, that this substitntion of Syed Majid in the place of Syed
Khaled was ever officially notified by His Highness Syed Saeed, either to the British or to any
other foreig-n governments in alliance with him; and Syed Majid was unable to produce
any native records attesting the arrangement as the act of the late sovereign. But the death
of the latter was communicated by His Highness to Great Britain, France, and the United
States of America; and letters of condolence were received by him in return from Her Most
Gracicus Majesty the Queen, from Her Mnjesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, from His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French, and from the President
of the United States. The two former contain no recognition of Syed Majid's sovereignty;
but in the reply of the Emperor of the French, and in that of the President oi the United
States, His Highness is congratulated on his accession to Hhe supreme power/and to f the
throne of the suitanry.' As no special mention, however, is made either of Muscat or Zanzibar
in these documents, and Syed Thoweynee's position and claims are entirely overlooked, it is
highly probable that the two above-named governments were unacquainted with the actual
state of the case, and wrote under the impression that Syed Majid was the sole, rightful, and
acknowledged successor to the sovereignty of all the dominions of his deceased father, Syed
Saeed.
" The foregoing is a fair statement of the facts adduced from extraneous sources in
support of Syed Majid's right to the sovereignty of Zanzibar and its African depen
dencies. His Highness himself rests his pretensions on similar grounds, namely, on the fact
that, when his elder brother Khaled died, Syed Saeed appointed hira Governor oj Zanzibar
in his stead, and notified the same to all the chiefs of Africa, as well as to the foreign consuls
residing at Zanzibar; that he was duly recognized as such by them, and that he had occupied
that position two years prior to the death of his father, which event occurred while on a voyage
from Muscat to Zanzibar in 1856. His Highness then proceeds to establish his claim
to the sovereignty of Zanzibar y on the ground of his having been elected thereto by the people.
He writes: '"When I heard the report of my father's death, 1 called together my
brothers and family (only those, of course, who were present at Zanzibar at the time,) and all
the people in these parts from Sink (Delgado) to Marbat in order that they might recognise
me. To this they all agreed, and they accordingly elected me to be ruler over them, and
entrusted me with the direction of their affairs. He moreover considers that his sovereignty
over Zanzibar and its African dependencies has already been acknowledged by the representa
tives of the different foreign powers who were in alliance with the late Syed Saeed, and he
alleges that a similar recognition was virtually made by his brother Syed Thoweynee through
his agent Mahomed bin Salem, who, on the death of their father, was sent from Muscat
by the former fully empowered to treat with Syed Majid on his behalf. The yearly grant
which on that occasion he agreed to remit to his brother Thoweynee, Syed Majid maintains
was a purely friendly subsidy, and by no means a tribute recognising iu any way the suzerainty
of his brother Syed Thoweynee of Muscat.
"Unfortunately no documentary proofs are forthcoming to decide the important question
involved iu the above transaction. Syed Thoweynee contends that the grant was given and
received as tribute, and the two brothers (who nevertheless now join in representing Mahomed
bin Salem as a villain) confidently appeal to his statements formerly made in support of their
opposite assertions. My original impression therefore is confirmed, namely, that the agent,
for his own private ends, deceived both parties, accepting the yearly grant at Zanzibar as a
fraternal gift from Majid to Thoweynee, and representing to the latter at Muscat that he had
8tipulated & for it as a tribute involving the recognition by his brother of his suzerainty over
Zanzibar and its African dependencies. Two documents, however, indirectly bearing on this
point, are attached in the Appendix. The first is a letter from Mahomed bin Salem at Muscat
to Luddah, the Customs Master at Zanzibar, desiring him to pay to bearer the balance of the
• Musaadeh/that is, the aid or subsidy granted by Syed Majid to his brother Thoweynee,
The other contains the original order drawn up in Syed Majid's own writing, authorising
the said Luddah to pay his brother Thoweynee every year 'a subsidy' of 40,000 crowns.
" All the arguments adduced or adducible in favor of Syed Majid's claims are, I believe,
fully and fairly stated in the foregoing summary. They are based on the following grounds,
viz.:—
1. The will, or rather wishes, of His late Highness Syed Saeed.
2. His recognition by foreign powers.
3. His virtual recognition by his rival brother Syed Thoweynee of Muscat.
4. His election as their Sovereign by the Chiefs of Zanzibar and its African depend
encies.
I shall now proceed to make a few remarks under these several heads.