‘Précis of correspondence relating to Zanzibar affairs from 1856 to 1872. Prepared by Captain P D Henderson, attached to the Foreign Department’ [‎118v] (76/114)

Events in Zanzibar from the death of Syed Majid.
Muscat. Oq the division of the State, two Political Agents were appointed. When the tri
butary dependence of the one State on the other was severed by the resolution of Her
Majesty's Government, that the obligation of the Sultan of Zanzibar to continue to pay the
subsidy to Muscat was at an end, our interest in Zanzibar ceased. So far, then, from the fact
of our maintaining an Agent at Muscat being a reason why we should keep one at Zanzibar,
it is rather, we consider, a reason why our connection with that State should be discontinued."
77. Sted Burgash announces his accession .—On the 17th October
1870 Mr. Churchill forwarded a letter from Syed Burgash announcing his ac
cession to the throne of Zanzibar and its dependencies. The letter concluded—
" I shall, please God, continue to maintain friendship in perpetuity according to the
agreement entered into between my father, the late Saeed bin Salem, and your Government."
A similar communication had been addressed to the Bombay Govern
ment. The Sultan's khureeta An important letter usually sent in an elaborate textile pouch, dispatched as part of the royal or diplomatic correspondence of rulers and elites. was not sent forward by the Bombay Govern
ment until the 9th Eebruary, and the Government of India, before replying
to it, desired the Bombay Government to ascertain and report the events that
had occurred at Zanzibar during the interval.— (S. M. 1871, Nos. 10-16.;
78. Propositions of Bombay Government in favor of the annexation
of Zanzibar .—Very soon after his succession Syed Burgash, as reported by
Mr. Churchill, issued a proclamation to his. subjects—
" to eject all natives of India from their plantations, and to prevent them from carrying on
their trade beyond the precincts of the town."
No copy of the proclamation, however, was forwarded, and, from a letter
addressed by Mr. Churchill to Syed Burgash, it appears that the proclamation,
if there was one, merely enjoined His Highness's subjects—
"not to allow British subjects to establish themselves on Native estates, but that they
should not be interferred with when established on their own estates."
r
The Sultan himself explained that the only orders issued were to the effect
that those natives of India who were in the habit of inciting the slaves to steal
cloves, should be prevented from frequenting the plantations of Arabs. Mr.
Churchill, in several most peremptory letters, remonstrated with the Sultan
against these orders restricting the liberty of British subjects as con
trary to treaty. Incidently it appears from the correspondence that
Mr. Churchill had about the same time addressed a letter to the Sultan,
enquiring whether he recognized the treaty engagements, proclamations, and
declarations of his predecessors as binding on himself or not. The Bombay
Government requested the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. to inform the Sultan that such an
infraction of the treaty as was contemplated by the Sultan's proclamation
would not be tolerated, and, in forwarding the correspondence (some two
months and-a-half after receipt of the same to the Government of India, made
the following startling propositions. They observed—
" Syed Burgash has no claim to succeed to the throne as next heir to Syed Majid, nor,
as His Excellency ia Council gathers from Mr. Churchill, whom he has seen within the past
week, has he any hold whatever on the support of the people.
Had it not been for Mr. Churchill's precipitate action in supporting his claims, Syed
Burgash would probably never have been on the throne. Further, he has manifested an open
hostility to us, and a desire to evade the engagements entered into by his predecessors. He
has no claim on our good will or support. Sir L. Heath has more than once urged that Zan-
ziba should become a British possession, both with a view to the suppression of'the slave trade
and the development of the trade with the East African Coast. As long as the territory was
under the sovereignty of a well-disposed ruler, such an annexation would 0 not, in His Excel
lency in Council's opinion, have been desirable. But the case is much altered when the
sovereignty has been seized by an individual who has no right, either by lawful succession or
election, and manifests an open hostility to our power.