The 1892 Congo-Arab War: Belgium's Forgotten Campaign

In 1892, the Congo Free State launched a brutal military campaign against Swahili-Arab slave traders in the eastern Congo. This episode focuses on the 1892 Battle of Nyangwe, where Belgian-led Force Publique troops under Francis Dhanis defeated the forces of slave trader Sefu bin Hamid. We explore the role of Tippu Tip's son Sefu, the strategic importance of Nyangwe as a slave market, and how the war allowed Leopold II to consolidate control over the Lualaba River. The campaign also exposed the Congolese soldiers fighting in the Force Publique — many of them former slaves themselves — to a war that was as much about colonial expansion as ending slavery. We discuss the controversial alliance with Tippu Tip in 1885, the breakdown of that alliance, and the legacy of the war in Congolese memory. This episode fills a gap left by earlier episodes on the Arab Campaign prisoners and the Force Publique mutinies. #CongoArabWar #Nyangwe #SefuBinHamid #FrancisDhanis #TippuTip #CongoFreeState #LeopoldII #ForcePublique #SlaveTrade #BelgianColonialism #Lualaba #Manyema #BattleOfNyangwe #19thCentury #AfricanHistory #ColonialHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo