The 1895 Battle of Tabora: Belgium's Forgotten Victory in East Africa

In 1895, a Belgian-led force of Congolese soldiers marched over a thousand miles to capture the Arab-Swahili stronghold of Tabora in German East Africa. This episode follows the extraordinary journey of the Force Publique under Commander Francis Dhanis and Lieutenant Guillaume Arnot, as they allied with rival Arab factions, weathered disease and desertion, and stormed the fortified city in a single dawn assault. We explore the political calculus behind the campaign—Leopold II's ambition to secure the Congo's eastern frontier, the tacit cooperation with German colonial authorities, and the aftermath that saw Tabora looted, its ivory shipped to Antwerp, and its Swahili elite scattered. The battle reshaped power dynamics in the Great Lakes region, but it remains largely unknown outside specialist circles. Along the way, we meet the enigmatic figure of Sefu bin Hamid, son of Tippu Tip, who fought alongside the Belgians before falling victim to their ambitions. This is a story of colonial expansion, African agency, and the tangled alliances that carved up a continent. #BattleOfTabora #FrancisDhanis #ForcePublique #GermanEastAfrica #LeopoldII #SefuBinHamid #TippuTip #BelgianColonialHistory #CongoFreeState #EastAfrica #1895 #ColonialWarfare #IvoryTrade #GreatLakes #SwahiliCoast #AfricanHistory #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo