Zanzibar's 1889 Slave Trade Suppression Act and the British Blockade

In 1889, Sultan Khalifa bin Barghash of Zanzibar, under British pressure, issued a decree banning the slave trade by land and sea within his dominions. This episode unpacks the enforcement challenges, the role of the British Royal Navy's blockade, the impact on Swahili Coast slave caravans, and the economic fallout for plantation owners on Unguja and Pemba. We explore how the decree was enforced by Sir Lloyd Mathews and the Zanzibar Army, the fate of freed slaves in mission stations like Bagamoyo, and the resistance from Indian financiers like Tharia Topan who funded the trade. The episode also touches on the 1890 Anglo-German Agreement's final abolitionist push and the legacy of the 1889 Act in ending Zanzibar's open slave trade. #Zanzibar #SlaveTrade #BritishBlockade #SultanKhalifa #SirLloydMathews #ThariaTopan #Bagamoyo #SwahiliCoast #Unguja #Pemba #Abolition #RoyalNavy #IndianOcean #19thCentury #ColonialHistory #FexingoHistory #History #EastAfrica Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo