Zanzibar's 1896 Palace Bombardment: The Sinking of the HHS Glasgow

The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896 lasted just 38 minutes, making it the shortest war in recorded history. But behind that astonishing brevity lies a story of palace intrigue, imperial brinkmanship, and a single defiant ship — the HHS Glasgow, a royal yacht hastily turned into a warship. In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpick the events of August 27, 1896: Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini's sudden death, his nephew Khalid bin Barghash's illegal seizure of power, and the British ultimatum that followed. They examine the Glasgow itself — a gift from Queen Victoria, now sunk at her moorings by a British squadron. They also explore the aftermath: Khalid's escape into German East Africa, the elevation of the compliant Hamoud bin Mohammed, and how this one-sided bombardment cemented British control over Zanzibar for the next seven decades. Along the way, they touch on the role of the Baluchi guards, the shelling of the Beit al-Hukum palace, and the quiet irony that the war ended before many in Stone Town even knew it had begun. A vivid, focused look at a pivotal moment when a sultanate collided with empire — and lost in less than an hour. #AngloZanzibarWar #HHsGlasgow #SultanKhalid #StoneTown #BritishEmpire #Zanzibar #RoyalNavy #ShortestWar #BeitAlHukum #HamadBinThuwaini #KhalidBinBarghash #SirBasilCave #GermanEastAfrica #HamoudBinMohammed #BaluchiGuards #ImperialHistory #19thCentury #FexingoHistory #IndianOcean #SpiceIslands Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo