The 38-Minute War: The Story of Zanzibar's Shortest Battle in History

Category: History

Story Mode

It was a quite sunday and Mithran was watching the news, Maha popped out of nowhere.

Startled Mithran: I thought you were playing with your new toy.

Maha: It became boring now.

Mithran: So what do you want now?

Maha: Please give me the TV remote. Let me watch..

Mithran: Just now I started watching...

Maha: Please.. Please.. Please..

Mithran: Atleast let me watch it for 10 minutes..

Maha(Sadly watching the news): Okay..

(There was a news about Russia - Ukraine war status)

Maha: What is a war?

Mithran(Still watching the news): Its a fight between two countries.

Maha: Why they fight?

Mithran(now knowing, Maha wont let him watch the news): Countries fight for various reasons..

Maha: How countries fight?

Mithran: Every country has its own army. Their army fights.

Maha: Is it like, in the movies?

Mithran: Yes Maha. but its for real. The people in one army fights with the people in other army. Once its started, no one knows when it will end.

Maha: Why no one knows?

Mithran: Its not a fight between two persons. Its between two countriues. Until one country surrenders or accept defeat or both compromise , the war will go on. There were some wars fought for 100 years and some lasted only an hour.

Maha: 1 hour to 100 years? Please tell me about it..

Mithran: Okay.. Let me tell about the shortest war..

(Maha listens carefully)

Mithran: There was a war between Britain and a island country called Zanzibar in Africa. The war happened only for 38 to 45 minutes.

Maha: Is it very short?

Mithran: Yes, Its less than a foot ball match's half time.

Maha: Who won it?

Mithran: British won the battle quickly. The Zanzibar surrendered after a 40 minutes of fight.

Maha: Why it happened dad?

Mithran: It happened on 1986, August. The Fifth sultan of Zanzibar, Hamad bin Thuwaini died and his nephew Khalid bin Bargash became the sultan of Zanzibar.

Maha: What is Sultan?

Mithran: King is called as Sultan in certain part of world. Once the Sultan Hamad Died, Khalid Became Sultan which angered Britain.

Dharshni (Maha's Mom who was listening silently): England is a country in Europe, why they were in war with an African country for its king's selection?

Mithran: You have to know its history of Zanzibar if you want to understand. Once Zanzibar was part of Sultanate of Oman. When the Sultan of Oman died, it was divided and one of his son Majid bin Said became Sultan of indipendent Zanzibar. After him, his half brother Khalid became sultan followed by his two other brothers Khalifah bin Said and Ali bin Said, became Third and Fourth Sultans one after another. After them Hamad bin Thuwaini became the fifth Sultan. The Sultans of Zanzibar had an agreement with British Empire which gave it veto power to choose the Zanzibar Sultan.

Dharshni: But why they gave that veto power to British?

Mithran: In 19th century both German and Britain wanted to hold power in East Africa. Zanzibar played a major role in slave trading on that time and all European major players wanted to abolish it. The power struggle and these political issues pressured the then Sultan Ali bin Said to accept the treaty between German and Britain which gave the Zanzibar the status or protectorate state by Britain. As part of this, the Sultan has autonomous power to take decision in internal affairs but the foreign affairs and the sultan successor should be acknowledged by Britain.

Mithran (continuous): So when the fifth Sultan died, The son of Second Sultan Khalid bin Barghash seized that opportunity and became the Sultan without British approval. But British had a different idea of selecting Hamoud bin Mohammed who was the brother of previous Sultans.

Maha: I dont understand anything..

Mithran: Back to the story.. Since Britain didn't approve Khalid, they asked him to vacate the Sultan palace but he fortified it with 2800 men to fight Britain.

Maha: So the fight starts now

Mithran: Its not a war actually.. Its a decisive victory for Britain. With just 150 marines and sailors and 915 Zanzibaris, England captured the palace less than 40 minutes. Zanzibar Army lost 500 people while only one sailor wounded from British end.

Dharshni: Its indeed a decisive victory. But why British wanted to hold on to an African Country?

Mithran: Many reasons.. The European powers entered into industrial age. The expansion at that time was inevitable for resources. Also because of the slaves, some industries weren't able to compete at lowe cost and so abolishing slave trade would level the field. Also colonization was ideal and so they tried to hold as much as possible so one wont lag from other in the economy/power competition.

Dharshni: So what happened to Sultan Khalid?

Mithran: He fled to German Consulate and from there, to Tanzania which was under German control. But later, at World War I, he was captured by British and exiled.

Dharshni: Small or big, wars are always brutal.

Maha: Oh.. But if anyone of them say sorry, it wont be bad. right?

Mithran: Hope everyone has the same mentality as an innocent child.

Maha: Okay.. Story time over.. Give me the remote.

Mithran (Takes his book): Okay.. But only for 30 mins..

Recap:

The famous 30 minutes war was fought between Sultan of Zanzibar and the British empire over the dispute of whether the Sultan's succession was approved by British. There were 2800 people prepared to guard and fight for the Sultan and from British end, 150 marines and sailors along with 915 Zanzibar local peoples fought against Sultan. In the end, after 38 minutes, the Sultan lost the palace with 500 casualties and British side had 1 casualty.

Post war, Hamoud bin Mohammed became the Sultan of Zanzibar and Khalid fled to German Consulate and sought refugee in German controlled Tanzania but eventually captured and exiled by British forces at World War I.

Crux Mode

The Anglo_Zanzibar war fought on 27th August of 1896 is the recorded smallest war in the history. It existed for 38 minutes and ended with British victory over Zanzibar.

The Cause of war:

The Zanzibar Sultanate was part of Sultanate of Oman and was ruled by the Sultan of Oman. But it got its independent Sultan starting from Majid bin Said as First Sultan of Zanzibar follwed by his half brother Barghash bin Said as Second Sultan. After Barghash, it was ruled by his brothers Khalifah bin Said as third sultan and Ali bin Said as Fourth Sultan. Hamad bin Thuwaini, who was the nephew of the former Sultans and the Grandson of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman and the fifth ruler of Al Bu Said dynasty.

Due to the power struggles of European empires, escpecially German and Britain, Zanzibar Sultanate was forced into a treaty Heligoland-Zanzibar, signed between German and Britain, which made Zanzibar as a propectorate state of Britain. It gave Britain veto power to nullify any Sultan selection.

After Sultan Hamad's death, the son of Second Sultan, Khalid seized the Sultanate and became the Sixth Sultan defying British warnings.

The War:

British gave an ultimatum to Khalid to move out of the palace. But Khalid fortified the palace with 2800 people and once the ultimatum expired, British tried to seige the palace with 150 marines &sailors with the 915 zanzibarians.

From Zanzibar Sultanate end, 4 artiller pieces, 1 shore battery and the royal yacht(HHS Glasgow) with 2 boats were used in fight. From British end, 3 cruisers and 3 gun boats were participated in the war.

The war fought for a 38 minutes with British victory.

The Aftermath of War:

With 1 causualty from british end against the 500 causualties from Zanzibar Sultanate, the quick and decisive victory showcased the British supermacy. Sultan Khalid escapated and fleed to German consulate, where they were protected by German soldiers and sailors. But British also had men waiting outside the consulate to arrest Khalid if he step out. Using the port connected to consulate, Khalid was switched to German imperial Navy's cruiser without setting foot on soil of Zanzibar.

He was transported to Dar el Salaam (Tanzania) but captured later by British force in World War 1 and exiled. Hamoud bin Mohammed became the Seventh Sultan of Zanzibar.

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