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The development of Zanzibar as an entrepot and capital of a vast commercial empire has previously been attributed entirely to the far-sighted policies of Seyyid Said. A re-examination of the economic history of East Africa reveals that economic expansion from the eighteenth century resulted from economic forces which were independent of Omani policies; that these forces were already in motion before Seyyid Said first visited Zanzibar; and that the Omanis manipulated these forces to centralise economic activities at Zanzibar to a greater degree than would otherwise have been achieved, thus forming a commercial empire. The Omani demand for slaves for their expanding date plantations and the increasing French demand in the Mascarenes initiated a rapid expansion of Kilwa's hinterland and the growth of Zanzibar's entrepot role to supply the imports. When the French slave trade suffered a mortal blow from the Napoleonic wars and the eventual prohibition in 1822, the redundant slaves were diverted to the clove plantations of Zanzibar. The second major development was initiated by Portuguese taxation of the ivory trade of Mozambique. By 1801 ivory exports had been halved. To supply the unsatisfied Indian demand, to which was soon to be added European and American demand, the northern ivory hinterland was rapidly expanded during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The development of the Indian mercantile community facilitated this expansion. The supply of this commodity of the hunt called for a constant expansion of the hinterland and sophistication of the commercial organization which, however, was dependent entirely on a caravan of human shoulders. The demand thus regularly outstripped supply, and ivory prices consequently rose. The price of manufactured imports, on the other hand, tended to remain steady or even decline as a result of mechanisation. The diverging price curves thus constituted a dynamic force for economic expansion. On such a vibrant economic base the Omanis structured their commercial empire. The empire, however, was not built on a stable administrative or political structure, but on a system of influence and common economic interests. In the age of the "Scramble" it merely crumbled.
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In the old “stone town” of Zanzibar west of the former creek there are about fifty mosques, mostly built during the 19th century. By studying these mosques, this paper reconstructs the growth and economic and social history of the town. It demonstrates that merchants as well as landowners supported the construction of mosques and that the construction of mosques was an important aspect of urban development. An examiniation of the growth of Zanzibar town shows that, from the latter part of the 18th century, Zanzibar began to develop as the centre of a commercial empire based on the twin foundations of transit trade and plantation agriculture. The history of the mosques can be divided into several phases, of course with some overlap. First the Sunnī mercantile tradition and the mosques built during this phase are described. By the 1840s, a new phase is discernible in mosque construction, a phase dominated by the Ibāḍī tradition with its unique architectural features reflecting Ibāḍī dogmas and practices. Finally, attention is paid to Ibāḍī-Sunnī interaction (Catalogue African Studies Centre, Leiden). At Zanzibar, the Ibāḍīs were a minority sect that tended to be gradually absorbed by the Shāfiʿī denomination. Generally the two denominations lived together in perfect harmony. Only under Sultan Barghash b. Saʿīd (Sultan 1870-1888), who was under the influence of the Ibāḍī Imamate movement in Oman, an Ibāḍī Nahḍa occurred which lead to some tension between Ibāḍīs and Sunnīs (pp. 17-19).
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