World’s Shortest War
The people of the 19th century had also seen a war in their lives which did not last for 10-20 years but only for 3838 minutes. This was the first time in history that war ended even before the news could reach anywhere. The Anglo-Zanzibar War fought in Africa has received the world record from the Guinness Book of being the smallest war in the world, but the question is this historic war of the Anglo-Zanzibar was fought between which two countries and not only? How was the decision taken within a quarter of an hour?
Viewers welcome once again to this article full video on this is available on Zem TV. This historic battle took place on this island, which used to be an island country by the name of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa. Zanzibar, just 40 kilometers away, used to be under the control of the Sultanate of Oman, everything was going well, but then a power entered which tried to rule over Zanzibar and East Africa through politics. Yes, we will talk. Zanzibar Island, including East Africa, was under British rule.
The British Empire had an eye on Zanzibar Island for a long time. They had to take advantage of the strategic location here and bring the valuable resources here under their control by any means. The British considered themselves very advanced and special. In comparison to the Eastern countries i.e. India, Africa, and many Arab countries, because Zanzibar Island was under the control of Oman and this dream of the British could not be fulfilled until it was taken out of the control of the Omani Empire, at that time Oman Sultan Said bin Sultan was a very fearsome person who did not compromise on his principles.
This was the reason why he was often known as the King of Oman. Now it is obvious that during his reign, the British Empire did not influence any of the countries of Oman. It was not possible to capture the share. 18568 Gaya’s elder son Thaweni bin Said took over the throne of Oman and his younger son Majid bin Said separated Zanzibar from Oman and created a new province, Zanzibar which had been a part of Oman for the last several centuries. Due to this decision of Bin Said, many Arab Sultans refused to accept Zanzibar as a new country but the British Empire did not have a better opportunity than this.
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They immediately placed their hand on the head of Majid Bin Said and handed over Zanzibar as a new country. By doing this, the British Empire had now entered the politics here. Zanzibar’s main source of income was the last slave market in the world, that is, the market where slaves were traded. Slaves were brought tied with ropes from the mainland of Africa to Zanzibar Island. In the ships that used to go, slaves would often untie their ropes and jump into the Indian Ocean. Many would fall ill and many would suffocate to death during the short journey of just 40 km. Their dead bodies were mercilessly thrown into the sea in Zanzibar.
They were sold in the existing slave market. Here, up to 100 slaves were kept confined in small cells, with little air and no food and drink. The slaves were put to death in such a way that they were first made to stand in a line and tied to trees. And then everyone was whipped very hard, which had more tolerance and he did not cry or scream even after being whipped. Its prices were high. Years passed and the Sultan of Zanzibar also changed his main source of income. Slave market and above all there was the support of the British. A luxurious palace was built for the Sultan in Zanzibar which was right on the seafront.
This palace had every facility for the Sultan which was not even possible to imagine at that time. Above all it was The palace was the first building in East Africa in which electricity connection was present. This palace was mostly made of wood and all the buildings present in it were connected to each other through a bridge. Now at this point the British became famous in the world regarding the slave market of Zanzibar. A very bad impression was being given because they were the ones who supported the Sultan of Zanzibar, so they put pressure on the Sultan of Zanzibar to close the slave market. After a lot of efforts and agreements, 18735 last slave market was closed forever. One thing was clear in all this that the British control over Zanzibar was becoming very strong. Let’s fast forward to 25th August 18960 when the British Sultan suddenly dies. He was succeeded by his own cousin Khalid bin Bargus. He poisoned him and became the Sultan of Zanzibar, that too without the consent of the British because the British wanted that the next Sultan should also be of their wish and for this purpose they had chosen Hamoud bin Mohammed.
The British were accused of the conspiracy of Khalid bin Bargus. When they came to know about this, they sent a message to his palace in which there was a direct threat. It was said in the threat that the palace should be vacated by 9 am on August 27. The new Sultan of Zanzibar, Khalid gathered his forces and locked himself in the palace. Along with the threat, Zanzibar Island was surrounded by British Navy ships from all sides. There was a lot of tension in the palace for the next two nights. At 8 am on August 27, i.e. an hour before the end of the ultimatum, a message from the Sultan was received at the British Council. came in which it was written that it was ready to end the matter through negotiations.
The British Council replied that negotiations can take place only if you accept the orders given by us. At 8:30 Khalid sent another message that my Zanzibar We have no intention of abdicating the throne and I do not think that the British will dare to fight a war with us. The British Council replied that we also have no intention of attacking but that does not mean that we cannot attack at this time. There were 2800 2800 guards present outside the luxurious palace of Zanzibar, this included some civil people, some palace guards and many of the Sultan’s own servants and slaves. Along with this, Indian soldiers were deployed outside the Sultan’s palace to compete with the Royal Navy. A ship was also parked in the ocean, at that time it was HHS Glasco Royal Yard of 32000 pounds, which was also present with 18735 boats to compete with the British Royal Navy. At exactly 9:00, when the ultimatum given to the Sultan ended, the British Navy Two cruiser ships, three gun boats and 150 marines started moving towards Ireland. Remember that these 150 people were facing the Sultan’s 2800 guards. At exactly 9:2 minutes, the three gun boats, Raccoon Thrush and Sparrow opened indiscriminate fire on the palace. In the very first attack, the 12 pounder cannon inside the palace was destroyed. In the attack, the Sultan’s Royal Yard HHS Glasgow was also destroyed in a single blow but because she was standing on the harbor where the water was low, hence her upper The crew of the Glasgow immediately showed the British flag and surrendered themselves.
The British had a plan to arrest Sultan Khalid bin Bagaj and take him to India, but on the very first fire, the Sultan along with his other Arab companions secretly left the palace. Out of the Sultan’s army of 2800, 500 soldiers escaped and were killed due to heavy bombardment. The British Navy had fired a total of 500 shells, 4100 machine gun rounds and 1000 rifle rounds. The British soldiers had entered the palace at 937 meters, which But the remaining palace guards also surrendered. Exactly one minute later, at 9:3 minutes, the British Marines uprooted the Sultan’s flag from the roof of the palace and this is where the battle, which lasted for 38 minutes, came to an end. That while 500 of the Sultan’s people were killed in this entire war, only one sailor of the British Navy was injured. Later it was learned that Sultan Khalid bin Barghus had taken refuge in German East Africa. At that time, two big powers were present in East Africa. One was the British and the other was the Germans. Immediately after the British captured the palace, on the same day, they made Sultan of their choice, Hamoud bin Mohammed, the new Sultan of Zanzibar.
This 38-minute battle, fought in history, brought heavy British rule in Zanzibar. After this, Zanzibar became an indirect colony of the British and continued to live under the rule of Sultan Hamoud bin Mohammed and in the next 10 years, by freeing 17200 Zanj Bari slaves, they uprooted the slave culture from every corner of Zanzibar. Given the countries which were captured and colonized by the British in the 18th and 19th century, did it benefit or harm human civilization? What is your opinion about this? I hope you all like and share this article of Zam TV. Thank you very much for your loving comments, see you in the next great article.
