Zanzibar Revolution

1964

The year 1960 marked the death of Sultan Khalifia and the beginning of political instability. Following the 1963 election, there was a revolution which marked the culmination of years of growing ethnic tension between Arabs, Asians and Africans. It was a sign of the violent rejection of cosmopolitanism in the region. Sultan Jamshid took control of the country in December 1963, in a conflict in which one third of all Arabs on Unguja Island were killed or forced into immediate exile. Those who stayed in Zanzibar had to face the confiscation of their property and land, in addition to being excluded from participating in government. The new nationalist regime transformed privileged minorities into second-class citizens. The revolution ended 150 years of Arab economic and cultural hegemony in the country. The Sultan was declared to have been “guilty of political crimes”. The term “genocide” was not used; "crimes against humanity" is the preferred phrase.