Al Said - Division of Zanzibar and Oman

Division of Zanzibar and Oman

Schisms within the ruling family were apparent after the death of Sultan Said bin Sultan, as his sons who had their own rivalries and ambitions for controlling the throne quarreled over the empire. Realizing that Majid would be unaware of their father’s death, Bargash came ashore secretly and tried to take control of the palace at Mtoni and the fort in Zanzibar town, but he was unable to muster enough supporters and his attempt was thwarted.

On 28 October 1856, Majid proclaimed himself Sultan of Zanzibar. A ship was sent to Oman with the news, but Said's elder son Thuwaini, who was appointed heir apparent on the 23rd July 1844 and had long acted as his father's Governor in Muscat and commander-in-chief of the Saidi forces refused to acknowledge Majid and immediately tried to regain Zanzibar by force of arms. As a direct result of this struggle, the government of British India, concerned with the stability in the area, acted as arbitrator in the dispute. The Governor-General of British India, Lord Canning ruled in his arbitration that the empire was to be divided into two separate Sultanates: The Sultanate of Zanzibar with its dependencies to Majid bin Said, Said's former Governor of the East African dominions, and The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman to Thuwaini bin Said. On the 10th of March 1862, The Zanzibar Guarantee Treaty was signed in Paris by Britain and France, whereby both parties agreed to respect the independence of the Sultan of Oman and the Sultan of Zanzibar. Recognizing the economic loss caused to Oman by the severance of the Zanzibar connection, Thuwaini insisted Majid pay 40,000 Maria Theresa thalers annually as compensation but the payment fell into arrears and ceased a year later.