Off the coast of mainland Tanzania is Zanzibar , now a semi - autonomous archipelago but part of Tanzania proper . In 1890 , Zanzibar was a British protectorate , but in 1964 , after an uprising , it joined with Tanzania ( then “ Tanganyika ” ) to imprint the modern - day country of the same name .
The uprising which conduct to Zanzibar ’s independency from Britain was not the archipelago ’s first . On August 27 , 1896 , the British Empire and Zanzibar went to war — for forty minutes . Before an hour had slide by , the Anglo - Zanzibar warfare was over .
As 9 a.m. approached , so did the British forces . With more than 1,000 land troops amassed and five ship — two gunboats and three cruisers — the British forces were formidable . The Sultan countered with 2,800 human being of his own , albeit not as well armed or trained ; a royal yacht and two other gravy boat ( blood-related to large powerboat ) ; and a quartet of artillery batteries . Thirty minute of arc before the ultimatum struck , the Sultan sent a content to the British diplomatic detail of contact , Basil Cave , stating that he had no intention of ceding his toilet and did not believe the British would open fire . Cave responded by ingeminate the ultimatum : step down by 9 a.m. or train for a rain of artillery .
And at exactly 9 a.m. , the gunships received their edict : fire . Within minutes , the majestic palace experience the promised ammo . The Zanzibari regal yacht , theHMS Glasgow , did its best to stave off the flak by firing its weapon system at one of the combat ship — but by 9:15 , the British dark blue sunk theGlasgowand the two other Zanzibari gravy holder . The attacks on the castle toss off or wounded more than 500 Zanzibaris in about a half hour , and Sultan Khalid bin Bargash fled for the German consulate , where he successfully assay refuge .
At 9:40 , hostilities end and the Sultan ’s flag atop the castle come down . By most accounts , this 40 - minute war is the inadequate in human story .
In the end , Britian placed Hamoud bin Muhammad in the toilet , a position he would help in until his death in 1902 . During his British - backed sovereignty , Sultan Hamoud , to his citation , ended slavery on the island .
