map German East Africa Company
In 1885/86, Britain and Germany had agreed to partition the hinterland of the East African
coast into a British and a German sphere of interest. As both governments did not want
to be directly involved, private companies were founded and chartered to administrate
these territories.
The coastal stretch itself belonged - as was recognized by both Britain and Germany, to
the Sultanate of Zanzibar. On April 28th 1888 the Deutsch-Ostafrihanische Gesellschaft
(German East African Company, the chartered company) signed a treaty with the Sultan
of Zanzibar according to which the administration of the coastal region within the
German sphere of influence was leased, for 50 years, to the Company. The Company
appointed chiefs to the major ports (Tanga, Pangani, Bagamoyo, Dar-es-Salam, Kilwa,
Mikindani, Lindi) who assumed office late in August 1888.
The appearance of these Germans, their demand that the Company flag was waved next
to the red flag of the sultan, their insistance that Walis (administrators) opposed to the
Company be replaced, in combination with the fear that measures against slave trade
now will be implemented caused the mood in these coastal places and their
surrounding to turn against the Germans. The Sultan's troops, supposed to protect the
Company's officials, were among the first to turn against them. The rebellion was first
reported in Pangani, September 18th, 1888.
The Rebellion
Within a matter of days, Company chiefs found themselves under siege in most of the
coastal places. The German Navy squadron off East Africa could protect the station at
Dar es Salam, a town within range of ship artillery. A navy landing corps expelled the
insurgents from Bagamoyo (September 24th, 1888) where they had laid siege to the
station house in which the German Company officials had held out. From all other
stations the Gesellschaft officials had either to flee or to be evacuated. The inland station
of Mpwapwa, beyond territory under the sovereignty of the Sultan, was cut off.
German chancellor Otto von Bismarck arranged a multinational blockade (proclaimed
November 30th, 1888) of the East African coast, joined by Britain (for British East Africa),
Portugal (for northern Mozambique) and Italy. He then appointed Hermann Wissmann as
Reich commissioner for East Africa, who arrived on Zanzibar March 31st, 1889.
The rebellion had erupted almost simultaneously at the major ports, with the exception
of Dar es Salam. Besides the Sultan's troops, it was the men from the interior who
played a major role in the rebellion. As the leader in the northern area emerged Abushiri
ibn Salam al-Harthi, who lead the insurrection in Pangani.
Wissmann arrived in East Africa with recruited troops, Sudanese, Somali and Zulu -
foreign to the area of operation and hence more reliable than the locals. Wissmann
fortified Bagamoyo and Dar es Salam, in cooperation with the Navy he took, fortified and
garrisoned Tanga and Pangani. Expeditions into the interior were intended to clear the
area.
Abushiri and his followers were repeatedly thrown out of their camps, repeatedly
suffered defeats. The skirmishes were single-sided, as Wissmann's forces were better
armed and more disciplined. Yet Abushiri and his fellow rebel leaders were hardy,
concluding ever new alliances, trying to take hostage singular missionaries and
travellers and collecting ransom for them, interrupting the caravan trade (which for a
while came to a standstill), intimidating the native population not to communicate with
the Germans and terrorizing those who did.
Only when Wissmann established and garrisoned more fortified positions, after having
recruited reinforcements from the Zulus, and when he marched into the interior, fortifying
and garrisoning Mpwapwa and reopening the main caravan route, did the situation
change. Now Indian and Arab merchants returned to Bagamoyo and Dar es Salam, the
caravans came in, larger numbers of African chiefs requested German letters of
protection; it proved increasingly difficult for Abushiri to find new allies. Finally, he was
arrested and executed (December 16th, 1889); the rebellion effectively had died down.
The rebels were given a general pardon by Wissmann (January, 1890).
Aftermath
The German East Africa Company went bankrupt, and the German government had to
take over. The administrative center was moved from Bagamoyo to Dar es Salam, which
had an excellent natural port and was better suited for communication with Germany. In
1890 Germany and Britain signed another treaty, in which Germany accepted a British
protectorate over the island of Zanzibar in return for, among others, British recognition
that the coastal stretch of the Sultanate within the German sphere of interest would be
placed under German sovereignty.
The rebellion is usually referred to as Arab in nature; yet the Arabs formed only a tiny,
albeit influential, minority along the coast. Most of the rebels were Africans of various
tribes. In the course of the rebellion, the hitherto dominant influence of the Arabs,
Comorese, Baluchis, etc., in the coastal region was broken; they were succeeded by the
German authorities.
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