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  • Zanzibar 1859: The British Bombardment of Stone Town

    Zanzibar 1859: The British Bombardment of Stone Town
    2026/07/22
    In October 1859, a British naval squadron opened fire on Stone Town, the heart of the Omani Sultanate of Zanzibar. It was a shocking moment that reshaped the balance of power in the western Indian Ocean. This episode traces the diplomatic crisis that led to the bombardment: Sultan Majid bin Said's refusal to enforce anti-slave-trade treaties, the aggressive British consul Atkins Hamerton, and the arrival of HMS 'Assaye' and other warships. We walk through the actual bombardment—the cannons targeting the Omani fort and the sultan's palace—and the aftermath that forced Majid to sign a new agreement, ceding customs revenues and accepting a British-supervised navy. Along the way, we explore the role of Indian merchant-financiers like Jairam Sewji, the fragile Busaid Sultanate, and the Swahili coastal elites who watched their sovereignty erode. This is not just a story of gunboat diplomacy; it is a hinge point where clove wealth, slavery, and imperial pressure collided. #Zanzibar #StoneTown #Bombardment1859 #MajidBinSaid #AtkinsHamerton #BusaidSultanate #JairamSewji #RoyalNavy #GunboatDiplomacy #SlaveTrade #IndianOcean #BritishEmpire #Oman #SwahiliCoast #CloveEconomy #HMSAssaye #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    8 分
  • Zanzibar 1853: The Great Comet Panic and the Slave Trade

    Zanzibar 1853: The Great Comet Panic and the Slave Trade
    2026/07/21
    In 1853, a bright comet appeared over the Indian Ocean, and Zanzibar's population saw it as an omen. Lucas and Luna explore how this celestial event intersected with the island's volatile politics—Sultan Said bin Busaid's declining health, British Consul Atkins Hamerton's pressure to end the slave trade, and the Khoja merchants who read the stars to protect their clove fortunes. They discuss the comet's appearance in Swahili oral traditions, the panic in Stone Town's markets, and how Jairam Sewji's astrologers advised him during the crisis. This episode weaves astronomy, superstition, and power into a single night in 1853. #GreatComet1853 #Zanzibar #SlaveTrade #SaidBinBusaid #AtkinsHamerton #JairamSewji #Khoja #SwahiliCoast #StoneTown #IndianOceanHistory #AstronomyHistory #Omen #CloveTrade #19thCentury #BritishAbolition #BusaidSultanate #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • Zanzibar 1851: The Cholera Epidemic That Broke the Clove Kingdom

    Zanzibar 1851: The Cholera Epidemic That Broke the Clove Kingdom
    2026/07/21
    In 1851, Zanzibar was struck by a cholera epidemic that killed thousands and shattered the clove-driven economy. Lucas and Luna explore how the disease spread from the Indian subcontinent via monsoon trade routes, decimating slave and free populations alike. They examine the Sultan's weak quarantine measures, the collapse of clove production as plantation workers died, and the economic fallout that enriched Indian merchants who hoarded cloves. The episode also touches on British consul Atkins Hamerton's reports and the long-term shift in Zanzibar's labor systems. Personal stories include the Khoja merchant Jairam Sewji, who lost family members, and the Baluchi garrison's role in maintaining order. This is a deep dive into a forgotten catastrophe that reshaped the spice islands. #Zanzibar #CholeraEpidemic #1851 #JairamSewji #AtkinsHamerton #BusaidSultanate #CloveTrade #StoneTown #IndianOceanHistory #PublicHealthHistory #PandemicHistory #SlaveTrade #Unguja #Pemba #KhojaMerchants #BaluchiGarrison #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分
  • Zanzibar 1840: The Indian Dhow That Changed the Slave Trade

    Zanzibar 1840: The Indian Dhow That Changed the Slave Trade
    2026/07/20
    In 1840, a single dhow owned by a Khoja merchant named Jairam Sewji was intercepted by the British Navy off the coast of Zanzibar. On board were 142 enslaved Africans, bound for the clove plantations of Pemba. The incident sparked a diplomatic crisis between Sultan Said bin Busaid and Captain Atkins Hamerton, the British consul. This episode unpacks the secret world of the watoro — enslaved runaways who risked everything to reach freedom in the interior — and the role of Indian merchants like Sewji, who financed the slave trade even as they funded the British abolitionist agenda. We trace the dhow's route from the Swahili coast to the Mrima hinterland, and the brutal logic of the shamba system that kept the trade alive. A story of collusion, resistance, and the hidden economy of the Indian Ocean. #Zanzibar #SlaveTrade #IndianOcean #JairamSewji #Khoja #Busaid #Mrima #watoro #shamba #dhows #Abolition #AtkinsHamerton #Pemba #Unguja #SwahiliCoast #ClovePlantations #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    10 分
  • Zanzibar 1852 The Great Hurricane That Reshaped the Clove Economy

    Zanzibar 1852 The Great Hurricane That Reshaped the Clove Economy
    2026/07/20
    In 1852, a devastating hurricane struck the island of Zanzibar, destroying thousands of clove trees and reshaping the economic and social landscape of the Swahili Coast. Lucas and Luna explore how this natural disaster impacted the Busaid Sultanate, the Indian merchant community led by Jairam Sewji, and the enslaved workforce on the shambas. They discuss the short-term famine, the long-term shift in clove cultivation away from the exposed eastern coast, and how the storm accelerated British pressure for slave trade suppression. The episode also touches on the resilience of the Khoja and Bhatia traders who rebuilt the clove economy, and the environmental legacy that still echoes on Unguja and Pemba today. #ZanzibarHistory #GreatHurricane1852 #CloveEconomy #JairamSewji #BusaidSultanate #SwahiliCoast #IndianOceanTrade #SlaveTrade #KhojaMerchants #BhatiaTraders #StoneTown #Unguja #Pemba #NaturalDisaster #ClovePlantations #ShambaSystem #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    10 分
  • Zanzibar 1850: The Baluchi Revolt That Remade Stone Town's Defenses

    Zanzibar 1850: The Baluchi Revolt That Remade Stone Town's Defenses
    2026/07/19
    In 1850, Sultan Said bin Busaid faced a mutiny from his own Baluchi garrison — a force of mercenaries from the Makran coast who were owed years of back pay. The revolt erupted in Stone Town's old fort, and for three tense days, the sultan was effectively a prisoner in his own capital. This episode follows the Baluchi soldiers' grievances, the role of Jairam Sewji as paymaster, and how the crisis forced a reorganisation of Zanzibar's military and fiscal systems. We also look at the aftermath: the construction of new fortifications, the rise of the Bagamoyo garrison as a counterbalance, and the longer-term shift toward local watoro conscripts. The revolt reveals the fragility of Busaid rule and the power of the Indian merchant financiers who held the sultanate's purse strings. #Zanzibar #BaluchiRevolt1850 #SaidbinBusaid #JairamSewji #StoneTown #Makran #OmaniSultanate #MercenaryGarrison #IndianOceanHistory #SwahiliCoast #Unguja #Bagamoyo #Watoro #MariaTheresaThaler #FortJesus #MtoniPalace #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    7 分
  • Zanzibar's 1840 Omani Garrison Revolt: The Army That Defied the Sultan

    Zanzibar's 1840 Omani Garrison Revolt: The Army That Defied the Sultan
    2026/07/19
    In 1840, Sultan Said bin Busaid's elite Baluchi garrison in Stone Town mutinied over unpaid wages, demanding payment in Maria Theresa thalers. The revolt, led by a Baluchi commander named Mirza, paralyzed the capital for three days. Indian merchant Jairam Sewji brokered a truce by advancing funds from his own treasury. This episode explores the fragile military-political economy of the Busaid Sultanate, the role of Baluchi mercenaries from Makran, and how the revolt exposed the sultan's dependence on Indian capital and African slave-soldiers. It's a microcosm of Zanzibar's tangled power structure just before the clove boom. #Zanzibar #OmaniSultanate #BaluchiGarrison #Mirza #JairamSewji #SaidBinBusaid #StoneTown #MariaTheresaThaler #MilitaryRevolt #IndianOceanHistory #Mercenaries #Makran #Watoro #Nyampara #SlaveSoldiers #1840 #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    9 分
  • Zanzibar 1849: The French Consul Who Tried to Buy Pemba Island

    Zanzibar 1849: The French Consul Who Tried to Buy Pemba Island
    2026/07/18
    In 1849, France sent a consul to Zanzibar with a bold plan: buy the island of Pemba from Sultan Said bin Busaid for 40,000 Maria Theresa thalers. This episode traces the failed negotiation through the eyes of the French envoy M. Ladislas Cochet, the Sultan's shrewd resistance, and the shadow of British diplomat Atkins Hamerton. We explore the clove wealth of Pemba, the strategic stakes in the Indian Ocean, and how the Busaid Sultanate played European powers against each other. Along the way, we meet Khoja merchant Jairam Sewji, whose financial networks underpinned the Sultan's independence, and we glimpse Stone Town's cosmopolitan politics. No prior episode has focused on this nearly forgotten diplomatic episode that reveals Zanzibar's fragile sovereignty in the age of empire. #Zanzibar #PembaIsland #FrenchConsul #SaidBinBusaid #LadislasCochet #AtkinsHamerton #JairamSewji #BusaidSultanate #CloveTrade #MariaTheresaThaler #StoneTown #IndianOcean #Diplomacy #19thCentury #ColonialHistory #History #FexingoHistory #AfricanHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
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    6 分