Chapter 59: Zanzibar Palace Coup

January 23, 1867.

Military camp at Dar es Salaam, Sultanate of Zanzibar.

Barghash bin Said is planning with his cronies to overthrow the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

"Abdullah, how many people can you recruit?" Baghash bin Said asked his men.

"Your Highness, I originally controlled more than 80 soldiers in the army. With the addition of several officers we have placed in the army, the total number of soldiers under my control is more than 300."

"Very good, I also have more than 800 people, which adds up to 1,200 people. This is one-third of the army of the entire kingdom." Bargash bin Said analyzed.

"And Majid doesn't know about our plan yet, and he is probably still drunk in the palace. As long as we can catch him by surprise and capture all the cronies in Majid's army, then the Sultanate of Zanzibar will be ours." Bargash bin Said excitedly.

Several officers and staff members under him were also in high spirits. After all, they had a great chance of winning this time. If the coup was successful, they would be able to hold high positions in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

"Your Highness, you are the only one who can bring a bright future to the Sultanate of Zanzibar. We are all willing to follow in your footsteps." An aide took the opportunity to flatter him.

"Your Highness, please arrange the tasks! It's time for us to change this backward country!" Other officers and staff also urged him to do so.

Bargash bin Said was very pleased with the enthusiasm and flattery of his men.

It is this feeling of holding power that makes Bargash bin Said dissatisfied with the current situation of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and in his heart he also regards himself as the leader of the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

But Barghash bin Said was also a layman, and he felt very comfortable when he felt the charm of power and the admiration of others.

He walked to the table excitedly and began to assign tasks.

"This is the palace of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. There are about 120 guards here, but they are scattered all over the palace. It is impossible for them to gather in such a short time. So we need to send people to take control of the palace in a very short time. I will lead the soldiers and hold Majid hostage. This way, the guards will be leaderless and will automatically give up resistance."

Baghash bin Said pointed to the location of the Sultanate's palace in Zanzibar on the map and said.

"This is the first group of troops. As long as we deal with Majid, basically no one can fight against us. But to be on the safe side, we need to use 500 people to take charge of the actions in the palace. Abdullah has been in the army for many years, so you will be responsible for disarming the soldiers in the barracks outside the city, and I will lead people to Majid's bedroom and control Majid."

Barghash bin Said continued, "The second route, led by Abdullah, is responsible for controlling the military camp outside Dar es Salaam. The soldiers in the camp get up at 8 o'clock every morning. At this time, the guns are placed on the shelves in the soldiers' dormitories. As long as we break in tomorrow morning before the soldiers get up, we can control the guns and make the soldiers in the camp surrender."

"The time of action is tomorrow morning at five o'clock. We will break into the palace when the guards are lax. In order to carry out the plan in an orderly manner, our troops must be assembled by three o'clock tomorrow."

"As long as we control the palace and the army, we will be sure to win. Then we can gather the army from all over the country and drive out Majid's accomplices and the Germans in Dar es Salaam and Tanga. Then we will be completely victorious."

"Now, let's divide the number of people who will complete each task, so we can take action early tomorrow morning..."

…

What was Sultan Majid bin Said doing while Barghash bin Said was assigning tasks?

In fact, Majid bin Said was completely unaware of the conspiracy of his subordinates. When he was young, Majid bin Said was quite capable, otherwise he would not have been able to fight for the independence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

But in his later years, Majid bin Said had completely let himself go, indulging in pleasure and drug stimulation every day.

Historically, Majid bin Said was

For those who died in the past two years, people speculated that their cause of death was related to excessive use of "stimulants".

…

The next day, at the Sultanate Palace of Zanzibar.

It was just daybreak and the guards were standing lazily in front of the palace gate. Suddenly, Bargash bin Said came to the gate with a few people.

The guards naturally knew the king's younger brother, Prince Bargash bin Said, and thought that Bargash bin Said was discussing matters with the Sultan as usual.

When he walked in front of the guard, suddenly the two men behind Bargash bin Said took out two revolvers from their sleeves and pointed them at the chests of the two guards.

"Don't move, or we will kill you!" Bargash bin Said's men threatened.

Then, Bargash bin Said waved his hand, and a group of people came out from somewhere. Bargash bin Said led a team straight to Majid's bedroom, and the rest of the people were responsible for controlling the guards and servants in the palace.

Majid was sleeping with the queen in bed when suddenly a maid burst in from outside the door.

"Your Majesty, it's bad. His Highness Bargash bin Said has broken in with his men."

Majid, who was awakened by the maid's shouting, was still confused and was about to scold her.

Bargash bin Said walked straight in with a group of people.

"What are you going to do, Bagash? Are you planning a rebellion?"

Bargash bin Said said sarcastically: "My dear brother, can't you see the situation clearly? It seems that you are really confused. Yes, this is a coup!"

"You...you...ah!"

After recovering from his shock, Majid Sultan sighed dejectedly. It was too late to say anything now.

…

When Barghash bin Said controlled Majid Sultan, Abdullah also took control of the military camp with his men, and the entire coup encountered basically no resistance.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Majid's ministers came to report on their work as usual, only to see Bargash bin Said sitting in the Sultan's seat.

"Everyone, His Majesty the Sultan is old and ill, so he is unable to manage state affairs, so he entrusted me to be in charge of national affairs." Baghash bin Said said to the ministers with a smile.

It has to be said that Majid's ministers, like their old king, were all good-for-nothings. After seeing the armed guards, they immediately jumped into the camp of Bargash bin Said.

…

At the time of Barghash bin Said's coup, Bazel, the head of the East African colony in Dar es Salaam, also observed abnormalities in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

After all, it is definitely not normal for hundreds of soldiers to rush back and forth on the streets. In the past, soldiers from the Sultanate of Zanzibar would not appear in such a "large scale" in the Dar es Salaam neighborhood.

After all, Dar es Salaam is currently the political and economic center of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and the Sultan of Zanzibar will not allow his soldiers to roam around the streets like this.

Even when Majid travels on weekdays, it is the Royal Guards who are in charge. The Royal Guards are well-organized. They will line up in a relatively neat manner, wearing relatively gorgeous and uniform Arab costumes, and they will move neither hurriedly nor slowly.

The soldiers who appeared on the streets today were obviously not the royal guards, and they were marching in a hurry. At the same time, the meticulous Basel also noticed that the guns of these soldiers were loaded, and they were obviously ready for a fight.

Bazel felt something was wrong the more he thought about it. He called his assistant, Dürer, and ordered him, "Go to the border and report to our people. Ask them to report to the East African colonial government. Tell them that the Sultanate of Zanzibar may have taken unusual actions. It looks like a coup. Ask the colonial government and border troops to pay attention to the unusual movements in Zanzibar."

Dürer nodded and was about to set off. Bazel suddenly stopped him and said, "Go change into some Arab clothes first, don't go out in military uniform."

So Dürer, in disguise, dressed as an Arab merchant, rode a horse and left through the back door of the East African colonial office in the port of Dar es Salaam.

(End of this chapter)