Chapter 17 Dar es Salaam
February 1, 1865, Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam means "port of peace" in Swahili. Later Tanzania's largest city and port, the national economic and cultural center, an important port in East Africa, and the capital of Dar es Salaam District. The city is green all year round, has a beautiful environment, and is dotted with relatively well-preserved Western-style and Arabic-style ancient buildings. It is a city along the "Maritime Silk Road". Zheng He, an ancient country in East Asia, visited the coastal areas here during his voyages to the West during the Ming Dynasty.
Currently, the Suez Canal is not open. Dar es Salaam is a must-pass for European ships heading to Asia. Many merchant ships dock here to rest and replenish fresh water and supplies.
There are also some Portuguese and Dutch merchants trading here. The Sultanate of Zanzibar encourages Arabs to go to the interior of Tanzania to hunt slaves and capture ivory. Specialties such as cloves are also grown locally. When European merchants return from Asia, they will Purchase goods here and bring products such as ivory and cloves back to Europe to earn higher profits.
The temperature today is about 30 degrees. The salty and humid sea breeze blows from the Indian Ocean. Coconut trees are swaying in the wind. The tide gently laps the white coastal beach. Standing on the coast and looking out, a large fleet of ships rises from the sea level. Coming gradually.
The ship, flying the Dutch flag, slowly sailed into the port of Dar es Salaam under the command of the pilot.
A team of more than 2,000 people armed with live ammunition disembarked from the ship and boarded the pier of the port. This team was the German colonial team hired by the Bank of Hechingen.
The team was led by an old Prussian officer who had just retired. Many of them were veterans of the Prussian army and had just participated in the Second Schleswig War.
The deputy in the team is an old mercenary who has been wandering around the Asian waters all year round. He once worked in the Dutch Far East Colony.
Of course, most of them were unemployed people recruited from all over Germany. After equipping them with second-hand weapons after the Prussian Army retired, they were sent to Africa to carry out colonial activities.
This large-scale colonial team, which landed with "advanced" weapons and equipment, brought panic to the local Zanzibar Sultanate. A colonial team of this size was enough to fight a war of annihilation in this era.
The Sultanate of Zanzibar is an authentic Arab country. It is the African part of the former Indian Ocean power after the separation of the Oman Empire. During its power, the Oman Empire occupied the East African land with Zanzibar Island as its core, and at the same time controlled East Africa. In part of the coastal area, opposite Zanzibar Island is the Port of Dar es Salaam, which is also the core ruling area of the Kingdom of Zanzibar.
As a former hegemon of the Indian Ocean, Zanzibar had to deal with Western colonists. These people were ruthless. Zanzibar had fought with the Portuguese, so after seeing the colonial mission sent by Hechingen landing at the dock, Zanzibar Sultan Gebar did not dare to act rashly and sent someone to negotiate.
Europeans of this era naturally looked down upon small countries like Zanzibar. Except for Europe, other regions were barbarians and uncivilized lands in the eyes of Europeans. But remembering the tasks assigned by the boss, it’s better not to cause trouble.
The representatives of the colonial team followed the representatives of Zanzibar to the palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar. The Sultan set up a banquet to receive the representatives of the colonial team. At the meeting, he began to gossip about the colonial team's intentions.
"I don't know how to address you?" the Sultan of Zanzibar asked.
The leader of the colonial team replied: "Your Majesty the Sultan, you can call me Yaman."
"Sir Armen, are you Dutch? It seems that your clothes are a little different from those of the Dutch." The Sultan of Zanzibar said curiously: "But you came here on a Dutch ship, so for a while I don’t know where you are from.”
"Your Excellency the Sultan, we are from the Kingdom of Prussia from the great German region. This time we came to your country on a ship from the Netherlands."
Prussia! The Sultan of Zanzibar frowned. The German Sultan of Zanzibar had heard of it, but Prussia didn't know much about it. He turned to look at his foreign minister.
Seeing the Sultan's instructions, the Foreign Minister leaned into the Sultan's ear and explained softly: "Your Majesty the Sultan, Prussia is one of the powerful countries in Europe. I heard that they have a powerful army in Europe, but I have never heard that Prussia has Portugal and Even with a navy like England's, only a handful of Prussian merchants can be seen here."
Well, the Sultan understood that the people who came were not ordinary people and should not be offended easily. After all, the Portuguese were already very powerful. This so-called Prussia was actually a powerful country in Europe. Its strength should not be much worse than that of the Portuguese.
"Then I wonder what your purpose is in coming to Zanzibar? Zanzibar is just a small country without any outstanding resource development." asked the Sultan of Zanzibar.
"Your Excellency Sultan, we Prussians are here with sincerity. We are mainly engaged in agricultural production in Tanganyiga and will not threaten your country's rule in Zanzibar." Captain Yaman said.
The Sultan of Zanzibar did not believe the lies of the Europeans, and asked cautiously: "The land in Tanganyiga is actually not as good as imagined, especially in the interior, where lions and beasts are everywhere, and there are more people than people. Even our country has There is no way to develop the inland, and I’m afraid it will be difficult for you to complete it if you come from afar.”
Captain Yaman explained: "Don't worry, Your Excellency Sultan. To tell you the truth, we actually want to develop farms in the interior and grow tobacco and some tropical plants. These are rare in Europe, so we chose this place."
The Sultan of Zanzibar still asked worriedly: "Although I am not interested in whether your country will develop the inland, our country also has many interests in the inland, such as the savages and ivory there, which our country cannot give up. How do you ensure that the interests of the people of Zanzibar are not harmed.”
"Your Excellency Sultan, I can guarantee that I will not interfere with your country's interests in the interior. At the same time, we can also cooperate and sign an agreement, because we develop the land to drive away the beasts and savages in the interior. Although these things have a certain value, Our team still doesn’t like it, and it can be sold to your country. This time we are only the first batch, and others will come in the future, so confrontation is a dead end, and both parties in cooperation have a harmonious future." Mann's slightly threatening persuasion.
Thinking of the two thousand "elites" at the port, the Sultan of Zanzibar's heart rang with alarm bells, and he said without leaving a trace: "Your Excellency Yalman, the peaceful development of both sides is also what we Zanzibar people pursue, but an army is just under our eyes. I don’t think any king of any country can sleep well!”
Seeing the surrendered Sultan of Zanzibar, Arman smiled contemptuously in his heart and comforted him: "Don't worry, Your Excellency Sultan. To show our sincerity, we can leave in two weeks and will not be in Dar es Salaam." Of course, it can be faster with the support of your country.”
The Sultan of Zanzibar immediately understood such an obvious hint and said boldly: "Your Excellency, you are welcome. We will do our best to help our 'friends'." But his heart felt painful.
Arman explained: "Don't worry, Your Excellency Sultan, we just need to build some tools for camping in the wild. After all, you can't live in the open in the wilderness, right?"
When Zanzibar heard what Arman said, he was relieved and quickly responded: "Your Excellency Arman, you are too polite. We can still provide some additional support."
Unexpectedly, Arman received the message without hesitation: "There are really other things that need your country's help."
"Gan... you didn't say anything earlier!" the Sultan of Zanzibar thought to himself, and was prepared to be blackmailed.
"Our subsequent supplies and personnel still need help from your country's ports for transit. We hope your country can provide convenience for us."
It turns out that this is what happened. The Sultan of Zanzibar had already expected it. Such a large group of people were not moving and would definitely need a transportation channel to contact Europe. However, out of caution, the Sultan of Zanzibar still mentioned: "There is no problem in borrowing the port. We can set aside a piece of land at a single gate for your country to use, but your country cannot have troops stationed in the port and Zanzibar, and your staff at the port cannot carry weapons."
Hearing this, Yaman knew that the matter was almost done, but he still bargained: "No problem, but the safety of the staff stationed in Hong Kong still needs to be guaranteed, so we will leave an armed group of 20 people for protection. Staff safety.”
Hearing that there were only twenty people, the Sultan of Zanzibar agreed. Although the Sultanate of Zanzibar was a small country, it still had strength. It was just afraid that both sides would suffer losses with the Prussians, and the Portuguese next to them would be ready to make a move.
As long as the conditions proposed by the Prussians do not threaten Zanzibar's rule, they are still barely acceptable. After all, the opponent's gun is pointed at the forehead. What else can be done? Fight or not, Zanzibar will suffer. Fortunately This group of Prussians knew something, otherwise the Sultan of Zanzibar would not have let these Prussians enter the interior through Zanzibar.