African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 63 - 59. Zanzibar Palace Coup

January 23, 1867.

Zanzibar Sultanate, Dar es Salaam Harbor barracks.

Bagash Bin Said was planning a coup to overthrow the Zanzibar Sultanate with his confidants.

"Abdullah, how many men can you gather?" Bagash Bin Said asked his subordinate.

"Prince, originally I controlled over eighty people in the army, plus a few officers we placed inside, we control over 300 soldiers."

"Very good, I have more than 800 men, combined that makes 1200, which is already one-third of the entire army in the kingdom." Bagash Bin Said analyzed.

"And Magid, that guy, still doesn’t know our plan, probably indulging in pleasure in the palace. If we can strike unexpectedly and capture Magid’s trusted men, then the Zanzibar Sultanate will be ours." Bagash Bin Said said excitedly.

The officers and advisors were also in high spirits, because the chances of winning were great, and if the coup succeeded, they could reach high positions in the Zanzibar Sultanate.

"Prince, only you can bring a bright future to the Zanzibar Sultanate, we are all willing to follow in your footsteps." An advisor flattered.

"Prince, please assign us tasks! It’s time for us to change this backward nation!" Other officers and advisors urged.

Bagash Bin Said was very pleased with the enthusiasm and flattery from his people.

This feeling of holding great power, Bagash Bin Said was indeed dissatisfied with the current state of the Zanzibar Sultanate and internally viewed himself as the leader for Zanzibar Sultanate.

But Bagash Bin Said was also human; when he felt the allure of power and the praise of others, he felt extremely satisfied.

He excitedly walked to the table and began assigning tasks.

"Here is the Zanzibar Sultanate palace, guarded by about 120 men, but they are scattered all over the palace, and can’t gather in a short time, so we need to quickly seize control of the palace, while I personally lead soldiers to capture Magid, making the palace guards leaderless, and they will automatically give up resisting."

Bagash Bin Said pointed to the position of the Zanzibar Sultanate palace on the map.

"This is the first group. As long as we deal with Magid, there won’t be anyone who can challenge us. But to play it safe, we must use 500 men to handle actions inside the palace. Abdullah, you’ve been in the army for years, so you will be responsible for disarming soldiers in the barracks outside the city, while I lead people directly to Magid’s bedchamber to control him."

Bagash Bin Said continued: "The second group, led by Abdullah, is responsible for controlling the barracks outside Dar es Salaam. The soldiers wake up at 8 a.m. every day, at which time the guns are kept on the racks in the dormitories, so if we break in early tomorrow morning before the soldiers get up, controlling the guns will force the barracks soldiers to surrender."

"The operation time is five in the morning tomorrow, taking advantage of the palace guards’ laxity, we break into the palace, and for this plan to proceed orderly, our forces must all be assembled by three tomorrow."

"As long as we control the palace and army, victory is assured. Then we’ll gather the national army and drive away Magid’s accomplices, the Germans, at Dar es Salaam port and Tanga, achieving complete victory."

"Now, allocate people for each task, tomorrow morning we can act..."

...

While Bagash Bin Said was assigning tasks, what was Magid Bin Said, the Sultan, doing?

Actually, Magid Bin Said was completely unaware of the conspiracy of his subordinates. When young, Magid Bin Said was quite proactive, or he wouldn’t have won the rights for Zanzibar Sultanate’s independence.

But in his later years, Magid Bin Said had completely let himself go, indulging every day in pleasure and drug stimulants.

Historically, Magid Bin Said died in these two years, and it’s speculated his cause of death was related to excessive use of "doping."

...

The next day, Zanzibar Sultanate palace.

Just at dawn, the guards were lazily standing at the palace gate; suddenly, Bagash Bin Said arrived with a few men.

The guards naturally recognized the King’s brother, Prince Bagash Bin Said, assuming he was, as usual, discussing matters with the Sultan.

Upon reaching the gatekeepers, suddenly two men behind Bagash Bin Said pulled two revolvers from their sleeves and pressed them against the guards’ chests.

"Don’t move, or we will kill you!" Bagash Bin Said’s men threatened.

Subsequently, Bagash Bin Said signaled, and suddenly a group of people appeared from some corner. Bagash Bin Said led a group straight to Magid’s bedchamber, while the rest controlled the palace guards and servants.

Magid was sleeping in bed with the Queen; suddenly, a maid burst in from outside.

"Your Majesty, it’s not good, Prince Bagash Bin Said has barged in with men."

Awoken by the maid’s shout, Magid, still groggy, was about to rebuke.

Bagash Bin Said stormed in with a group.

"What are you doing, Bagash? Planning rebellion?"

Bagash Bin Said smirked sarcastically: "My dear brother, can’t you see the situation? It seems you are really senile, yes this is a coup!"

"You... you... sigh!"

Once regaining his senses, Sultan Magid sighed in despair, realizing it was too late for any words.

...

While Bagash Bin Said controlled Sultan Magid, Abdullah also took control of the barracks, and the entire coup met virtually no resistance.

At eight in the morning, Magid’s ministers came to report as usual, only to find Bagash Bin Said sitting on the Sultan’s throne.

"Gentlemen, His Majesty the Sultan due to old age and ailment, cannot manage affairs, so he has entrusted me with managing national affairs." Bagash Bin Said said smilingly to the ministers.

It must be said, Magid’s ministers, much like their old King, were all bloated and decadent. Upon seeing the armed guards, they immediately switched allegiance to Bagash Bin Said.

...

While Bagash Bin Said was carrying out the coup, Bazir, the head of the East Africa colony in charge at Dar es Salaam port, also noticed the anomalies in the Zanzibar Sultanate.

After all, several hundred soldiers hurriedly running to and fro on the streets was certainly not normal. In the past, Zanzibar Sultanate soldiers would not appear in Dar es Salaam streets in such "large scale."

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

Even during Magid’s outings, it was the Royal Guard responsible, and the Royal Guard was orderly, wearing relatively grand and unified Arabian attire, moving neither too fast nor too slow.

But the soldiers appearing on the streets today were clearly not the Royal Guard, and their march was hasty. Furthermore, the meticulous Bazir noticed that these soldiers’ guns were loaded, clearly indicating readiness for combat.

The more Bazir thought about it, the more he felt something was amiss, so he called his assistant Durer and instructed: "Go to the border now and report to our people, have them inform the East Africa colonial government that something unusual may be happening in the Zanzibar Sultanate, it seems there may be a coup, and advise the colonial government and the border troops to be alert to Zanzibar’s movements."

Durer nodded and was about to leave when Bazir suddenly stopped him: "Change into Arabian clothing first, don’t go out in a uniform."

Thus, disguised as an Arabian merchant, Durer, on horseback, left from the back door of the East African colony’s office at Dar es Salaam port.

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