Fascinating book on Zanzibar now in Arabic

Shaikh Issa bin Nasser al Ismaily

Following the publication of an earlier book written by Shaikh Issa bin Nasser al Ismaily entitled Zanzibar — Colonial Scramble and Slave Trade in Swahili language in 1999, the highly informative book is now available in Arabic so as to reach the wider Omani and Arab readers. The book provides vital insight as Shaikh Issa al Ismaily conveys his own life experiences in the island of Zanzibar. He has given historical perspective of links between Oman and Zanzibar from the time of Sayyid Said bin Sultan (1804-1856) to the last Sultan Sayyid Jamshid bin Abdullah bin Khalifa.

Shaikh Issa al Ismaily provides a vivid account of his life, education and career before and after the Zanzibar revolution of 1964. He had worked in Zanzibar as a District Officer and as a Magistrate and later on as Administrative Secretary and Aide-de Camp to the British Resident in Zanzibar. He describes in detail the historical background of the political development and the sequence of events which led to the bloody revolution of Zanzibar with the help of Tanganyika, which ended with the overthrow of the legitimately elected Zanzibar Government in 1964 involving the deaths of thousands of people.

Shaikh Issa’s father was gunned down in his house in the presence of his wife (i.e. Shaikh Issa’s mother) and his daughter who was just 12 years at the time. The killing took place on the first day of the revolution. Immediately following the killings, the house was set on fire with Shaikh Nasser’s mother, who was an old lady of over 90 years of age, left to die in the burning house. Fortunately, she was rescued alive by relatives after three days but it was too late then as she died two days later.

These were traumatic experiences for Shaikh Issa as he was abroad studying Administration and Law at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in England. His mother and his young sister went to Pemba, the sister Island of Zanzibar, to join Shaikh Issa’s wife who herself had five children of her own to take care of. She was a teacher.

Under the circumstances, Shaikh Issa had to cut short his studies in England and return to Zanzibar to take care of the family. In less than one month after arriving in Zanzibar, his services with the Zanzibar Government were terminated. Immediately he escaped to Dar-es-Salaam where he worked from 1965 to 1976 in the Civil Service Commission and later as Senior Rural Development Officer and thereafter, as Secretary in Charge of Finance and Personnel. Following this he moved to his home country of Oman, where he worked in the Central Bank of Oman as Personnel Manager for 15 years before retiring in 1992. He has five children, 27 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Source: Oman Observer