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 For ages, Zanzibar has attracted the attention of many peoples: Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and in more recent centuries Portuguese, Dutch and English have all landed on its coasts for trade, adventure and exploration. It is thanks to the interaction of all these and other cultures that the history of Zanzibar has been moulded. It is said that among the first visitors to arrive were the Shirazis of Persia, to whom the oldest building of Zanzibar, the Kizimkazi mosque (AD 1107), is owed. Using the seasonal monsoons, Arab and Persian trading ships sailed to its islands carrying various goods, such as beads and cloth, as well as Chinese porcelain, and returned with tortoiseshell, ebony and ivory, and spices.
The Bantus
The coastal Bantu people, who had arrived in the 3rd and 4th centuries from the around the area known today as Cameroon, and who traded with the Arabs, eventually developed a language (which contained many Arabic words) and culture, known as Swahili. The tendency to intermarry led the Swahili to adopt Arab customs and traditions, first among all the Islamic religion (which currently counts 97% of the population among its followers). Later (7th century) the Swahili people began trading with the Arabs and Persians. Goods included gold, rhino-horn, leopard skins... and slaves, making Zanzibar a very powerful and important commercial centre. Trade continued to flourish for various centuries. However, this came to a halt with the arrival of the Portuguese, in the 15th century, who subjugated the Swahili people, thus obtaining, among other things, free access to Zanzibar for food and water supplies. The Slave Trade
 Portuguese rule lasted till the end of the 17th century, when the Omanis managed to regain possession of the entire region. Oman had in the meantime grown into an important trading nation, whose main export was dates, which required inexpensive slave labour (mainly African, as the Islam religion forbade the enslavement of Muslims) to work the vast plantations. By the mid-18th century, the Dutch were also arriving in search of slaves to be placed on the plantations of their possessions in the East Indies. At this time, Zanzibar, together with other East African city states, was controlled by the Busaidi family, and in order to fight the Mazrui (a rival Omani family) of Mombasa, which had been declared independent of Oman, and to keep the Persians out of Oman, the Sultan turned to Britain, who in 1798 agreed on a Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, which not only would defend British interests in the area, but also put pressure on the sultan to end slavery. This was later reinforced, in September 1822, by the signing of the Moresby treaty, which made it illegal to sell slaves to Christian powers. This agreement was to be monitored by the United States and Great Britain, who sent Consuls to Zanzibar. However, the restrictions were ignored and Africans continued to be bought from local rulers or simply captured, killed or imprisoned. Though illegal, slaving continued to exist openly until British take-over of the mainland following Germany's defeat in World War I.
The "Spice Islands"
When in 1818 cloves were introduced, Zanzibar and Pemba flourished thanks to their tropical climate and the fertility of their soils. By the mid-19th century, Zanzibar had become the world's largest producer of cloves. Little by little, several other spices 'invaded' the area: the introduction of products such as pepper, ginger, cumin and cinnamon earned Zanzibar the nickname of 'Spice Islands'. Together with slavery and ivory, spices paved the way to the increasing wealth of the country, which soon became the passageway for world trade. Exploration and Adventure
 For its geographic location, many Europeans chose Zanzibar as the starting point for their expeditions. Despite the many dangers unexplored territories reserved for them, many decided to venture into this unknown land. These included men like the German missionary Johann Krapf (the first European to see Mont Kenya) and his missionary colleague-fellow countryman Johann Rebbman (the first European to see Kilimanjaro); the English Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke, who led the British Royal geographic Society's expedition to East Africa in search of the source of the Nile; and the Scottish missionary David Livingstone, who planned and began his final expedition in Zanzibar.
Wealth in Zanzibar
The spice trade in Zanzibar greatly increased the country's prosperity and the extravagance of its sultans, which can be noticed in the fine buildings and palaces which characterise the capitol Stone Town. In 1883, Sultan Barghash, who wanted to emulate the opulence of Indian palaces, ordered the building of Beit el-Ajaib, the House of Wonders, the first building in Zanzibar to feature electric lighting. Barghash also introduced other developments, such as the first clean water system, electric street lighting, roads and a police force. In 1911, the new sultan Khalifa Bin Harab also introduced political reforms featuring increasingly democratic representation. 20th Century Zanzibar
 In the last years of the 19th century became a British protectorate, and Zanzibar's ties to the British Government became increasingly stronger. During the first World War, though Britain had conscripted African soldiers, as did Germany, Zanzibar was never directly involved, apart from one incident: the sinking of the British ship Pegasus by the Königsberg in the harbour of Zanzibar Town. The graves of the sailors killed on this occasion can still be visited on Grave Island (Chapwani Island), which gets its name precisely from this tragic incident. During World War II, Zanzibar continued to be under British rule, but was not involved in any military action. Following the war, local people were gradually allowed to take part in the Zanzibar' government and, by 1960, it was granted a new constitution. In 1963, realising that the issue could no longer be avoided, Britain granted Zanzibar self-government. By the end of that year, the country became an independent sultanate, and a full member of the British Commonwealth (December 10th), and a few days later took its seat as a member of the United Nations. However, one year later, the government was overthrown by a revolution, following which an Act of Union was signed between Zanzibar and Tanganyica (which had become independent in 1961), thus forming the Republic of Tanzania. Though united, Zanzibar remained separate from the rest of Tanzania in many respects, and today it is semi-autonomous. Economic changes have been brought about with the introduction of seaweed farming, which is now one of its main sources of income, together with spices. Though not comparable to its other industries, tourism has also become an important sector for the country. It is estimated that some 90,000 tourists arrive in Zanzibar each year, thus representing roughly 15% of its GDP.
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About Zanzibar 
