Zanzibar Revolution

In January 1964 African insurgents overthrew the Arab-dominated sultanate of Zanzibar weeks after independence, creating a republic that soon united with Tanganyika.

Overview

The December 1963 independence settlement had preserved the rule of the Omani-descended sultan and his Arab-led coalition despite the African majority behind the Afro-Shirazi Party. On the night of 12 January 1964, police mutineers and street fighters led by the self-proclaimed field marshal John Okello seized the armory and the government within a day. Thousands of Arabs and South Asians were killed or expelled, and land and businesses were redistributed. The ASP under Abeid Ameer Karume consolidated a one-party state, sidelining Okello, who was deported and later disappeared in Uganda. In April 1964 Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika to form Tanzania. The revolution remains the founding political myth of the island.