Zanzibar Celebrations - Post by Mervyn Lobo
Karpal writes ...
Hi Mervyn, [where have YOU been] Mohamed Lodhi
Good job Benito in enlarging the image. Vuga always comes thru' when things and or beliefs are questioned. Two opinions were expressed:
1. The image was shot just after the Shortest War in August 27 [golly just a day after my birthday !!!] 1896.
2. The image shows KPZ celebration. Neither of these 2 assumptions is correct. Here's my tuppence. Assumption 1: There is no sign of carnage. It's all been cleaned up. The heavy naval bombardment of the palace, the surrounding buildings and that of the Beit-al-Ajab had rubble strewn all over furzani. I do not see any sign of war in the photograph. As for number Mbilli: Sorry mate, it's not a celebration. It's a funeral procession.
At this juncture, I think I should somewhat explain a wee bit of my past so that you may be assured of my dribble. I am trained in Aerial Surveying. That's making detailed maps from vertical images made from air-craft and or by satellites. I studied and worked in Nairobi, Kenya, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire {near London}, Delft, Holland, Berlin, West Germany {then}, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Malmo, Sweden. Had to dodge around niftily, for I was, always, inevitably behind with my ruddy rent. l now give classes, for a small fee, as how to do the midnight flight. And then finally to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where I hitched my wagon with the prestigious company called Spar Aerospace. The rest, as they say, is history. Now I am retired. Well... sort of. Retirement is an anathema for Sikhs. More of that later for I do not wish to detract you from our main subject.
Now....I want you to look at the image. Place your finger at the very bottom of the image. Start at the bottom right and trace your finger all the way to the left to the middle bottom of the image. Stop. Don't move your finger. Look to the bottom right and you see a clean field. Where your finger is you see two rows of men in white hats in white suits and with black armbands on their left upper arm. Black arm bands were used to be a sign of mourning in years past. Not so much now. You are doing fine. Stay with me. Now look between the 2 rows of men till you see 2 men in slightly darker outfits with a blackish bar across their knees. They are pulling the hearse. Normally horses were employed to do that. So what do we have here. The men in white suits are from the Royal Navy and the local muzungu brass. This is a staged funeral of a deceased dignitary possibly a Sultan due to the close proximity of the Palace. Question now becomes which Sultan? I have 2 guesses:
1. Sultan Sayyid Sir Hamoud bin Mohammad Al-Busaid. MHRIP, Date of Death: July 18 1902.
2. Sultan Sayyid Ali bin Hamud Al-Busaid. MHRIP. Date of Death December 1911
My guess is the first Sultan that I have mentioned.
This is image is an oblique, The photographer in all probability shot this from the Beit-al-Ajab. I well remember the Zanzibar of my leaving the island and I can spot quite a number of changes that were effected since this image was created. Let me see what stands out for moi. Start with the palace. On the extreme top right of the image can see the roof. There are 2 rectangle windows snug against the eves and then there is a smaller square window a wee bit lower to the right. The small one was removed and 3 more rectangle ones had been installed. So now there are 5 large windows all in a row. How do I know all this? Princess Amal used to sit there and wave to her friends. The white wall has been changed. If you scan the white wall from the left to the right, the first gate has been removed so that the wall is now continuous. The second gate has been removed all the way to the sea to make way for the road. If you look at the white wall and take your gaze seaward to the left you l will notice a banda roof. That's gone. Just to the right there are stairs that lead to the sea. From where the banda roof was there is a retaining wall that went all the way to the Ismaili guys ice-cream kiosk. Remember him? He had the best fruit juice drinks. And furzani had a lawn and a bubbling fountain! The dhow anchorage was moved way up to the top of the image. The wharf made larger and cranes installed. The breakwater with a light was built. Go-downs sprung up around the docks. They even built a little round wooden kiosk for Mr Nazereth to sell his boarding passes. O yes, even the little ole Zanzibar boomed!
And I remember the Sultan's bold red flag flying high by the palace. Seeing it made one assured. Those, my friends, were our days.
Regards,
Karpal.
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