Since ages ago, Zanzibar has been an attraction for many travelers around the world. Assyrians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and in the more recent centuries Portuguese, Dutch and English have all landed on its coasts for trade, adventure and exploration. The interaction of all these peoples of the world and the local inhabitants has helped shape the history of Zanzibar. It is reminisced that among the first people to visit were the Shirazis of Persia, who built the oldest building in Zanzibar, the Kizimkazi mosque (AD 1107). With the Help of the seasonal monsoon winds, Arab and Persian trading ships sailed to these islands carrying various goods, such as beads and cloth, as well as Chinese porcelain, and barter traded with tortoiseshell, ebony and ivory, and spices (an important agricultural commodity for the islands).
The Bantus
The native Bantu people, who originally settled in the area in the 3rd and 4th centuries came from the area known as Cameroon, and traded with the Arabs, eventually developing the Swahili Language which derives its richness from Arabic. Due to intermarriages between the natives and the Arab settlers, the Swahili adopted Arabic customs and traditions, making the island populace predominantly (97%) Muslim, hence Islam is the main religion amongst the inhabitants. Amongst goods traded included gold, rhino-horn, leopard skins and slaves. Hence Zanzibar became a very important slave trade centre and commercial centre. Trade continued to grow for centuries to come. In the 15th century, with the arrival of the Portuguese who subjugated the Swahili people trade came to a halt. This gave them free access to Zanzibar for food and water supplies among other things.
The Slave Trade
The Portuguese ruled up till the end of the 17th century, when the Oman 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 labor (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, were 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, the slave trade continued to exist openly until British take-over of the mainland following Germany's defeat in World War I.
The "Spice Islands"
In 1818 cloves were introduced to Zanzibar and Pemba Islands and its growth flourished due to the tropical climate and the fertile soils. By the mid-19th century, Zanzibar had become the world's largest producer of cloves. Slowly, other spices were grown in the area: the introduction of products such as pepper, ginger, cumin and cinnamon earned Zanzibar the nickname of 'Spice Islands'. Together with the slave trade and ivory, spices paved the way to the increasing wealth of the country, which soon became the passageway for world trade.
Exploration and Adventure
Because of its geographic location, many Europeans explorers chose Zanzibar as the starting point for their exploration activities. Despite the dangers posed by the unexplored territories, many explorers decided to venture into this unknown land. Among these included men like the German missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf (the first European to see Mont Kenya) and his missionary colleague and fellow countryman Johann Rebbman (the first European to see Kilimanjaro); the Englishman 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 contributed greatly to the country's prosperity and wealth notwithstanding the extravagance of its sultans, which maybe be noticed in the fine buildings and palaces which characterize the capital 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.
Zanzibar in the 20th Century

Towards the end of the 19th century, Zanzibar became a British protectorate. As a result Zanzibar's ties to the British Government grew 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  end of the war, local people were gradually allowed to take part in the Zanzibar' government and, by 1960, Zanzibar was granted a new constitution. In 1963, realizing that the issue could no longer be avoided, Britain granted Zanzibar self-governance. By the end of that year, the country became an independent sultanate, and a full member of the British Commonwealth on 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 Tanganyika (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 economic sector for the country. It is estimated that some 90,000 tourists arrive in Zanzibar every year, thus contributing to roughly 15% of its Gross Domestic Product.