African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 20: Chapter 17 Dar es Salaam

February 1, 1865, Dar es Salaam.

In Swahili, Dar es Salaam means ”Haven of Peace.” In later times, it became Tanzania’s largest city and port, the nation’s economic and cultural center, an important East African port, and the capital of the Dar es Salaam region. The city is green year-round, with beautiful surroundings, and is sporadically dotted with well-preserved Western and Arabic-style ancient buildings. It is a city along the ”Maritime Silk Road.” The ancient Eastern country of the Ming Dynasty’s Zheng He once visited the coastal areas here.

At present, with the Suez Canal not yet opened, Dar es Salaam is a necessary stop for European ships heading to Asia. Many merchant ships dock here for rest, replenishment of freshwater, and supplies.

There are also some Portuguese and Dutch merchants trading here. The Zanzibar Sultanate encourages Arabs to travel inland to Tanzania for slave hunting and ivory capture. Locally, cloves and other specialty products are grown. European merchants, upon returning from Asia, often buy goods here, taking ivory and cloves back to Europe for higher profits.

Today the temperature is about thirty degrees Celsius. A salty, moist sea breeze blows from the Indian Ocean, swaying the coconut trees in the wind. The tide gently laps the white sandy shores. Standing on the coast, one can see a large fleet gradually approaching from the horizon.

The flags of the Dutch are hoisted on the ships, which slowly sail into the port of Dar es Salaam under the pilot’s command.

A contingent of over two thousand armed men disembarks from the ships and steps onto the port’s dock. This group is a German colonial expedition hired by Heixinggen Bank.

The leader is a recently retired Prussian officer; many are veterans retired from the Prussian army, having just participated in the Second Schleswig War.

The deputy leader of the team is an old mercenary who has roamed Asian waters for years and has been active in the Dutch Far East colonies.

Of course, the majority are unemployed individuals sourced from various German regions, equipped with second-hand weapons retired from the Prussian army and dispatched to Africa for colonial activities.

This sizable colonial team, equipped with ”advanced” weaponry, brought panic to the local Zanzibar Sultanate, as a colonial force of this scale could easily wage a nation-destroying war in this era.

The Zanzibar Sultanate is an authentic Arab nation, the African segment formed after the partition of the once-powerful Indian Ocean Oman Empire. Oman’s influence, at its height, included Eastern African lands centered around Zanzibar Island and controlled parts of the East African coastal areas. Across from Zanzibar Island lies the port of Dar es Salaam, the core dominion of the Zanzibar Kingdom.

As a former overlord of the Indian Ocean, Zanzibar has had significant dealings with Western colonizers. These people are tough; Zanzibar has previously engaged in conflicts with the Portuguese. Thus, witnessing the colonial expedition deployed by Heixinggen land on the dock, Zanzibar’s Sultan dared not act rashly and dispatched emissaries for negotiations.

During this era, Europeans naturally looked down upon small nations like Zanzibar. Outside Europe, all regions were seen by Europeans as lands of barbarians and uncivilized. However, recalling the task assigned by their boss, it was wise to avoid stirring up trouble.

The representative of the colonial team followed the Zanzibar emissary to the Sultan’s palace. The Sultan arranged a banquet to meet with the colonial team representative, cautiously probing the team’s intent during the meeting.

”May I know how to address you, sir?” the Sultan of Zanzibar asked.

The leader of the colonial team replied, ”Your Excellency the Sultan can call me Arman.”

”Mr. Arman, may I ask if you are Dutch? Your attire seems somewhat different from those Dutch people,” the Sultan of Zanzibar curiously remarked. ”But you did arrive on a Dutch ship, so I’m unsure where you came from.”

”Your Excellency the Sultan, we are from the great Prussian Kingdom of the German region, traveling on a Netherlander vessel to reach your land this time.”

Prussia! The Sultan of Zanzibar frowned. He had heard of Germany but was not familiar with Prussia, and turned to look at his Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Minister, seeing the Sultan’s signal, leaned in and softly explained, ”Your Majesty, Prussia is one of the powerful nations in Europe. They are known to have a formidable army in Europe, but I haven’t heard of Prussia possessing a navy like Portugal or England. Typically, very few Prussian merchants are seen here.”

Hmm, the Sultan understood, realizing these visitors were not ordinary folk and should not be easily offended. After all, the Portuguese were already strong, and Prussia, known as a European power, should be on par with them.

”I wonder what your purpose is in coming to Zanzibar? Zanzibar is just a small nation without notable resources to develop,” the Sultan of Zanzibar inquired.

”Your Excellency the Sultan, we Prussians come with sincerity, primarily to engage in agricultural production in Tanganyika. We will not threaten your country’s rule over Zanzibar,” explained Arman, the team leader.

The Sultan of Zanzibar did not believe the words of Europeans easily and cautiously asked, ”The lands in Tanganyika are not as fertile as imagined, especially the interior, with lions and wild animals more numerous than humans. Even our country has not managed to develop the interior. Your ventures far away may find it difficult to succeed.”

Arman explained, ”Your Excellency the Sultan need not worry. To tell the truth, we plan to develop farms inland to grow tobacco and some tropical plants, which are rare in Europe, hence our choice of this location.”

The Sultan of Zanzibar, still anxious, asked, ”While I am not interested in whether your country develops the interior, our country has many interests there. Things like the wild people and ivory are assets we cannot abandon. How do you ensure the Zanzibar people’s interests are not harmed?”

”Your Excellency the Sultan, I can guarantee that we will not interfere with your nation’s interests inland. Moreover, we can cooperate by signing agreements since our land development involves driving away wild beasts and wild people inland. Although these have certain values, our team holds no interest in them and can completely sell them to your country. This time, we are just the first batch, and more people will arrive later. Therefore, confrontation is a dead end, while cooperation offers a harmonious future for both parties,” Arman persuasively added a slight threat.

Thinking about the two thousand ”elites” at the port, the Sultan of Zanzibar’s alarm bells rang. He nonchalantly remarked, ”Sir Arman, peaceful development for both parties is also the aspiration of us Zanzibaris, but with a military force under the nose, I believe any nation’s king would find it hard to sleep!”

Seeing the compliant Sultan of Zanzibar, Arman inwardly chuckled condescendingly and reassured, ”Your Excellency the Sultan, rest assured, to show our sincerity, we can depart within two weeks. We won’t stay in Dar es Salaam for long. Of course, with your country’s support, things can progress even faster.”

Such an obvious hint, the Sultan of Zanzibar understood immediately and cheerfully replied, ”You are courteous, sir. We will try our utmost to assist our ’friends’.” But in his heart, he felt pained.

Arman explained, ”Your Excellency the Sultan need not feel anxious. We merely require some tools for building outdoor camps, after all, it’s impossible to live in the wilderness without shelter, isn’t it?”

Upon hearing Arman speak thus, the Sultan of Zanzibar relaxed and quickly responded, ”Sir Arman is too polite. We can indeed provide some additional support.”

Unexpectedly, Arman unhesitatingly replied, ”Actually, there is something else that requires your country’s assistance.”

”Damn... why didn’t you say so earlier!” the Sultan of Zanzibar thought to himself, preparing to be blackmailed.

”Our subsequent supplies and personnel will need your country’s port for transshipment. We hope that your country will facilitate us.”

As it turned out, this was anticipated, as such a large group wasn’t relocating, an access route to Europe is necessary. But cautiously, the Sultan of Zanzibar still pointed out, ”Using the port is no problem. We can designate a specific area for your use, but your country must not station troops in the port or within Zanzibar, and your port staff must not carry weapons.”

Hearing this, Arman knew things were virtually settled, but still bargained, ”There is no issue, but the safety of our port staff needs to be guaranteed, so we will leave a group of twenty armed personnel to ensure their safety.”

Hearing it was only twenty people, the Sultan of Zanzibar agreed. Although Zanzibar is a small country, it still has some strength but fears that engaging in a mutual injury with these Prussians might tempt the nearby Portuguese to make moves.

The conditions proposed by the Prussians, as long as they don’t threaten Zanzibar’s rule, were reluctantly acceptable since the guns were figuratively to their head. There wasn’t much choice. Fighting or not, Zanzibar would suffer losses. Luckily, these Prussians were sensible; otherwise, the Sultan would fight desperately and never let these Prussians pass through Zanzibar to enter the interior.

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