African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 59 Zanzibar Palace Coup
1867 1 Month 23 Day.

Zanzibar Sultanate, Dar es Salaam Port Barracks.

Bagash bin Said is planning to overthrow the Sultanate of Zanzibar with his cronies.

"Abdullah, how many people can you pull?" Bagash bin Said asked his men.

"His Royal Highness, I originally controlled more than 80 people in the army, and with the few officers we have placed in the army, the army under my control has more than 300 people."

"Very well, I also have more than 800 people in my hand, and the total is 1200 people. This is already one-third of the army of the entire kingdom." Bagash bin Said analyzed.

"As for Majid, he still doesn't know our plan. He is probably still in the palace, dreaming and dying. As long as we can catch all the cronies in Majid's army by surprise, then the Sultanate of Zanzibar will be ours." Bagash Bin Said said excitedly.

Several officers and aides under him were also in high spirits. After all, the chances of winning this time were great. If the coup d'etat was successful, then he and others would be able to become extremely powerful ministers in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

"Your Highness, only you are the one who can bring a bright future to the Zanzibar Sultanate, and we are all willing to follow in your footsteps." An aide flattered him.

"His Royal Highness, please arrange tasks! It's time for us to change this backward country!"

Bagash bin Said was very satisfied with the fanaticism and flattery of his men.

It is this feeling of power in his hands that Bagash bin Said is indeed dissatisfied with the status quo of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and he also advertises himself as the leader of the Sultanate of Zanzibar in his heart.

But Bhagash bin Said was also a layman, and when he felt the charm of power and the enthusiasm of others, he felt very comfortable in his heart.

He excitedly walked to the table and began to assign tasks.

"This is the palace of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. There are more than 120 guards, but they are scattered all over the palace, and there is no time to gather in a short time, so we have to send people to take down the leader of the palace in a very short time. power, and I lead the soldiers to hold Majid hostage, so that the guards of the palace will have no leader, and they will automatically give up resistance."

Bagash bin Said pointed to the location of the palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar on the map.

"This is the first line of troops. As long as Majid is solved, basically no one can fight against us, but to be on the safe side, we will use 500 people to take charge of the operations in the palace. Abdullah has been in the army all year round, so you are in charge." Disarm the soldiers in the barracks outside the city, and I lead people straight to Majid's bedroom to control Majid."

Bagash bin Saeed went on to say: "The second route, led by Abdullah, is responsible for controlling the military camp outside Dar es Salaam. The military camp gets up at eight o'clock every morning. At this time, the guns are all Put it on the shelf in the soldiers' bedroom, as long as we break in tomorrow morning, before the soldiers get up, and control the guns, the soldiers in the barracks can surrender."

"The time for the operation is five o'clock tomorrow morning. We broke into the palace when the palace guards were lax. In order to carry out the plan in an orderly manner, our troops must be assembled by three o'clock tomorrow."

"As long as we control the palace and the army, we will be sure of victory. When the time comes, we will gather the whole country's army to drive away Majid's accomplices, the Germanic personnel in Dar es Salaam Port and Tanga, and we will be completely victorious."

"Now, first divide the number of people who have completed each task, and we can act tomorrow morning..."

……

What was Sultan Majid bin Saeed doing when Bhagash bin Saeed assigned his mission?
In fact, Majid bin Said was completely unaware of the conspiracy of his subordinates. When he was young, Majid bin Said was relatively accomplished, otherwise he would not have won the right to the independence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

But Majid bin Saeed in his later years has completely let himself go, indulging in pleasure and drug stimulation every day.

Majid bin Saeed was
Those who died in the past two years are speculated that the cause of death was related to excessive use of "stimulants".

……

The next day, the Palace of the Sultan of Zanzibar.

It was just dawn, and the guards were standing lazily in front of the palace gate, when suddenly Bagash bin Said brought several people to the gate.

The guard naturally knew the king's younger brother, Prince Bagash bin Said, and thought that Bagash bin Said was discussing matters with the Sultan as usual.

Walking in front of the guard, suddenly the two people behind Bagash bin Said took out two revolvers from their cuffs and put them on the chests of the two guards.

"Don't move around, or you will be killed!" Bagash bin Said's men threatened.

Then, Bhagash bin Said beckoned, and a group of people came out from an unknown corner. Bhagash bin Said led the team straight to Majid's bedroom, and the rest were in charge of controlling it. Guards and servants in the palace.

Majid was sleeping with the queen on the bed when suddenly a maid broke in from the door.

"Your Majesty, it's not good. His Highness Bagash bin Said broke in with his troops."

Majid, who was awakened by the maid's yelling, was still in a daze at the moment and was about to reprimand him.

Bagash bin Said walked in directly with a group of people.

"What are you doing, Bagash? Ready to rebel?"

Bagash bin Said mocked: "My dear brother, don't you still not see the situation clearly? It seems that you are really confused. Yes, this is a coup d'état!"

"You...you...ah!"

After being relieved, Majid Sultan sighed decadently, it was too late to say anything now.

……

When Bagash bin Said took control of Majid Sultan, Abdullah also led people to control the barracks, and the entire coup basically encountered no resistance.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Majid's ministers came to report on their duties as usual, and they saw Bagash bin Saeed sitting in the seat of the sultan.

"Gentlemen, His Majesty the Sultan entrusted me to be in charge of the affairs of the country because of his old age and sickness from overwork, so he entrusted me to take charge of the country's political affairs." Bhagash bin Said said to the ministers with a smile.

It has to be said that Majid's ministers, like their old king, were all out of pockets. After seeing the guards with live ammunition, they immediately jumped into the camp of Bhagash bin Said.

……

At the time of Bhagash bin Said's coup d'état, Bazel, the head of the East African colony at the port of Dar es Salaam, also observed anomalies in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

After all, it must be abnormal for hundreds of soldiers to rush back and forth on the streets. In the past, soldiers from the Sultanate of Zanzibar would not appear in such a "large scale" in the Dar es Salaam neighborhood.

After all, Dar es Salaam is currently the political and economic center of gravity of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and the Sultan of Zanzibar will not allow soldiers to roam around in the neighborhood like this.

Even if Majid travels on weekdays, the royal guard is in charge. The royal guard still has a good appearance. They will line up relatively neatly, wear relatively gorgeous and uniform Arabic costumes, and march without rush.

The soldiers who appeared on the street today were obviously not the royal guards, and marched in a hurry. At the same time, the meticulous Bazel also noticed that the guns of these soldiers were all loaded, and they obviously looked like they were going to fight.

The more Bazel thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, and he found his assistant Dürer, and ordered: "You go to the border and report to our people now, let them report to the East African colonial government, and say that the Sultanate of Zanzibar may have something to do. It seems that it may be a coup d'état, and the colonial government and the border army should pay attention to the changes in Zanzibar."

Dürer nodded and was about to set off.Bazel stopped him suddenly: "Go change into Arab clothes first, don't go out in military uniform."

So Dürer, disguised as an Arab businessman, rode on a horse and left through the back door of the East African colonial office in the port of Dar es Salaam.

(End of this chapter)