Relieved or Deceived? The Reception of the Egyptian Invasion of 1875–1876 in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and Its Subsequent Interpretations

Abstract: This article examines the East African experience of the 1875–1876 Egyptian invasion of part of the Sultanate of Zanzibar and its interpretation as preserved in written sources. The key part of this article's argument addresses important questions posed by global history, namely: what was the image of the modernizing world from its peripheries? How was the information upon which it was built spread, hierarchized, and interpreted? The author analyzes the traces of the invasion left in Zanzibar's later historical memory, which he compares with the known facts concerning the course and reception of the Egyptian actions. The article strives to embed the conclusions thus reached in its diachronic analysis. It also uses explanatory models (referred to as conspiracy theories) to understand the population's political mood and its access to information about the international situation. The initial premise for creating conspiracy theories, the author argues, was the contradiction between the image of Egypt as a strong Muslim state and a potential anti-imperial ally, rooted in the minds of the Sultan of Zanzibar's Muslim subjects and in the practices of the occupying forces.