The Zanzibar Revolution
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 June 2020
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Just one month after gaining independence there was an uprising in Zanzibar in 1964. It was billed as a leftist revolution but the worst of the violence was ethnically targeted. Zanzibar’s complex history meant the islands were home to a very diverse population, and the legacy of the slave trade had left deep scars and lingering resentment. Ahmed Rajab was a student in 1964 and remembers the night the revolution broke out. He’s been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like, and how it was a Ugandan man, John Okello, not a Zanzibari who lead the uprising.
(PHOTO: Ugandan revolutionary and self-styled Field Marshal John Okello (1937 - 1971), leader of the Afro-Shirazi anti-Arab coup in Zanzibar which led to the country's independence, circa 1964. Behind him is the new flag of the People's Republic of Zanzibar. (Photo by Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello, welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me Rebecca |
| 0:46.0 | Kessby and today we journey to Africa and the Indian Ocean to the sun-drenched archipelago of Zanzibar just off the coast of Tanzania. |
| 0:55.0 | It's known for its spices and eclectic mix of cultures, |
| 0:59.0 | but in 1964 it was the scene of a bloody revolution, just one month after gaining its independence. |
| 1:07.0 | It was a melting pot. People were from different backgrounds, from Africa, from the Middle East, from Asia, and as far as China, and also |
| 1:16.3 | Portuguese, but they made up its Ansebaric culture. It's very unique and Zanzibari's are jealously proud of it. |
| 1:24.0 | Ahmed Rajab was an 18-year-old student when Zanzibar gained full independence in December 1963. |
| 1:31.0 | It had been a British protectorate and effectively under its sprawling |
| 1:35.6 | colonial influence since the 1890s even though Arab sultans had held power |
| 1:40.5 | locally. At independence it became a constitutional monarchy under the Sultan Jamshed |
| 1:46.7 | bin Abdullah. |
| 1:47.7 | Your Highness I have great pleasure in presenting to you a copy of the act of the British Parliament which recognizes |
| 1:55.2 | Zanzibar as an independent state within the Commonwealth. |
| 1:59.2 | Ahmed remembers it as an exciting time when Zanzibari were looking to the future. |
| 2:04.0 | Oh, people are jubilant. |
| 2:05.4 | So it was an exciting moment. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.