Jamshid bin Abdullah of Zanzibar

Jamshid bin Abdullah Al Busaidi GCMG (Arabic: جمشيد بن عبد الله البوسعيدي; born 16 September 1929)[1][2] is a Zanzibari royal who was the last reigning Sultan of Zanzibar. He was deposed in the 1964 Zanzibar Revolution, after the United Kingdom gave up its British protectorate.

Jamshid bin Abdullah
  • جمشيد بن عبد الله
Sultan Jamshid in 1963
Sultan of Zanzibar
Reign1 July 1963 – 12 January 1964
PredecessorSir Abdullah bin Khalifa
SuccessorAbeid Amani Karume (as first President of Zanzibar)
Born (1929-09-16) 16 September 1929 (age 95)
Zanzibar Town, Zanzibar
SpouseZuleika bint Abdullah Al Aufy
IssueSayyid Ali bin Jamshid Al Said
Sayyida Matuka bint Jamshid Al Said
Sayyid Khalifa bin Jamshid Al Said
Sayyid Abdullah bin Jamshid Al Said
Sayyid Wasfi bin Jamshid Al Said
Sayyida Adla bint Jamshid Al Said
Sayyid Gharib bin Jamshid Al Said
HouseAl Said
FatherSir Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Said
MotherSayyida Tohfa bint Ali Al Said

Biography

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Jamshid ruled Zanzibar from 1 July 1963 to 12 January 1964. On 10 December 1963, the United Kingdom gave up its British protectorate over the already self-governing Zanzibar, leaving it as a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth under Jamshid, responsible for its own defence and foreign affairs. But this state of affairs was short-lived. Without British protection the Sultan was soon overthrown by the majority Africans in the Zanzibar Revolution.

He fled into exile, firstly to Oman, but was not allowed to settle there permanently.[3] He later moved to the United Kingdom, settling in Portsmouth[4] with his wife and children.[5]

While his children and siblings were allowed to settle in Oman in the 1980s, the Omani government continually denied Jamshid's requests to join them, citing security reasons.[6] Their stance changed in September 2020 when, after Jamshid had lived more than 50 years in the United Kingdom, the government of the new Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, granted his request to return to his ancestral land as a member of the Al Said royal family, but not as a titular Sultan.[7]

Honours

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National

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  • Founder and Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Independence of Zanzibar (Wissam al-Istiqlal) in five classes on 9 November 1963.

Foreign

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  • Knight Grand Collar of the Royal Order of the Drum (Rwanda).[9]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ Profile of Jamshid bin Abdullah
  2. ^ Rulers
  3. ^ Bakari, Mohammed Ali (2001). The Democratisation Process in Zanzibar: A Retarded Transition. GIGA-Hamburg. p. 192. ISBN 978-3-928049-71-9. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Why the Sultan of Zanzibar took me under his wing". The Guardian. 3 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Royals in exile: In Britain, heirs to the thrones". The Independent. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  6. ^ "So long, Southsea: last sultan of Zanzibar quits UK after 56 years in exile". The Guardian. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  7. ^ Zanzibar's former sultan arrives in Oman for retirement
  8. ^ Galloway, Peter, The Order of St. Michael and St. George. Published by Third Millennium Publishing for the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, U.K. (2000). ISBN 0953696952
  9. ^ Guidance for Honours in the De Jure Kingdom of Rwanda
Jamshid bin Abdullah of Zanzibar
Born: 16 September 1929
Regnal titles
Preceded by Sultan of Zanzibar
1 July 1963 – 12 January 1964
Sultanate abolished
Abeid Karume
as President of Zanzibar
New title — TITULAR —
Sultan of Zanzibar
12 January 1964 – present
Reason for succession failure:
Sultan's government overthrown in 1964
Incumbent
Heir:
Sayyid Ali bin Jamshid Al Said