Lloyd Mathews - Commander in Chief of Zanzibar

Commander in Chief of Zanzibar

In August 1877, Mathews was seconded from the Navy to Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar to form a European-style army which could be used to enforce Zanzibar's control over its mainland possessions. The army had traditionally been composed entirely of Arabs and Persians but Mathews opened up recruitment to the African majority on the island and had 300 recruits in training by the end of the year. In addition, Mathews employed some unorthodox recruitment methods such as purchasing slaves from their masters, using inmates from the prison and recruiting from Africans rescued from the slavers. In June 1877, at the instigation of John Kirk, the explorer and friend of the Sultan, the British government sent a shipment of 500 modern rifles and ammunition as a gift with which to arm the troops. Mathews introduced a new uniform for the troops consisting of a red cap, short black jackets and white trousers for the enlisted ranks and dark blue frock coats and trousers with gold and silver lace for the Arab officers. The latter was possibly modelled on the Royal Navy officers uniform with which he was familiar. The army grew quickly; by the 1880s Mathews would command 1,300 men, his forces eventually numbering 1,000 regulars and 5,000 irregulars.

One of the first tasks for the new army was to suppress the smuggling of slaves from Pangani on the mainland to the island of Pemba, north of Zanzibar. The troops completed this mission, capturing several slavers and hindering the trade. Mathews retired from the Royal Navy in June 1881 and was appointed Brigadier-General of Zanzibar. In 1880, the Sultan dispatched a military force under Mathews to bring his unruly African mainland territories under control. Mathews' expedition was initially intended to reach Unyanyembe but his men refused to march inland and, when made to do so, deserted in large numbers. The expedition ended instead at Mamboya where a 60-man garrison was established. This had been reduced to a mere handful of men by the mid-1880s but the expedition proved that the Sultan was serious about maintaining control of all of his possessions. Mathews' men were also involved in several expeditions to halt the land-based slave trade which had developed once the seas became too heavily policed for the traders.

In 1881 Mathews' old vessel, the HMS London, had been made seaworthy once more and was captained by Charles J Brownrigg. This vessel and her crew made several patrols aimed at hindering the slave trade and, on 3 December 1881, caught up with a slave dhow captained by Hindi bin Hattam. This dhow had around 100 slaves on board and was transporting them between Pemba and Zanzibar. Captain Brownrigg led a boarding party to release the slaves but bin Hattam's men then attacked the sailors, killing Brownrigg and his party before sailing away. Mathews led a force to Wete on Pemba and, after a short battle, took a mortally wounded bin Hattem prisoner before returning to Zanzibar.

Mathews returned to the African mainland territories once more in 1884 when he landed with a force which intended to establish further garrisons there to dissuade German territorial claims. This attempt ultimately failed when five German warships steamed into Zanzibar Town harbour and threatened the Sultan into signing away the territories which would later form German East Africa. Further territories were ceded to the German East Africa Company in 1888 but unrest amongst the locals against them prevented them from taking control and Mathews was dispatched with 100 men to restore order. Finding around 8,000 people gathered against the German administrators Mathews was forced to return with his men to Zanzibar. He landed once again with more troops but found himself subject to death threats and that his troops would not obey his orders and so returned again to Zanzibar.