Tippu Tip: How history is written according to perspective

No one can deny the enormous effects of the slave trade and how it contributed to the making of the modern-day world. When someone mentions slavery most of us think about the western slave trade and the well-known American black history and it's completely justified as the crimes that happened in the west were utterly terrible, But what most people don't know is there was another wave in the east led by us Arabs!. Though it sounds very horrible but let me assure you that modern-day Afro-Arabs were treated equally since their liberation -generally speaking-, the UK was the main customer for this trade which is no surprise but the surprise is that Oman was one of the main players in this particular wave of slave trade, yes, the peaceful country of Oman was an imperialist country for a while as the Al-Said dynasty ruled large parts of Eastern Africa, these parts consisted of modern-day Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique at its peak under the rule of Said bin Sultan who -surprisingly- made Zanzibar his capital instead of Muscat. All of this information gives us a good background of the main topic which is the perspective influence in history.

Tippu Tip

Our main character in this story, Tippu Tip or Hamad bin Muhammad al Murjebi was an Afro-Arab slave trader who held high ranks as he worked for several sultans of Zanzibar, to be just, Tippu Tip's activity in the slave trade was just a commercial activity the made him profit as he also owned clove plantations which was a main export for the empire back then, He also was a part of the ivory trade that was normal and was considered a fair trade at these times. According to some Arab sources, al Murjebi was a hard-working man who excelled in his trades and has an inspiring story as he first borrowed 12 Rials to buy some salt to start his trades in Dar es Salaam and then started growing to be a trustworthy merchant, the story continues by his marriage to the daughter of an African tribe leader who he fights along his side with another tribe and then proclaims himself a leader after his victory, His news reach Barghash bin Said who sends him a letter, al Murjebi continued to create a state in the area of Congo, on the contrary, western sources gave his story a different face as he was portrayed as an Afro-Arab slave-trader who cared about power and money as he led a group of about 100 men into Central Africa seeking slaves and ivory, he also showed high diplomatic skills when he assured his good intentions to the Belgian consul in Zanzibar when a fight broke between the Swahili and the representatives of King Leopold II, even though, The Congo-Arab broke out which consisted mostly of local African soldiers under the command of either Arab or European leaders. One of the main victims of this war was Tippu Tip's son Saif which marked an end to the war with Belgians as the winning side.

Tippu Tip's life was full of controversy like everything in this period of history, and his life shows us how perspective can lead to such contradicted stories, in the end, history is written by humans and humans have different feelings that affect their views and beliefs, facts aren't always vivid and opinions create a whole spectrum, Judgements shouldn't be made quickly without thinking as creating different scenarios and listening to others' views and thoughts will lead to a better verdict.

P.S. this exact period of Oman's history was confusing as a result of the separation between the Asian part which is modern-day Oman and the African part of the empire after the death of Said bin Sultan.