Buschiri bin Salim

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Buschiri bin Salim around 1888

Buschiri bin Salim , probably more correct Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi († December 15, 1889 ), was one of the leaders of the uprising of the coastal population of the Zanzibari mainland strip (in today's Tanzania ) against the takeover of power by the German-East African Society in 1888.

Buschiri owned a plantation near the old port town of Pangani (on the Indian Ocean between Dar es Salaam and Tanga ). He was counted among the group of coastal Arabs; his father was an Arab of Omani descent and his mother was African.

German colonial propaganda later often referred to him as a " slave trader ". There is no basis for this in contemporary reports, for example in the Colonial Lexicon or Wissmann's report to the German government.

In August 1888, Buschiri took part in the uprising that broke out in Pangani against the German-East African Society. He quickly became the leader of the movement in the northern coastal strip between British territory and Dar es Salaam. The movement was initially successful and eventually led to the collapse of colonial rule. This prompted the German government to intervene. The deployment of German government troops, including a cruiser squadron under Rear Admiral Deinhard on the cruiser frigate SMS Leipzig , gradually resulted in the defeat of the uprising.

The German commanders, Rear Admiral Deinhard and Reichskommissar Wissmann , concluded armistice agreements with Buschiri, but they did not last. Buschiri himself took Europeans prisoner several times, whom he released after negotiations or ransom payments. The most prominent prisoners in 1888 were the renowned German Africa explorer Hans Meyer (who was the first to conquer Kilimanjaro the following year ) and his companion Oskar Baumann , who were only released after paying 10,000 rupees and losing all of their expedition equipment.

After Buschiri, militarily beaten, was captured by African opponents on the way to Mombasa and handed over to the German military, he was briefly tried in a court-martial and publicly hanged on December 15, 1889 .

Sources on the net