Said Ali bin Said Omar

Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar, 1897.

Said Ali ben Said Omar al Maseyili (died February 10, 1916 in Tamatave ) was Sultan of the Sultanate of Bambao in Grande Comore . He was officially the only sultan whose rule included the entire island. He was the son of Saidi Omar bin Saidi Houssein from Anjouan . However, due to the multilinear nature of the transfer of powers in the culture of the Comoros , he also gained power for the throne of the Sultanate of Bambao. He is the grandson of Saïd Akhmet of Bambao .

Said Ali came to power around 1875 with the death of his grandfather, even though he was still in Mayotte at that time, where he received training based on European models. He soon returned to Moroni and enforced his claims to the sultan title.

The savant and the sultan

The botanist Léon Humblot arrived in the Comoros in 1884. He was a very determined person but with good manners. The Sultan valued him and signed a contract with him on October 5, 1885, in which the Sultan of the whole of Grande Comore offered him exclusive use of the lands that he himself did not control, as well as a tax exemption for it. Said Ali prohibited other people or nations from signing a protectorate. German colonialists , however, reached Grande Comore in 1884 and hoisted their flag on the heights of Foumbouni . Humblot, seeing his interests threatened, had it replaced with the French flag. While the British did not respond, the Germans incited the Sultan of Badjini Hachim bin Ahmed , who without hesitation besieged Moroni. Humblot went to Mayotte and tried to convince the governor that he should intervene by presenting the Germans as a threat and invoking his contract with Said Ali. The intervention would have meant the recognition of Said Ali's sovereignty, also vis-à-vis other European powers, because France could not intervene militarily because of private interests. This established a protectorate and Weber was named Résident . However, Said Ali preferred to negotiate with Humblot, whom he trusted. Humblot and Weber were then constantly in conflict with each other, especially over tax exemptions.

The Order de l'Étoile des Comores (dt. Order of the Star of the Comoros), also known as the "Order of Said Ali", was created to award foreigners with an equivalent order based on the European model.

Said Ali acted ruthlessly against his opponents with the help of French officers and his new weapons. Djohar called him Mapouwa zitswa , the "head cutter". During this time, numerous people went into exile; including Saïd Mohamed bin Cheikh Ahmed Al Maarouf .

In January 1886, due to the ongoing armed conflict, the French proposed reducing the number of sultanates from 12 to five. Said Ali accepted this on June 24, 1886. Humblot was finally made resident on November 17, 1889.

In the stranglehold of the French

On November 19 , a revolt was put down by the naval troops stationed in Anjouan . On January 5, 1892, the French administration proposed to abolish the last five sultanates in order to establish twelve provinces, each of which would be administered by a cadre and which existed within the old borders. The relationship with Humblot deteriorated and in 1893 Humblot was the victim of an assassination attempt, which Said Ali was suspected to be the principal.

Without prior notice, the administration sent Said Ali into exile, first to Diégo-Suarez then to La Réunion in early 1897. Humblot lost his post. In 1908 the islands were placed under the rule of the governor of Madagascar and the residents also lost their power. Said Ali turned to the judiciary and got right in 1909. The tribunal recognized his removal as illegal, but the authorities did not allow him to return to Grande Comore. After all, he received compensation. He initially stayed in France, where he abdicated on February 3, 1911. The official annexation of the Comoros by France was declared in 1912 and the island was incorporated into the Colonie de Madagascar .

One of his sons, the firstborn Saïd Houssein , went to the Légion étrangère on August 4, 1916 . Said Ibrahim bin Said Ali , whose half-brother was born in Antananarivo on April 17, 1911 .

literature

• Jean-Louis Guebourg: La Grande Comore. Des sultans aux mercenaires. L'Harmattan 1994: 272. ISBN 2738422993
• Said Mohamed Djohar : Mémoires du président des Comores: Quelques vérités qui ne sauraient mourir. Editions L'Harmattan 2012: 350. ISBN 9782296511392

Web links

Commons : Said Ali bin Said Omar  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Germans actually established a protectorate in the Sultanate of Kilwa in 1886 .
2. ↑ Djohar: 15, 16.
3. ↑ Djohar, 13.

predecessor	Office	successor
Said Omar bin Said Houssein	Sultan of Bambao ~ 1875–1911	abolished