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Pysa - Barghash
| Issuer | Zanzibar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1886 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.7 g |
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| Obverse description | Central raised field enclosed within a decorative foliate border featuring scrolling vegetal ornament with diamond-shaped punctuation marks at the cardinal points. The Arabic inscription 'Zinjibar' (Zanzibar) is rendered in bold calligraphic script and occupies the entire central roundel, serving as the principal legend of the obverse. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic |
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| Additional information |
Barghash bin Said ruled Zanzibar at the height of its commercial power, when the sultanate controlled much of the East African coastal trade and Zanzibar Town functioned as the dominant entrepôt between the interior and the Indian Ocean world. This copper pysa was struck just two years before his death in 1888, after which British influence over the sultanate tightened rapidly — culminating in the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, the shortest declared war in recorded history at roughly 38 to 45 minutes.
Barghash had himself come to power through a contested succession in 1870, briefly imprisoned by the British before they ultimately backed his claim.