- Table of Colonial Possessions and Populations from the "Deutscher Kolonial Atlas mit Jahrbuch 1905" (German Colonial Atlas with Yearbook 1905)
- Deutsches-Ostafrikan protectorate
- Amani
- Prince Adalbert of Prussia
- Sultan Sayyid Khalifa
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Contents:
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It is a hundred years since the Germans, among other European
nations, strove to acquire colonies in Africa. Tanzania was no exception
in this respect, but the area that was under German rule then became
known as
Atlas German Colonies, with Yearbook, edited by the German Colonial Society, 1906,
Retrospective on Deutsch-Ostafrika's Development in 1905
(p. 16) Unfortunately our Deutsch-Ostafrikan protectorate has, in 1905, not been spared of unrest. At the end of July the inhabitants of the Matumbi Mountains, north of Kilwa, became restless. They burnt several houses belonging to Indians in the coastal place of Ssamanga. The governor immediately dispatched two companies. The rebellion expanded, soon including further territories in the south of the colony. A report came in according to which a Catholic bishop and a number of fratres and sisters have been murdered between Kilwa and Liwale, and that the latter station had been taken by the rebels. The governor immediately asked for reinforcements, and the "Bussard", already anchored off Ostafrika's coast was added to by the cruisers "Seeadler" and "Thetis" which were dispatched by the East African station to Daressalam. Furthermore a compagnie belonging to the sea battalion was dispatched from Germany as reinforcement, and recruits were enlisted in Somaliland to fill the ranks of the black Schutztruppe; also indigenous from Neuguinea were shipped over to Ostafrika. The plan to enlist negroes from Togo and Kamerun has been rejected by the Reichstag. The rising did not (p.17) reach the scale first apprehended, and it also seems to have calmed down a little, so that we may express the hope, the hitherto peaceful development of the promising East African protectorate will be disturbed no more.
The trade figures lead to the conclusion that the economic development of the protectorate is following an inclining line, the export rose from 1903 to 1904 from 7.1 million to almost 9 million and the import from 11.2 million to 14.4 million Mark. Among the land's products caoutchouc is gaining more and more in importance, the export rose from 1903 to 1904 only for a couple of thousand kilograms, the gain at the current world market price makes a big difference. Lately the first steps have been undertaken to establish caoutchouc plantations, because the stands of wild growing rubber trees decrease. The introduction of cotton cultivation requires a lot of time and effort. At first the native has to learn for a long time to come from the European farmer, before he is sufficiently accustomed to become an independent, profitting cotton planter. Yet we can ascertain with satisfaction, that in the districts Tanga and Wilhelmstal, further in Mohoro, Lindi, Kilwa, Muansa during the report year a considerable number of natives has taken on cotton cultivation on small scale. In the Muansa district a planter succeeded in obliging a large number of natives by treaty to cultivate cotton and thus to start a popular cotton culture in that region.Elsewhere, the cultivation of cotton by the indigenous is placed under the instruction of the administration.
Altough mention is made of the german mark, the rupee was also legal tender in 1905, as reproduced below:
| 5 rupee Ostafrika bank-note :1905 | Modern map of towns mentioned in the year book | malaria parasites in mosquito midgut | |
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 Photo by Hilary Hurd |
(Continuing..)The protectorate's ivory production declines in relation to the incessant decline of the elephant population; yet the value of the exports, due to high market prices, exceeded that of the previous year. Lately the collection of the wax and honey of wild bees is given increased attention. The production of fibre plants has more than doubled. The two sisal plantations Kikogwe and Buschirihof delivered double the amount of the previous year. The deplorable lack of labour obstructed a larger harvest. Fibre production takes an important position in the table of exports, with almost three quarters of a million Mark.
The biological-agricultural institute at Amani continues to provide a model for all efforts in the field of agricultural cultivation; here 52 ha were cleared and planted. Lately the government focusses on forestry. The main object is to create forest reservates and to administrate them according to the principles of forestry. At the present 75,000 ha of forest reservates exist, for the most part mangrove forests along the coast. Forestry under private administration is noteworthy only near the Tanga railroad. Here sawmills work parly to answer their own demand, partly the local demand, and only to a small extent for export.
The continuation of the Usambara Railroad has been taken into service on February 19th 1905 in the presence of Prince Adalbert of Prussia over a length of 129 km, and it has stood the test in every way. For the time being it is planned to continue it only until Malinde, so that the Schume forest can be exploited.The equipment of the Usambara Railroad has been added to by deliveries at the end of 1904 and in the spring of 1905 so that they can answer the demands of an increased traffic. There are five large and two smaller locomotives. Two passenger cars 2nd class for 32 persons each, two passenger cars 2nd class for 24 persons each, one passenger car 2nd class for 18 persons, two passenger cars 3rd class for 16 persons each, two passenger cars 3rd class without seats and two baggage cars with 7,000 kg capacity and 14 open freight cars with 12,500 kg capacity each, furthermore a water car, a cattle transport car and for bolster wagons. Main export articles are coffee, lumber, hemp, treebark, cotton. Stations along the railroad include Tanga, Muhesa, Korogwe and Mombo, to these 9 stops are added. On weekdays there is one train in each direction.
The construction of the Morogoro railway, which had been approved on June 16th 1904, and where Prince Adalbert made the first cut with a spade on February 9th, makes steady progress. At the beginning of October 1905 the rails have reached km 21, where the first station, Pugu, shall be constructed. At that time the railroad construction administration hoped to lay 90 km of rails and to hand 40 km over to traffic until christmas. In the port of Daressalam the port facilities have been considerably improved by the installation of cranes. Now the sleepers, rails, locomotives and waggons can be quickly offloaded from ocean steamers. The colonial press as well as Reichstag have repeatedly discussed the extension of the railroad beyond Morogoro, preliminarily until Tabora. Without that extension, the railroad will remain incomplete.A publication from the economic committee of the German Colonial Society placed the southern railway line into the focus of the interest of the colonial friend. According to it, the Deutsch-Afrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft has drawn a route for the first 100 km. The leading engineer believed that no obstacles of larger scale are to be expected.
As always, efforts have been undertaken in 1905 to extend the road network. It is hoped to widen the connecting road between Lake Nyassa and Lake Tanganyika that first trial waggons can be pulled over it. The paved overland road which shall connect Daressalam with Bagamoyo (70 km) has been completed until the Simbasi River, and this has been crossed by two iron bridges. Unfortunately the budget the governor disposes over for the purpose of road construction is rather limited. Reichstag, which frequently changed his mind over the last years, will also here have to decide to provide sums.
The white population of Deutsch-Ostafrika has increased very remarkably, namely from 1437 on January 1st 1904 to 1873 on January 1st 1905, that is an increase of 30 % and corresponds to the growth of German industrial cities. The fact that 316 adult women are among them is especially satisfactory. Among the individual occupations the number od settlers and farmers rose by 50 to 180, the number of workers and craftsmen etc. by 20 to 77. Of the 1873 white inhabitants, 1324 are Germans, 110 Greeks, 83 Boers, 78 Frenchmen (missionaries and sisters), 67 Englishmen (also missionaries), 60 Italians etc. The estimation of the native population is still insecure. The estimated figure remains at about 7 million. There have not been migrations of important scale. It is observed that the Wajan and Wakua in the Lindi district slowly move northward. It is probable that a temporary immigration will take plave from the Congo Free State into the Udjidji district. The total population of Daressalam amounted to about 23,000, that of Tanga 6,658. Finally it is mentioned that the Reichstag member Dr. Paasche, the son of which, with his detachment from the "Bussard" had participated in numerous skirmishes against the rebels, has visited Deutsch-Ostafrica in late summer. This renowned economist, who repeatedly has travelled North and Central America, and who is an expert in tropical agriculture like few others, gave the best prognosis for the future of our protectorate, so that we need not fear for the success of our cultivation.
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt/(Surface area)qkm | Einwohnerzahl (höchstens)/Inhabitants(Maximum) | Weisse Bewohner/White residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Togo | 87 200 | 1 500 000 | 189 |
| 2. Kamerun | 495 600 | 3 500 000 | 710 |
| 3. Südwestafrika | 835 100 | 200 000 | (?) 4682 |
| 4. Ostafrika | 995 000 | 7 000 000 | 1437 |
| Gesamt/Total | 2 412 900 | 12 200 000 | 7018 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm(from 'Colonial List' 1904) | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Gambia (+ protectorated territories) | 11 700 | 90 000 |
| 2. Sierra Leone und Protektorat | 88 400 | (Sch.) 1 000 000 |
| 3. Goldküste-Kolonie | 102 000 | 1 340 000 |
| 4. Ostafrika | 995 000 | 7 000 000 |
| 4. Lagos 5. Süd-Nigerien 6. Nord-Nigerien | 978 900 | 21340 000 |
| 7. Kap-Kolonie | 720 000 | 2 500 000 |
| 8. Basutoland 9. Natal 10. Betschuanaland-Protektorat 11. Transvaal 12. Oranjefluss-Kolonie | 1 523 000 | 1 563 000 |
| 13. Operationssphäre der British South Africa Co. und Britisch-Zentral-Afrika/British SA and Central Africa | 1 620 000 | 1 800 000 |
| 14. Zanzibar, Ostafrika-Protektorat, Uganda, Somaliland-Protektorat | (Sch.) 2 000 000 | 6 390 000 |
| 15. St. Helena und Ascension | 200 | - |
| 16. Mauritius mit Rodriguez und Diego Garcia | 1 800 | (Sch.) 380 000 |
| 17. Seychellen | 380 | 20 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 7 046 380 | 36 333 000 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm(from 'Atlas des Colonies francaises 1902') | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Algerien | 479 000 | 4 430 000 |
| 2. Tunesien | 130 000 | 1 600 000 |
| 3. Sahara | (?) 3 500 000 | (?) |
| 4. Senegal | 470 000 | 1 132 000 |
| 5. Französisch-Guinea | (?) | (?) 1 500 000 |
| 6. Elfenbeinküste/Cote d'Ivoire | 250 000 | 2 250 000 |
| 7. Dahome(no figs available);8. Französisch-Congo | (?) 1 800 000 | (?) 10 000 000 |
| 9. Französische Somaliküste und Zugehöriges | (?) 36 000 | (?) 200 000 |
| 10. Madagascar | 592 000 | 3 500 000 |
| 11. Mayotta, Glorieuses, Comoren; Réunion | 4667 | 223 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 7 261 667 | 24 835 000 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm | Einwohnerzahl (höchstens)/Inhabitants(Maximum) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Capverdische Inseln( from "Atlas Colonial Português" ) | 3 850 | 147 000 |
| 2. Inseln S. Thomé und Principe(Islands) | 1 080 | 42 000 |
| 3. Portugiesisch-Guinea | 37 000 | 200 000 |
| 4. Angola | 1 315 460 | 1 500 000 |
| 5.. Freier Staat von Ostafrika | 768 740 | 3 120 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 2 126 130 | 5 009 000 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Canarische Inseln | 7 273 | 358 564 |
| 2. Rio de Oro | 188 600 | (?) |
| 3. Fernando Póo(Bioko) | 2 000 | 20 000 |
| 4. Rio Muni; Anno-Bom | 25 600; 17 | (?); 3 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 223 490 | mind. 381 564 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eritrea | 247 300 | 330 000 |
| 2. Somaliland | 260 000 | 360 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 507 300 | 690 000 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
| Unabhängiger(Free) Congostaat | 2 253 000 | 14 100 000 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ägypten | 2 959 000 | 19 833 000 |
| 2. Tripoli mit Benghasi | 1 033 400 | 1 000 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 3 992 400 | 20 833 000 |
| Amtliche Bezeichnung/(Official designation) | Flächeninhalt qkm | Einwohnerzahl /Inhabitants |
|---|---|---|
1. Marocco 1912
|
439 000 | (Sch.) 8 000 000 |
2. Liberia
|
85 350 | 1 500 000 |
3. Abessinien
|
540 000 | 4 000 000 |
| Gesamt/Total | 223 490 | mind. 381 564 |
Deutsches-Ostafrikan protectorate
The protectorate was born after the conclusion of a treaty signed by the Sultan of Zanzibar , Sultan Sayyid Khalifa, whosucceeded Seyyid Barghash . With it, he handed over the administration of the coastal strip of the mainland to the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft. The reference to 'unrest' refers only to one episode in a series of uprisings which had taken place all over the coast from the very beginning of the imposition of German Administration, from Pangani in the north, to Mikindani in the south. Records of the most notable resistance to this imposition state, in particular, the fighting that took place in Tanga, in 1988, when the German ship S.M.S. Möwe sailed in to harbour.
"When the boats came within range of the shore, they were greeted by a barrage of fire, and as the hostile position of the population thus had been proven, Freiherr von Ehrhardt ordered a number of grenades to be fired at the attackers, and the revolver cannon to be fired. Despite the devastating effect the Tangamen held out on the beach..."
Michaelles to Prince Bismarck
The account continues with a detailed dscription of combat involving rifles,fixed bayonets, and grenades, supported by fire from the ship itself .On a second trip to Tanga, having offloaded the injured at Zanzibar , and armed with fresh instructions from the Gesellschaft, the Möwe joined forces with Admiral Deinhardt on the S.M.S. Leipzig, who had meanwhile docked at Tanga, and had there attempted to arrest the wali after he had tried to broker a peace because he supected him of being behind the attack on the Möwe. Space does not permit me at this stage to go into details, but listed below are some relevant foci of uprisings which took place on the mainland in that year.
The most serious rebellion appears to have been at Pangani, led by the notorious Buschiri which was to continue on until well after the arrival of Hermann von Wissmann the following year.
The agricultural institue at Amani, although officially opened in 1904, owed its origins to the first objectives of the German colonists. When Carl Peters made his observations known to his friends in 1887, he waxed lyrical about the enormous agricultural potential of the country. Travelling north of Bagamoyo by sea, he sailed into Tanga and reported; "In front of me lies the spacious and beautiful bay of Tanga where at the moment a British cruiser is anchored beside our own boat. It is a smiling tropical landscape with characteristic palms and mango trees, bordered by green hills..." He described the careful cultivation with plantations of coconut palms, and fields planted with Indian corn, mtame, millet and other grain. Along the Zigi river, he saw forest replaced by rich tobacco plants."The land everywhere round about here," he wrote," is green and fertile and most suitable for cultivation." Pangani was surrounded by plantations, some with sugar factories. From there he revisited, after a three- month interval, the Deutschenhof, the plantation company's own plantation, "situated in the most beautiful part of Pangani, on the fertile plain of Usambara". Only started that September, he admired the rapid planting and growth of 50,000 tobacco plants, and noted that "at the moment, during the short rains, everything grows especially quickly" and that "the fact that such growth was at all possible, in three months, bodes well for the future of our much abused East African Colony." The low, green hills that he mentioned around Tanga were part of the Usambara range, the faulting of which is dated geologically as being from 290-180 million years ago, considerably older than the recent volcanic eruptions of Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru, which emerged only within the last million years.
What Peters refrained fom mentioning was the ever present threat of malaria.The Biological Institue (later theEastAfrican Malaria and Vector-Borne Disease Institute)was built at Amani, near Tanga, in 1890, by a Dr. Stuhlman, to make an important contribution to international research on the disease.L aver an's discovery in 1880, in Algeria, of malarial parasites present in the blood of infected patients had given the project added impetus. Rona ld Ross, in 1897, a British officer in the Indian Medical Service, demonstrated the transmissbilty of malaria from infected persons to the mosquito, and later on, that the mosquito could transmit the parasite between birds.Robert Koch, the famous pathlogist, Professor of Hygiene at the University of Berlin, and Director of the newly established Institute of Hygiene there, visited the Institute, to participate in the ongoing intensive research being carried out there, and showed that the seasonal incidence of malaria was highest during the Great Rains when, 'for a whole month masses of water lie on much of the land', thus confirming the Kiswahili observation, "Hakuna masika yasiyo mbu", and that it exhibited an incubation period of 12 days. Other work carried out by Koch was at theTanga Hospital, which was inaugurated in 1896, but the height of the Usambarta mountains was to prove crucial in his observation of the absence of malaria above an alitude of 1,300metres. In 1904, Koch came to German East Africa to study East Coast fever of cattle and he made important observations, not only on this disease, but also on pathogenic species of Babesia and Trypanosoma and on tickborne spirochaetosis, continuing his work on these organisms when he returned home. The following year, in 1905, he won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine
A Botanical Institute was conjoined with the Biological Institute at Amani, initially to study the flora and fauna of German East Africa, but later requirements broadened its scope into agricultural areas. In 1902, the centre had about 300 hectares of land between the altitudes of 400 and 1,100m. Adolf Engler (1903), who was also a professor at the University of Berlin, and director of the Royal Botanic Garden there, provided 859 specimens of plants, commercially important tropical plants, and 208 specimens of other tropical plants. Engler himself sent seeds of camphor to Amani which he had obtained from Japan. By 1903 there were about 2500 Chinchona plants, 200 Cas tillo a and several thousand coffee plants at the Amani Research Institute. Also in 1903, seed stock of Piper nigra from Java had been introduced.
In August of 1904, the first ever agricultural exhibition had taken place in Daressalaam. Cut fares, and special steamers had made it a grand event, attended by "c.500 Europeans(including some from Zanzibar and British East Africa), as well as thousands of Arabs and Indians." The diversity of plants listed was significant but, most importantly, many plantation owners were experimenting with cotton cultivation. Cotton seed could only be imported from Tanga, and had to be "immediately examined by the biological-agricultural institute at Amani", since stringent regulations were in force to control infestation of the crop by its beetle parasite. In fact, American cotton seed had been banned from importation. With a fivefold increse in cotton cultivation, a rich harvest was to be produced of East African cotton, "hardly inferior to Egyptian", and of "excellent character and staple."
| Sisal plant-Agave spp. | Coffee plant with ripe berries | Boll weevil or cotton beetle (Anthonomus grandis) |
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Other crops included coffee, caoutchouc, copra, grain, vegetables, oil plant, fruits, vanilla, industrial plants and many more. The work of the Institute enlarged correspondingly. By 1907, some 650 species had been cultivated on site, a decision having been taken that as many economic crops as possible should be grown, including cola, pelargonium, acacia, Musa spp., agave, allium spp., solanum, cucurbita, hibiscus, passiflora, chinese water chestnuts, oryza, maiza, cassava, Khaya trees, bamboo, eucalyptus, cedar, to name but a few. It did not neglect locally grown plants such as mvunjamwiko and other rice cultivars from Pongwe, near Tanga, and Solanum melonega from Tanga itself.
Phytopathology was extremely important, and had given startling results. Ferdinand Cohn, of the Botanical institute at Breslau, where Koch was based also, and who had been the first, along with Cohnheim, to witness and publish Koch's extraordinary work on the muliplication and sporulation of anthrax bacilli in the laboratory, was himself at the leading edge of botanical research. From his early studies of microscopic life he developed theories of the bacterial causes of infectious disease and recognized bacteria as plants. Engler would have been more than familiar with these new ideas, including Bassi's exposition of the tiny 'plant' responsible for muscardine, a disease of silkworms. Therefore, apart from its role in supporting cotton cultivation, work at the Institue was diverse and had included research into the White Borer of Coffee (Anthores leuconotus), later to be continued under British control. The First World War put a halt to all these activities. In 1914 the Amani library stocked almost 4,000 books and 300 journals. All the literature held at Amani was brought to the Berlin Library in 1918 but, in 1943, the Berlin herbarium was hit by a bomb and all material got destroyed. There is a programme currently involving the CPDU office at Kew Gardens with regard to the East Usambara Catchment Forest Project in Tanzania. For further information on this, and the literature available at the CPDU office at Kew, vist their website, or for literature available on Amani,visit:
Prince Adalbert of Prussia, presumably the then 21 year old son of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany by his first wife, Augusta Victoria, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein. For genealogy see Prussian Royal Family.
Sultan Sayyid Khalifa or Sayyid Khalifah bin Sa'id Al-Busaid (1852- February 13, 1890) was the third Sultan of Zanzibar, and succeeded Sultan Bargash ibn Sa'id. He ruled Zanzibar from March 26, 1888 to February 13, 1890 and was followed by his brother, Ali bin Said Al-Busaid.
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I've been thinking... by Marianne Moore Make a fuss I'm annoyed? 'adore' am,I the word refuse 'divine' something 'terrific colour' Though flat, 'Atlas' looks best I refuse 'enchant' even 'frightful plight' or 'frivolous fool' I've escaped? by these No pauses - lack lyric like Attic or freak (Not verse Nothing mundane is divine; From Selected Poems by Marianne Moore,Faber and Faber c.1969 |
Makonde 'UJAMAA' carving at theUniversity of Oslo, Norway |
1871
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