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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is an outcome of a Senior Scholars Research Grant awarded to me by OSSREA. The grant enabled me to do research in England and Zanzibar. Apart from the grant, OSSREA officials were extremely patient as I extended deadline after deadline. Had they applied the rules bureaucratically, this book would perhaps have never seen the light of the day or my painstaking work would have ended up in a turgid research report duly shelved but unread. I am grateful to OSSREA for their patience and understanding. Abdul Sheriff, a fine Zanzibarian historian, proved to be a reliable intellectual companion throughout the journey of the book from its conception to completion. He facilitated my research in Zanzibar, guided me through the Zanzibar Archives, which he had put together so conscientiously and professionally, and scrutinised the drafts with the toothcomb of a historian thus saving me many an embarrassing mistake. I sincerely thank him. The Director and staff of the Zanzibar Archives were courteous and very helpful. To them I owe special thanks. Ismail Jussa opened up his store of information on people and events, which gave me useful leads to follow up. He was particularly helpful in assisting me with contacts and organising several key interviews as well as tracing some important documents. Shukran Ismail. Haroub Othman and Saida Yahya-Othman have always been great friends who never withheld words of encouragement. Haroub read the manuscript and made useful comments. Saida was happy that I finally finished writing the book. Thanks to her prudent advice to cut the coat according to cloth, I pruned my original ambition to write a couple of volumes to one. I am most grateful to all those who agreed to sit through hours of interviews. I must single out Mzee Aboud Jumbe who sat with xi me for long hours on three different occasions in spite of his old age and ill health. I thank Hamza Njozi for making these crucial interviews possible. Finally, I owe deep emotional debt to my children, Natasha and Amil, whose love has always been a great source of strength. The person who has unswervingly stood by me for the whole of my mature intellectual life is my partner, Parin. She has been so selfless in her care and devotion that I have often overlooked a simple truth that there cannot be equality without reciprocity. xii Acknowledgements ...

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