Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

Majid bin Saïd al-Busaidi () ( – ) was the first Sultan of Zanzibar. He ruled

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

from 19 October 1856 to 7 October 1870. He succeeded his father

Said bin Sultan Sayyid Saïd bin Sultan al-Busaidi (, , ) (5 June 1791 – 19 October 1856) was Sultan of Muscat and Oman, the fifth ruler of the Al Bu Said dynasty from 1804 to 4 June 1856. His rule began after a period of conflict and internecine rivalry of su ...

as ruler of Zanzibar and East Africa, and briefly (claimed) Oman following Said’s death. During his reign his brother Bargash would prove constantly rebellious and adhered to his rule, nonetheless, Majid remained in power until his untimely death which was due to ‘''over indulgence in sensual pleasures and stimulants''’. The region’s wealth soared, particularly with the controversial

Zanzibar slave trade Slavery existed in the Sultanate of Zanzibar until 1909. Slavery and slave trade existed in the Zanzibar Archipelago for at least a thousand years. When clove and coconut plantations became a big industry on the islands, domestic slavery e ...

Life

Sayyid Majid bin Said was born in 1834 in Zanzibar to

and Sarah, a Circassian . Majid was the second eldest of Said’s children born in Zanzibar, after Khalid bin Said (died 1854). Majid became Sultan of the Omani Empire, based at the capital at Zanzibar, following the death of his father, Sayyid

, but his accession was contested. Following the struggle over the accession to the position of Sultan of Oman, Zanzibar and Oman were divided into two separate sultanates, with Majid ruling Zanzibar and his older brother Thuwaini ruling Oman. His marriage produced only one daughter, Sayyida Khanfora bint Majid (who married her cousin, Hamoud bin Mohammed). Consequently, Majid was succeeded as Sultan by his brother Barghash. Majid's grandson Ali bin Hamud Al-Busaid later became the 8th Sultan of Zanzibar, while his great-grandson Abdullah bin Khalifa Al-Said was the 10th Sultan. In 1866, he purchased the former Confederate commerce raider CSS ''Shenandoah'' and renamed her ''El Majidi'' after himself. In 1871, botanists published a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s belonging to the family

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include Aesculus, horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The ...

, from Central Africa and called it '' Majidea'' in his honour.

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* 1830s births 1870 deaths 19th-century Omani people Majid Sultans of Zanzibar Zanzibari royalty Majid Tanzanian people of Omani descent Tanzanian people of Ethiopian descent 19th-century Arab people 19th-century monarchs in Africa {{Africa-royal-stub