The time of the sultans

From chiefdoms to sultanates

Before the sultans, the villages were led by chiefs whose titles the traditions still preserve. From the 13th–15th centuries, marriage alliances between local lineages and “Shirazi” or Arab newcomers gave rise to dynasties. Their legitimacy rested on genealogy, religion, wealth drawn from trade and control of the land.

The sultans were not absolute monarchs: they governed with the notables, the lineage councils and the cadis, and their power depended on the balance between the great families.

Ngazidja, the island of many sultanates

Grande Comore was divided into some ten sultanates (eleven or twelve depending on the period): Bambao, Itsandra, Mitsamihuli, Mbude, Hamahame, Hambuu, Mbadjini, Washili, Dimani, Hamanvu, Mbwankuu, Domba… The most prestigious of the sultans bore the title of ntibe (paramount sultan), contested above all by the rulers of Bambao and Itsandra.

These rivalries are part of the history of great royal lineages, such as the Inya Fwambaya, whose traditions were collected by Damir Ben Ali. They lasted until the end of the 19th century, when Saïd Ali of Bambao unified the island with the support of France.

Anjouan, the power of the archipelago

On Anjouan, a sultanate unified the island at the end of the 15th century, when Arab families from Hadhramaut married into the ruling line. The capital was first Domoni, on the east coast, then Mutsamudu, where Sultan Abdallah I moved it at the end of the 18th century. A citadel overlooks the town, facing the threats that came from the sea.

Wealthy from its port and its relations with European ships, Anjouan repeatedly claimed authority over Mohéli and Mayotte, which fuelled repeated wars between the islands.

Mayotte and Mohéli

In Mayotte, the Shirazi sultans reigned from Tsingoni, then settled on the rock of Dzaoudzi, easier to defend. In the 19th century, the island passed into the hands of princes of Malagasy origin.

On Mohéli, the island was long divided into large regions before uniting under a sultan, often under the influence of Anjouan. In the 19th century, Fomboni became the seat of a dynasty founded by the Merina prince Ramanetaka, whose daughter, Djoumbé Fatima, would be the most famous queen of the archipelago.

Read the tale: The prince from the Great Island.

A hierarchical society

Society in the sultanates distinguished noble lineages, free men and slaves. On Grande Comore, access to the rank of notable goes through the grand marriage (anda), which remains at the heart of custom today. Age groups organise the life of the village men.

The Comorian anthropologist Sultan Chouzour has shown how this system based on honour, gifts and prestige survived colonisation and continues to shape local power.

Wars and alliances

Conflicts were constant: between sultanates on the same island, between Anjouan and its neighbours, then against the raids from Madagascar. To prevail, rulers sought outside allies: English sailors, the sultans of Zanzibar, Malagasy princes, then France.

This is how, in the 19th century, the sultans themselves opened the door to the colonial powers: Andriantsoly in Mayotte in 1841, Saïd Ali on Grande Comore in 1885–1886. Read on: The colonial period.