History of Comoros
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[edit] Early inhabitants
It is thought that the earliest inhabitants of the islands were journeymen from Indonesia-Polynesia, but traces of this original Asian culture have blended seamlessly into successive waves of African, Arab and Shirazi immigrants. The most notable of these early immigrants were the Shirazi Arab royal clans, who appeared in Comoros in the 15th and 16th centuries and stayed to build mosques, set up royal house and introduce architecture and carpentry.
Over the centuries, the Comoro Islands were invaded by a succession of diverse groups from the coast of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Indonesia, and Madagascar. Portuguese explorers visited the archipelago in 1505. In 1529 the French Parmentier brothers popped in for a visit, but the first reliable European accounts of this part of the world came from the Portuguese explorers, Diego Dias and Ferdinand Soares. The Portuguese failed to capitalise on being the first to reach the islands, and for the next century or two the islands were used only as a pit stop during voyages up and down the coast of East Africa. In fact, up until the middle of the 19th century, it was not European explorers but pirates from Madagascar who caused the biggest headaches. During this time the number of sultans mushroomed at an alarming rate, and at one stage there were no fewer than 12 sultans on the island of Grande Comore alone. This is one sultan per 100 sq km (60 sq mi), or, put another way, three squabbling sultans per New York City, which, in anybody's language, is two sultans too many.
From the 15th century to the middle of the 19th, the power brokers happily played musical sultanates between themselves until the French turned their attention to the Comoros islands in the middle of the 19th century. The French finally acquired the islands through a cunning mixture of strategies, including the divide and conquer ploy, chequebook politics and a serendipitous affair between a sultana and a French trader that was turned to good use. Comoros history from this era reads like a cross between a Walt Disney animated film, a Merchant Ivory production and a Shakespearean tragedy. Through all the ups and downs, the French kept an iron grip on the islands, quelling peasant unrest and the occasional uprising.
"Shirazi" migrants introduced Islam at about the same time.
For the history of the native sultanates on several of the major islands, see Sultans on the Comoros.
[edit] Colonial Rule
On 25 March 1841, France annexed the Mawuti=Maore sultanate (the name of the island was corrupted in French to "Mayotte") as Mayotte protectorate (ratified 13 June 1843). In 1852, Andruna is added to Mayotte protectorate and, in 1866, the large sultanate Ndzuwani (on Anjouan island) as well.
On 24 June 1886, the islands of Ngazidja (Grande Comore in French) comprised eleven sultanates, but, in 1886, the Sultan tibe (paramount ruler and Sultan) of Bambao unified them, Ndzuwani (Anjouan), and Mwali sultanate (Mohéli island in French) become French protectorates, French résidents are posted on the three islands; on 5 September 1887 they are collectively renamed Protectorate of the Comoros.
On 9 April 1908, France declared the Comoros a dependent territory of its Madagascar colony. On 25 July 1912, it was annexed by France and joined with Mayotte as Mayotte and dependencies, after the ratification on 23 February 1914 subordinated to the governor general of Madagascar (Comoros dependent colony).
16 June 1940 - 1942 the colonial administration remains loyal to Vichy France (from 1942, under Free French), but 25 September 1942 - 13 October 1946 they are, like Madagascar, under British occupation.
Until the opening of the Suez Canal, the islands used to be an important refueling and provisioning stop for ships from Europe to the Indian Ocean. Independence came gradually for Comoros. During the middle of the 20th century the French reluctantly began to accede to reasonable requests, and by 1947 Comoros had become a separately administered colony from Madagascar. In 1961 it was granted autnomous rule and, seven years after the global unrest and left-wing riots of 1968, Comoros broke all ties with France and established an independent republic. From the very beginning Mayotte refused to join the new republic and wed itself even more firmly to French protection, but the other islands remained committed to independence. The French stepped out of the way, taking the infrastructure and financial resources with them, and watched as the whole house of cards came tumbling down. The first president of Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane, lasted a political nanosecond before being ousted in a coup by Ali Solih, an atheist with an Islamic background.
Solih began with a set of solid socialist ideals that were designed to take the islands kicking and screaming into the 20th century, and bury a moribund society that anointed the wealthy and privileged as its apparatchiks. Property was nationalised, womens' veils came off and costly grand marriages and traditional funeral ceremonies were abolished. Unfortunately Solih became overzealous and socialism soon turned into tyranny, which turned into economic free fall. Solih's response to the crisis was to develop a full-blown messianic complex, which didn't help matters at all. A French mercenary by the name of Bob Dénard, already having done covert tours of duty in Nigeria, Angola, Yemen and Zaire, arrived in Comoros at dawn on 13 May 1978, and liberated the entire country before breakfast. Solih was shot while allegedly 'trying to escape', Abdallah returned to the fold, the mercenaries were given key positions in the ministry, and there was a genuine attempt to clean up the ruins left by Solih's reign.
Later, French settlers, French-owned companies, and wealthy Arab merchants established a plantation-based economy that now uses about one-third of the land for export crops. After World War II, the islands became a French overseas territory and were represented in France's National Assembly. Internal political autonomy was granted in 1961. Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for Comoros to become independent in 1978. On July 6, 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a resolution declaring unilateral independence. The deputies of Mayotte abstained.
In two referendums, in December 1974 and February 1976, the population of Mayotte voted against independence from France (by 63.8% and 99.4% respectively). Mayotte thus remains under French administration, and the Comorian Government has effective control over only Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli.
[edit] Coups d'état
Unstable Comoros has endured 19 coups or attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1975. Bob Denard overthrew the government four times.
The second time was in 1978, when president Ali Soilih, who had a firm anti-French attitude, was killed and Ahmed Abdallah came to power. Under the reign of Abdallah, Denard was commander of the Presidential Guard (PG) and de facto ruler of the country, trained, supported and funded by the white regimes in South Africa (SA) and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in return to the permission to set up a secret listening station on the islands. South-African agents had to keep an ear on the important ANC bases in Lusaka and Dar es Salaam and to watch the war in Mozambique, in which SA played an active role. The Comoros were also used for evading arms sanctions.
When in 1981 François Mitterrand was elected president Denard lost the support of the French intelligence service, but he managed to strengthen the link between SA and the Comoros. Besides the Guard, Denard established his own company SOGECOM, in both the security and building business. He seemed to be pretty rich. In period 1985-87 the relationship of the PG with the local Comorians became worse.
At the end of the 1980s the South Africans did not want to continue to support a mercenary regime and France also wanted to get rid of the mercenaries. Finally, also President Abdallah wanted the mercenaries to leave. Their response was a (third) coup and the death of President Abdallah in which Denard and his men were probably involved. The SA and the French government subsequently forced Denard and his mercenaries to leave the islands in 1989. Said Mohamed Djohar became president. His time in office was turbulent, including an impeachment attempt in 1991 and a coup attempt in 1992.
On September 28, 1995 Bob Denard and a group of mercenaries took over the Comoros islands in a coup (named operation Kaskari by the mercenaries) against President Djohar. France immediately severely denounced the coup, and backed by the 1978 defense agreement with the Comoros, President Jacques Chirac ordered his special forces to retake the island. Bob Denard began to take measures to stop the coming invasion. A new presidential guard was created. Strong points armed with heavy machine guns were set up around the island, particularly around the islands two airports.
On October 3, 1995, 11 p.m., the French deployed 600 men against a force of 33 mercenaries and a 300 man dissident force. Denard however ordered his mercenaries not to fight. Within 7 hours the airports at Iconi and Hahaya and the French Embassy in Moroni are secured. By 3:00 p.m. the next day Bob Denard and his Mercenaries had surrendered. This operation, codename Azalée, was remarkable, because there were no casualties, and just in seven days, plans were drawn up and soldiers were deployed. Denard was taken to France and jailed. Prime minister Caambi El-Yachourtu became acting president until Djohar returned from exile in January 1996. In March of 1996, following presidential elections, Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim, a member of the civilian government that Denard had tried to set up in October 1995, became president.
[edit] Secession of Anjouan and Mohéli
In 1997, the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli declared their independence from Comoros. A subsequent attempt by the government to re-establish control over the rebellious islands by force failed, and presently the African Union is brokering negotiations to effect a reconciliation. This process is largely complete, at least in theory. According to some sources, Mohéli did return to government control in 1998. In 1999, Anjouan started to fall apart internally, on August 1 of that year, the 80-year-old first president Foundi Abdallah Ibrahim resigned, and gave power to a national coordinator, Said Abeid. The government was overthrown in a coup by army and navy officers on August 9, 2001. Mohamed Bacar soon rose to leadership of the junta that took over and by the end of the month he was the leader of the country. Despite two coup attempts in the following three months, including one by Abeid, Charif's government stayed in power, and was apparently more willing to negotiate with Comoros. Presidential elections have been held on Comoros, and presidents have been chosen for all three islands as well, which are now in a confederation. Grand Comore had experienced troubles of its own in the late 1990s, as President Taki died on November 6, 1998. Colonel Azali Assoumani became president following a military coup in 1999. There have been several coup attempts since, but he is now in firm control of the country after winning a presidential election.
In May 2006, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi was elected from the island of Anjouan to be the president of the Union of Comoros. He is a well-respected Sunni cleric that studied in The Sudan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. He is respectfully called "Ayatollah" by his supporters but is considered a moderate Islamist. He has been quoted as stating that Comoros is not ready to become an Islamic state, nor shall the veil be forced upon any women in the Comoros [1]. He is also a successful businessman and set to be the first president of the Comoros to ever peacefully gain power.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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