SAID BIN SULTAN AL-SAID
(1791 - 1856), Sultan of Muscat and Oman and of Zanzibar (1804, 1806-56). He strengthened Omani control of the East African coast and encouraged its commercial development; made Zanzibar principal power in its region and the commercial capital of the western Indian Ocean. Historic content manuscript L.S., "Said Bin" 1p. 8vo., July 11, 1850 to Charles Ward, American Consul in Zanzibar. Translated contemporaneously in pencil at right, it reads in part: "…Your honorable letter has received by me and I understand it and reality is that in one former letter to you…we have no more to say to it, and Peace may be on you." Very good condition. This letter almost resulted in war with the Sultan and his nation. On July 4, 1850, the Sultan refused to allow a 21 gun salute honoring the American flag. Ward demanded a written apology, which the Sultan here refuses. Ward was so incensed that he closed down the consulate and sailed for home. The following March, he wrote a letter to the State Department recommending that a war ship be sent to Zanzibar to force the Sultan to give a formal apology or to suffer military consequence. On December 2, 1851, the USS Susquehanna anchored at Zanzibar to ultimatum: town would be bombarded unless the required apology was made immediately. The sultan's governor acquiesced, and American honor was satisfied.