Closure of the Zanzibar slave market

Under its Omani sultans, Zanzibar became the hub of the East African slave trade, selling captives from the mainland to clove plantations and Arabian markets. British pressure forced Sultan Barghash to close the market in 1873, and an Anglican cathedral was built on the site, its altar placed where the whipping post stood. Slavery itself lost legal status only in 1897 and lingered until 1909.