Revenue stamps of Zanzibar Revenue stamps of Zanzibar Zanzibar issued revenue stamps from when it was a British protectorate in 1892, to after when it became part of Tanzania in 1993. Zanzibar's first revenues were Indian revenue or special adhesive stamps overprinted ZANZIBAR in capitals, and these were issued between May 1892 and August 1894. Various provisional overprints, some manuscript and some printed, were produced at around 1904, and most of these are rare. In 1905, postage stamps portraying Sultan Seyyid Hamoud bin Mahommed bin Said were overprinted "Revenue", and sometime later, 1 rupee surcharges appeared on this issue. Between 1907 and 1908 various
Zanzibar Revolution a long history of Arab rule dating back to 1698, Zanzibar was an overseas territory of Oman until it achieved independence in 1858 under its own Sultanate. In 1890 during Ali ibn Sa'id's reign, Zanzibar became a British protectorate, and although never formally under direct rule was considered part of the British Empire. By 1964, the country was a constitutional monarchy ruled by Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. Zanzibar had a population of around 230,000 Africans—some of whom claimed Persian ancestry and were known locally as Shirazis—and also contained significant minorities in the 50,000 Arabs and 20,000 South Asians who were