Long before the Kenya /Uganda railway and its world famous man eating lions took off from Mombasa and landed in Kisumu in 1901, a railway line in Zanzibar had ran on the lure of beautiful women fetched from far and wide to entertain an erotic Arab Sultan.
The 14 kilometre line from the Sultan's palace at Stone Town to Chukwani was constructed in 1879 to run via the sea side Mahrubi palace built by Sultan Seyyid Barghash bin Said for his relaxation and enjoyment with belles from the East African region, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
The ‘trains' were Pullman cars pulled by mules until 1881 when steam tank locomotives imported from India came into the scene. The ‘fun' train screeched to a halt with the sudden death of Seyyid Barghash. Records at the Mahrubi palace ruins on the Eastern outskirts of Zanzibar town show that an accidental fire that razed down the ‘palace of romance' hit the Sultan like a thunderbolt, and the resultant shock killed him early –1889.
Located metres away from the sea to tap on the abundant breeze, Mahrubi palace had several bedrooms for women and a sitting room where they assembled after bathing in three pools in the compound. Then pools were never destroyed by the fire and save for the greenish water, are still intact.
Sexual escapades
After bathing in the first pool, the women selected by the sultan for the day's sexual pleasure from their sensual beauty and charm went to the second pool to further clean up and on to a room upstairs where the Sultan would be waiting after a session of massage and other exercises.
The women were housed in seven rooms downstairs.
To enhance his potency in those days when Viagra was still several life times away, Sultan Barghash had a traditional treat comprising eight different ingredients that included octopus soup ginger, cinnamon, black pepper and other foodstuffs believed to be aphrodisiacs.
The Sultan was married to one wife who bore him one son, but had 99 concubines at Mahrubi palace at any given time. His bedroom had pools for hot and cold water where he bathed before and after his sexual escapades.
Clean water for use in the leisure palace was carried in raised concrete aqueducts from a river source five kilometres away. A furrow carried ablution water to and from the sea to clear the toilets of waste. The facilities, though dilapidated, are still intact.
The entrance to the ruins from the Darajani/ Bububu Road is lined with huge mango trees dating back to the days of Sultan Barghash. It is said he brought the mangoes from India where he lived for a while as punishment for attempting to outmanoeuvre his elder brother out of power.
Barghash who ruled Zanzibar from 1870 to 1888 is also credited with the introduction to the Eastern African coast of the uniquely beautiful Ashok trees from India. The trees that grow to great heights have elegant inverted leaves pointing downwards to form an umbrella shaped tip.
Expensive tastes
Better educated than his predecessors, Barghahsh had a penchant for expensive Western tastes and instantaneous life.
Besides his obsession with attractive women, he gave East Africa its first glimpse of electricity when oil streetlights were installed in Stone Town in 1870.
Years later, he initiated the building of a power station near the harbour palace complex and used it to illuminate as many royal buildings as possible. The lighthouse that stood in front of his palace became the scene of so many decorative bulbs prompting sailors from the Western world to refer to it as the Christmas tree of Africa.
The railway line that died with Sultan Barghash resurrected nearly two decades later when a new line on the path of the old one extended to Bububu, around 10 kilometres away from Darajani. It ceased to operate in 1930. Zanzibar has no railway track. A life-sized portrait of Seyyijd Barghash is among attractions at the people's palace, the former residence of the Sultan of Zanzibar.
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
The 14 kilometre line from the Sultan's palace at Stone Town to Chukwani was constructed in 1879 to run via the sea side Mahrubi palace built by Sultan Seyyid Barghash bin Said for his relaxation and enjoyment with belles from the East African region, Persia, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
The ‘trains' were Pullman cars pulled by mules until 1881 when steam tank locomotives imported from India came into the scene. The ‘fun' train screeched to a halt with the sudden death of Seyyid Barghash. Records at the Mahrubi palace ruins on the Eastern outskirts of Zanzibar town show that an accidental fire that razed down the ‘palace of romance' hit the Sultan like a thunderbolt, and the resultant shock killed him early –1889.
Located metres away from the sea to tap on the abundant breeze, Mahrubi palace had several bedrooms for women and a sitting room where they assembled after bathing in three pools in the compound. Then pools were never destroyed by the fire and save for the greenish water, are still intact.
Sexual escapades
After bathing in the first pool, the women selected by the sultan for the day's sexual pleasure from their sensual beauty and charm went to the second pool to further clean up and on to a room upstairs where the Sultan would be waiting after a session of massage and other exercises.
The women were housed in seven rooms downstairs.
To enhance his potency in those days when Viagra was still several life times away, Sultan Barghash had a traditional treat comprising eight different ingredients that included octopus soup ginger, cinnamon, black pepper and other foodstuffs believed to be aphrodisiacs.
The Sultan was married to one wife who bore him one son, but had 99 concubines at Mahrubi palace at any given time. His bedroom had pools for hot and cold water where he bathed before and after his sexual escapades.
Clean water for use in the leisure palace was carried in raised concrete aqueducts from a river source five kilometres away. A furrow carried ablution water to and from the sea to clear the toilets of waste. The facilities, though dilapidated, are still intact.
The entrance to the ruins from the Darajani/ Bububu Road is lined with huge mango trees dating back to the days of Sultan Barghash. It is said he brought the mangoes from India where he lived for a while as punishment for attempting to outmanoeuvre his elder brother out of power.
Barghash who ruled Zanzibar from 1870 to 1888 is also credited with the introduction to the Eastern African coast of the uniquely beautiful Ashok trees from India. The trees that grow to great heights have elegant inverted leaves pointing downwards to form an umbrella shaped tip.
Expensive tastes
Better educated than his predecessors, Barghahsh had a penchant for expensive Western tastes and instantaneous life.
Besides his obsession with attractive women, he gave East Africa its first glimpse of electricity when oil streetlights were installed in Stone Town in 1870.
Years later, he initiated the building of a power station near the harbour palace complex and used it to illuminate as many royal buildings as possible. The lighthouse that stood in front of his palace became the scene of so many decorative bulbs prompting sailors from the Western world to refer to it as the Christmas tree of Africa.
The railway line that died with Sultan Barghash resurrected nearly two decades later when a new line on the path of the old one extended to Bububu, around 10 kilometres away from Darajani. It ceased to operate in 1930. Zanzibar has no railway track. A life-sized portrait of Seyyijd Barghash is among attractions at the people's palace, the former residence of the Sultan of Zanzibar.
Source: The Standard | Online Edition
