Congo Arab war
The Congo Arab war or Arab war was a colonial war fought between the Congo Free State and Arab-Swahili warlords associated with the Arab slave trade in the eastern regions of the Congo basin between 1892 and 1894.
| Congo Arab war | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Scramble for Africa and ending of the East African slave trade | |||||||
Display of artifacts from the Congo Arab war | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
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Congo Free State Supported by: Belgium |
Sultanate of Utetera Arab-Swahili sultanates in Eastern Congo Supported by: Sultanate of Zanzibar Sultanate of Muscat | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Francis Dhanis Louis-Napoléon Chaltin Ngongo Lutete (mid 1892–Sept. 1893) |
Tippu Tip Sefu bin Hamid † Rumaliza Ngongo Lutete (until mid 1892) | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
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3,500 regular soldiers Around 10,000 total. | ~10,000 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Several tens of thousands killed | |||||||
The war was caused by the Free State and the Arabs contending for the control of regional resources. The war ended in January 1894 with a victory of Leopold's Force Publique. Initially, the Free State collaborated with the Arabs. Still, competition struck over the control of ivory and the topic of the humanitarian pledges given by Leopold II, King-Sovereign of the Congo Free State, to the Berlin Conference to end slavery. Leopold II's stance turned confrontational against his once-allies. The war against the Swahili-Arab economic and political power was presented as a Christian anti-slavery crusade.