The History of Tanzania started with the European Colonialists.  The 8^th century saw the growth of city states along the coast after settlement by Arabs as a nation from Oman. It was seven centuries later in 1499 that the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama visited the island of Zanzibar.  Another 100 years later in the 16th century, the Portuguese occupied Zanzibar. Their occupation did not last for long as in 1699 the Portuguese were ousted from Zanzibar by Arabs of Oman who had returned to make it their own.  So in the 18th century the Sultan of Oman reasserted Arab overlord ship of the East African coast, which became subordinate to Zanzibar.

Pre-Colonial Era

Colonial Era

Post-Colonial Era