Tanganyika (territory)

The name of the territory was taken from the large lake in its west. HM Stanley had found the name of "Tanganika", when he travelled to Ujiji in 1876. he wrote that the locals were not sure about its meaning and conjectured himself that it meant something like "the great lake spreading out like a plain", or "plain-like lake".[2]

The name was chosen by the British when they were given a League of Nations mandate after World War 1. They needed a new name to replace "Deutsch Ostafrika" or "German East Africa". Various names were considered, including "Smutsland" in honour of General Jan Smuts, "Ebumia," "New Maryland," "Windsorland" after the British Royal Family's new family name, and "Victoria" after both the Lake and the Queen. The British Government rejected all these and directed that a local name be adopted. "Kilimanjaro" analogous to "Kenya" named after the country's highest mountain and "Tabora" after the town and trading centre near the geographical centre of the country were proposed and rejected. Then an assistant to the Colonial Secretary proposed "Tanganyika Teritory" after Lake Tanganyika and that was adopted.

In the second half of the 19th century, European explorers and colonialists traveled through the African interior from Zanzibar. In 1885, the German Empire declared its intent to establish a protectorate in the area, named German East Africa (GEA), under the leadership of Carl Peters. When the Sultan of Zanzibar objected, German warships threatened to bombard his palace. Britain and Germany then agreed to divide the mainland into spheres of influence, and the Sultan was forced to acquiesce. The Germans brutally repressed the Maji Maji Rebellion of 1905. The German colonial administration instituted an educational programme for native Africans, including elementary, secondary, and vocational schools.[3][4]

After the defeat of Germany during World War I, GEA was divided among the victorious powers under the Treaty of Versailles. Apart from Ruanda-Urundi (assigned to Belgium) and the small Kionga Triangle (assigned to Portuguese Mozambique), the territory was transferred to British control. "Tanganyika" was adopted by the British as the name for its part of the former German East Africa.

In 1927, Tanganyika entered the Customs Union of the East Africa Protectorate and the Uganda Protectorate, which eventually became the independent countries of Kenya and Uganda, and the East African Postal Union, later the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration. Cooperation expanded with those protectorates and, later, countries in a number of ways, leading to the establishment of the East African High Commission (1948–1961) and the East African Common Services Organisation (1961–1967), forerunners of the East African Community. The country held its first elections in 1958 and 1959. The following year it was granted internal self-government and fresh elections were held. Both elections were won by the Tanganyika African National Union, which led the country to independence in December 1961. The following year a presidential election was held, with TANU leader Julius Nyerere emerging victorious. In the mid-20th century, Tanganyika was the largest producer of beeswax in the world.[5]

• List of colonial heads of Tanganyika

• Cana, Frank Richardson (1922). "Tanganyika Territory" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company.
• Iliffe, John. A modern history of Tanganyika. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521296113.
• Gordon-Brown, A. (editor), The East Africa Year Book and Guide, London, 1954, 87pps, with maps.
• Hill, J.F.R., and Moffett, J.P., Tanganyika – a Review of its Resources and their Development, published by the Government of Tanganyika, 1955, 924pps, with many maps.
• Mwakikagile, Godfrey, Life in Tanganyika in The Fifties, New Africa Press, 2008, 428pps, with maps and photos.
• Moffett, J.P., Handbook of Tanganyika, published by the Government of Tanganyika, 1958, 703pps, with maps.

• The British Empire - Tanganyika