Born c. 1837
Zanzibar
Died 1905
Zanzibar

Slave trader

Tippu Tib (pronounced TEE-poo tib) was a brave and daring adventurer, a good administrator, and a great leader of men. Much of his financial success, however, came at the expense of other human beings. His exploits can hardly be called heroic by today's standards, yet Tippu Tib played an important role in the history of East and Central Africa in the late nineteenth century. The opening of Africa's interior to European explorers and missionaries with help from Tippu Tib led to great changes in that part of the continent. European exploration led to European colonization and the end of Arab domination of the African interior. For Tippu Tib, it led to his own destruction in the very countries that he conquered and held for almost thirty years.