Sayyid Said

Said, Sayyid (säēd' säēd') or Said ibn Sultan, 1791?-1856, ruler of Oman and Zanzibar. He became ruler of Oman in 1806, when he was about 15. After defeating opposition in Oman, with British help he determined to reassert Oman's traditional claims in E Africa. He eventually succeeded and in about 1840 shifted his capital to Zanzibar, where he introduced the cloves that became the foundation of the island's economy. He also controlled the Arab traders that brought back slaves and ivory from the African interior.