Ownership
Thanks Jim, that seems plausible. The next question would be who it belonged to. As stated previously in the thread, the shamshir was used as the regalia for Omani-Zanzibari sultans and high-level dignitaries.
AFAIK nearly every sultan of Zanzibar is pictured bearing a shamshir in official portraits whether it's a painting or photograph.
Here are two photographs. One showing Sultan Khalifa with his son Abdullah and grandson Jamshid, who both went on to become sultans - in fact the last three sultans of Zanzibar. I assume the two standing at the back are junior members of the royal family - they hold kattaras.
The other photo shows three Omani-Zanzibaris with a British officer. The governor of Bagamoyo on the left and "Rumaliza" al-Barwani each hold a shamshir, but Tippu Tip (on the far right) has a kattara. Tippu Tip is reputed to be the second richest muslim slave trader in history, so I assume that means he was the richest in Zanzibar. However, he wasn't considered to be a pure Omani as his father was a swahili arab who had some African ancestry.
The Zanzibar shamshir was found in Mazizini which is near the coast and roughly half way between Stonetown and Chukwani (where the royal family had a palace) - roughly 5 km each way.
Apart from the occasional royal palace there wouldn't have been any major settlements outside of Stonetown before the 20th century. (Obviously there would be a few fishermen and farmers here and there but they would have simple dwellings).
As for stealing the sword for the ivory, again that seems plausible. They could just put the ivory in their pocket. However, it is quite sharp and not something that's easy to carry around. Plus why not just jump in a boat and take the whole sword to the mainland?
I wonder if there was a political motive for stealing the sword, and maybe the ivory was just a bonus?
Also, it seems reasonable to me that it would have been bad form for a non-Omani or a commoner to have a shamshir in Zanzibar as it was the official regalia of the Sultanate.
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