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Tanganyika
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tanganyika is the name of an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika, after which it was named. Once part of the colony of German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika), it comprises the mainland part of today's Tanzania, excluding the islands of Zanzibar. During World War I it came under British military rule and its transfer to Britain under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles was confirmed by a League of Nations Mandate in 1922, later a United Nations Trust Territory. Britain changed the name to the Tanganyika Territory.
On December 9, 1961 as Tanganyika it became independent as a constitutional monarchy, and on June 9, 1962 it became the Republic of Tanganyika within the Commonwealth of Nations. In 1964, it joined with the islands of Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, changed later in the year to the United Republic of Tanzania.
Although Tanganyika still exists within Tanzania, the name is no longer used formally for the territory and its use can be politically sensitive, not only as throwback to colonial times, but also if it implies opposition to the union with Zanzibar. These days the name Tanganyika is used almost exclusively to mean the lake.
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The name 'Tanganyika' is derived from the Swahili words tanga meaning 'sail' and nyika meaning an 'uninhabited plain' or 'wilderness'. At its simplest it might therefore be understood as a description of the lake — 'sail in the wilderness'.[1]
As European explorers and colonialists penetrated the African interior from Zanzibar in the second half of the 19th century, to Europeans Tanganyika came to mean, informally, the country around the lake, chiefly on the eastern side. When German East Africa was transferred to British control a new name was needed, and Tanganyika was adopted by the British for all the territory of German East Africa (except Rwanda and Burundi which went to Belgium, and the small Kionga Triangle which went to Mozambique).
In 1927, Tanganyika entered the Customs Union of Kenya and Uganda, as well as the East African Postal Union, later the East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration. Cooperation expanded with those 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.
Postage stamps which included "Tanganyika" in the inscription were issued from 1921 to 1962.
For more information, see Postage stamps and postal history of Tanganyika.
- ^ John Knouse: A Political World Gazetteer: Africa website accessed 1 May 2007.
- Gordon-Brown, A., FRGS, (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.
- Moffett, J.P., Handbook of Tanganyika, published by the Government of Tanganyika, 1958, 703pps, with maps.
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