Emily Ruete

Emily Ruete (born Salme bint Said Sultan, Arabic: سالمة بنت سعيد سلطان; 30 August 1844 – 29 February 1924) was a Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was the youngest of the 36 children of Said bin Sultan, Sultan of the Omani Empire. She is the author of Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar.

Early life in Zanzibar

Salme bint Said was born on 30 August 1844, the daughter of Sultan Said and Jilfidan, a Circassian slave of the Circassian slave trade, turned concubine (some accounts also note her as Georgian). Her first years were spent in the Bet il Mtoni palace, by the sea about eight kilometres north of Stone Town, which was mostly demolished in 1914. She grew up bilingual in Arabic and Swahili. In 1851, she moved to Bet il Watoro, the house of her brother Majid bin Said, the later sultan. Her brother taught her to ride and to shoot. In 1853, she moved with her mother to Bet il Tani. She secretly taught herself to write, a skill which was unusual for women in her culture at the time.

When her father died in 1856 she was declared of age, twelve years old, and received her paternal inheritance. This consisted of a plantation with a residence, and 5,429 pounds. After her father's death, her brother, Thuwaini bin Said became the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, while her another brother, Majid bin Said became the Sultan of Zanzibar.

In 1859, upon her mother's death, Salme received her maternal inheritance of three plantations. The same year, a dispute broke out between her brothers Majid and Barghash bin Said. Though she favoured Majid, her sister Khwala sided with Barghash. Because she could write, she became the secretary of Barghash's party at the age of fifteen. With the help of an English gunboat, the insurrection of Barghash was soon brought to an end and he was sent into exile in Bombay, British India for two years, while Salme withdrew to Kizimbani, one of her estates. Salme eventually moved back to Stone Town and reconciled with Majid. This earned her the lasting enemity of Barghash, as well as a split with Khwala.