The Anglo–Zanzibari War was a military conflict fought between the United Kingdom and the Sultanate of Zanzibar on August 27, 1896, which lasted approximately forty minutes, and is the shortest war in history.
  Its immediate cause was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash. The British authorities preferred the more favorable Hamud bin Muhammed as ruler. In accordance with a treaty signed in 1886, a condition of accession to the sultanate was that the candidate had the permission of the British consul, and Khalid had not met this requirement. The British considered this a casus belli and sent an ultimatum to Khalid demanding that he order his troops to leave the palace. In response, Barghash mobilized his palace guard and set up a barricade inside the dwelling.
  The ultimatum expired at 9 am on 27 August, by which time the British had gathered three cruisers, two battleships, 150 marines and sailors and 900 Zanzibaris in the port area. The British Navy contingent was under the command of Rear Admiral Harry Rawson, while its Zanzibaris were commanded by Brigadier General Lloyd Mathews of the National Army. On the other side, around 2,800 Zanzibaris defended the palace; most of them recruited from the civilian population, although they also included the sultan's palace guard and several hundred of his employees and slaves. The defenders had several artillery pieces and machine guns that were placed in front of the palace, in full view of the British ships.

A bombardment, which began at 9:20 am, set fire to the palace and neutralized the defense artillery. A small naval action took place with the British sinking a Zanzibari royal yacht and two smaller boats, and some shots were fired ineffectively at the pro-British Zanzibari troops as they approached direct confrontation. The palace flag was lowered and the fire stopped at 9:40 am.
  Approximately five hundred Zanzibari men and women were killed or injured during the bombing, with the majority of deaths coming from the fire that engulfed the palace. The number of fighters among the total fatalities is unknown, but Khalid's weapons operators are said to have been "decimated." British casualties accounted for a seriously injured sergeant on board the Thrush, who later recovered. Although the majority of the city's Zanzibari population sided with the British, the Indian part suffered from opportunistic looting and around twenty inhabitants lost their lives amid the chaos. To restore order, 150 British Sikh troops were transferred from Mombasa to patrol the streets. Sailors from the St. George and Philomel disembarked to form a fire brigade and contain the blaze, which had spread from the palace to nearby cabins. There was some concern about the fire in the customs warehouses, as these contained a considerable stock of explosives. However, none occurred