Emily Ruete

Emily Ruete
Princess Sayyida Salme of Zanzibar and Oman
Emily Ruete in traditional clothes as Princess of Zanzibar
Born	Sayyida Salme (Salama) 30 August 1844 Zanzibar
Died	29 February 1924(1924-02-29) (aged 79) Jena, Germany
Spouse	Rudolph Heinrich Ruete
Issue	Heinrich Ruete Antonia Brandeis Rudolph Said-Ruete Rosalie Troemer
Dynasty	Al Said
Father	Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al-Busaid
Mother	Jilfidan
Religion	Protestantism, prev. Islam

Emily Ruete (30 August 1844 – 29 February 1924) was born in Zanzibar as Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman. She was the youngest of the 36 children of Sayyid Said bin Sultan Al-Busaid, Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman. She is the author of Memoirs of an Arabian Princess from Zanzibar.

Sayyida Salme was born on 30 August 1844, the daughter of Sultan Said and Jilfidan, a Circassian concubine. Her first years were spent in the huge Bet il Mtoni palace, by the sea about eight kilometers north of Stone Town. (The palace 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 of Zanzibar, 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 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 Sayyid Thuwaini bin Said al-Said became Sultan of Muscat and Oman, while her brother Majid became Sultan of Zanzibar.

In 1859 her mother died and Salme received her maternal inheritance, three plantations. The same year a dispute broke out between her brothers Majid and Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar. Though she favoured Majid, her favourite sister Khwala made her side with Barghash. Because she could write she acted (at the age of fifteen) as secretary of Barghash's party. With the help of an English gunboat the insurrection of Barghash was soon brought to an end; Barghash was sent into exile in Bombay for two years and Salme withdrew to Kisimbani, one of her estates.