Editing History of the Comoros (section)

===Europeans===
[[File:Map of Anjouan,Comoros (1748) Jacques Nicolas Bellin.png|thumb|Map of Anjouan (1748) by French hydrographer  [[Jacques Nicolas Bellin]]]]

Portuguese explorers first visited the archipelago in 1505.

Apart from a visit by the French [[Jean Parmentier (explorer)|Parmentier]] brothers in 1529, for much of the 16th century the only Europeans to visit the islands were Portuguese.  British and Dutch ships began arriving around the start of the 17th century and the island of [[Ndzwani]] soon became a major supply point on the route to the East Indies.  Ndzwani was generally ruled by a single sultan, who occasionally attempted to extend his authority to [[Mayotte]] and [[Mwali]]; [[Ngazidja]] was more fragmented, on occasion being divided into as many as 12 small kingdoms.

Sir [[James Lancaster]]'s voyage to the Indian Ocean in 1591 was the first attempt by the English to break into the spice trade, which was dominated by the Portuguese.  Only one of his four ships made it back from the Indies on that voyage, and that one with a decimated crew of 5 men and a boy.  Lancaster himself was marooned by a cyclone on the Comoros.  Many of his crew were speared to death by angry islanders although Lancaster found his way home in 1594.  (Dalrymple W. 2019; Bloomsbury Publishing {{ISBN|1635573955}}).

Both the British and the French turned their attention to the Comoros islands in the middle of the 19th century. The French finally acquired the islands through a cunning mixture of strategies, including the policy of "divide and conquer", [[Checkbook diplomacy|chequebook politics]] and a [[serendipity|serendipitous]] affair between a sultana and a French trader that was put to good use by the French, who kept control of the islands, quelling unrest and the occasional uprising.

William Sunley, a planter and British Consul from 1848 to 1866, was an influence on [[Anjouan]].