Editing Comoros (section)

=== European contact and French colonisation ===
[[File:Carte des isles de Comore Johanna ou Anjouan Mohilla ou Moaly et Mayote Bnf40600530t.jpg|thumb|left|French map of the Comores, 1747]]
[[File:Map of Africa (1808) - CAMORA excerpt.jpg|thumb|left|An 1808 map refers to the islands as "Camora".]]
[[File:Moroni-Place des Assemblées.jpg|thumb|A public square, Moroni, 1908]]

In the last decade of the 18th century, Malagasy warriors, mostly [[Betsimisaraka people|Betsimisaraka]] and [[Sakalava]], started raiding the Comoros for [[slave]]s and the islands were devastated as crops were destroyed and the people were slaughtered, taken into captivity or fled to the African mainland: it is said that by the time the raids finally ended in the second decade of the 19th century only one man remained on Mwali.<ref>Walker, Iain. "Islands in a Cosmopolitan Sea: A History of the Comoros." Hurst Publishers. 2019, p 254.</ref> The islands were [[Slavery in the Comoros|repopulated by slaves]] from the mainland, who were [[Comoros slave trade|traded to the French]] in Mayotte and the Mascarenes. On the Comoros, it was estimated in 1865 that as much as 40% of the population consisted of slaves.<ref>"[http://countrystudies.us/comoros/2.htm Comoros – Early Visitors and Settlers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613173553/http://countrystudies.us/comoros/2.htm |date=13 June 2011 }}". [[Library of Congress Country Studies]]</ref>

France first established colonial rule in the Comoros by taking possession of Mayotte in 1841 when the [[Sakalava]] usurper sultan {{ill|Andriantsoly|fr}} (also known as Tsy Levalo) signed the Treaty of April 1841,<ref name="Encyclopaedia of Islam 1979, vol. v, p. 381">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://isamveri.org/pdfdkm/12/DKM120302.pdf |title=French acquisition of Comoros |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam 1979, vol. v, p. 381 |access-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208052216/http://isamveri.org/pdfdkm/12/DKM120302.pdf |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> which ceded the island to the French authorities.<ref>[[#Ottenheimer|Ottenheimer]], pp. 53–54</ref> After its annexation, France attempted to convert Mayotte into a sugar plantation colony.

Meanwhile, Ndzwani (or Johanna as it was known to the British) continued to serve as a way station for English merchants sailing to India and the Far East, as well as American whalers, although the British gradually abandoned it following their possession of [[British Mauritius|Mauritius]] in 1814, and by the time the [[Suez Canal]] opened in 1869 there was no longer any significant supply trade at Ndzwani. Local commodities exported by the Comoros were, in addition to slaves, coconuts, timber, cattle and tortoiseshell. British and American settlers, as well as the island's sultan, established a plantation-based economy that used about one-third of the land for export crops. In addition to sugar on Mayotte, ylang-ylang and other perfume plants, vanilla, cloves, coffee, cocoa beans, and sisal were introduced.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=African Studies Bulletin |title=The Comoro Islands: A Bibliographical Essay |author=Barbara Dubins |date=September 1969 |pages=131–137 |volume=12 |issue=2 |doi=10.2307/523155 |publisher=African Studies Association |jstor=523155}}</ref>

In 1886, Mwali was placed under French protection by its Sultan Mardjani Abdou Cheikh. That same year, Sultan Said Ali of [[Sultanate of Bambao|Bambao]], one of the sultanates on Ngazidja, placed the island under French protection in exchange for French support of his claim to the entire island, which he retained until his abdication in 1910. In 1908 the four islands were unified under a single administration (''Colonie de Mayotte et dépendances'') and placed under the authority of the French colonial [[Governor-General of Madagascar]]. In 1909, Sultan Said Muhamed of Ndzwani abdicated in favour of French rule and in 1912 the protectorates were abolished and the islands administered as a single colony. Two years later the colony was abolished and the islands became a province of the [[French Madagascar|colony of Madagascar]].<ref name="Walker, Iain 2019"/>

Agreement was reached with France in 1973 for the Comoros to become independent in 1978, despite the deputies of [[Mayotte]] voting for increased integration with France. A [[1974 Comorian independence referendum|referendum]] was held on all four of the islands. Three voted for independence by large margins, while Mayotte voted against. On 6 July 1975, however, the Comorian parliament passed a unilateral resolution declaring independence. Ahmed Abdallah proclaimed the independence of the Comorian State (''État comorien''; دولة القمر) and became its first president. France did not recognise the new state until 31 December, and retained control of Mayotte.