Sultan of Oman who ascended the throne in 1806. Said Syed the Sultan of Oman who transferred his capital from Arabia to Zanzibar, where he initiated clove production and greatly expanded the trade. Owing to economic reasons he moved from Masqat to Zanzibar in 1840 and by 1841 he established his authority over all the coastal towns from Mogadishu (Somalia) to southern Tanzania. The increase in the Islamic faith and the spread of Swahili as the lingua-franca of Zanzibar were the most enduring monuments of his rule. Said Syed a mercantile prince rather than a Sultan depended on mercantile and marine resources for his power both in Oman and Zanzibar. He initiated large-scale production of cloves - an essential ingredient for preserving meat in Europe prior to the invention of refrigeration. Indian capitalists at Zanzibar financed Zanzibar's economic growth. This Arab-Indian alliance collapsed slowly because of British interference.