Page "History of Comoros" Paragraph 5

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 ', chequebook politics and a 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.