Trans Saharan Slave Trade

ARRUPE COLLEGE

Jesuit School of Philosophy and Humanities

B.A. Honors in Philosophy year I

Variety in Histories of African Peoples: APH 107

Topic:

Trans Saharan Slave Trade

Where are the blacks taken to the Middle East?

by

VINCENT SYLVESTER WADA

Tutor:

Dr. Pius Nyambara.

2014/2015 Academic year.

When people speak of slavery today, very little mention is made of the Trans Saharan slave trade. I intend to bring to light some of my discoveries about certain ignored and unknown facts about this particular slave trade which has equally devastated the people of Africa and to also explore some of its differences from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. While doing this, I would also try to explain why this slave trade is rarely spoken about.

Invaded from all its surroundings, Africa has proved its riches in a very sad and regrettable fashion. The rest of the world, over hundreds of years have exploited Africa of its people and resources. I will take into account, slave trade, not just in the nineteenth century but in a wider historical context. This paper is however not exhaustive in itself but rather a recipe for Africans in Africa and the ones taken away to get more interested in getting a fuller knowledge of their histories. A clear definition of what a slave is will do well at this point to keep my ideas and your expectations focused. ‘A slave is one whose labor is controlled and whose freedom is withheld’. (Elizabeth 1)

Islamic slave trades are said to have begun in the 7th century and ended in the 20th century. ‘The trans-Saharan slave trade commenced late in the 7th century when Abdallah Ben Said, the King of Islamized Egypt, conquered via Jihad the Sudan – “the land of infidels” – and in 652 imposed on Sudanese King Khalidurat a treaty known as Bakht’ (Tunde). This was however not the first case of slavery in Africa because slavery is known to have existed in different cultures within and among African ethnic groups but on a very small...