Over the years, global attention and discussions on slavery have primarily focused on Trans-Atlantic slave trade, dominated by American and European merchants. However, another equally significant trade has been largely overlooked and, in some cases, treated as a taboo subject, despite its profound impact on Africa, its people and their way of life across generations.
Arab Muslim slave trade, also known as Trans-Saharan or Eastern slave trade, is recognised as longest in history, spanning over 1300 years. It forcibly removed millions of Africans from their homeland, subjecting them to brutal conditions while they laboured in foreign lands.
Scholars have referred to it as a "veiled genocide," a term reflecting extreme humiliation and near-death experiences endured by enslaved, from their capture in slave markets to their forced labour abroad and harrowing journeys in between. While exact number of Africans captured in Trans-Saharan slave trade remains disputed, most scholars estimate figure to be around 9 million.
Eastern slave trade in Africa was primarily concentrated in East and West African regions. In East Africa, the coastal region was main route, with Tanzania's Zanzibar archipelago becoming a central hub for this trade.
"Arabs raided sub-Saharan Africa for 13 centuries without interruption," reads a loosely translated excerpt from The Veiled Genocide, a book by Tidiane N'Diaye, a Franco-Senegalese author and anthropologist. "Most of millions of men they deported have disappeared as a result of inhumane treatment. This painful page in history of black people has apparently not been completely turned."
Enterprising Arab merchants and middlemen would gather in Zanzibar to acquire raw materials such as cloves and ivory. They would then purchase enslaved Africans, who were forced to carry these goods and labour on plantations abroad. Slaves from as far as Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia were brought to Zanzibar market and shipped across Indian Ocean to Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, where they were forced to work in places like Oman, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Notably, African Muslims were exempt from enslavement due to Islamic legal views.
Trans-Saharan Caravan focused on West African region, stretching from the Niger Valley to Gulf of Guinea, following Trans-Saharan routes to slave markets in Maghreb and Nile Basin. The journey, which could last up to 3 months, subjected slaves to brutal conditions, with many succumbing to disease, hunger and thirst along the way. It is estimated that 50% of enslaved individuals in this trade died during transit.
While European merchants primarily sought strong young men to work as labourers on their plantations, Arab merchants focused on concubinage, capturing women and girls to serve as sex slaves in harems. In fact, demand for female slaves was so high that merchants would often double their price, with ratio of captured women to men being three to one.
Male slaves were often assigned to work as field labourers or guards at harems. To prevent them from reproducing in case they became intimate with female slaves, men and boys were subjected to castration, a brutal procedure that resulted in deaths of many during the process.
"Castration of black male slaves in most inhumane manner altered an entire generation, as these men could not reproduce," said Liberty Mukomo, a lecturer at University of Nairobi Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies.
"Arab masters sired children with black female slaves. This devastation by men saw those who survived committing suicide. This development explains modern black Arabs who are still trapped by history."
What made Arab slave trade particularly brutal and painful, he pointed out, was the degree and intensity with which it disrupted entire social, reproductive and economic lives of Black people, leaving a deep and lasting impact on their communities.
© Forgotten slavery: The Arab-Muslim slave trade - Bob Koigi
#archaeohistories While Europe, a major player in the African slave trade, abolished the practice centuries ago and the United States officially ended it in 1865, many Arab countries continued the trade well into the 20th century.
It ultimately took significant international pressure, disruption of trade, and revolts by enslaved people to bring an end to the practice, Mukomo said.
In Malawi, slavery was officially criminalised as recently as 2007, with reports suggesting that some Arab countries may still be involved in the practice, albeit clandestinely.
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The first slaves in America weren’t African, they were Irish.
Men, women, and children were sold, starved, and worked to death.
Their suffering was buried for centuries.
Here’s the dark & forgotten truth about Ireland’s hidden history of slavery:
Ireland’s introduction to slavery began with Viking raids.
In 795 AD, Norse invaders looted monastic towns like Armagh and Kildare, capturing Irish men and women as slaves.
Many were taken to Scotland, Norway, and Iceland, where they were ransomed, sold, or forced into labor.
In 875, Irish slaves in Iceland staged a rebellion, one of the largest in Europe since the fall of Rome.
By 1014, Viking dominance waned after the pivotal Battle of Clontarf, and thousands of slaves were freed.
Though the Normans abolished traditional slavery in Ireland by 1102, they replaced it with serfdom.
Serfs were tied to the land, which meant they could not be sold like chattels but lived under the constant oppression of feudal lords.
The subjugation of the Irish reached new heights during the English colonization of Ireland.
As England tightened its grip, the Irish were systematically uprooted and sold into servitude and slavery across the Atlantic.
During the Irish uprising against English rule, over 550,000 Irish were reportedly killed by English forces.
Another 300,000 were captured and sold as slaves.
- Military captives
- Political prisoners
- Women & children
Oliver Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland marked one of the darkest periods in Irish history.
- Thousands of Irish were sold to the Caribbean, Barbados & Montserrat.
- The infamous proclamation "To Hell or Connacht" in 1654 ordered Irish families to move west of the River Shannon or face deportation.
Irish men, women, and children were forcibly transported to the Americas.
While some were labeled as indentured servants, the conditions they endured often mirrored slavery.
1. Barbados and the West Indies
By 1652, at least 12,000 Irish were sent to Barbados, where they labored on sugar plantations under harsh conditions.
Irish slaves were sold for as little as 900 pounds of cotton, making them a cheaper alternative to African slaves.
2. North America
Irish servants arrived in Virginia, the Carolinas, and New England.
Many were children, often as young as 10.
Between 1629 and 1632, tens of thousands of Irish were transported to Guyana, Antigua, and other colonies.
3. Montserrat
By 1637, 69% of Montserrat’s population was Irish, making it one of the most significant destinations for Irish servitude.
Historians continue to debate whether the Irish were slaves or indentured servants.
While indentured servitude involved contracts, many Irish captives were forcibly removed from their homeland and had no legal agreements.
Many Irish laborers endured brutal treatment, similar to African slaves.
They were beaten, overworked, and denied basic freedoms
The lack of surviving contracts for many Irish workers suggests that a significant portion were, in effect, enslaved.
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