Explore the 1,300-year history of the Arab slave trade. Learn how trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean networks reshaped continents through vast human migration.

This trade was so persistent that it predated the arrival of Europeans in West Africa by nearly a millennium and, in some remote pockets, continued well into the 1960s—long after the rest of the world had officially moved on.
History of the Trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean slave trade (Arab slave trade): origins, historical duration, eventual end, and the primary markets and customers involved.







The Arab slave trade was one of the longest-running human migrations in history, spanning over 1,300 years from the mid-7th century to the early 20th century. During this extensive period, it is estimated that between ten and eighteen million Africans were captured and moved through trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean networks. This massive movement of people fundamentally reshaped three continents long before the height of the Industrial Revolution.
While the trans-Atlantic trade is often better known, the Arab slave trade rivals it in scale and impact but operated within a different social and religious landscape. Unlike the Atlantic trade, which was primarily driven by the demand for agricultural labor in the Americas, the Arab and Muslim slave trade focused on domestic servants, soldiers, and concubines. These roles were deeply integrated into the urban and household life of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions.
The trade functioned as a sprawling, multi-directional web rather than a single straight line. It relied on two primary modes of transport: the trans-Saharan route, characterized by the padding of camel feet across the desert, and the Indian Ocean route, which utilized wooden dhows. These networks connected Africa to the Arab world and the Mediterranean, facilitating a silent but persistent movement of people that predated the arrival of Europeans in the region.
Criado por ex-alunos da Universidade de Columbia em San Francisco
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Criado por ex-alunos da Universidade de Columbia em San Francisco
