Slave Trade in 18th century Darfur
Introduction:
In the beginning of the early modern period the Mediterranean Sea was the crucial link between Europe and the Asia world-economy. Luxury goods from Asia like silk, spices and tea entered the Mediterranean through the Middle East, where European traders where eager to buy them in order to resell them at the European markets. This changed, however, during the early modern period, when explorers like Columbus and da Gama were sent out to find new searoutes to reach Asia. But not only did they discover new routes, they also discovered new lands and even new continents. The Atlantic Ocean came to be a new important link between continents. Despite these changes the Asian world-economy remained the strongest economy untill the end of the 18th century. However, in the same period the Darb al-Arba'in, The Fourty Days Road, a trade route from Darfur to Egypt, experienced an immense growth. The question then arises "How can the growth of this particular trade route be explained?" In order to find internal reasons for the growth, the route itself must be investigated as well as the relevant history of the state it originated from. Also, the international situation must be analysed to find external reasons for the growth of the trade route.
Brief History of the Darfur Sultanate
The history of the Darfur Sultanate is rather complex and unclear, because written accounts are scarce and most of the history untill 1650 must be derived from oral traditions. The Sultanate emerged after the collapse of the Tunjur-empire. An ethnic group called 'the Fur', filled the power vacuum by seizing power in the region surrounding the Marra-Mountains. The Fur were internally divided into clans of which one, the Keira clan, managed to found a dynasty of kings. The Fur started expanding their kingdom by conquest, which added multiple tribes and ethnic groups into their realm.
From 1730 the kingdom was divided by multiple internal conflicts and these are extremely important. The first two conflicts were about the succession of the king, because kingship wasn't hereditary and the successor was to be elected by the chieftains of the Fur-clans. The sultans, however, wanted their kingship to become hereditary to eliminate the power of all these Fur-chiefs, including his own Keira-clan. This resulted in two conflicts: one between the sultan and the Fur-chiefs. And the second between the sultan and the Keira-clan.
Two more internal conflicts would arise as a result of the trade route, because the trade with Egypt brought in muslim clergy and also luxury goods, including firearms and war horses. The luxury goods created a new wealthy class of warriors. The sultan used both groups to replace the Fur-chiefs, creating a new elite. This new elite added two more conflicts: one between the old Fur-religion and Islam and one between the new warrior clas and the Fur-chiefs.
The Darb al-Arba'in
Now the brief history of Darfur has been described, it's time for the trade route itself. The Darb al-Arba'in was an ancient trade route between Kobbei in Darfur and Cairo. The merchants sold mainly ivory, ostrich feathers and most importantly slaves. From about 1750 to 1820 the trade route started growing rapidly from about 2000 slaves a year to numbers as large as 6000 slaves a year.
The organisation of the trade was pretty complex. The first step was capturing of slaves, which happened in organized raids, so called ghazwa's, to Dar Fartit in the south. These raids were financed by the merchants and organised by a Sultan al-Ghazwa, who was the leader of the expedition and who was appointed by the sultan of Darfur. Once returned, the slaves were given to the merchants who financed the raid and to the sultan and his court as gifts. Then the merchants gathered in Kobbei to form a caravan. The sultan appointed a caravan leader, a so called khabir, and then they left for Asyut in Egypt. The size of the caravan made sure that it was a monopoly for the sultan and a few rich merchants, since it was too risky and not profitable to join the caravan with a small amount of slaves. Once the caravan reached Asyut, they travelled to Cairo where the most of the slaves were sold at a special market, called the Wakalat al-Jallaba, the travelling caravan merchants.
An analysis of the network and the organisation of the Darb al-Arba'in suggests that the trade was mainly organised by the sultan and by the merchants. These two major players are also the internal reason for the increasing importance of the trade route. Since the merchants formed part of the new elite and also provided the new elite with luxury goods, the new elite was more likely to support ghazwa's then the old elite and thanks to this trade, the new elite came to play a bigger role at the royal court. Also, the sultan taxed the trade and the slaveraiding, so he also supported the trade.
External Factors
The slaves in Cairo were mainly sold to the Ottomans, so in order to answer the question, it makes sense to investigate where they got their slaves from and whether or not some of their suppliers stopped supplying slaves. The Ottomans got their slaves from three places: Crimea, Georgia and Cairo. Since Russia became much stronger and increasingly denied the Crimean Tatars and the Georgians their raids, leading to a declining supply of slaves from these regions. Yet this can only be seen as a contributing factor and never as a complete explanation, because the Ottomans ranked their slaves according to their birthplace. A white Circassian male was used for different purposes then a black Ethiopian male. Therefore the increasing ammount of black slaves traded by Darfur can't be explained by a declining supply from Crimea and Georgia.
However a different external explanation seems plausible. Because of the abolition of slavery the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was declining rapidly, resulting in a lower demand for slaves at the West-African coasts. The prices for slaves at the Western coasts were so dramatically low, that the slave traders decided to sell them to North-African markets instead. Only a few routes to the northern markets were safe to use and the Darb al-Arba'in was one of them.
Conclusion
The rapid growth of the Darb al-Arba'in can be explained by the increasing power of the sultan and the merchants and the new elite in his court. These groups were active in the slave trade and benefitted greatly from increasing the ammount of exported slaves. The second explanation is provided by the declining Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which made the slavers sell their slaves to the North-African markets instead.
References and Further Reading:
· Austen, R.A., "The Mediterranean Islamic Slave Trade out of Africa: a Tentative Census," in The Human Commodity; Perspectives on the Trans-
Saharan Slave Trade, ed. Elizabeth Savage. Londen: Frank Cass & Co Ltd., 1992
· Browne, .G., Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria from the year 1792 to 1798. London: 1799.
· Erdem, Y. H., Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its demise 1800-1909. Oxford: University of Oxford, 1993
· Fisher, A. G. B., Fisher, H. J. Slavery and Muslim Society in Africa, ed. 1. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971
· Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery Vol. 1, 1997, S.v. "Darfur"
· Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery Vol. 2, 1997, S.v. "Sudan"
· Hunwick, J., "Black Africans in the Mediterranean World: Introduction to a neglected Aspect of the African Diaspora," in: The Human Commodity;
Perspectives on the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade, ed. Elizabeth Savage. Londen: Frank Cass & Co Ltd., 1992
· Kizilov, M., "Slave trade in the early modern Crimea from the perspective of Christian, Muslim and Jewish sources," in: Journal of Early Modern
History (2007)
· Matthee, R., "Between Venice and Surat: The trade in gold in Late Safavid Iran," Modern Asian Studies 34, no. 1 (februari 2000)
· McNeill, J.R., McNeill, W.H., The Human Web: a bird's-eye view of world history. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
· O'Fahey, R.S., "Slavery and the slave trade in Darfur," in: Journal of African History 14, no. 1 (1973)
· O'Fahey, R.S., Spaulding, J.L., Kingdoms of the Sudan. Londen: Methuen & Co LTD, 1974.
· O'Fahey, R.S., State and Society in Dar Fur. Londen: St. Martin's Press, 1980.
· Owen, R., The Middle East in the World Economy 1800-1914. Londen: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1993.
· Pearson, M.N., "Asia and world precious metal flows in the early modern period" in: The World of the Indian Ocean, 1500-1800: studies in
economic, social and cultural history. Ashgate/Variorum, 2005.
· Scott, J., Social network analysis: a handbook 2nd ed.. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2007
· Walz, T., “Black slavery in Egypt during the Nineteenth century as reflected in the Mahkama Archives at Cairo,” in: Slaves and slavery in muslim
Africa vol. 2; The servile estate, ed. J.R. Willis. Londen: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1985
Introduction:
In the beginning of the early modern period the Mediterranean Sea was the crucial link between Europe and the Asia world-economy. Luxury goods from Asia like silk, spices and tea entered the Mediterranean through the Middle East, where European traders where eager to buy them in order to resell them at the European markets. This changed, however, during the early modern period, when explorers like Columbus and da Gama were sent out to find new searoutes to reach Asia. But not only did they discover new routes, they also discovered new lands and even new continents. The Atlantic Ocean came to be a new important link between continents. Despite these changes the Asian world-economy remained the strongest economy untill the end of the 18th century. However, in the same period the Darb al-Arba'in, The Fourty Days Road, a trade route from Darfur to Egypt, experienced an immense growth. The question then arises "How can the growth of this particular trade route be explained?" In order to find internal reasons for the growth, the route itself must be investigated as well as the relevant history of the state it originated from. Also, the international situation must be analysed to find external reasons for the growth of the trade route.
Brief History of the Darfur Sultanate
The history of the Darfur Sultanate is rather complex and unclear, because written accounts are scarce and most of the history untill 1650 must be derived from oral traditions. The Sultanate emerged after the collapse of the Tunjur-empire. An ethnic group called 'the Fur', filled the power vacuum by seizing power in the region surrounding the Marra-Mountains. The Fur were internally divided into clans of which one, the Keira clan, managed to found a dynasty of kings. The Fur started expanding their kingdom by conquest, which added multiple tribes and ethnic groups into their realm.
From 1730 the kingdom was divided by multiple internal conflicts and these are extremely important. The first two conflicts were about the succession of the king, because kingship wasn't hereditary and the successor was to be elected by the chieftains of the Fur-clans. The sultans, however, wanted their kingship to become hereditary to eliminate the power of all these Fur-chiefs, including his own Keira-clan. This resulted in two conflicts: one between the sultan and the Fur-chiefs. And the second between the sultan and the Keira-clan.
Two more internal conflicts would arise as a result of the trade route, because the trade with Egypt brought in muslim clergy and also luxury goods, including firearms and war horses. The luxury goods created a new wealthy class of warriors. The sultan used both groups to replace the Fur-chiefs, creating a new elite. This new elite added two more conflicts: one between the old Fur-religion and Islam and one between the new warrior clas and the Fur-chiefs.
The Darb al-Arba'in
Now the brief history of Darfur has been described, it's time for the trade route itself. The Darb al-Arba'in was an ancient trade route between Kobbei in Darfur and Cairo. The merchants sold mainly ivory, ostrich feathers and most importantly slaves. From about 1750 to 1820 the trade route started growing rapidly from about 2000 slaves a year to numbers as large as 6000 slaves a year.
The organisation of the trade was pretty complex. The first step was capturing of slaves, which happened in organized raids, so called ghazwa's, to Dar Fartit in the south. These raids were financed by the merchants and organised by a Sultan al-Ghazwa, who was the leader of the expedition and who was appointed by the sultan of Darfur. Once returned, the slaves were given to the merchants who financed the raid and to the sultan and his court as gifts. Then the merchants gathered in Kobbei to form a caravan. The sultan appointed a caravan leader, a so called khabir, and then they left for Asyut in Egypt. The size of the caravan made sure that it was a monopoly for the sultan and a few rich merchants, since it was too risky and not profitable to join the caravan with a small amount of slaves. Once the caravan reached Asyut, they travelled to Cairo where the most of the slaves were sold at a special market, called the Wakalat al-Jallaba, the travelling caravan merchants.
An analysis of the network and the organisation of the Darb al-Arba'in suggests that the trade was mainly organised by the sultan and by the merchants. These two major players are also the internal reason for the increasing importance of the trade route. Since the merchants formed part of the new elite and also provided the new elite with luxury goods, the new elite was more likely to support ghazwa's then the old elite and thanks to this trade, the new elite came to play a bigger role at the royal court. Also, the sultan taxed the trade and the slaveraiding, so he also supported the trade.
External Factors
The slaves in Cairo were mainly sold to the Ottomans, so in order to answer the question, it makes sense to investigate where they got their slaves from and whether or not some of their suppliers stopped supplying slaves. The Ottomans got their slaves from three places: Crimea, Georgia and Cairo. Since Russia became much stronger and increasingly denied the Crimean Tatars and the Georgians their raids, leading to a declining supply of slaves from these regions. Yet this can only be seen as a contributing factor and never as a complete explanation, because the Ottomans ranked their slaves according to their birthplace. A white Circassian male was used for different purposes then a black Ethiopian male. Therefore the increasing ammount of black slaves traded by Darfur can't be explained by a declining supply from Crimea and Georgia.
However a different external explanation seems plausible. Because of the abolition of slavery the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was declining rapidly, resulting in a lower demand for slaves at the West-African coasts. The prices for slaves at the Western coasts were so dramatically low, that the slave traders decided to sell them to North-African markets instead. Only a few routes to the northern markets were safe to use and the Darb al-Arba'in was one of them.
Conclusion
The rapid growth of the Darb al-Arba'in can be explained by the increasing power of the sultan and the merchants and the new elite in his court. These groups were active in the slave trade and benefitted greatly from increasing the ammount of exported slaves. The second explanation is provided by the declining Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which made the slavers sell their slaves to the North-African markets instead.
References and Further Reading:
· Austen, R.A., "The Mediterranean Islamic Slave Trade out of Africa: a Tentative Census," in The Human Commodity; Perspectives on the Trans-
Saharan Slave Trade, ed. Elizabeth Savage. Londen: Frank Cass & Co Ltd., 1992
· Browne, .G., Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria from the year 1792 to 1798. London: 1799.
· Erdem, Y. H., Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its demise 1800-1909. Oxford: University of Oxford, 1993
· Fisher, A. G. B., Fisher, H. J. Slavery and Muslim Society in Africa, ed. 1. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971
· Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery Vol. 1, 1997, S.v. "Darfur"
· Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery Vol. 2, 1997, S.v. "Sudan"
· Hunwick, J., "Black Africans in the Mediterranean World: Introduction to a neglected Aspect of the African Diaspora," in: The Human Commodity;
Perspectives on the Trans-Saharan Slave Trade, ed. Elizabeth Savage. Londen: Frank Cass & Co Ltd., 1992
· Kizilov, M., "Slave trade in the early modern Crimea from the perspective of Christian, Muslim and Jewish sources," in: Journal of Early Modern
History (2007)
· Matthee, R., "Between Venice and Surat: The trade in gold in Late Safavid Iran," Modern Asian Studies 34, no. 1 (februari 2000)
· McNeill, J.R., McNeill, W.H., The Human Web: a bird's-eye view of world history. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.
· O'Fahey, R.S., "Slavery and the slave trade in Darfur," in: Journal of African History 14, no. 1 (1973)
· O'Fahey, R.S., Spaulding, J.L., Kingdoms of the Sudan. Londen: Methuen & Co LTD, 1974.
· O'Fahey, R.S., State and Society in Dar Fur. Londen: St. Martin's Press, 1980.
· Owen, R., The Middle East in the World Economy 1800-1914. Londen: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1993.
· Pearson, M.N., "Asia and world precious metal flows in the early modern period" in: The World of the Indian Ocean, 1500-1800: studies in
economic, social and cultural history. Ashgate/Variorum, 2005.
· Scott, J., Social network analysis: a handbook 2nd ed.. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2007
· Walz, T., “Black slavery in Egypt during the Nineteenth century as reflected in the Mahkama Archives at Cairo,” in: Slaves and slavery in muslim
Africa vol. 2; The servile estate, ed. J.R. Willis. Londen: Frank Cass and Company Limited, 1985