Friday, lue 9, 1978 23
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Bulk of East Africa Slavery Traced to Arabs
By WADE HUIE
(Editor's Note: The fol-
lowing article was first
published in the Friday
Magazine of the Daily Na-
tion, Kenya's leading
newspaper.)
Alex Haley's epic which
professes to trace his ances-
try back to a young Gam-
bian captured by British
slavers in 1767, caused a
major sensation last year in
America. Few people now
are unaware that the ori-
gins of most of the millions
of blacks in the Americas lie
in West Africa.
However, an unpre-
cedented study done re-
cently by two researchers at
the University of Nairobi,
Dr. Esmond Martin and Dr.
T.C.I. Ryan, discloses that
1.25 million slaves were
traded on the coast of East
Africa from 1770 to 1896,
the period when most of the
slaving took place — as
compared to the 5.5 million
slaves during West Africa's
peak period of 1690 to 1800.
Most of these East Afri-
cans were sent to the islands
of Zanzibar and Pemba to
work the Arab clove planta-
tions. Some slave§. were
used on the plantations and
towns of the coast, while
424,000 others were ex-
ported, mainly to Arabia,
Persia (now Iran) and India.
Evidence of East Afri-
can slaves first being
owned by foreigners
exists as early as the
Seventh Century; it was
recorded that black war-
rior slaves from East Af-
rica revolted against
their masters in
Mesopotamia (a region
containing modern-day
Iraq and part of Turkey).
Other references indicate
that the ancient Egyp-
tians and Chinese pos-
sessed slaves obtained
from the coast of East Af-
rica.
During the late 10th cen-
tury, more than 200 slaves
were going yearly to Oman
and other places in the Per-
sian Gulf. By then, East Af-
rican slaves were being ex-
ported to India as well, some
of whom were so outstand-
ing in their service that
they were promoted to high
ranks in the royal bureauc-
racy. In 1631, 400 Africans
were shipped from Mom-
basa and sold in the slave
market in Mecca.
Things didn't really get
out of hand in East Africa
until the Arabs introduced
slavery on a large commer-
cial basis 1,000 years after
establishing some of their
earlier coastal settlements.
By 1840, slave-trading was
Rabbis Select
Macy Gordon
NEW YORK — Rabbi
Macy A. Gordon, spiritual
leader of Cong. Bnai Yes-
hrun in Teaneck, N.J. and
brother of Rabbi James I.
Gordon of Young Israel of
Oak-Woods in Oak Park,
Mich., has been named
chairman of the annual
convention of the Rabbini-
cal Conference of America.
The convention will be
held in Toronto June 26-29.
In recent times there
mainly an Arab-inspired
enterprise. Captives of have been reports on the
inter-tribal wars gained coast of ' workers being
new value, becoming co- "pawned" to work many
veted as goods for"trade and years without pay to repay a
providing the excuse for debt. In 1973, East Africans
employed on seafaring ves-
further wars.
By the 19th Century,, sels allegedly were sub-
slave-worked plantations jected to conditions virtu-
had sprung up all along ally amounting to bondage.
East Africa's coast at such
Elsewhere, slaves from
ports as Lamu, Malindi Ethiopia, the oldest site
Mombasa and Takaungu, for traffic in slaves in this
and in Tanzania at Dar Es part of the world, were
Salaam and Pangani.
certainly still finding
But the lion's share of
trade went to Zanzibar,
especially after the Sul-
tan of Oman moved the
capital of his empire to
the island and large clove
plantations requiring
masses of labor had been
established. And the ob-
vious source of labor was
slaves from the main-
land.
Caravans led by Arabs
and their agents, the
Swahilis, eventually trek-
ked to the highland to bring
back a working force. How
were they so successful
when the East Africans vas-
tly outnumbered them?
In one word — guns.
Those big, black-powder-
carrying muskets simply
couldn't be opposed by
spears, bows and arrows.
THE FINEST AND
LARGEST POOL BUILDER
IN THE MIDWEST
their way to Saudi
Arabia, the last country
to officially abolish slav-
ery in 1962! In 1958, a
healthy male slave was
reported to go for about
1,175 pounds, while a
good-looking woman was
worth up to 10,150
pounds.
So even in this age of
moon flights, computers
and Concorde jets, the
chain of human enslave-
ment still clanks.
Almost a quarter of a century of
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But slave-catching still
wasn't that simple. If a un-
ited stand had been taken
by East Africans, the invad-
ers probably could have
been repulsed, despite the
guns.
It would have been ex-
tremely difficult for the
slavers to have ventured far
from the coast into the un-
familiar and hostile interior
had it not been for the Afri-
cans themselves. By work-
ing on the principle of divide
and rule, the slave traders
encouraged war among
tribes and thus had Afri-
cans doing much of the dirty
— and dangerous — work
for them.
Power-hungry chiefs
cooperated with the
Arabs to acquire those
powerful guns which
would enable them to
dominate their neigh-
bors. A gun and some
powder could fetch a
whole gang of slaves,
much to the profit of the
Arab. And he couldn't
care less who won the
inter-tribal conflicts as
long as he got his slaves.
In sum, slave raiding by
Africans against Afri-
cans was the most impor-
tant method of slave-
-
getting.
Slavery was finally
abolished in Zanzibar as
well as Pemba Island in
1897, mainly due to pres-
sure put on the Sultan by
Britain. Concubines were
not initially included as
slaves for fear of disrupting
domestic life! Kenya fol-
lowed suit in 1907, as did
Tanzania in 1911.
As we know so well from
the current situation with
poaching, just because
something is illegal doesn't
mean that it won't happen.
And so with what might be
called quasi-slavery.
10-PIECE
COOKWARE SET
COPPER-CLAD
STAINLESS STEEL
'WORE
BRI WANT
NECK
CHAIN
#115604t7-9av0
Highly polished Ilacs lat yellow gold
fhb
In a smoolh C' poison
n o
lashionabio 1$' n0001000 on
accessory Oval lea enlionee
fashions Imlay and through
Me imam
11/2, 2 & 3 qt. covered saucepans,
7' and 9' open skillets, 4-qt. covered
Dutch oven. (Dutch oven and 3-qt.
covers fit skillets.
Regular $91.97
Cameron So
$147.50
His
starring
RING
OMPS440114Lliff
• genuine Mock Da set In 1 Ca yell" gad
and enhanced by him shimmerhvg diamonds
odd up So a mores 100N00 ring Mat
will be a lama. Mot Will
star In Ms We.
*•aters $197.77
Compare M $31500
GREAT FOR
FATHER'S DAY
A MITY'
BRUUZWOOD
TRIFOLD
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Rogukr $7.20
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LAKE
40-CHANNEL
CB RADIO
7SOUEE
• Full 4-Watt Output
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CREDIT CARD
TWOFOLD
•0500621-1•114
ReylirSar $7.20
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Indicator
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THE IDENTIFIER
050:11214.•M
Regular •S.10
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Regular 370.67 Compere to el 29.93
lir
Sale ends Sunday, June 18, 1978
aunivs
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