Global Slave-Owning Cultures, Who Enslaved Everyone, Including The Brits, Without Being Constantly Reminded Of How Evil They Were

History of Slavery

Slavery has been around for thousands of years, even before people started keeping written records. It likely began around 11,000 years ago, with the rise of agriculture during the Neolithic period. As farming created surplus food and larger populations, slavery became more common because it was easier to control and exploit large groups of people.

Slavery was present in almost every ancient civilization, from Sumer and Ancient Egypt to Greece, Rome, and the Arab Caliphates. Early forms of slavery included debt bondage, punishment for crimes, prisoners of war, child abandonment, and being born to enslaved parents. In some cases, poor families even had to sell their children during tough times.

In Ancient Greece, slavery became a major part of society, especially after cities were established. Most Greek households had at least one slave, and slaves were used in agriculture, mining, and domestic work. In places like Athens, around 30% of the population were slaves. The Stoics were among the first to condemn slavery, although most ancient writers saw it as natural and necessary.

In Rome, the institution of slavery was inherited from the Greeks and Phoenicians. As Rome expanded, it enslaved entire populations to work on farms, in mines, and in households. Educated slaves from Greece had a chance at better treatment, but most slaves lived harsh lives with no legal rights. Many were subjected to brutal punishments, sexual exploitation, and execution. Over time, as Rome stopped expanding, the number of new slaves decreased, leading to stricter laws on freeing slaves to maintain the workforce.

Roman Slave Market

Slavery was also widespread in Asia and the Middle East, dating back to some of the earliest civilizations like Sumer, Elam, and Assyria. In the Islamic world, slavery continued to evolve, with millions of people being enslaved over the centuries. Slaves were taken from various regions, including Africa, Europe, and Asia, and were used for labor, military service, and other purposes. The Zanj Rebellion, for example, was a major slave revolt that took place in Iraq between 869 and 883, involving over 500,000 slaves.

In Africa, the trans-Saharan, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean slave trades saw millions of people captured and sold into slavery. Slaves were transported across deserts and seas to work in agriculture, households, and other labor-intensive jobs. By the 1890s, the Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa had the largest slave population in the world, with about 2 million people.

Even as late as the 1930s, there were still millions of slaves in places like Ethiopia. The Barbary slave trade saw European and Christian captives taken by pirates and forced into slavery in North Africa, with an estimated 1 to 1.25 million Europeans enslaved between the 16th and 19th centuries.

American Slavery

Native American Slavery

Before European contact, many Native American tribes in what is now the United States already practised slavery. They often took war captives as slaves, and these captives could be treated in different ways—sometimes they were kept as slaves for life, sometimes they were killed, and other times they were adopted into the tribe. Slavery wasn’t necessarily passed down to children, except among some groups where it was hereditary, like the Haida and Tlingit tribes along Alaska’s south east coast.

When Europeans arrived, they significantly impacted Native American slavery. The demand for slaves led many tribes to raid other tribes more frequently, capturing people to sell to European traders. This increased the scale and intensity of slavery, often resulting in destructive wars. Some tribes began to see their captives as tools to use against rival tribes or as a way to gain favor with Europeans. Unfortunately, this tactic often backfired, leading to more conflict.

As the centuries passed, some Native American tribes, especially the so-called “civilized tribes” like the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole, started holding African-American slaves. These slaves were used mainly for agricultural and domestic work, similar to how they were used by European settlers.

Slavery in Mexico and Central America

In pre-Columbian times, slavery was also common in Meso-America, including among the Aztecs and Maya. The Maya used slaves for building temples and as victims for human sacrifices. Slavery wasn’t usually passed down to children unless a ransom wasn’t paid. The Aztecs would enslave people for committing crimes like theft or embezzlement.

Slavery in South America

The Inca Empire in the Andes didn’t practice slavery in the same way. Instead, they had a system called “mita,” where people would work for the government instead of paying taxes. Each family would choose someone to fulfil this obligation. The Spanish later adopted this system, especially in their silver mines in Bolivia.

Other Slave-Owning Societies in the Americas

Throughout North and South America, various tribes and societies practiced slavery. The Tehuelche in Patagonia, the Comanche in Texas, the Caribs in Dominica, and the Tupinambá in Brazil are just a few examples. In the Pacific Northwest, tribes like the Yurok, Haida, and Tlingit were known as fierce warriors and slave owners, often taking captives from rival tribes during raids.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, some Native American tribes still held captives as slaves. For instance, “Ute Woman,” a Ute captured by the Arapaho and later sold to the Cheyenne, was kept as a slave until around 1880. She was used as a prostitute to serve American soldiers, a tragic example of the brutality of slavery.

While Native American slavery differed from European practices, it was still a harsh reality for many, with captives often used for labor, traded, or even killed in rituals. Some tribes, like the Iroquois, would eventually adopt captives into their communities, but this was not always the case. The impact of slavery on Native American societies was profound, leading to significant changes in their cultures and relationships with each other and with European settlers.

Asia

Mongol Invasions and Slavery

In the 13th century, the Mongols expanded into large parts of Eurasia, enslaving skilled individuals, women, and children. These captives were transported to cities like Karakorum and Sarai and sold across Eurasia, with many reaching the slave market in Novgorod. During the Late Middle Ages, Venetian and Genoese merchants dominated the slave trade, particularly dealing with the Golden Horde. In 1382, Khan Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde sacked Moscow and captured thousands of slaves. The Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan conducted frequent slave raids on Russian territories, with an estimated 40 major raids recorded in the first half of the 16th century.

The Crimean Khanate, established in 1441, became a major center for the slave trade, particularly with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East. Between 1500 and 1700, approximately 2 million slaves from Russia and Poland-Lithuania were exported. Caffa (modern Feodosia) was a notable slave market. Even in the 18th century, Kazakh raids on Russian territories continued, resulting in the capture and sale of many Russians as slaves. By 1830, the Russian government estimated that 200 Russians were kidnapped and sold into slavery in Khiva every year.

Crimean Tartars on a Raid

Slavery in East and Southeast Asia

Japan had an official slave system from the 3rd century until its abolition in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, although peasants remained bound to the land. During WWII, Japanese POWs and women in occupied territories were exploited as slaves and “comfort women.” In Korea, slavery persisted until recent times, and while now illegal, it still exists in North Korea under the regime.

In Southeast Asia, slaves were integral to the Khmer Empire, with one-quarter to one-third of Thailand and Burma’s population being slaves by the 19th century. In pre-Spanish Philippines, slavery was widespread among Austronesian tribes. Muslim states conducted slave raids from the 1600s into the 1800s, particularly in coastal areas. Slaves, known as banyaga in the Philippines, were treated harshly, often sold or traded in local and international markets.

The Moro Sultanates of Sulu and Maguindanao relied heavily on the slave trade, capturing people through piracy and coastal raids. By the 1850s, slaves made up over 50% of the Sulu archipelago’s population. Spanish authorities and local Christian Filipinos responded to Moro raids by building fortifications and organizing defensive fleets. The decline of the slave trade in the mid-19th century led to the economic collapse of these Sultanates, contributing to poverty in the Moro region today.

China

During the **Qin dynasty (221–206 BC)**, men sentenced to castration became eunuch slaves, forced into labor on projects like the Terracotta Army. The Qin government also confiscated the property and enslaved the families of those punished with castration. Under the **Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)**, Emperor Gao freed agricultural workers enslaved during the Warring States period, though domestic servants remained enslaved. Men punished with castration were also used as slave labor, and their families were seized as government property. During China’s millennium-long domination of Vietnam, Vietnamese girls were enslaved and often used as sex slaves, even becoming subjects of Tang dynasty poetry.

Black Slave in Tang Dynasty

The Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) was particularly involved in the slave trade, purchasing Western slaves from Radhanite Jews and enslaving various groups, including Koreans, Turks, Persians, Indonesians, and people from Inner Mongolia, Central Asia, and northern India. Southern tribes, such as Thais and aboriginals from Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Guizhou, were significant sources of slaves. The Tang dynasty also purchased Malays, Khmers, Indians, and black Africans as slaves. Slavery persisted in China until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with all forms of slavery being outlawed in 1910.

India

Islamic invasions starting in the 8th century led to the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Indians, one of the earliest instances being under Muhammad bin Qasim. The Slave Dynasty, which ruled North-Central India, was founded by Qutb-ud-din Aybak, a Turkic slave. Slaves were also brought to India through the Indian Ocean trade routes, with the Siddi people being descendants of Bantu slaves brought by Arab and Portuguese merchants.

During the Umayyad invasion under Muhammad al-Qasim, large numbers of women and children were enslaved. For instance, 60,000 captives were taken at Rūr and 30,000 at Brahmanabad. Slave raids continued into regions like Punjab, with captives sent to Iraq and Syria. In the early 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazna’s invasions led to the enslavement of 100,000 youths, with such a surplus of slaves that their value plummeted.

Under the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1555), the abundance of low-priced Indian slaves was notable, attributed to India’s vast population. Elite slavery became the predominant system in North India during the 13th century, continuing into the 14th and 15th centuries. Bengal saw vigorous slavery in the 15th century, while in the Deccan, it persisted until the 17th century. Slavery had a revival in 18th-century North India under the Afghans.

The Delhi Sultanate and subsequent empires, including the Mughals, frequently enslaved people during wars, famines, and pestilences. The enslavement of women often led to their forced conversion to Islam. During Shah Jahan’s rule, many peasants were compelled to sell their women and children into slavery to pay taxes. Slavery was officially abolished in British India by the Indian Slavery Act of 1843, but bonded labor, akin to slavery, persists in modern India, Pakistan, and Nepal.

Africa

Before the transatlantic slave trade, war captives in Dahomey (present-day Benin) were killed during the Annual Customs but were later sold into transatlantic slavery. Portugal established its first African slave market in Lagos in 1444, and by 1552, African slaves made up 10% of Lisbon’s population. Portugal’s focus later shifted to sending slaves to its colonies, particularly Brazil, contributing to the wealth of Benin, which became known as the “Slave Coast.”

Slavery was endemic in Africa long before European involvement, as noted by historian Fernand Braudel. Slaves were common across various societies, serving in roles ranging from domestic work to military service. African chieftains traded slaves for goods like spices and rum, a practice already established before the arrival of Arabs, Berbers, and Europeans.

Between 1300 and 1900, slavery was widespread in Africa, with significant portions of populations enslaved in regions like Senegambia, Western Sudan, and the Akan states. For instance, one-third of the population in early Islamic states such as Mali and Songhai, as well as in the Ashanti and Yoruba regions, were slaves. In the 19th century, half the population in Madagascar, Zanzibar, and the Sokoto Caliphate were enslaved. Ethiopia had 2 million slaves in the 1930s, and slavery persisted there until it was abolished by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1942. Slavery in northern Nigeria was outlawed in 1936.

African states played a key role in the slave trade, with slavery being an established practice among Sub-Saharan Africans. The transatlantic slave trade expanded local systems of servitude into a large-scale operation, leading to destabilization as villages lost vital labor forces to slave raids. Crimes that previously had different punishments began to result in enslavement.

In the Kingdom of Kongo, slavery existed before the Portuguese arrived. King Afonso I of Kongo tried to regulate the slave trade by appealing to Portugal’s king when he suspected illegal practices. Dahomey, a major slave state in West Africa, sold war captives into transatlantic slavery, a practice that became central to its economy. By the 16th and 17th centuries, Benin grew rich from the slave trade with Europe, with the Bight of Benin earning the nickname “Slave Coast.”

King Gezo of Dahomey famously declared in the 1840s that the slave trade was the “ruling principle” and “the glory” of his people, underscoring how deeply entrenched the practice was in certain African societies.

Turks and Ottomans

In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Seljuk Turks engaged in an extensive slave trade involving Christians in Anatolia, leading to a significant decline in the Christian population in Asia Minor. The capture of Edessa saw 16,000 Christians enslaved, and similar numbers were reported when Nur ad-Din’s forces invaded Cilicia. Major raids in western Anatolia led to the enslavement of thousands of Greeks. In 1185, 26,000 people from Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Cappadocia were captured and sold in slave markets during Turkic raids. According to historian Speros Vryonis, Asia Minor remained a major source of slaves for the Islamic world through the 14th century.

After conquering parts of Asia Minor, the Seljuks brought in Greek, Armenian, and Syrian farmers to the devastated lands, often after enslaving entire Byzantine and Armenian villages. Arab historians documented that Turkmen tribes in Anatolia frequently raided Greek lands, capturing large numbers of slaves, particularly Greek children. Western Anatolia became a center of Christian slave trade in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The prominent citizens of Laodicea held many slaves, with markets overflowing with captives. Ibn Battuta, a famous traveler, described acquiring a slave woman in Balıkesir and how slaves often attempted to escape despite the harsh conditions.

In 1341, the Turkish bey Umur of Aydin terrorized Christians in the Aegean Sea, capturing numerous slaves with his fleet of 350 ships and 15,000 men. Slavery in the Ottoman Empire, according to Professor Ehud R. Toledano, was deeply embedded in custom, tradition, and religion. Abolitionism was seen as a foreign concept and was strongly resisted. Slavery was a legal and crucial part of the Ottoman economy and society until the early 19th century, when the slavery of Caucasians was banned, although other forms of slavery persisted. In 1609, about a fifth of Constantinople’s population consisted of slaves. Despite several measures to ban slavery in the late 19th century, the practice continued well into the early 20th century, with female slaves still being sold as late as 1908. Concubinage was a key aspect of the Ottoman slave system.

Ottoman slaves, known as *kul*, could achieve high status. Black castrated slaves guarded imperial harems, while white castrated slaves held administrative roles. Janissaries, the elite soldiers of the Ottoman army, were collected as children through a “blood tax” or *devşirme*, mainly from Christian populations in Eastern Europe and Anatolia. These boys were raised as Muslims and became a critical military force in the Ottoman invasions of Europe. Slaves often played a prominent role in Ottoman politics, with many officials in the Ottoman government being former slaves who were integral to the empire’s success from the 14th to the 19th century. The Sultan himself owned the largest number of slaves, and the practice of raising and training slaves as officials through palace schools like Enderun helped create a loyal and knowledgeable administrative class.

Children from the Balkans enslaved

The *devşirme* system, involving the collection of young Christian boys for military service as Janissaries, was a defining aspect of the Ottoman military structure and played a crucial role in the empire’s expansion into Europe.

Slavery in the Maghreb

After the Arab conquest of North Africa, slavery became deeply entrenched in the region. When Amr ibn al-As conquered Tripoli in 643, Jewish and Christian Berbers were forced to give their wives and children as slaves to the Arab army as part of their *jizya* tax. Uqba ibn Nafi, a prominent Muslim military leader, frequently enslaved countless Berber girls, who were highly valued in the slave markets.

Muslim historian Ibn Abd al-Hakam recorded that the Arab General Hassan ibn al-Nu’man captured many young, beautiful Berber women, some worth as much as a thousand dinars each. Al Hakam also confirmed that Musa ibn Nusayr, a key figure in the conquest of North Africa, and his son and nephew captured up to 150,000 slaves. In Tangier, Musa enslaved the entire Berber population, and after sacking a fortress near Kairouan, he took all the children as slaves. The enslavement of Berbers was so extensive that many African cities were depopulated, and fields were left uncultivated. Despite this, Musa continued his conquests until he besieged and captured Tangiers, forcing its inhabitants to embrace Islam.

Historian Pascual de Gayangos noted that due to the warfare strategies of the Arabs at the time, it is plausible that the large numbers of captives recorded did indeed fall into Musa’s hands. Both Christian and Arab sources indicate that populous towns were often besieged, with their inhabitants, numbering in the thousands, being led into captivity.

Successive Muslim rulers in North Africa continued to launch attacks and enslave the Berbers on a large scale. Historian Hugh Kennedy remarked that “The Islamic Jihad looks uncomfortably like a giant slave trade.” Arab chronicles detail the vast numbers of Berber slaves taken, particularly under Musa ibn Nusayr, who became governor of Africa in 689. He was known for his cruelty towards any tribe that resisted Islam but was generous to those who converted. Muslim historian Ibn Qutaybah described Musa waging “battles of extermination” against the Berbers, killing many and taking a large number of prisoners. Historian As-sadfi confirmed that the number of Berber slaves taken by Musa ibn Nusayr surpassed that of any previous Islamic conquests.

 

Slavery in the Pacific

Hawaii

Hawaiian society was organized into castes, with the kauwa being the outcast or slave class, often war captives or their descendants. They worked for the chiefs and were sometimes used as human sacrifices. The caste system, including the distinction between kauwa and commoners (makaʻāinana), was abolished in 1819 with the end of the kapu system. Slavery was officially outlawed in the Kingdom of Hawaii’s 1852 Constitution.

Kauwa slave

New Zealand (Aotearoa)

In traditional Māori society, prisoners of war became *taurekareka* (slaves). The Musket Wars (1807-1843) saw an increase in slavery, with captured slaves being used for labor, particularly in the cultivation of potatoes for trade. Chiefs also engaged in the sex trade using slave girls. The arrival of Christianity in the 1830s led to the freeing of many slaves, and slavery was officially banned in 1840 through the Treaty of Waitangi. However, slavery persisted until the government extended its control over the entire country in the mid-1860s.

Moriori (Chatham Islands)

The Moriori, who developed a pacifist culture on the Chatham Islands, were invaded by Māori tribes (Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga) in 1835. Around 15% of the Moriori were killed, and the survivors were enslaved, forced to grow food for their captors. Their culture was banned, and they were treated inhumanely until the 1860s. The mistreatment of the Moriori was later defended as standard Māori practice by the invading tribes.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island):
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) suffered a series of slave raids starting around 1805, with a significant raid in 1862 by Peruvian slave traders who took 1,400 to 2,000 islanders to work in the guano industry. This raid decimated the island’s population and leadership. The few survivors who returned brought smallpox, further devastating the population.

Islam

While Islamic law does not inherently support slavery based on race, in practice, this was not always adhered to. The Arab slave trade, active in West Asia, North Africa, and Southeast Africa, is estimated to have enslaved between six to ten million Africans before the 20th century.

Cairo Slave Market 1842

The Ottoman Empire relied heavily on slaves from raids in Eastern and Central Europe, the Caucasus, and Mediterranean coasts, while Barbary pirates raided as far as the British Isles and Iceland for slaves. The Islamic world also captured and enslaved Europeans, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe, through raids and trades in cities like Prague and Venice. The Ottoman Empire used European slaves in the military, including the Janissaries, and in labor or as concubines.

By the early 20th century, Muslim states began to outlaw slavery, largely due to Western pressure. Notable abolition dates include Zanzibar (1909), Morocco (1922), the Ottoman Empire (1924), Iran and Jordan (1929), and Saudi Arabia (1962). Mauritania was the last to abolish slavery in 1981.

Slavery was prevalent in pre-Islamic Arabia and continued after the rise of Islam. It included imported slaves, captured locals, and those sold into slavery. Some slaves, particularly eunuchs, served in religious and royal roles. Despite Islamic laws aimed at reducing enslavement, large slave populations were maintained through imports, particularly of eunuchs, and slaves from remote regions who lacked immunity to local diseases.

13th century Yemen Slave market

Over time, ethnocentric prejudice developed in Islamic societies, particularly against Black Africans. By the 14th century, a significant number of slaves were from sub-Saharan Africa, and this led to deeply ingrained racist attitudes. The term “Saqaliba” referred to Slavic and other European slaves. Although some argued that Islamic slavery was free of racism, recent research reveals a history of anti-Black racism and a link between Blackness and slavery in Islamic societies. In 2010, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi publicly apologized for Arab involvement in the African slave trade.

Barbary Coast Slave Trade

The Barbary Coast, stretching from modern-day Morocco to Libya, was notorious for its slave trade and piracy from the 16th to the 19th centuries. This region, home to Berber and Ottoman-controlled areas, saw extensive piracy that targeted ships and coastal towns across Europe and the Mediterranean.

 

From around 1500, Barbary pirates raided from the Mediterranean to the northern coasts of Europe, including Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and even Iceland. They captured men, women, and children, who were sold into slavery. The raids were so destructive that some towns, like Baltimore in Ireland, were abandoned due to constant attacks.

During the 17th century, around 35,000 European slaves were estimated to be held on the Barbary Coast, with the majority in Algiers. Estimates suggest that between 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans were enslaved from the 16th to the 18th centuries, although these figures are debated among historians.

Notable Raids

-1544: Hayreddin Barbarossa captured Ischia, enslaving about 2,000–7,000 inhabitants of Lipari.
– 1551: Dragut enslaved the entire population of Gozo, around 5,000 to 6,000 people.
– 1554: Corsairs under Dragut sacked Vieste, beheading 5,000 and capturing another 6,000.
– 1627: The Salé Rovers occupied Lundy for five years, using it as a base for raids.

 

The Barbary Wars (1801–1815), involving the United States and European powers, significantly weakened the Barbary pirates. Key events included the 1804 US Navy expedition under Commodore Edward Preble and the 1816 Anglo-Dutch bombardment of Algiers, which led to the release of 1,200 slaves and the cessation of European enslavement.

Despite continued resistance, the trade largely continued, but ended when the French got so fed up, that they invaded Algeria (1830–1847) and the suppressed piracy in the region. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European control and legal reforms had effectively abolished the Barbary slave trade.