Chapter 11 : Slave Trade

Africa has existed since the world began,in the midst of the world Africa has always been outstandingly different from others, with her uniqueness in color and her supernatural strength, lately we've come to realize that Africa is blessed with aboundance of wisdom more than others,

Africans has lived peacefully and happily for centuries until the mid-3rd millennium BC

From Wikipedia; Records of slave trading and transportation in the Sahara date back as far as the 3rd Millennium BC during the reign of the Egyptian king Sneferu who crossed the fourth cataract of the Nile into what is today modern Sudan to capture slaves and send them north. 

These raids for prisoners of war, who subsequently became slaves, were a regular occurrence in the ancient Nile Valley and Africa. During times of conquest and after winning battles, the ancient Nubians were taken as slaves by the ancient Egyptians .

The Garamantes relied heavily on slave labor from sub-Saharan Africa. They used slaves in their own communities to construct and maintain underground irrigation systems known to Berbers as foggara.

 Ancient Greek historian Herodotus recorded in the 5th century BC that the Garamantes enslaved cave-dwelling Ethiopians, known as Troglodytae , chasing them with chariots.

In the early Roman empire, the city of Lepcis established a Slave market to buy and sell slaves from the Bantu African interior.

 In 5th century AD, Roman Carthage was trading in black slaves brought across the Sahara.

 The empire imposed customs tax on the trade of slaves.

 Black slaves seem to have been valued as household slaves for their exotic appearance.

Some historians argue that the scale of slave trade in this period may have been higher than medieval times due to the high demand for slaves in the Roman Empire.

 However the slave trade through the Sahara in antiquity may have been small and rare as Saharan trade didn't reach large dimensions until the Arabs and Berbers introduced large numbers of camels into the desert.

This is the highest wickedness of all time, people who were living happily and freely without any oppression from any source, their ancestors lived among them and was deliberately constantly providing everything they needed, every wisdom they needed, every assistance they needed they received it from their ancestors!

They needed no assistance from anyone because they had everything they needed but suddenly the mighty evil fell upon them,life is full of uncertainties and it mostly comes from humans,evils don't have legs or hands it is human beings that wheels them!

Slavery is a sin against God, A sin against Nature and A sin against Humanity, Slavery is devilish, Slavery is an Assault to humanity, What prompted this Slavery?

Even till now no one has explained and answered this singular question.

Africans went through hell during the sub Saharan and the tran Saharan slavery,it is a moment we can never afford to forget.

from Wikipedia; Paul Lovejoy estimates that around 6 million black slaves were transported across the Sahara between the years 650 AD and 1500 AD.[3] The trans-Saharan slave trade, established in Antiquity continued during the Middle Ages.

Following the early 8th-century conquest of North Africa, Arabs, Berbers and other ethnic groups ventured into Sub-Saharan Africa first along the Nile Valley towards Nubia, and also across the Sahara towards West Africa.

They were interested in the trans-Saharan trade, especially in slaves, as there was a constant demand for slaves in the eastern Arab nations and Constantinople.

The Muslim slave traders distinguished themselves from the peoples on the other side of the Sahara, referring to these African populations as Zanj or Sudan meaning "black"

Arabs would routinely acquire slaves through violent raiding, followed by capturing them and sending them on dangerous forced marches across the Sahara to slave markets where they would be treated as chattel i.e. as personal property that can be bought and sold.

In North Africa, the main slave markets were in Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli and Cairo. Sales were held in public places such as souks.

Aside from raiding, slaves could also be obtained by purchasing them from local black rulers. The 9th century Arab historian Ya'qubi states: