The Connection, part 2

The Mali Empire

The Famous City of....

Timbuktu: A part of the Mali Empire, flourished throughout the Middle Ages, place of education

Many merchants passed through here which meant the slaves did too. They started to decline as soon as the Portuguese showed up along the coast in the mid-15th century (coincidence? I think not). First they started selling slaves to the Portuguese, but before that they successfully fought off the Portuguese from coming onto the mainland of Africa.

The present country of Mali still allows people to own slaves....

THE MAMLUKS

 

-Slave Soldiers, came from other raids (many of them non-Muslim)

-These slave soldiers took power in the 13th century and ruled until the 16th century

-Were seen as some as the toughest soldiers

and now.....

THE OTTOMANS

 

 

-Janissaries are slave soldiers (non-Muslim)

-Had slaves up until the end of 19th century

-Many merchants brought in slaves from Africa

• Sex Slaves were Ciracassian and Nubians (mainly)
• Many of the other slaves came from central Africa

"Horrible Traffic in Circassian Women—Infanticide in Turkey,"New York Daily Times, August 6, 1856"

http://chnm.gmu.edu/lostmuseum/lm/311/

Mulatto's were very unpopular in Istanbul at this time which is why so much infantcide was taking place. There was also racism towards the African slaves versus the European slaves. One was seen as more desirable than the other. 

Slave Trade Routes

Notice how the slave trade routes lead North to Islamic Empires and Caliphates. These empires profited off of it, and was able to justify slavery with quotes from the Quran or the Hadith. Even merchants saw trade as something that was beneficial to these societies. Slaves were seen as more capable, but nonethless still slaves. The Mali, Mamluk, and Ottoman empires all had Islamic schools of thought that taught merchants, administrators, and soldiers that the enslavement of people was not just morally acceptable but needed.