Helena Hanzlíčková
Ústav etnologie Filosofické fakulty UK v Praze, Celetná 20, 110 00 Praha
Email: hhanzlickova@gmail.com
Otroctví v Perském zálivu
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7160/ks.2017.080101
Author: Helena Hanzlíčková
Language: Czech
Issue: 1/2017
Page Range: 3-30
No. of Pages: 28
Keywords: Slavery; Arab slave trade; Persian Gulf; Islam; manumission of slaves; pearl diving
Summary/Abstract: Despite the long history of slavery in Arab and Muslim lands, little has been written about this human tragedy. For many Arabs, the issue of slavery is a source of discomfort. It is estimated that eleven million Africans have been deported from eastern Africa to serve in Arab households, harems, armies, agriculture, and industry. The abolition of slavery in the Arab world was a consequence of internal political and economic forces, pressure from Western powers, and the realisation (in enlightened Muslim circles) that maintaining slavery would forever bar Arab nations from economic progress. Slavery was sanctioned by Islamic law and was an integral part of Arab society. Zanzibar was one of the main channels through which slaves from Africa were transferred to supply the markets of eastern Arabia, Iraq, Persia, and even parts of India. Some slaves remained in Zanzibar (famous for its clove plantations) while others were transferred to Oman. Travelling through Omani ports, (Muscat, Batinah, Sur) many slaves were kept for domestic use if they were not resold or shipped elsewhere. African slaves were then assimilated into Arab Gulf societies, where they lived intimately within the tribes. Slaves also played a significant role in the pearl diving industry. Owning slaves elevated one’s social status. Slaves married each other and bore children who were enslaved by the same families. British policy in the Trucial states was to grant freedom papers (manumission certificates) to any slaves who presented themselves at their mission. Except for Bahrain, where it was abolished in 1937, slavery continued to exist in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and the Trucial coast (UAE). Slavery was finally abolished in Kuwait in 1949; three years later it was outlawed in Qatar followed by Saudi Arabia in 1962. Slavery in the UAE, as an institution, was banned in 1963. The coup de grace was finally administered to slavery in Arabia in 1970 when Qabus ibn Saʿíd became the ruler of Oman. Thousands of former slaves are still alive. They subsequently took citizenship of the Gulf States and now bear some of the most prestigious names in the country.
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Introduction
„Reason for Certificate of Exemption: desire for freedom“
– British official report on Saleem, a slave from Ethiopia who was freed from Saudi Arabia in 1935.[1]
The enslavement of ethnic minorities and entire nations is as old as humanity itself. Much has been written about slaves in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. The transatlantic slave trade from West Africa and the slave trade in the Americas, with its scale and cruelty, is still a subject of debate and the subject of many studies and films. However, slavery in the Arab world and other Muslim countries is not a well-known and uncovered chapter of history, even though it has been firmly integrated into Arab society for several centuries.
The issue is taboo and embarrassing, especially in the Gulf countries, where thousands of former slaves or their descendants, mostly of African descent, still live. The Arabs operated entirely in the region aimed at meeting the demand for slaves in Muslim countries[2], yet the term Arab slave trade is not entirely correct. It was not only practiced by the Arabs, but also by the Berbers in North Africa, and sometimes by Europeans.[3] It dates back to a time long before Europeans began exporting slaves from the west coast of Africa[4] as well as to a time before 622[5], which is considered the beginning of the Muslim calendar.[6] The names of the locations included in the trade network across the Indian Ocean and the Sahara are mostly unknown and „exotic“ – Tripoli[7], Fezzán[8], Súr[9], Kilwa[10], Zanzibar. Native Africans were transported down the Nile to Egypt and travelled across the Sahara from West and Central Africa to the Maghreb.[11] Most of the information about the nature of this trade comes from the pens of Arab geographers and is deliberately distorted. Since the trade used to be illegal, we have no record of African middlemen, and even less evidence from captured slaves and their harrowing journey across the Sahara, which a large number of them did not survive. The French historian R. Mauny states that some 14 million Africans were exported to the Arab world between the 7th and 20th centuries.[12] Libya was the country most involved, followed by Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, with Morocco being the only North African country directly involved in trade with „black African“ countries. From Libya, most slaves were re-exported to Syria, Turkey, Rhodes, Crete, Greece and Albania.[13]
Figure 1. Trade routes in the Indian Ocean. Source: SHERIFF, Abdul. 2010, Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam. New York: Columbia University Press, p. 172.
The second region was the Red Sea area. Some of the slaves coming from Sudan and Abyssinia (today’s Ethiopia) went to ports on the Red Sea, to the Báb al-Mandab[14] or to the Gulf of Aden. Slaves were brought to the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, to India and even to China, mainly from East Africa (Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, present-day Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and eastern Congo). Arab and Persian immigrants had settled on the east coast of Africa and adjacent islands since the 8th century. From Mogadishu (Somalia) to Sofala (Mozambique) they established a chain of independent Afro-Arab cities.[15] In the case of the Arab slave traders, they were mostly smaller dealers who also traded in spices, hides and ivory. The dhow boats[16] usually held 10 to 25, and occasionally 75 to 100 slaves.[17] Their destinations were either Arab ports (Mokka, Jeddah) or the Persian Gulf (Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait, Basra), from where some were diverted to Baghdad and others sailed along the coast to India.
Slavery in pre-Islamic Arabia and after the rise of Islam
Slavery[18] already existed in pre-Islamic Arabia, which, like Egypt, was linked to trading circles originating in present-day Sudan[19] and Somalia. Ethiopians were also represented in the slave markets[20] in Mecca.[21] „…slavery, though widespread in Mecca, the Hijaz[22] and Yemen, was distinct in form from slavery in the surrounding Sasanian and Byzantine states and from later Arab and Islamic empires.“[23] Pre-Islamic poetry bears witness to men and women who served as servants in the household, were soldiers, shepherds or worked in the fields and oases. One of the national heroes of pre-Islamic poetry was the poet Antar, whose mother was an Ethiopian slave. In pre-Islamic Arabia, a child born to a slave mother and a free father remained a slave unless the father acknowledged him.[24] Slavery occupied a significant place in Arab society. „Slavery was a status recognized by Islamic law.“[25] Muhammad accepted the existing social order and viewed slavery as something natural. It is argued that he nevertheless urged the people to treat slaves well and to give them freedom as a form of forgiveness for their sins.[26] There are at least 19 verses in the Qur’an that deal with slavery.[27] Bilál ibn Rabah al-Habaší (580–640) was a companion of the Prophet; a slave freed by Abu Bakr,[28] he reportedly possessed a beautiful voice and became the first muezzin[29] of Islam. In every major city there was a slave market, called a macárid or Súq ar-raqíq. Slaves were called (like cattle) „heads“ (ru´ús raqíq). A slave trader was called a džalláb or nachchás. In the open marketplace, slaves were on display for the public to see. Concubines and eunuchs were discreetly offered in private homes. The price of a slave was determined by his origin, age, sex, health and ability.[30]
Islamic doctrine has developed the rule that someone born a Muslim cannot be a slave. Thus, not race, origin or territory, but religion became the criterion for enslavement. Bernard Lewis believes that even Muslim society was not entirely alien to racism, as he illustrates with a rather shocking statement by the renowned Arab historian and geographer Ibn Khaldun, who wrote in the 14th century that „…black peoples are naturally predisposed to slavery because they have little humanity in them, [and] their attributes resemble those of stupid animals.“[31] The uniform Greco-Roman model adopted by Western civilization cannot be applied to slaves in the Muslim world. Social stratification in Muslim society was less rigid than in the West. Under Islamic law, the slave was an object of property, but he also had human status. At the property level, a slave was classified similarly to animals, and could be owned by more than one person. A slave who escaped was returned to his owner, but if he fled to the enemy, he was sentenced to death. Slaves were not protected against their master’s malice, were legally disadvantaged, and could not testify in court, even in their own defense. On the other hand, they were given only half sentences in case of wrongdoing. An abused slave could petition the judge (qádí) to be sold.[32]
There were two ways to become a slave. It was either enslavement as part of jihad[33] or the person was born a slave. Children born to two slaves automatically became slaves. Conversely, an orphan or foundling could not become a slave.[34] cUmayyad[35] Caliph Mu´áwíja was the first to introduce the acquisition of slaves by purchase and adopted the Byzantine custom of having his wives protected by eunuchs.[36] Infidels captured in battles were offered to embrace Islam; they could also keep their faith and pay tribute[37] or fight to the death.[38] Christians and Jews belonged to the so-called ´ahl al-kitáb (ar.) – people of the book and had the status of other believers (dhimmí), paid tax and could not be enslaved. It was common practice to exchange captives and redeem oneself from enslavement. Captives were converted to avoid paying the tax, and over time there was a shortage of slaves,[39] so the established practice was circumvented in various ways. It was quite common for slaves to adopt the beliefs of their masters. However, an infidel who converted to Islam after enslavement remained a slave. In battles, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish Muslims from infidels; on the African continent, pagan practices were still practiced by converts. Under Islamic law, a Muslim could not enslave a Muslim, but in fact there are many historical cases where this was the case.[40] Organized raids by Christians on the other side resulted in the capture of Moors and Saracens for European galleys.
Slaves held specific positions in Muslim society. In the early centuries of Islam, slaves were not used at all for agricultural activities. They mostly served in households and harems, and held administrative and military positions. Slavery in the Muslim-Arab world was more of an urban phenomenon. Slaves tended to be skilled craftsmen and could buy their way out of slavery with the money they earned. Young able-bodied slaves had the chance to gain a better position, and some held important positions – for example, they carried the sultan’s wardrobe, weapons or calamari, supervised the stables and laundry, and the so-called muhannak was responsible for placing the turban on the head and around the chin of the caliph. Discretion and absolute loyalty were required. Some rose to the position of viziers, secretaries, commanders-in-chief of troops[41] or provincial governors.[42] But these functions were not hereditary! It is not without interest that women could also become secretaries, and women artists, beautiful qiján dancers in particular, could attain an important position.
In the mid-8th century, the cAbbasid caliphs[43] had about 4,000 so-called Zanjis and other slaves in their army in order to gain greater independence from the tribal society. In the 9th century, thousands of slaves were brought from the coast of East Africa to Iraq to remove salt deposits from the soil in the marshes of the south of the country. The Persian historian and jurist at-Tabarí (839-923) recorded instances of poor working and living conditions for slaves. They were given only a few dates and leftover grains to eat, so they suffered from malnutrition and poor sanitation. They worked in salt mines and were subjected to the cruel cynicism of their foremen, often also slaves.[44] Their revolt (868/9-883) was the first slave revolt in the Muslim world and resulted in a mass social revolt; they even threatened Baghdad and greatly weakened the cAbbas Caliphate.[45]
Slave rights in Muslim society
Slaves were guaranteed certain rights. The owner was obliged to feed and clothe the slave properly and support him in old age, and to sell him if a dispute arose between them. A slave could not be separated from his children, overworked or abused. Slaves who made the pilgrimage to Mecca with their master or demonstrated detailed knowledge of the Qur’an were highly valued. The texts refer to slaves as Muslim brothers. Slavery was not an object of political or religious controversy or public interest. The aim was for the slave to gain freedom over time. With the exception of those who died at a young age, most slaves achieved freedom in old age. Ironically, the old people suffered from the freedom they gained because they were unable to support themselves. A slave could be sold, donated, rented, or inherited, but most slaves were essentially members of the family. Rarely were they released from service; generations of slaves were linked to a particular family. The gift of freedom to a slave was associated, for example, with the breaking of the Ramadan fast, with remembrance, with the expiation of sins, with the cure of illness, with the reward for loyalty, or with the return of a betrothed wife.[46] The freedom from slavery applied only to slaves who were Muslims.[47]. Slaves gained their freedom automatically after the death of their master (called tadbír) or could buy their way out of slavery (called mukátaba).[48] Interestingly, the slave could change his mind, but the master could not. However, if he was unable to repay his freedom, he had to return to service and forfeited the amount already paid. The master was obliged to arrange a marriage for the free slave and also inherited from him if he died childless. Often their relationship became a patron-client relationship (called mawálí). The former master might offer the free man his own daughter as a wife or the management of his business activities.
Slaves could marry slaves and freemen with the consent of their master,[49] but their children remained slaves in the possession of their mother’s master. It was illegal to force slave girls into prostitution. Slavery is closely related to concubinage. While a Muslim could not marry his slave (nor was this rule strictly enforced), he could have a sexual relationship with her. Legally and morally, it was correct in Islamic law for a man to have sexual relations with up to four legal wives and an unlimited number of concubines (slaves). Children born of such unions were unmarried and grew up alongside other siblings who came from their father’s legitimate relationships and had the same right to education. The mother of such a child (´umm walad) had a special status – she could not be sold under any circumstances and was automatically free after the death of her master. The offspring tended to be half-breeds. Such unions were common in the Berber populations of present-day Algeria and Morocco, and in Bahrain and Oman. Islam does not recognize racism, so skin color was not a major identifier of status in Muslim society, yet there was prejudice and discrimination against fellow blacks, especially on the African continent. There is no large diaspora of black Africans in the Arab world, but we can still identify descendants of slaves in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and even Syria by their features and dark brown to black skin colour.
A unique historical example is the case of Shemsigul, a Circassian[50] slave who was sold to Egypt in the mid-19th century. Circassian women were offered to the elite of wealthy merchants and were placed in harems in Turkey and Egypt. Slave dealers were organized into guilds. From a legal perspective, the man who owned Shemsigul, one Deli Mehmet, was entitled to have sexual relations with her; these women could therefore be raped with impunity. However, the dealer was aware that if the girl lost her virginity, her market value would drop. If she became pregnant, the law prohibited her sale. The case of the slave girl Shemsigul is unique in that the woman accused her dealer and named him as the father of her child and after a protracted investigation, the law was on her side.[51]
Arabs in East Africa
Although enslaved Africans had a long history in Arabia, by the 18th century most of the slaves here came from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Persia. White slaves were known as saqáliba.[52] While slavery in America was abolished in the 1870s, Arab dhow boats continued to sail to Zanzibar, Mombasa, and other East African ports to capture the „ebony with a human face.“
The British, who had already banned slavery in 1833, tried with varying success to block the trade. Men, women and children were exported from the Zanj coast between Ethiopia and Somalia in the north to Mozambique in the south. They were to be sold in slave markets in Arabia, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Ottoman Empire[53] and India. Monsoon winds played an important role in the transport. The voyage from the east coast of Africa to the Persian Gulf took about a month. Historical sources report that slaves were not shackled and were clothed for the duration of the voyage. Their diet consisted of rice, dates, fish and dried shark meat. Opinions differ as to the conditions in which they sailed to the Persian Gulf. „The risks to these enslaved people were high, including lack of space, malnutrition, and susceptibility to disease and suicide.“[54] Bernard Lewis argues that although the methods of enslavement, transportation and slave trading were not very different in the transatlantic trade from the movement of slaves across the Sahara or the Persian Gulf, the main contrast must be seen in the way their new masters treated them and the position they gained.[55] The British could search suspect ships and arrest slave traders, which is why slaves were sometimes thrown into the sea. Slaves rescued from ships were usually taken by the British to Aden or Bombay, but many died after a few months.[56]
It is estimated that between 1770 and the end of the 19th century, about a million and a quarter Africans were sent to the East African coast (in the area of present-day Kenya and the Tanganyika territory), and almost half of them were exported outside Africa.[57] Zdanowski gives higher figures – between 1800 and 1870, between 6,000 and 20,000 slaves were sent to Arabia each year. Estimates speak of 1,257,100 to 2 million between 1830 and 1873. Between 1870 and 1876 some 300,000 slaves were sent from East Africa to Zanzibar, Arabia, the Persian Gulf and India. A total estimate suggests that as many as 20 million people left East Africa.[58] Some areas of the east coast of Africa were almost depopulated due to Arab slave traders. In Egypt, slaves worked on sugar plantations and in the 1860s in cotton production. The peak of Egyptian participation in the slave trade was between 1820 and 1880, but the British Convention for the Abolition of Slavery of 1877, the revolt of the Islamic reformer Mahdi against the British in the Sudan, and the British occupation of Egypt in 1882 resulted in the end of the trade.[59] Freed slaves were given a certificate to help them find work. Efforts to eradicate slavery in other countries in the region stemmed from the British government’s initiative in Egypt.[60]
Figure 2. Slave convoy on Zanzibar, 19th century. Source: Doha Slavery Museum, Qatar (museum exhibition)
The Omanis began to play a role on the East African coast from the late 17th century when they conquered the islands of Zanzibar[61] and Pemba. In 1811, the population of Zanzibar was about 200,000, 75% of whom were slaves. From 1818, they began to cultivate cloves on Zanzibar. The island became the largest centre of the slave trade in the East, which did not cease even after independence from Oman in 1861. In 1785 the Omanis regained control of Kilwa, from where they sent slaves to Zanzibar and Muscat. The profits from this trade amounted to a third of the annual profits of the Sultan of Oman.[62] The Sultans of Oman profited from taxes imposed on the sale of slaves. At the Zanzibar market, slave women in particular were beautifully dressed, jewelled and perfumed. The enslaved converted to Islam and were often given new names such as Fá´ida (profit), Baraka (blessing) or Mubáraka (blessed). At their final destination, slaves then underwent further medical tests.[63] Slaves working on the plantations did not live in the same conditions as domestic slaves and were under the harsh supervision of slave overseers called nakoa.[64] On 5 June 2011, the slaves were sent to the plantations to be treated as slaves. 1873, an agreement was signed with the Sultan of Zanzibar that all public slave markets would be closed and all residents would be free.[65] In 1876, the slave trade was banned in Zanzibar; 300,000 slaves were sent to Arabia, the Persian Gulf and India that year,[66], but slavery continued to operate until 1897. A number of slaves made their way to Omani ports (Muscat, Sur, Batinah) to serve in domestic service or to other countries.[67] They worked on date plantations in Basra, Bandar Abbas, along the Omani coast near Batinah and in Hijaz. The Sultan of Oman had his hands tied and was unable to stop the trade. As late as the early 20th century, the Omani port of Sur was bustling with slaves.
The social position of slaves in the Persian Gulf
It is a mistake to assume that every African reached the Indian Ocean in connection with the slave trade. Ethiopians, for example, traded extensively with India and Sri Lanka. Slaves from East Africa came to the Persian Gulf by several routes – mostly through the Omani port of Sour and via Muscat or smaller ports such as Sharjah, Dubai and Ras al-Khaimah and from there to Persia or the Ottoman Empire and the West Indian territories. In addition, direct trade between the Iranian ports of Bandar Abbas and Bandar Lingeh with Ras al-Khaimah and Basra operated. At the beginning of the 20th century, slaves made up about 14.5% of the population in the Persian Gulf region.[68] Basically, they were divided into domestic and industrial slaves. The men in the households used to be bodyguards, porters,[69] prepared coffee, and some even managed the shop, administrative affairs, and finances. Slaves were soldiers or guards, worked on farms, as irrigation canal diggers, fishermen, pearl hunters, ship and harbour workers, water carriers and wood gatherers, gardeners, singers, musicians… and women most often worked in the home, as cooks, nurses, confidantes or concubines. The position of women was influenced by skin colour; pretty and fair women (Ethiopian women were valued for their beauty) could get a better position. They often outnumbered male slaves and their value on the market was higher. Interestingly, a slave who was not a half-breed was valued more. Women who bore their masters children (´umm walad) could not be sold, but Islamic law guaranteed them freedom only after the death of their master and only if their child was alive.[70] There are testimonies of many female slaves from different parts of the Persian Gulf that illustrate the plight of women, especially concubines. They were subjected to the arbitrary rule of their husbands and masters and often separated from their families and children. Sometimes they were not allowed to marry or were forced to marry. Slaves who were born in the region were usually married to slave women chosen by their owners when they reached puberty, and their offspring also remained the property of their masters.[71]
It was similar with divorce, which was decided by their owners or their husbands, usually also slaves. Slaves could also marry free individuals. Concubines could serve their masters for a certain period of time (domestic and sexual services), after which they could be married off (most often in the case of pregnancy) or sold. Female slaves were also sexually harassed after they were married. If their husbands went away for long periods of time, for example to hunt for pearls or fish, their wives were abused by the masters who still laid claim to them. The change of masters was suffered most often by women and was a frequent reason for running away and asking to be freed from slavery.
Arabs mingled with African slaves through secondary marriages to female slaves or the institution of concubinage. Although it was common practice for Arabs to live with concubines, local Arab women with „pure“ blood were untouchable for slaves. Even if the couple was legally married, they were executed to preserve tribal honor and social status.[72] There were also a small number of Armenian and Georgian girls in the Persian Gulf who were brought here for the purpose of marriage. In 1928 there were about 60 young slave girls in Kuwait, even though a 1924 law prohibited the enslavement of white girls on Kuwaiti territory.[73] Young women (often from Baluchistan) used to be sold into slavery in the Gulf by their own families with the prospect of a secure future.[74]
Children were naturally abused in slavery – girls as maids and boys most often in pearl hunting. There is also evidence of their sexual abuse. In Mombasa, the Dutch traveller Lindschoten witnessed the mutilation of young boys who were to become eunuchs and the circumcision of girls who were to be ‚eternal virgins‘. They were trained for harem service, and when they reached puberty they were highly prized.[75]
Figure 3. Suriya, a slave with the status of a secondary wife. Source: SHERIFF, Abdul. 2010, Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam. New York: Columbia University Press, s. 221.
British anti-slavery strategy in the Gulf
The first treaty to regulate the slave trade in the Persian Gulf was the General Agreement signed with the Sheikhs of the Treaty Coast in 1820. „Taking slaves – men, women and children – from the coast of Africa or elsewhere and transporting them on ships is a crime and piracy, and friendly Arabs should do no such thing.“[76] Other agreements signed in the following decades with local sheiks allowed the British to search and seize suspect ships. The Omanis strategically used the French flag when transporting slaves. British diplomacy was instrumental in getting slavery abolished in Persia and the Ottoman Empire (agreements in 1880-1887). In 1899 slavery was banned in Sudan and this had an impact on events in the Persian Gulf where many Sudanese worked. The anti-slavery campaign was in fact a well thought out part of British strategy on the east coast of Africa, in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to protect the sea routes to India, hence British economic interests and political interests in the region. The British liked to present themselves as advocates of human rights and considered the Arabs uncivilized. „The British could not intervene directly in slavery because the slave trade operated in the territories of independent states.“[77] The British offered protection to the Gulf sheikhs in exchange for the suppression of piracy and slavery. Western ideology worked on enlightened Muslim circles and slavery was seen as an obstacle to the progress of Muslim society (alongside polygamy and the issue of divorce). The World Muslim Conference held in Mecca in 1926 adopted a resolution condemning slavery. At the beginning of the 20th century, 2,000 to 3,000 slaves were still arriving in the Persian Gulf by land or sea every year. People of African descent were a significant part of the population in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the so-called Trucial Coast,[78] the territory of the present-day United Arab Emirates (UAE). Most of the slaves first arrived in Oman and from there were sent on small ships to Bahrain, Qatar and present-day UAE. A large slave market existed in the Omani province of Buraimi, from where slaves were resold mainly to Saudi Arabia. Owning slaves was a sign of wealth and an indicator of higher social status, and not least a good investment. A slave could be sold at any time and multiple profits were certain. Some slaves worked for their masters only at certain times of the year, for example, and lived elsewhere. On January 25, 1880, the British signed an agreement with the High Porte in Constantinople that banned the slave trade throughout the Ottoman Empire. This regulation was extended to the Red Sea area, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian coast, the Persian Gulf and East Africa.[79]
Figure 4. A dhow captain from Kuwait and his agent in Zanzibar. Source: SHERIFF, Abdul. 2010, Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam. New York: Columbia University Press, s. 57.
Truce Coast
In 1881, the population of the Emirates was about 36,400, of which 10,040 were slaves.[80]
In Dubai, slaves played a large role in the pearl industry until the first third of the 20th century. They were bought and sold in local markets as pearl hunters – divers. In the summer months they dived for pearls and built boats, while in the winter they worked in agriculture and fished.
British officials and merchants described Dubai’s population as homogeneous. The African slaves blended in with Gulf Arab society and its tribal character and were very loyal to their owners. It is important to note that assimilation at the cost of denying their indigenous culture was their only option. As a result, they did not become a racial or ethnic minority in the UAE like, for example, the Persians or the Baloch.[81] In the UAE, there was no possibility that anyone could be enslaved for debt or ransom. However, there was an interesting condition that a slave who was freed could not, after gaining his freedom, engage in the same activities he had engaged in when he was a slave. In the context of the pearl industry, there were also instances where, when slaves were parted, some sold themselves and gave the money to their owners.
Thesiger observed that many slaves lived in close proximity to the ruler and were of great prestige. Some were the ruler’s adopted brothers and sons, many had Arab blood and were almost indistinguishable from the locals. Some slaves were considered Arabs in every respect. In Kalba, on the east coast of the Emirates, the slave Barút ruled. He had been summer governor since 1903, and when his owner, wálí Sacíd bin Hamád and Crown Prince Hamád was still too young, Barút became the real ruler. In 1937 the British pressured the locals to elect a new ruler. The crown prince was only 12 years old, so everyone voted Barout out. The British, who had fought against slavery, therefore paradoxically rejected a slave as ruler. Barut remained the head of Calba until the 1950s[82]. In the 1930s, the population of the Armistice Coast was about 80,000 and almost all of them were of Arab origin. There were about 7,000 slaves, mostly Africans or mixed race.[83]
Qatar
Qatar signed a treaty banning slavery in 1861, yet slaves remained in the country at will until the 1930s. At the beginning of the 20th century, Qatar’s population was about 27,000, of whom 6,500 were Africans, one in six of whom were slaves.[84] As early as November 3, 1916, Sheikh cAbdulláh bin Jássím at-Thání of Qatar signed an agreement with the British government, agreeing to combat piracy and slavery, and in return the British, represented by Sir Percy Cox, promised him and his people the „immunities, privileges and benefits“ enjoyed by other sheikhs in the region.[85] African slaves were allowed to remain in their positions and were treated well. Until 1949, the British retained political influence over Qatar from their base in Bahrain. Most of the slaves here worked in the pearl industry.
Kuwait
In 1904, out of a total population of 35,000, there were about 4,000 Africans in Kuwait, of whom two-thirds were still slaves and the rest were former slaves.[86] Slaves used to be kidnapped to Kuwait, where their price was higher. In the 1920s, many slaves from the Saudi Najd made their way to Kuwait and were held in shops in cramped conditions. Anyone interested could come and see them and haggle over their price. Very often they were children kidnapped from Yemen.[87] It was possible to meet Armenian and Georgian women, and girls from Iraqi Kurdistan who, although slaves, had a better status because the aim was to marry them.[88] With Kuwait, Britain did not have a partial anti-slavery agreement, yet in the mid-1920s Sheikh Ahmad declared that it was a crime to import and export all slaves for sale. He argued for the Prophet’s position on slavery and that slavery was an obstacle to progress. The Sheikh bought up slaves who were not treated well and the Africans who worked in his court were free servants entitled to wages.[89] In 1928 there were about 2,200 slaves in Kuwait and about 2,000 were freed slaves. In cases of harsh treatment, slaves from the region found great support from the sheikhs in Kuwait. Kuwait has always been considered the most enlightened state in the Gulf. Slaves here were called cammí and cammatí, meaning uncle and aunt. There were only a few dozen slaves in Kuwait working in the pearling business. In the second half of the 1930s, there was a rapid decline in the number of slaves.
Figure 5: Unloading cargo from a dhow in a Kuwaiti port. Source: AL-RASHOUD FARKAS, CLAUDIA. 1993, Kuwait´s Age of Sail. Singapore National Printers Ltd., p. 36.
Bahrain
An agreement with the Sheikh of Bahrain to combat piracy and slavery was signed on 31 May 1861. In the early years of the 20th century, Bahrain had a population of 45,000, of which 6,000 were slaves and 5,000 were free Africans.[90] In Bahrain, most slaves and free people were involved in pearling (15,000 divers in a season) and fishing, date cultivation and boat building. Slaves could earn extra income, but not in the city or as porters. In the 1930s the population was about 120,000, two-thirds of whom were Shica.[91] Mixed with the African slaves were Sunni Arabs from Bahrain, born into slavery but freed by their master (mawálid). In the Persian Gulf, slave affairs (in Qatar and Oman) were handled by the British Residency in Bushehr, Iran, which operated until 1946, when it moved to Bahrain. Liberation certificates could be issued in Bahrain by British agents from 1934. If a slave desired freedom and was not granted it by his master, the best solution was to flee to Bahrain where a British agency operated. Slaves usually symbolically hugged a flagpole with a British flag and received liberation certificates.
Saudi Arabia
A British consul had been installed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as early as 1870. Slaves freed at his request were either abducted from British colonial countries or those who took refuge in British consulates or ships and demanded freedom, usually because of mistreatment. Between 1926 and 1938, hundreds of runaway slaves gathered in Jeddah. Slaves were on the run because they had no other option for their freedom – the conditions for freedom used to be that they had to be middle-aged and less able to work.[92] The British liberated them with intermittent success until the mid-1930s under an agreement signed in Jeddah on May 10, 1927, and carefully collected data on those liberated and compensated. The questionnaires contained personal information about the individual (place of birth and origin), under what circumstances he had been enslaved, where he came from, how long he had served, the work he had done, his family members, how many owners he had changed, and the reason for his escape.[93] The whole procedure usually took about two weeks. In Saudi Arabia, repatriations of slaves to their countries of origin, mostly in East Africa, were common. Especially in the Hijaz, re-enslavement was common. The Bedouins also exploited slaves, including children, in tribal skirmishes, but there were a few rules that everyone respected. Children could not be younger than 10 years old, and if a freed slave was kidnapped, he had to be returned. If it was a woman, it was a disgrace to tribal honor to marry or have sexual relations with such a woman. The semi-nomadic tribes had looser rules.[94]
Slaves in the region fell into several categories: domestic labour (house slaves, drivers, concubines and laundresses), agricultural labour (farm workers, dairymen, herdsmen), commercial labour (camel riders, pearl hunters, porters, sailors, shop assistants, soldiers, stonemasons, water carriers, wood gatherers, bodyguards, motor vehicle drivers). Men were more mobile, had more opportunities to earn money and gain experience and to provide for themselves in case they did not have the support of their masters in old age. Certain stereotypes applied in the types of employment by ethnicity. Ethiopians used to be domestic slaves, Nigerians worked in trade and Sudanese in agriculture.[95]
Thesiger[96] sometimes writes of slaves with contempt, speaking of their poor manners and their tendency to act from the position of their master. „…socially they treat the black slave as one of them. In the Hijaz I was sitting in the audience hall of a prince who was related to Ibn Sacúd, when an expensively dressed old black man belonging to the king entered the room. The prince seated him beside him and served him food with his own hands during dinner. Arab rulers place slaves in high positions, often trusting them more than their own family.“[97] Concubinage was not common in Saudi Arabia. A mixed-race man could not marry an Arab woman with „pure“ blood, but this was not the case in the rest of the Gulf. Slaves used to be the subject of gifts between the sheikhs to each other. Kidnapping into slavery was rife on the part of Bedouins on the pilgrimage to Mecca. Some pilgrims (e.g. Nigerians and Ethiopians) sold their own children on the return journey from Mecca to cover the costs of the pilgrimage. Most of the slaves were born in Saudi Arabia or came here as children, often from Yemen.
Oman
On 4 September 1822, the first treaty in the region was signed with the ruler of Muscat to abolish slavery.[98] After the Omanis left Zanzibar, a new treaty was signed in 1873. At the beginning of the 20th century, Muscat had a population of 40,000, of which 10,000 were Africans and 15,000 were mixed race.[99] In Oman, most slaves worked on date plantations and in fish processing. In 1902, an event occurred that interfered with Oman’s importation of slaves from East Africa. The Portuguese attacked a fleet of Omanis in the Samuco Bay enclave of Mozambique and freed more than 700 slaves. As a result, more Baloch slaves began to be imported from the Persian Makran, even though the enslavement of Muslims contravened Islamic law. Oman and Muscat had a population of about 500,000 in 1936, most of them Arabs, about 5,000 Baluch and 1,500 Africans, and 1,000 slaves. Most of the slaves came from the Batinah area and from Makran. The descendants of Omani Arabs and their slave mothers were called bayásira and had a lower social status.[100] It was similar on the Persian side of the Gulf (Bushehr, Kong, Lingeh, Bandar Abbas), where Arabs, Persians, Baluchis and Africans mixed. Called Abbas, they spoke a dialect that was a mixture of Persian, Arabic and Swahili.[101] Liberation certificates were issued directly in Muscat from 1934.[102]
Balochistan
On March 2, 1882, the British-Persian Convention for the Abolition of Slavery was signed, but Balochistan was not completely controlled.[103] Balochistan has experienced a series of invasions throughout history due to its geo-economic location as it connects Central Asia with the Indian Ocean region. The British recognised the strategic position of this coastal region as early as the late 18th century. Baluchistan was a buffer zone between India, Afghanistan and Iran and an important site for the Indo-European telegraph line.[104] However, neither the British nor the Iranians ever took full control of Baluchistan, unlike most of the surrounding states, which were by then already integrated into the informal British empire. The Baloch replaced African slaves in the Persian Gulf from the 1920s to the 1950s. Most often they were kidnapped (or lied to about the possibility of working in the Gulf) and sold or traded for camels and guns or drugs. Some were enslaved in war conflicts, others sold themselves into slavery because of extreme poverty or debt.[105] Slaves were sometimes sold by other slaves to raise money. Most Baloch did not desire to be freed, as there were more job opportunities on the Arab coast.
Freeing the Slaves
The freeing of slaves was not only a cultural but also a social problem. Slaves had to be incorporated into the society of free people, and their former masters felt threatened in terms of their new social status and economic position. The slavery system in the Persian Gulf was protected by tradition and religion. Liberation was mainly for slaves who were not treated well or for whom no one claimed allegiance. The pioneer was Muscat in the 1890s. There was a practice of returning those who were born in slavery or who had entered the country before the agreements between the British and the local sheikhs came into force to their owners.[106] Domestic slaves were in a better position, as were slaves purchased by respected sheiks. Among the most common reasons for requests for freedom were poor treatment (inadequate food and clothing, hard labour, complaints from pearl hunters); a large group were slaves who lived in fear of being sold and separated from their families; and a third group were those who were beaten or even kept in chains. Other reasons included the fact that slaves were thrown out of the master’s house because they were unable to work (because of illness[107] or advanced age) or because they were not allowed to marry.[108] A relatively common reason for escape was a change of ownership. In some cases, slaves exaggerated the situation to their advantage. Sometimes the owners themselves freed the slaves, but on the other hand they enslaved already single men.[109] Slaves were often subject to inheritance, donation and debt repayment, and so still had no guaranteed freedom. There were cases where the owner freed the slave, but after his death his heirs claimed him.
Claimants were, with few exceptions, illiterate, so they gave oral testimony (among other things, they had to give a reason for wanting to be free) and their statements were recorded.[110] It is questionable to what extent the British documents were edited to take into account the negative attitude towards slavery in the Persian Gulf. Agents generally advised them not to return to the places from which they had escaped, as many owners considered liberation certificates to be a worthless piece of paper. There was an absurd situation where slaves were freed under British law but not under Islamic law and vice versa. If they were freed by Islamic law, they used to have a certificate from the qadi hanging around their necks in a small silver box. There were also cases where local agents (Arabs and Indians) rejected their request to get out of slavery. A British agency in Bahrain freed runaway slaves from the region between 1917 and 1965. Sometimes the slaves feared the reaction of their former masters and re-enslavement, or were unable to support themselves in the city until their application was processed, and therefore remained in asylum with the British Agency for several weeks.[111] Exempt individuals had a certificate authorizing them to contact the appropriate agency if needed. From 1925 onwards, the number of individual applications for freedom increased, and not only abducted slaves but also those born into slavery were freed. Acquisition of freedom was not in all circumstances a way to obtain better living conditions. Many slaves were emotionally and materially tied to their masters‘ families and were unable to find other means of livelihood. „These people were fleeing insecurity rather than slavery.“[112] The situation of slaves was sometimes exploited by free people who wanted to escape from society or obtain financial resources. Sometimes free divers who wanted to avoid paying debts to the captains of their ships posed as slaves.
Figure 6: Questionnaire for slaves seeking freedom from slavery in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Source: HUTSON, Alaine S. Enslavement and Manumission in Saudi Arabia, 1926–38, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 11 (1) (Spring 2002), p. 70.
Household slaves
Efforts to legally free even domestic slaves were not widely understood or socially accepted in the Gulf. In Oman, a law to free all slaves was passed in the 1890s, but in the Emirate of Sharjah, for example, the freeing of domestic slaves was not well understood. It was argued that most of the domestic slaves muwallad (sg.) – mawálid (pl.) were born in their households. Applications from Sharjah were sent to Bushehr or Bahrain, but from 1936 certificates could be issued in Sharjah. Special political agents were placed in Bahrain and Kuwait for this matter. The general emphasis was on ensuring that the slaves were well treated, and over time the liberation was extended to all of them. Most applications were granted and the whole process took about two weeks. There were cases where slaves were on the run from their masters because they had committed a criminal act, most often theft. In these cases an investigation was opened and the trial took longer, but in the British view nothing was sufficient reason against the right of every man to liberty. Even the British made a distinction between slavery in the sense of the kidnapping trade and domestic slavery, which was an integral part of local societies. In many cases slaves were de facto equals of their masters – they prayed with them, were accountants, clerks, even entered into business contracts on their behalf, but the property legally belonged to their master. While the mawálid wanted to stay in the homes of their masters, who provided them with food and clothing, especially during the winter months, the khidám, or slaves employed in the pearl industry, desired freedom more.[113] Some slaves did not take the opportunity to be free and returned to their masters. They knew that a better life would not await them in their original homeland and that they might be enslaved again in Africa. Children born into slavery often had no idea where their roots were.
Slaves and their rituals
Although African slaves were assimilated in the Persian Gulf, apart from skin colour, music remained the link to the African homeland. „They used music to express themselves and share knowledge and experiences.“[114] African rhythms were kept alive especially by sailors and divers. Among the best known were the ritual spiritual music of the núbán and zár, originating in Ethiopia and Sudan, and the laywa dance of Kenya, still sung in Swahili today.[115] Music was attributed with the ability to heal physical and mental illness. Interestingly, the same phenomena and African elements are found in the healing rituals of the Baloch.[116] The most interesting feature of these songs is the description of the journey from Africa to the Gulf via various destinations (religious connotations, description of the beauty of the landscape, homesickness). They have been handed down from generation to generation and have remained in their original form. Music was attributed with magic and power to preserve African cultural memory. In the 1930s, poor economic conditions, harsh conditions at sea and dissatisfaction with social status led to the creation of rhythmic entertainment music to give hope for a better future – the so-called al-mashaliya, often accompanied by suggestive dance with sexual overtones.[117] The fundamental difference between African and Arabic music was not only in the rhythms, dances and types of musical instruments, but also in the social classes that were involved in the music. They attributed mystical and mythical powers to the instruments; they became objects of deification. They were a link to the spiritual world and a source of resistance to the oppressive social structure. Sometimes slaves feigned spirit possession to escape punishment and intimidate masters. Some divers were said to be possessed by demons (djinn), but these were probably the effects of overexertion from diving at great depths. Experienced divers were able to socialize even underwater.
Figure 7. Spiritual singing and drumming were an integral part of the voyage. Source: AL-RASHOUD FARKAS, CLAUDIA. 1993, Kuwait´s Age of Sail. Singapore National Printers Ltd., s. 33.
Pearl hunting
Already Alexander’s admiral Nearchus mentions pearl hunting in the Gulf in the 4th century BC and Pliny in the 1st century says: „Bahrain was famous for its great abundance of pearls.“[118] In the Gulf, access to resources and wealth was limited by kinship and tribal ties; in contrast, the pearl hunt was open to everyone without distinction.[119] Many inhabitants depended on pearling, but it was a very risky business. Gulf pearls were popular and prized in Paris and Bombay. In Kuwait, for example, half the population worked in the pearl industry by the 1930s. 5,000 divers from Bath and 2,000 from other locations came to the Treaty Coast each year to fish. In folk songs and rituals, divers and sailors expressed their ambivalent relationship to the ocean. Rituals included throwing stones or fire into the water while cursing the ocean. Sometimes they dipped a cat into the ocean as an act of pollution.
„Oh, how happy are the rich,
who no longer have to cross the ocean as I do.
If I were a rich merchant,
I’d never take a bath again,
but I’m weak and all I have
is my rod.“[120]
By the end of the season, the divers were malnourished, their eyes, lungs, internal organs were suffering. They died not only from drowning and overpressure, but also from shark attacks, storms and shipwrecks. Pearl fishing was an economic system based on relationships of mutual indebtedness and loans. At the top of the pyramid was the nachúda captain, who was indebted to the dhow owners and financiers who loaned him money for the entire season.[121] The pearling was divided into several seasons, with the main season, called al-ghaws al-kabír (the great dive), beginning mostly in June and lasting until September. There were usually 10 to 40 men on the boats. The divers were mostly poor Arabs, slaves or free Africans, Persians and Baluchis. Slaves hunted for pearls for about nine months. Some slaves lasted up to 90 seconds underwater, diving as many as 50 times a day.[122]
In the winter they mostly worked on date plantations, fished, tended camels and cattle. For the pearling season, slaves came from Bataina in Oman. The free divers paid fees to the agents (plus expenses for food, equipment, and paying off loans), and the rest of the profits were theirs. The slaves handed everything over, but were allowed to make extra money during the winter months. After the end of the diving season in the Gulf, many divers moved to the Red Sea to fish. The divers were mostly illiterate and so could not control their accounts. Captains sold pearls at much higher prices than were communicated to the ship’s crew. The profits were usually not paid until months later. The captains inherited the property of the divers if they were childless; unfortunately, debts were also inherited. The British pressured the sheiks to introduce reforms in the pearling industry to make the harsh conditions at sea more acceptable to all. They were first applied in Bahrain.
In 1904 there were about 4,785 ships in the Gulf and 74,000 people directly involved in pearling.[123] In 1936, there were still about 7,000 slaves on the Coast and about 1,000 in Muscat and present-day Oman.[124] Applications for certificates of freedom from slavery accounted for only about two percent. This also shows that even the freedmen were not living in good conditions.
Figure 8. A diver fishing for pearls in Qatar. Source: Doha Slavery Museum, Qatar (museum exhibition)
While in the 1920s some 60,000 people worked in the pearl industry in Qatar, in 1944 there were only 6,000. The local population had fallen to just 16,000. Only a handful of Bahraini traders were able to sell pearls in the markets of Paris and Bombay. Some owners had the foresight to send their slaves to work in the newly established oil companies not only in Qatar but also in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, confiscating their earnings on their return.[125] At the same time, date production also declined due to the drought in Oman in 1917-1927.[126] Even after artificially cultured Japanese pearls flooded the market in the 1930s and economic stagnation set in, traders did not give up their slaves. In 1938, riots broke out in Dubai and the sheikh turned to the British government for help. Local merchants feared that the already unsatisfactory economic situation in Dubai would be exacerbated by the abolition of slavery. Slave owners were given loans because slaves were a guarantee of income. In addition, a man who lost his slaves lost the trust of his community. The British resident in Bahrain informed all the Gulf sheikhs that the aim of British policy was not to free all slaves but only those who requested it. With regard to the situation in Dubai, it was pointed out that most of those freed did not come from Dubai and were brought here.[127] Slave ownership increased social status and was a sign of wealth, but this began to change in the mid-20th century, when it became common practice to dispose of slaves. Women and children were kidnapped and sold to other regions. Older slaves who could no longer work were often thrown out of their homes without any support or protection. The economic crisis in the region peaked in 1938-1939. A turnaround came with the expansion of the oil industry in the second half of the 1950s. However, the end of slavery in the Gulf cannot be directly linked to the decline of the pearl industry.
Conclusion
Bahrain was the first in the region to abolish slavery in 1937. Slavery was finally abolished in Kuwait in 1949 and in Qatar three years later. Slavery was banned as an institution in Dubai in 1963, and with the creation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, former slaves were granted the same privileges as other Emirati citizens, often taking on the names of prominent families. After 1963, ex-slaves ceased to be called cabíd, but were instead known as khádim – helpers or servants. ZAsking dark-skinned Emiratis today if they are descended from Africans is considered rude. In 1952, when the ruling Sheikh cAlí bin Abdulláh at-Thání outlawed slavery in Qatar, most families here owned one or two slaves. A 1961 Qatari law granted citizenship to all those who had lived in Qatar since 1930. Slave owners were compensated with money from British oil production.
The issue of slavery is still a hot topic in the Gulf today. Many local historians have denied the existence of slavery or characterised it as humane because it was influenced by Islamic principles. „The descendants of slaves are still socially and to some extent financially connected to the rulers in the Gulf.“[128] A major step was the opening of the Doha Slavery Museum last year.The museum is housed in a house that, until the mid-20th century, belonged to a prominent local slave trader, nicknamed by his neighbours for his cruelty, the žalmúd (rock). Slavery was abolished in Saudi Arabia in 1962. The end of slavery in the region was brought about by its abolition in Oman in 1970. The slave void slowly began to be filled by cheap, often exploited, labour from Asia. History repeats itself…
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Comments
[1] HUTSON, A. p. Enslavement and Manumission in Saudi Arabia, 1926-38, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 11 (1) (Spring 2002), p. 49.
[2] There are reports of black slaves in China in the 7th and 8th centuries and of porters and skilled divers in Canton in the 12th century. They were probably brought over by the Arabs as part of the Indonesian slave trade. Ibn Battuta recorded their presence in the 1430s and speaks of how they ably defended ships against pirate attacks.
[3] For example, Europeans demanded that the Arabs deliver slaves to the sugar plantations in the Mascarene Archipelago and Brazil. British ships transported slaves from Morocco to the West Indies. French, Dutch and Portuguese ships carried slaves from Libya to Turkey. Arabs traded with the Portuguese in Mozambique. GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 22; THILMANS, G. Facts About Slavery. Éditions du Musée Historique du Sénégal (Gorée), IFAN Ch. A. Diop, 2010, p. 66.
[4] Mid 15th – last third of the 19th century.
[5] The so-called Hijra, the Prophet Muhammad left Mecca for Medina.
[6] Slavery in the ancient Near East is the subject of a study by WAYNE, M. A.; William, V. The Marketing of People: Slave Trade in The Ancient Near East, Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Summer 2014), p. 138–155.
[7] In present-day Libya.
[8] Historic region in south-western Libya.
[9] On the southeast coast of Oman.
[10] The southern coast of present-day Tanzania.
[11] Maghreb (Arabic; hereafter ar.) – west, refers to the Arab states in North Africa.
[12] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 27.
[13] THILMANS, G. Facts About Slavery. Éditions du Musée Historique du Sénégal (Gorée), IFAN Ch. A. Diop, 2010, p. 61.
[14] Arabic name for the strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
[15] THILMANS, G. Facts About Slavery. Éditions du Musée Historique du Sénégal (Gorée), IFAN Ch. A. Diop, 2010, p. 63.
[16] Traditional Arab sailing boat with one or more sails.
[17] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 24.
[18] riqq (ar.).
[19] Bilád as-Súdán (ar.) can be translated as „land of the blacks“.
[20] raqíq-sg.; riqáq-pl.(ar.) or cabd-sg.; cabíd-pl.(ar.).
[21] Ethiopia was known as bilád al-Habaša (ar.), hence the ancient name of Abyssinia – the Abyssinians.
[22] A region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia.
[23] TRABELSI, p. Memory and slavery: the issues of historiography, International Social Science Journal, Vol. 58, Issue 188, (June 2006), p. 238.
[24] SHERIFF, A. Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam. Columbia University Press, 2010, p. 221.
[25] HOURANI, A. A History of the Arab Peoples. Faber and Faber, London, 2005, p. 116.
[26] „Godliness does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west, but the godly is he who believes in God, in the Day of Judgment, in angels, the Scriptures and prophets, and gives of his possessions – without regard to love for him – to his kinsmen, to the orphans, to the poor, to those who walk in the way (of God), to the beggars and to the redeemed slaves, and he who observes prayer and gives alms.“ Surah Cow (172:177), Qur’an in Translation I. Hrbek. Academia, Praha, 1972, p. 463.
[27] SHERIFF, A. Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam. Columbia University Press, 2010, p. 219.
[28] Muhammad’s successor, the first of the so-called right-thinking caliphs.
[29] A mosque servant who calls the faithful to prayer.
[30] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 79.
[31] LEWIS, B. Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 53.
[32] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 52.
[33] Holy war against infidels.
[34] This also happened, even in the 20th century in the Arabian Peninsula.
[35] The first dynasty of caliphs ruling the Arab caliphate from 661 to 750.
[36] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 40. Based on ancient Semitic practice, two types of slaves were distinguished- bought slaves (cabd mamlúka) and slaves born in the master’s household (cabd kinn). Mamlúk (pl. mamálik) were enslaved and mactúq were freed slaves.
[37] Džizja or charadž.
[38] First, unbelievers were offered the option of conversion; if they did not accept, they could pay and keep their faith. They were only taken into slavery if they refused both alternatives. GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 47.
[39] The Crusaders, who had little interest in conversions by enslaved Muslims, behaved similarly.
[40] This practice is rooted in the Old Testament – the Israelites could not enslave their fellow tribesmen.
[41] This later led to the creation of many ruling dynasties of slave origin in the Middle East. The Mamluks who ruled Egypt and Syria (1250-1517) were originally slaves recruited at a young age from the Balkans, the Caucasus and Africa. After embracing Islam, they were freed at the end of their training. Similarly, janissaries (the devshirme system), boys from Christian families in the Balkans and Caucasus, were recruited in the Ottoman Empire.
[42] TRABELSI, p. Memory and slavery: the issues of historiography, International Social Science Journal, Vol. 58, Issue 188, (June 2006), p. 238.
[43] One of the two greatest Sunni dynasties of the Muslim Empire, ruling the Arab Caliphate from 750 to 1258.
[44] TRABELSI, p. Memory and slavery: the issues of historiography, International Social Science Journal, Vol. 58, Issue 188, (June 2006), p. 238.
[45] At the head of the Zanj rebellion was an unmarried Arab known as Sahib az-Zanj – the Lord of the Zanj – whose grandmother was an Indian concubine who held the position of a secondary wife, called a suriya (sarari in the plural). On the Zanj rebellion, see e.g. SHERIFF, A. Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam. Columbia University Press, 2010, p. 222-226.
[46] The so-called Málik’s legal line of Islam speaks of rewards for the one who marries, frees and takes a slave as a wife.
[47] citq (ar.).
[48] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 55.
[49] Women had the right to receive a proper dowry from an unmarried man.
[50] At that time, the Circassian tribes lived in the Caucasus under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
[51] BURKE, Edmund. Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East. University of California Press, 1993, p. 59‑74.
[52] Slavery Museum in Doha, Qatar.
[53] From the Gulf, slaves were re-exported to the Ottoman Empire and the Persian interior to work on irrigation canals and in agriculture.
[54] Slavery Museum in Doha, Qatar.
[55] LEWIS, B. Race and Slavery in the Middle East: An Historical Enquiry. Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 99–102.
[56] Slavery Museum in Doha, Qatar.
[57] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 19.
[58] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 864, ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 16.
[59] THILMANS, G. Facts About Slavery. Éditions du Musée Historique du Sénégal (Gorée), IFAN Ch. A. Diop, 2010, p. 62.
[60] By the early 1890s, 18,000 slaves had been freed.
[61] Zanzibar from the Persian Zendží-Bar meaning „land of the blacks“, was also known as as-Swahil; sawáhil (ar.) – coast. KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 227. In 1840, the Omani ruler Sacíd decided to move his seat to Zanzibar. The clove probably came here from Mauritius. In 1860, the population of Zanzibar was about 300,000, of whom 200,000 were slaves. Between 15,000 and 20,000 slaves were brought to the island every year. GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 66.
[62] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 16.
[63] Slavery Museum in Doha, Qatar.
[64] GORDON, M. Slavery in the Arab World. New Amsterdam Books, Paris, 1992, p. 67.
[65] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 83.
[66] Ibid, p. 16.
[67] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 227.
[68] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 864.
[69] In the Arab world, the so-called „bawwabs“ or „doorkeepers“ are still ubiquitous.
[70]HUTSON, A. p. Enslavement and Manumission in Saudi Arabia, 1926–38, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 11 (1) (Spring 2002), p. 54. Under Islamic šaríca law, a slave woman who bears her master a son should automatically be freed.
[71]ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 864.
[72]THESIGER, W. The Marsh Arabs. Penguin Classics, London, 2007, p. 69.
[73]ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 871.
[74] In the mid-19th century, many Indian women from Malabar and Bombay came to the Gulf for sexual services.
[75] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 231.
[76] Article 9 of the General Agreement on the Suppression of Slavery. ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 81.
[77] SUZUKI, H. Baluchi Experiences Under Slavery and the Slave Trade of the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, 1921–1950, Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 4:205–223, 2013, p. 210.
[78] The British East India Company considered the Persian Gulf its domain, and in 1819 the company’s navy conducted a disciplinary expedition against the pirates and destroyed their base at Ra´s al-Chajma. In January 1820, the sheikhs of most emirates were forced to sign a general peace treaty with the East India Company. The Pirate Coast became known as the Trucial Coast. GOMBÁR, E. Kmeny a klany v arabské politice. Karolinum, Praha, 2004, p. 82–83.
[79] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 77.
[80] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 863.
[81] A people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located on the southernmost edge of the Iranian highlands in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. They also live in the Arabian Peninsula.
[82] KRANE, J. City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism. Picador, New York, 2010, p. 54.
[83] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 879.
[84] Slavery Museum in Doha, Qatar. According to Zdanowski, the population of Qatar at that time was 27,000, of whom 2,000 were Africans who had gained their freedom; 4,000 slaves did not live in the houses of their masters. ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 863.
[85] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 83.
[86] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 863.
[87] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 11.
[88] Ibid, p. 12.
[89] Ibid, p. 26–27.
[90] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 863.
[91] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 14.
[92] HUTSON, A. p. Enslavement and Manumission in Saudi Arabia, 1926-38, Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies, 11 (1) (Spring 2002), p. 56.
[93] Ibid, p. 49–50.
[94] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 25.
[95] Ibid, p. 62–63.
[96] Alois Musil, who travelled to Najd in 1915, also dealt with slaves in his writings..
[97] THESIGER, W. Arabian Sands. Penguin Classics, London, 2007, 78.
[98] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 83.
[99] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 864.
[100] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 11.
[101] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 100–101.
[102] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 95.
[103] ZDANOWSKI, J. Ibid, p. 83.
[104] SUZUKI, H. Baluchi Experiences Under Slavery and the Slave Trade of the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, 1921-1950, Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 4:205–223, 2013, p. 209.
[105] The earthquakes in Balochistan between 1890-1935 plunged the region into abject poverty, so the locals even sold their own children into slavery.
[106] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 867.
[107] On the other hand, there are accounts of slaves being given health care or education by their owners.
[108] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 872–873.
[109] SUZUKI, H. Baluchi Experiences Under Slavery and the Slave Trade of the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, 1921-1950, Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 4:205–223, 2013, p. 221.
[110] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 870.
[111] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 870.
[112] Ibid, p. 874.
[113] ZDANOWSKI, J. The Manumission Movement in the Gulf in the First Half of the Twentieth Century, Middle Eastern Studies, 47:6, 2011, p. 877.
[114] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 227.
[115] Ibid, p. 229; Doha Slavery Museum, Qatar.
[116] „…it is not difficult to understand that there was continuous communication between Baluchistan and other regions connected to the Indian Ocean…“ SUZUKI, H. Baluchi Experiences Under Slavery and the Slave Trade of the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, 1921–1950, Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 4:205–223, 2013, p. 206.
[117] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 229–230.
[118] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 7.
[119] BURKE, E. Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East. University of California Press, 1993, p. 91.
[120] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, s. 229–230.
[121] Pearl hunting in the Gulf and its specifics are discussed in more detail e.g. by KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, p. 47–50 or ZDANOWSKI p. 34–49.
[122] Doha Slavery Museum, Qatar.
[123] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, p. 35.
[124] Ibid, p. 121.
[125] Doha Slavery Museum, Qatar.
[126] The United States, which used to be the largest market for Omani dates, started growing them in California.
[127] ZDANOWSKI, J. Slavery and Manumission. Garnet Publishing Ltd., 2012, s. 130.
[128] KHALIFA BILKHAIR, A. African influence on culture and music in Dubai. UNESCO, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006, s. 233.