Though
the teachings of the Prophet forbade the true believer to hold in
slavery any member of the faith, extensive Moslem conquests brought vast
numbers of non-believers under their control. If those captured did not
accept the new faith, they were put to death or into chains and harems.
--Bernhard Thuersam
Christian Slaves of the Moslems:
“The
rapid extension of Mohammedan conquest brought under Moslem control
many thousands of unbelievers. Of these many at once accepted the new
faith, many fled, and many were put to death; but many more were reduced
to slavery. War was no doubt the chief source of supply for the slave
market. It was provided that one in five of the captives should go to
the government while the soldiers divided among themselves the
remainder.
Later
the Caliphs of Egypt and the Sultans of the Turks, finding their
thrones in a precarious position, resorted to the use of splendidly
trained bands of slaves, bought by traders or acquired by brigands, to
maintain their position. This was the origin of an annual tribute of
children [as slaves].
Still
another source of the slave supply was a result of the misery of the
time in which the people were living. Parents sold children, especially
girls, to save themselves from starvation. Christians and heathen at
war, and heathen at war with heathen, sold their captives into slavery
among the Moslems. With the growth in the demand for slaves, avaricious
Christian and Jewish merchants also helped to supply the Moslem slave
markets.
The
slave policy of the Mohammedans is well illustrated in the conquest of
North Africa. This began in 647 and was virtually accomplished in 673.
Ackbar was the leader of the Moslems. He is said to have taken eighty
thousand captives in this invasion, and as the poverty of the country
made possible no tribute in gold or silver, “the richest spoil came from
the booty of female captives,” some of whom were afterwards sold for a
thousand pieces of gold. Captives continued to be collected before and
after much persecution and proselytizing, in 743, Abd-el-Rahman reported
to the Caliph, that he could send no more Christian slaves because all
Africa had become Mohammedan.
The
conquerors of the North extended Islam into the interior of Africa. The
converted tribes, inspired by the new faith and under tutelage of the
Arabs, made war on the heathen African, and the captives of these
incessant tribal wars became a most important supply of the northern
markets. Jenne on the Niger was a large market. Timbuktu, the capital
of Songhay Kano, and Kasena, were other points at which Negro captives
were collected to fill the Arab caravans on the march to the north,
where they were sold and distributed throughout Moslem territory and
into Europe.
Another
source of Egyptian slave supply was the country north and south of the
Black Sea. The region of the Circassus became a favorite source of
supply for the harem and from the far north Slavs and other people of
present-day Russia and people living east and south of the Baltic Sea
and those living in the valley of rivers flowing into the North Sea,
were brought down to the Volga River, and collected on the Black Sea.
Still other slaves were obtained by Moslem brigands coming from Spain.
In the Ninth Century the Saracens were quick to take advantage of the
helpless condition of Italy. At this time Pope John the VII wrote to
Charles the Bald, “If all the trees of the forests became tongues, they
could not describe the ravages of the impious pagans; the devoted people
of God are destroyed by continuous slaughter: he who escapes the sword
is taken into slavery. Cities, castles, and villages are wasted and
without a single soul….”
(The
Mohammedan Slave Trade, J.H. Johnston, The Journal of Negro History,
Cater G. Woodson, editor, Vol. XIII, No. 4, October, 1928, pp.
479-482)
