The Arab slave trade refers to various periods in which a slave trade has been carried out under the auspices of Arab peoples or Arab countries. The Arab slave trades are often associated or connected to the history of slavery in the Muslim world. The trans-Saharan slave trade relied on networks of all Arab, Berber, and sub-Saharan African merchants.
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👉 Arab slave trade in the context of Red Sea slave trade
The Red Sea slave trade, sometimes known as the Islamic slave trade, Arab slave trade, or Oriental slave trade, was a slave trade across the Red Sea trafficking Africans from Sub-Saharan Africa in the African continent to slavery in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East from antiquity until the mid-20th century.
The Red Sea slave trade is known as one of the longest enduring slave trades in the world, as it is known to have existed from Ancient times until the 1960s, when slavery in Saudi Arabia and Yemen were finally abolished. When other slave trade routes were stopped, the Red Sea slave trade became internationally known as a slave trade center during the interwar period. After World War II, growing international pressure eventually resulted in its final official stop in the mid 20th-century.
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Arab slave trade in the context of Swahili language
Swahili, also known as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent littoral islands). Estimates of the number of Swahili speakers, including both native and second-language speakers, vary widely. They generally range from 150 million to 200 million; with most of its native speakers residing in Tanzania and Kenya.
Swahili has a significant number of loanwords from other languages, mainly Arabic, as well as from Portuguese, English and German. Around 40% of Swahili vocabulary consists of Arabic loanwords, including the name of the language (سَوَاحِلي sawāḥilī, a plural adjectival form of an Arabic word meaning 'of the coasts'). The loanwords date from the era of contact between Arab slave traders and the Bantu inhabitants of the east coast of Africa, which was also the time period when Swahili emerged as a lingua franca in the region.
Arab slave trade in the context of Afro-Iraqis
Afro-Iraqis are Iraqi people of African Zanj heritage. Historically, their population has been concentrated in the southern port city of Basra, as Basra was the capital of the slave trade in Iraq. Afro-Iraqis speak Arabic and mostly adhere to Islam. Some Afro-Iraqis can still speak Swahili along with Arabic.
Afro-Iraqi leaders claim that there are roughly between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Afro-Iraqis, however this is not verified by official figures. Their origins date back to the time of the Arab slave trade and slavery in Iraq between the 9th century AD to the 19th century AD.