Ethiopia : THE ETHIOPIAN SLAVE TRADE

Omowale Jabali

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The Ethiopian slave trade - unlike that practiced in the New World - was by no means unregulated. On the contrary, the Fetha Nagast prohibited the sale of Christians to non-believers. By the time of Emperor Susneyos, in the early 17th century, it was also established that Christians were not allowed to sell slaves of any faith - though they were allowed to purchase them. The Fetha Nagast's restriction applied only to Christians - with the result that Muslims were entirely free to sell slaves – and had in fact a virtual monopoly in the business. Islamic paramountcy in the slave trade was reinforced by the fact that slave exports went very largely to Muslim territories, most notably Arabia, Sudan and Egypt, as well as Muslim areas of India.

The Ethiopian slave trade, like other trade, was originally carried out mainly on the basis of barter, for example the exchange of slaves for guns, or with the help of amolé, or bars of rock salt. By the early 18th century increasing use was however also made of Maria Theresa thalers, or dollars. A slave-girl on the trade route to the port of Massawa is said to have exclaimed. "Is it this what serves to purchase children and men?"
Ethiopian slavery differed from that of the West in one other important respect: The Fetha Nagast sought to control - and in a sense to humanise it: by specifying a number of situations in which the slave-owner was obliged to emancipate his or her slave. Market values were to that extent subordinated to moral considerations.

http://www.africanholocaust.net/news_ah/ethiopianslavetrade.html
 
Slavery in Ethiopia and Eritrea
Slavery as practiced in what is modern Ethiopia and Eritrea was essentially domestic. Slaves thus served in the houses of their masters or mistresses, and were not employed to any significant extent for productive purpose. Slaves were thus regarded as second-class members of their owners' family,[9] and were fed, clothed and protected. Women were taken as sex slaves. They generally roamed around freely and conducted business as free people. They had complete freedom of religion and culture.[10] The first attempt to abolish slavery in Ethiopia was made by Emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855–1868)[11], although the slave trade was not abolished completely until 1923 with Ethiopia's ascension to the League of Nations.[12] Anti-Slavery Society estimated there were 2,000,000 slaves in the early 1930s out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million.[13] Slavery continued in Ethiopia until the Italian invasion in October 1935, when the institution was abolished by order of the Italian occupying forces.[14] In response to pressure by Western Allies of World War II, Ethiopia officially abolished slavery and involuntary servitude after having regained its independence in 1942.[15][16] On August 26, 1942 Haile Selassie issued a proclamation outlawing slavery.[17]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_slave_trade#Slavery_in_Ethiopia_and_Eritrea
 
ETHIOPIA'S PARTICIPATION IN THE SLAVE TRADE COMMERCE


The most paralyzing thing one has to consider in the history of this unfortunate affairs is, the depth and intensity of the slave commerce that went on in Ethiopia, literally century in and century out, which has left a great insecurity over those who were its victims be it the Oromo, the Wolayta, or the Benshangul. And although they, at the present moment, by definition, are the majority of today's Ethiopia, in reality, they still are at the mercy of the descendants of the Abyssinian slaveholders, principally the Amhara and their Tigrean cohorts. The chilling tragedy about these people that one is forced to face in reading the history of the Ethiopian slave trade is, how humans were treated as if they were herds of animals. As historian Mordechai Abir recounted, those who were caught by slave traders

http://dodona.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history&action=print&thread=10110
 
ETHIOPIAN COLLABORATION WITH THE PORTUGUESE

After centuries of isolation by Islâm, an important chapter in the history of Ethiopia came when the Portuguese appeared in the Indian Ocean. They had heard rumors of a mythical Christian kingdom, in Asia or Africa, ruled by the saintly "Prester John," surrounded and isolated by enemies of Christianity, and soon found the place that seemed to fit the description: Ethiopia. Portuguese influence stimulated and aided Ethiopia at a critical time when it was under serious threat from the triumphant Ottoman Empire. Portuguese firearms, delivered after an appeal for help by the Emperor Lebna Dengel in 1535, enabled the Emperor Galawedos to defeat the Imam of Harer, leader of Moslem forces, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, who was killed in a great battle in 1543. Portuguese influence, however, was ultimately rejected, since Ethiopia was religiously Coptic and Monophysite, not Roman Catholic.

http://www.friesian.com/ethiopia.htm

The Ethiopian Slave Trade
It is unseemly to speak of the horrors of the slave trade. However, it is the unfortunate reality that up until the mid 19th century the slave trade was an important source of revenue to Ethiopia. For nearly three centuries the country’s primary source of export was slaves that were sold to markets all over the world. In the height of the trade numbers reached as high as 25,000 slaves a year.

http://www.niletrip.com/ethiopia wonders.html
 
Slave trade routes from Africa to the Americas during the period 1650-1860 are shown. There were additional routes to the New World from Mozambique, Zanzibar and Madagascar on the east side of Africa. Most of the slaves from the east side were brought to Portuguese controlled Salvador in the state of Bahia, Brazil, along with many other slaves from Angola. Brazil received more slaves from Africa than any other country in the New World. The 500,000 African slaves sent to America represents 10% of the number sent to Brazil, and 11% of the number sent to the West Indies. According to the estimates of Hugh Thomas (12), a total of 11,128,000 African slaves were delivered live to the New World, including 500,000 to British North America; therefore, only 4.5% of the total African slaves delivered to the New World were delivered to British North America. Also from Hugh Thomas, the major sources of the 13 million slaves departing from Africa (see slave ports map, above) were Congo/Angola (3 million), Gold Coast (1.5 million), Slave Coast (2 million), Benin to Calabar* (2 million), and Mozambique/Madagascar on the east coast of Africa (1 million).

http://www.slaverysite.com/Body/maps.htm
 

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