Figure 1.- The photo was taken in 1904 in Isfahan, Iran, at the time ruled by the Qajar dynasty and in which slavey was still legal. The portrait was taken by Zell-e Soltan at his summer hunting palace near Isfahan. We see one of his African slaves holding his son. According to the caption, the infant (Iqbal) is the real son of the adult African slave, Haji Yaqut Khan. This meant that the slave wasn't a eunuch and could father his own children. The caption in Prsian says that Yaqut Khan is in his ethnic clothes (languteh), which was mainly worn by Africans outside of Iran. Isfahan is located in central Iran. In neighboring Pakistan, people of African ancestry are found mostly along the Makran (Gulf of Oman) coast.
There is a long history of slavery in Persia, covering ancient, medieval, and modern periods. all of which, however, are poorly documented. Persia is one of the earliest civilizations in the world and one of the great powers of the ancient world. It was on the fringe of Mesopotamia where the Sumerians, one of the great River Valley civilizations launched agriculture and civilization. One of the peoples the Sumerians and Babylonians had to contend with were the Elamites, a non-Persian people who inhabited modern southwestern Iran--including the ancient cities of Anshan and Susa. The Elamites, perhaps because of their location adjacent to the Sumerians left a written record, one of the few pre-Achaemenid civilizations of what we now know as Persia/Iran to do so. And in that record, as was standard for ancient people, slaves are mentioned. As a result we know that slavery was an accepted institution in Persia even before the arrival of ethnic Persians. And this did not change when Persians established themselves in what is now Iran. The arrival of African slaves is difficult to date with any certainty, but appears to date primarily from the Islamic era. Small numbers of African slaves may have existed earlier, especially when Persian armies conquered Egypt (525 BC). The Persian conquest of Egypt was planned planned by Cyrus, but became the major achievement of Cambyses' reign. The Persians riled Egypt for a century until defeated by Alexander. During that time, some African slaves must have appeared in Persia. Much later Arabia including Arabia Felix/Yemen was briefly acquired by Persia (575 AD). These extensions of Persian empires were for relatively short periods. We believe that African captives were a relatively small proportion of slaves in ancient Persia which did not have a huge slave population to begin with, although admittedly actual data is virtually nonexistent. This changed with the Arab conquest of Persia (633-54 AD) which led to collapse of the Sassanid Empire. This meant the inevitable decline of the Zoroastrian religion and the Islamization of Persia. It also meant the beginning of the flow of enslaved Africans into Persia on a sustained basis. At the time, Arab merchants were establishing trading posts along the developing Swahili coast of eastern Africa looking for gold, ivory, spices, and other luxury goods (7th century). Capturing and enslaving Africans became one of their most important commodities. In this effort, Islamicized Swahili chiefs became an important part of the Arab Indian Ocean slave trade. One of the two maritime corridors for the Indian Ocean slave trade was the Persian Gulf leading to Persian ports and Basra--a major slave market funneling captive Africans into the Middle East, including Persia. The Arab traders also landed captive Africans along the Makran (Gulf of Oman) coast.
Ancient Persia
There is a long history of slavery in Persia, covering ancient, medieval, and modern periods. all of which, however, are poorly documented. Persia is one of the earliest civilizations in the world and one of the great powers of the ancient world. It was on the fringe of Mesopotamia where the Sumerians, one of the great River Valley civilizations launched agriculture and civilization. One of the peoples the Sumerians and Babylonians had to contend with were the Elamites, a non-Persian people who inhabited modern southwestern Iran--including the ancient cities of Anshan and Susa. The Elamites, perhaps because of their location adjacent to the Sumerians left a written record, one of the few pre-Achaemenid civilizations of what we now know as Persia/Iran to do so. And in that record, as was standard for ancient people, slaves are mentioned. As a result we know that slavery was an accepted institution in Persia even before the arrival of ethnic Persians. And this did not change when Persians established themselves in what is now Iran. The arrival of African slaves is difficult to date with any certainty, but appears to date primarily from the Islamic era. Small numbers of African slaves may have existed earlier, especially when Persian armies conquered Egypt (525 BC). The Persian conquest of Egypt was planned planned by Cyrus, but became the major achievement of Cambyses' reign. The Persians riled Egypt for a century until defeated by Alexander. During that time, some African slaves must have appeared in Persia. Much later Arabia including Arabia Felix/Yemen was briefly acquired by Persia (575 AD). These extensions of Persian empires were for relatively short periods.
Islamic Era and African Slaves
We believe that African captives were a relatively small proportion of slaves in ancient Persia which did not have a huge slave population to begin with, although admittedly actual data is virtually nonexistent. This changed with the Arab conquest of Persia (633-54 AD) which led to collapse of the Sassanid Empire. This meant the inevitable decline of the Zoroastrian religion and the Islamization of Persia. It also meant the beginning of the flow of enslaved Africans into Persia on a sustained basis. At the time, Arab merchants were establishing trading posts along the developing Swahili coast of eastern Africa looking for gold, ivory, spices, and other luxury goods (7th century). Apparently Persian merchants were also involved, but the Arabs came to dominate the Indian Ocean trade. Capturing and enslaving Africans became one of their most profitable activities. In this effort, Islamicized/Arabized Swahili chiefs became an important part of the Arab Indian Ocean slave trade. One of the two maritime corridors for the Indian Ocean slave trade was the Persian Gulf leading to Persian ports and Basra--a major slave market funneling captive Africans into the Middle East, including Persia. The Arab traders also landed captive Africans along the Makran (Gulf of Oman) coast. Virtually no data exits on the numbers involved. Modern DNA studies offer some insights. Researchers note great diversity, understandable given Iran location as a kind of crossroads and its empire building over the ages. One study found, "The Iranian populations studied here and previously ... exhibit similar mtDNA lineage composition and mainly consist of a western Eurasian component, accounting for about 90% of all samples, with a very limited contribution from eastern Eurasia, South Asia and Africa. The South Asian and African influence is more pronounced in Iranians from the southern provinces of the country." [Derenko et. al] Of course the Persian practice of castrating male Africans has to be taken into account. A rare book on the subject makes the valid point that Persian slavery was generally not as harsh or as race based as Western slavery in the Americas, but glosses over the absence of a major domestic abolitionist movement. [Mirzai] While we generally agree with Mirzai, it is a little difficult to get away from the fact that castration was not exceedingly harsh.
African slaves were used in various ways in Persia. We note obvious ways such as agricultural labor and other manual labor endeavors, seamen, as well as domestic servants. Educated slaves, all male and commonly eunuchs, had roles in state administrative functions. Women of course were used as concubines as well as domestic servants. One source suggests it was a matter of prestige to have slaves in the household. We are not sure how the ethnicity of the slave entered into this calculation. An Iranian anthropologist tells us, "In Iran’s modern history, Africans were integral to elite households. Black men were mostly eunuchs working inside the king’s harem and houses, while black women were servants to Iranian women." [Khosronejad] The photographic record shows them being used extensively in security roles, including bodyguards and the military. Slaves who had not been castrated were sometimes assigned to the armies of the Qajar elites. Personal slaves were assigned to children, including babies. In the West these would have been women slaves. In Persia we see burly uniformed men serving as nannies. Ir is unclear to what extent the available photographic record which comes primarily from high status families is an accurate reflection of actual prevalence.
Eunuchs first appeared in Europe as a Persian court phenomenon. It horrified the Greeks. We suspect that it was a Chinese influence because China had adopted the practice earlier and China had more contact with china than any of the more westerly ancient civilizations. Eunuchs were employed in the Persia and China in two main areas. First in security roles. Most famously they were used as guards and servants in harems or other women's quarters. Their emasculation meant that there was no possibility of any violation of trust. But the security role went much further than that. Eunuchs were used as personal body guards for emperors and they also came to fill expanded military roles--even generals and admirals. This was notable. It meant that the monarchs trusted them more than their subjects are key officials. And it speaks volumes that all powerful rulers had to rely on eunuchs for a feeling of security. What was at play here was that because they could not have a family, there was no danger of usurpation. Eunuchs were often put in charge of the care and education of the princes, this provided a largely unintended path to power as the princes grew up. Eunuchs often rose to positions of great power, including confidential advisers, ministers and chamberlain. Most eunuchs who rose to high levels of influence were castrated at a very young age. The clever ones received sophisticated educations. Those with more physical or aggressive nature might be trained for the military. This practice was adopted by Roman emperors and other ancient rulers, but fell out of practice with fall of Rome and rise of Christianity in the West. But was adopted by Muslim rulers with the rise of Islam. In the Islamic era eunuchs came to be primarily African slaves. Arab slave traders took to castrating boys to increase their market value. One source says that the Koran did not permit mutilation so the operation was conducted before entering an established Muslim state. We are not sure about that. The children involved were not always captured, but sometimes given up by poor families to better their life prospects. The practice in Persia persisted into the 20th century.
Developments in the north and south generated by foreign Christian powers adversely affected the Persian slave trade in Persia during the 19th century. Persia and Russia fought series of wars for control of the Caucuses (19th century). These wars were not about oil, but Russian possession of the Caucasus/Caspian oil resource would profound affect the history of the 20th century. The Russo-Persian wars ended badly for Persia and Russia emerged as the dominant power in the Caucuses. The last war basically ejected Persian from the Caucuses (1826-28). This ended the Persian ability to obtain white slaves from areas along the Russian border. It brought a virtual end to the trade in Circassians and Georgians. This had been the primary source of white slaves for both Persia and the Ottoman Empire for centuries. This mean that the free Iranian began to be used for rather than the white 'ghilmans' -- slave-soldiers and/or mercenaries used in the armies throughout the Islamic world. Note the continued reliance on foreigners for royal security. Related developments were occurring in the south. The British Parliament abolished the slave trade, at the same time as America (1807). And soon the Royal Navy was committed to end it. At first the effort was primarily in the Atlantic, anti slavery patrols off West Africa. Then the British Parliament abolished slavery itself (1835). The British extended their anti-slavery efforts to the Indian Ocean, applying both diplomatic and naval power. The European Scramble for Africa (colonization) further restricted (1870s-90s). These developments significantly reduced access and the price of captive Africans (by the 1870s). One author report that the declining numbers of royal eunuchs adversely affected their power. There may have been more involved here. Military defeats experienced by both Ottoman and Persian Empires created pressure for preform. There was also diplomatic pressure, especially from the British. While the slave trade was vastly reduced, slavery itself still existed in Persia during and into the 20th century under the Qajar dynasty. Poor parents were still selling their children. And powerful tribal chieftains were still conducing slave raids. Slavery would be officially abolished in Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi. [Mirzai] Pressure for reform was increasing, primarily because of Persia's inability to resist foreign incursions. It was increasingly understood that Persia's traditional society could not effectively resist powerful European powers. As far as we know, there was no great domestic abolitionist movement as in the West or mortal outrage from the conservative Islamic clergy. Notably if you Google Persian or Iranian abolitionist movement, there are no pertinent pages that come up. (The same is true for other Muslim countries.) The abolitionist movements that brought an end to the save trade and slavery bitself were all Western, largely Christian, movements.
Emancipation (1929)
The pressure for emancipation was primarily diplomatic efforts from Christian Europe. The Iranian National Parliament finally passed an law ending slavery (1929). It prohibited the slave trade or any other claim of ownership over other human beings. The new Law authorized the Government to take action to ensure the emancipation of all slaves.
Sources
Ajiri, Denise Hassanzade. " The face of African slavery in Qajar Iran – in pictures," Above Whispers (2016). The captions are provided by anthropologist Pedram Khosronejad who has collected extensive photographic evidence of African slavery in Iran.
Derenko, Miroslava, Boris Malyarchuk, Ardeshir Bahmanimehr, Galina Denisova, Maria Perkova, Shirin Farjadian, and
Levon Yepiskoposyan. "Complete mitochondrial DNA diversity in Iranians," PLOS (November 14, 2013).
Khosronejad, Pedram. Khosronejad is an Iranuian-born anthroplogist now working in the United States.
Mirzai, Behnaz A. "Slavery, the abolition of the slave trade, and the emancipation of slaves in Iran (1828-1928," Ph.D. thesis (York University: 2004).
Mirzai, Behnaz A. A History of Slavery and Emancipation in Iran, 1800-1929 (2017). The author has bee describeda as "The leading authority on slavery and the African diaspora in modern Iran presents the first history of slavery in this key Middle Eastern country and shows how slavery helped to shape the nation’s unique character." Notably she works in the United States.
