Figure 1.--The photo was taken in southern Sudan during 2003. The soldiers belonged to the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The photo shows the impact of the war over the tribal peoples.

The slave trade in the Sudan has ancient origins. There is until the 19th century, however, only limited information on the dimensions of the slave trade. Geography was an important factor. The Sudan is composed of two different regions. The largely African, equitorial south and a Saharan north. The Blue and White Niles join in Sudan to provide a water route north to the Mediterannean. This is the only watrer route through the vast Sahara Desert. It is importsant because it provided a route through which where African captives taken in the south could be readily marketed. Egypt itself was not a slave society, in part because the peasanty were basically serfs tied to the land. There were slaves in Egypt and other anient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. Unlike Egypt, these weee salave societies. And references to Nubians suggest that they enslaved in the Sudan or through Cushite slave markets. Some believe that Aesop was a Nubian. We certainly knew Nubian slaves. There are many references to Nubians in Roman manucripts. It must be remembered, however, thar slsavery in the ancient world was not a racial matter and thus Nubian did not equate with slave. Another complication is that most Africans in Rome were called Nubians, including those with no connection to Cush. We are not sure just how important Nubian slaves were to Rome. Give the ditance from Rome and the fact that Rome never occupied Cush/Nubia militarily, we suspect that Nubians made up a basically small proportion of the Roman slave population. Perhaps mpdern DNA studies will shed some light on this. The slave trade continued into the Christian era and then into the Muslim era. We know this because of the 652 treaty between the Kushites and Arab invaders under which Kush would pay an annual tribute. This may sound like a small number, but this was just the tribute and does not address the trade between Kush/Nubia and Egypt which was probably many time the number of Africans delivered as tribute. Unfortunately the historical record is very limited until the arrival of the British and efforts to wipe out the slave trade (19th century). The British certsainly sharply reduced the slave trade, but did not end it. Even after independence (1956), the slave trade comtinued. And it became a factor in the civil war following independence. Press reports of the slasve trade in Sudan continue to this day.

Geography

The slave trade in the Sudan has ancient origins. There is until the 19th century, however, only limited information on the dimensions of the slave trade. Geography was an important factor. The Sudan is composed of two different regions. The largely African, equitorial south and a Saharan north. The Blue and White Niles join in Sudan to provide a water route north to the Mediterannean. This is the only watrer route through the vast Sahara Desert. It is importsant because it provided a route through which where African captives taken in the south could be readily marketed.

Ancient Cultures

Egypt itself was not a slave society, in part because the peasanty were basically serfs tied to the land. There were slaves in Egypt and other ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. Unlike Egypt, these weee salave societies. And references to Nubians suggest that they enslaved in the Sudan or through Cushite slave markets. Some believe that Aesop was a Nubian. We certainly knew Nubian slaves. There are many references to Nubians in Roman manucripts. It must be remembered, however, that slavery in the ancient world was not a racial matter and thus Nubian did not equate with slave. Another complication is that most Africans in Rome were called Nubians, including those with no connection to Kush. We are not sure just how important Nubian slaves were to Rome. Give the ditance from Rome and the fact that Rome never occupied Cush/Nubia militarily, we suspect that Nubians made up a basically small proportion of the Roman slave population. Perhaps mpdern DNA studies will shed some light on this.

Christian Era

The slave trade continued into the Christian era. We have few details at this time. The Arabs after conquering Egypt (640) began efforts to move up the Nile and conquer Nubia. These efforts were at first unsuccessful. We know thie slave trade continued because of the treaty between the Kushites and Arab invaders moving up the Nile from Egypt--the Baqt(652). The treaty required the Kushites/Makuria to pay an annual tribute. The Christian Nubians agreed to supply 360 slaves annually to the now Islamuc Egyptians to the north. This may sound like a small number, but this was just the tribute and does not address the trade between Kush/Nubia and Egypt which was probably many time the number of Africans delivered as tribute

Muslim Era (1504)

The Egyptians finally defeated the Nubian kingdoms (1504). The Funj came to power in Nubia (Sudan). They introduced slaves in the army during the reign of Badi III (1692-1711). With the fall of the Funj, Egyptian slavers became active in the Sudan. Muhammad Ali who broke away from the Ottoman Empire (1805) began building an army of Southern Sudanese slaves.

The Koran and Slavery

While the European Atlantic slave trade was conducted over four centuries, the Arab African slave trade was conducted over 14 centuries, and has not finally ended even in the 21st century. A factor here is that slavery is clearly scationed in the Koran and many Arabs and othet Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God which can not be questioned by our more enlightened modern attitudes on social values and human rights. There are many references to slavery in the Koran. Some authors desribe this as Mohammed's attitude toward slavery, but this is not how many Muslims view it. Remember that Mohammed was a prophet, God's messenger. More correctly, the Koranic verses to many Muslims provide a statement of God's views on slavery. The clear conclusion from all these passages is that God saw slavery as a natural aspect of human relations. This explains why there was been no abolitionist movement within Islam and why it was the Brirish Royal Navy that ended the slave trade in the Indian Ocean. The many passages in the Koran mentioning slavery are rather ambigious, not unlike the Bible. Often the point of the passage is not clear. We can offer some suggestions as to the meaning. But we certainly do not pretend to be Islamic scholars. Reader comments are invited to help us better understand these various passages. One interesting aspect here is the number of references to which a Muslim might free a slave as the consequence for violating a Koranic injuction. This would make holding slaves a useful practice beyond the actual services they might render. It is notable the number of the 114 surah/sura (chapters) of the Koran that have refences to slavery.

Sudan Response on the Koran

The fact that the Koran condones slavery, especially of non-Muslims, as explained above in incntrovertable. The fact that many westerners have mnot read the Koran makes it possible for Arab scholsars to simply mitate the facts. One scholar insists that there is no link between the slave trade and Islam. Many of the same arguments are marshalled by those insisting that there there is no link between Idlam and modern terrorism. One scholar argues thst the teachings of Islam if rightly undrstoof are not an obstsacle to ending the slave trade. [Abbas] He insists tht the British righting about the Sudan by raiders and rulers who profited. his much ewe agee with, but it is in Islamic societies in the 20th cetury tha slavery is most condoned ans accepted. And the more conservative/fundamentalist, the greater is theacceptance. The reason is that the Koran speaks so plainly on the issue of slavery.

19th Century

Unfortunately the historical record is very limited until the arrival of the British and efforts to wipe out the slave trade (19th century). The British effort began in the Atantic with the Eoyal Bavy during the early-19th century. By mid-century the Royal Navy was active in the Indian Ocean. This included the Red Sea where there were Sudanese ports. The Egyptian Government took a series of steps to promote secular rule and reduce the authority of traditional Islamic authorities. The Egyptian Hovernment revised the legal system in both Egypt and Sudan. They introduced a new commercial and criminal code whih was administered in secular courts. The change fundamentally reduced the prestige of the qadis (Islamic judges) who presided over sharia courts. These an other steps in the conservative Sudanese society mase the Egyptian Government which was becoming associated with the British increasinglky unpopular. The issue of slavery was particularly important. The British also pressured the Egyptan Governent which was expanding its control in the Sudan to close down the slave trade. British abolistionists were very vocal on dimensions and evil of the slave trade in the Sudan. Ismail Pasha (1863-79) signed the Anglo-Egyptian Slave Trade Convention (1877). This committed the Egyptian Government to stop the sale and purchase of slaves in the Sudan by 1880. General Chares "Chinese" Gordon chosen as the governor in Sudan began to enforce the terms of this treaty. He carried out whirlwind campaigns to break-up markets and arrest the slave traders. His European subordinates pursued the same actions in the provinces. The campaign created an economic problem as wsell as moral ourrage on the part of fundamentalists who proclaimed that English Christians were violating the clear teahings of Islam as expressed in the Koran. Gordon's anti-slsavery campaign led to the Mhadist uprising and more than 15 years of fundamentalist rule in the Sudan. A modern Sudanese scholar charges that the British abolitionist tracts are full of "exagerations, distortions, and misconceptions". [Abbas] It seems more likely that conservative Aran society believed that slavery was fully sanctioned by the Koran amd hat the British and their Egyptian lackeys were were trampling on their economic and religious rights.

The 20th Century

The British after defeating the Mhadists proceeded to sharply reduced the slave trade, but were unable to completely end it because of resistance from Arab Sudanese. Slavery was officially abolished (1924), but the practice continued. Even after independence (1956), the slave trade comtinued. And it became a factor in the civil war following independence. The Arab enslavement of the Dinka people in the southern Sudan is one of the mnost brutal and well documented examples of late-20th century slavery. A U.S. State Department assessment in 1993 estimated that ascmany as 90,000 Africans were owned by North African Arabs. They were commonly sold as personal property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per person. One assessment reported "... several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims." [ASI] Animist or Christian tribes in southern Sudan were attacked by Arab militias aided by the Sudanese Army which commonly killed the men and enslaved the women and children. The Sudanese Arabs saw it as their traditional right fully scantioned by the Koran to enslave African (black) southerners. The Arabs commonly practiced physical mutilation on their captives to prevent both escape, but to enforce the owners' religious and national ideologies. The reports reaching the outside world are heart rending. One report reads, "Kon, a thirteen-year-old Dinka boy, was abducted by Arab nomads and taken to a merchant's house. There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims. Threatened with the same treatment the boy converted." [ASI] Sudanese Government supported Arab slave raides seized 7 year old Francis Bok in the village of Nymlal (1986). They strapped the terrified Francis to a donkey and took him north. He was sold to the Giema Abdullah family. The family for 10 years forced him to sleep with cattle. He was beaten daily and fed rotten food. He finally manged to escapr to Cairo and eventually managed to reach the United States where he testifed before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He wrote a moving book of his experiences. [Bok] Mende Nazer was from the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Arabs captured her (1992). She was sold to a rich Arab family in Khartoum, Later she was sold to a Sudanese diplomat (2002). When he took him to in London, she managed to escape and sought political asylum. [Nazer] She has also written a moving account. Countlss other enslaved Sudanese fricans have not been able to tell their horrifying stories. These horrors have been reduced, primarily becaused the southeners acquired a military capsability to force the Asb-dominated governmen to seek a peace treaty. Press reports of the slave trade in Sudan, however, continue to this day. The problem is now more centered in Darfur where the African population does not have a substabtial military capability.

21st Century

The Sudanese slave trade only ended when the African population in the south coverted their resistance to a successful military campaign defeating the brithal Sudanese Army pacification effort whih included taking slaves, including many children, and transporting them north. Souther milirary successes and the cost of fighting the insurgency finally concinced the Arabs in the north ot seek a settlement. The result was a 2005 peace agreement which provioded for southern autonomy and a referendum on inependence. The southerners voted overwealmingly for independence (2011)

Nature of Islamic Slavery

One Sudanese scholar maintains that Britain ignored the differences between Sudanese and "Atlantic" chattel slavery. He maintains that Sudanese slavery was never as brutal as the plantation-based slavery in the Americas. [Abbas] We believe that this as fair point. Not only were plantatins less common, but emnancipation was possible, especially if the slave converted to Islam. And while the Koran condoned slavery, it also provided for humane treatment and emancipation. The plantations of the Caribbean and the Deep south were brutal places. We reject the idea, however, that because Sudanese slavery was not as brutal that it was somehow acceptable. We do not believe that the slavery practiced in the Sudan and other Arab, countries was benign. The accounts of the southern Sudanese freed from slavery in the north during recent years are heart rending.

Sources

Abbas Ibrahim Muhammed Ali. The British, the Slace Trade and Slavery in the Sudan, 1820-1881 (Khartoum University Press, 1972), 141p. We are no able at this time able to assess Dr. Abass's charges that the British abolitionist literature was inaccurate and exagerated. This of course is not imposdsible. But it is also true that Arab histriorgraphy is oftn not up to Western standards and that authors often chose and marshall facts to prove their preconceived positions rather than to fairly assess a topic, especially a topic which might reflect poorly on Arab society.

ASI report on Sudanese slavery (1993).

Bok, Francis. Escape from Slavery.

Nazer, Mende. Slave: My True Story.

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Created: 5:04 AM 1/2/2010
Last updated: 6:03 PM 2/8/2012